Creative Foam Roller

Hello everyone (instructor laughs). I'm going to be doing a foam roller class. It's going to be a little short, but yeah, we can quickly go through some exercises. I hope you will feel good afterwards. Okay, everybody loves the foam roller, yes?

Alright okay so you're gonna place the foam roller in front, and you're gonna sit cross-legged, but don't actually cross them. You're gonna put them front and back. Okay, and we're gonna do field roll downs first, so sitting up on to your sitz bones, your ribcage is in. You're going to open up the shoulders. You're...the crown of the head is up towards the ceiling.

We take a deep inhale, exhale, curl from the neck. You're going to just have the roller roll, probably about to your elbows. Good, but don't let your sitz bones come off the mat. Inhale, exhale, come up, restacking the spine. Good, into a sitting position.

Inhale and exhale. Roll down, articulating the spine. Inhale at the bottom, and exhale curl up. Let's do two more. Inhale and exhale down.

Inhale, exhale up. And one more. Lifting up tall, exhale. You're still elongating the spine even though you're flexing. Inhale through the back, exhale come up.

Okay, you're going to place your hand right on the side of the foam roller. But you're going to place them on your knees, good. And then you're going to lift them up to your chest, good. Push into the hands as you open the elbows wide, good. Feel that stretch across the chest, and across your forearm uh, your upper arms.

Inhale forward, and then exhale bring it down. Yep, straight arms, good. Straight up to the chest. Bend towards your chest. Straight forward and then down.

Okay, inhale, exhale open. Inhale forward and down. Inhale up, good. Remember that you don't flare your wrist, uh your ribs out. Inhale forward.

Exhale down. Two more. And last one. Exhale, inhale, and down, good. Next we're going to start from the chest.

You're going to lift up overhead, good. Without looking down, you're going to externally rotate the arm and the shoulders, so the roller is to the back of the head, yes. Inhale up towards the ceiling. Exhale to your chest. Inhale overhead.

Exhale. Go to the back of the...Nice. Inhale and exhale. Inhale up. Exhale, rotate that arm and the shoulder, inhale.

Be careful of your ribs when you bring the hands to the back. Yeah, so the wrists are back, the elbows come forward. Inhale up and exhale down. Two more like that. Inhale and exhale.

One more. And exhale. Very nice, inhale and exhale. Okay, we're going to do rotations, so exhaling to the right, inhaling to center and to the left. Okay, inhale center, and do not lead with the arms.

You're moving from the ribcage. Exhale to the left, inhale. So you always have that triangle in front of you with your arm and the foam roller. And exhale to the left. Inhale back and to the right.

Inhale back and to the left. Good, hold there. You're going to place it down. We're going to go into all fours. Okay, place your palms to the apex of the foam roller, okay right near your wrists.

Okay, so your wrists don't break, okay. And your knees are underneath your hips, okay. You're spine is in neutral. You really have to press down, and you'll bring the chest up to stabilize the foam roller so it doesn't wobble, alright. We're going into cat cow, so exhale as you draw the abdominals in, good, rounding the spine, inhale back to neutral, and then a little bit of thoracic extension.

Exhale, going through neutral and then to a cat. Inhale back to neutral. And extend. Exhale. Inhale through neutral upper back.

Lovely, exhale. And inhale upper back. Good, last one, exhale curl and inhale. Go through neutral, good and upper back. Okay, return to neutral position.

And we're going to do wag the tail. First just the hips, so you bring the right hip bone towards your right ribcage. Okay, but the shoulders are stable, good. Return to center, and then opposite side. Left side.

Return to center, to the right. And you're not moving the whole spine yet. To center and to the left. Just the hips. Just the hips.

Just the hips. To center, one more on each side. Yes so you don't move the shoulders, you're just moving at the hips. To the center and left. Good to center, okay.

Now you can move the whole spine. So look towards that right sitz bone. Good, and back to center and to the left. And center to the right. Don't drop on those shoulders.

You want to press in to the foam roller, and back to center and to the left. Good, one more on each side and to the right. Yes laterally flexing. And to the left. And back.

Good, okay, sit on your heels. Place your foam roller vertically onto the mat, okay. Probably right at the middle, and then you're going to sit at the very edge, okay. You're heels are right in front of your... Our sitting bones apart, good.

You are going to bring the arms out in front, good. Long neck and long spine. We take an inhale. Exhale, curl the pelvis maybe just around the sacrum. Good, inhale up.

Exhale, curl. Yeah move at the hips. And inhale up. Exhale curl again. And up.

And go to a place where you can just stabilize. Yes, that's it. And inhale up. One more. Exhale.

Good. Neck and collar bone long. Okay palms up towards the ceiling. We're going to add rotation, so as you curl the pelvis, you're going to bring the right arm to the back. And exhale as you come up, okay.

Let's inhale to the left side now. And exhale up. And inhale to the right side. Feel those lower abdominals working. Exhale up, inhale to the left.

Good, yeah plant those feet down too. And towards the right. Everybody's silent. And everybody's faces are like ha ha ha, alright. And come back to center.

Palms towards each other. Let's roll down, okay. If you need to, place your hands down, and let's go all the way down, alright. So your head and your sacrum is in on the foam roller, okay. Alright, you can bring the heels towards your bum a little bit, alright.

And it's the sitting bones distance apart. So you're going to bring the arms up to the ceiling. Let's move the scapula, so retract the scapula. Hug the roller, and then protract. Bring the arms up towards the ceiling.

Retract, good. And the shoulder blades are wide. Good, pull the shoulder blades together. And when you pull the shoulder blades together, remember not to flare the rib cage out here again. And then up.

One more. Good, find around the middle so your scapula is in neutral position. You're going to open the elbows wide again like you were holding the foam roller. And then you're going to back to the ceiling. Inhale, open the elbows wide towards the mat.

And exhale come back. Inhale open. Stretching out the front of the chest from the shoulders. Exhale. Two more, inhale.

And exhale, return. Last one. Inhale open and exhale. Let's turn the palms towards your feet, good. Inhale as you bring the arms overhead.

Exhale, the arms go to the ceiling. Upper body goes up, yeah. Check if your pelvis is in neutral. Inhale lower. Exhale come up.

Inhale lower. And exhale, yeah. Armpits towards your hips. Inhale down. Exhale up.

Now plant the feet down. Inhale over. Let's do two more. And down. And up.

Hold there, good. Close the legs together for a little bit of challenge. And inhale down. Let's do three more. Exhale up.

Little bit harder, good. Inhale down. Two more. Exhale, curl the neck and chest. And inhale down.

Nice recovery there. Exhale up. Hold there, good. Open the feet to sitting bones distance apart. Bring the right leg up.

We're going to do hundreds here. Ready and one, two, three, four, five. Inhale two, three, four, five, exhale. Inhale two, three, four, five, exhale. Inhale two, three, four, five, two more.

Inhale two, three, four, five, last one. Inhale two, three, four, five, hold. Bring the leg down, good. Let's go down. We gotta do the left side.

Inhale, exhale, come up. Good. Yeah, see which side is harder. Good, ready and exhale two, three, four, five, inhale. And exhale two, three, four, five, inhale.

And inhale two, three, four, five, two more. Nice...Two, three, four, five, last one. Inhale two, three, four, five, and hold. Bring the leg down. Arm goes over, okay.

Alright you're going to just flop onto one side, yeah. And then you're going to place the foam roller under the soles of your feet. We're going into a pelvic curl or a bridge with articulation. Your hands are by your side. Your pelvis is in neutral.

We take a deep inhale. And exhale curl the pelvis. And go into a straight line from the shoulders to the knees. Inhale, exhale, curl down. So you feel more hamstrings here, inhale and exhale.

Press the feet down, yeah. Very good, inhale and exhale. Soften the throat, the chest. Articulate back down. Good, let's go three more.

Inhale and exhale, curl. Good, inhale and down. Yes, pressing with those arms so you feel your shoulders stabilize. Inhale and exhale up. Towards your bum there.

Inhale and exhale down. One more, inhale and exhale up. Good, just move your yeah pelvis to the right. That's it. And exhale down.

Very nice. You're gonna roll the foam roller out towards your ankles, okay. And then you're gonna lift one leg up towards the ceiling. You're gonna hold wherever you can hold, okay. And then flex the feet.

I'll flex that foot. And then you're going to pull it towards you for a hamstring stretch. Five deep breaths. Your heel is up towards the ceiling. You're sitting bone is sinking down into the mat.

One more. Okay, switch sides. Press down into that right side. Lengthen out that right hip as well. Good.

Two more breaths. And last one. Okay, point the foot, place it down, good. You're legs are together. Arms overhead, we're going into roll up.

Inhale as we bring the arms, head and chest up. Exhale, roll, good. Feel the lower abdominals, good. Nice long C curve, inhale. Exhale down.

Yeah, think as if the foam roller is rolling away from you when you go down. And inhale up to your chest. Exhale roll up. Good, inhale. And exhale rolling down.

And inhale up. Exhale. Inhale and exhale down. And one more. Last one, we're going to come up and hold, exhale up.

Okay, good, okay you're going to roll the foam roller towards you and let's sit on the foam roller. Open the feet wide, force tall. So maybe you would like to stagger. Okay, so if you're sitting bones can be not right on top, but just to the back, I think you'll feel more stability there. Okay, so your arms are wide.

Yeah, you're flexing your feet. We go to the right. Inhale, exhale down. Inhale, lengthen the spine. Exhale center.

Inhale to the left. Exhale down. Inhale and exhale center. And to the right. And down.

And up. Don't let that foam roller move. And inhale. Both sitting bones the same weight. Inhale up, good.

Back to center. Two more. And... One more on each side. And to the right, inhale.

Rotate from the ribs, exhale down. Lovely, and up. Exhale center, and to the left. Exhale down and up. And return to center.

Okay, good. Okay, you're going to place your hands, good. And then we're going into a modified version of a back support. So from here, you bend the knees, good. Press into the hand.

Push the pelvis up, okay. I'm sorry, my feet were of close. So push the pelvis up. And hinge out the hips to come back, okay, lightly just touching. Exhale up.

And inhale down. Good, you can bend the elbows when you come down. Exhale, straighten and then push the hips up towards the ceiling. Inhale down. And one more.

Exhale up. And hinge as you go down, good. Okay, face towards me, and then we're going to go into mermaid. Alright, okay. So place your hand on the foam roller, okay, and then we're going to go on to the hip.

Yes the outside hip, good. And then going to rotate. Yes, your collar bone is parallel to that foam roller. Inhale open. And exhale come up, good.

Inhale. And exhale rotate. Inhale open. And exhale up. Good, two more.

And exhale. Good without moving the foam roller. Yeah, you've got to hold. Yeah stabilize with that bottom shoulder. Inhale and exhale rotate.

Good, keep the spine long. Inhale open and exhale. Good, alright, let's bring that foam roller to the opposite side, and then you're going to go on your forearms. Yeah, okay. Top leg in front.

Bottom leg in back. Okay, good. Your elbows underneath your shoulders. Alright. Okay, and we want to bring that lower ribcage up.

Lower abdominal, lower obliques up. Good, and we're going to open out the arms. Inhale to prepare. Exhale, push the pelvis up into a straight line. Beautiful, inhale down.

And exhale up, yeah. Bring your, yes, the top hip forward that's it. And inhale down. And up. Inhale two more.

And exhale up. And down, last one. And up. See if you can go over. Inhale to a T.

And over side bend into a T. Good, exhale yeah. You can move your foam roller a little bit towards the body. And inhale. Exhale down.

Good, and laterally flex to the opposite side. Yeah, you can place your hands on the roller if you'd like. Okay, and you're just gonna flick your feet to the other side. Alright for mermaid. Alright, so inhale, as we yes, put the weight on the bottom hip.

And exhale rotate. Inhale to me, and exhale come up. And inhale, yeah. So your head is in alignment with the spine. So no, you don't need to strain your neck.

Inhale open, and exhale come up. Yes, both weight on your sitting bones. Inhale, exhale. Spiral around. Inhale open, and exhale come up.

Last one, inhale. And exhale. Good, nice long spine. And exhale come up. Okay, bring the foam roller to the feet, and we're going to go down on our forearms again for the other side.

Sorry everybody, back side is on (instructor laughs) is on the camera for this whole series. Okay, so you're gonna lift up that ribcage and the bottom oblique. Bring the arm up, yeah so you're reaching towards the ceiling. We push in to the hand of the arm, and then we burn the pelvis off, good inhale down. Four more, exhale up.

And inhale down. Yes you've got long legs, that's really (instructor laughing)... This is an advantage for me. And exhale up. And lower one more.

Keep the pelvis up, good. Bring the foam roller towards you as you roll over, and inhale back to a T. Exhale, ribcage up towards the ceiling, and one more like that. Up. Back, and let's, whoops, bring the pelvis down.

Okay, and then you're going to laterally flex. Stretch out. Okay, return, and we're going to lie prone. So let's have our row of foam rollers at the center. Your wrists are going to go on the foam roller, and then your palms are looking towards each other.

Okay, squeezing the legs together, your weight is on your pubic bone. Your nose is just a little bit off the mat. Okay, we're not gonna move the foam roller yet. You're going to articulate from the cervical spine. Good, and just feel that you're moving the top part of the thoracic.

Exhale down. Inhale up. Feel as if your pinkie is pushing down into the foam roller. And exhale down. So you can activate those shoulder stabilizers.

Inhale up. And exhale down. You're reaching out of the legs. Pubic bone is down. And exhale down.

One more like that. Without moving the foam roller, go into back extension. Great, and exhale down. Okay, now move your foam roller so it's the middle of your forearms. Good, and we're going to lift up higher.

So come up to the place you were, and then you're going to bring the foam roller towards you as we go into, yes, a bigger back extension. Exhale down. Um-hmm, wherever you feel comfortable. Good, and up. You can open up the legs if you'd like.

And exhale down. Three more like that. Inhale. Good. Exhale down.

Two more. Start from the middle of the forearms. Move the foam roller promptly about your wrists. And exhale down. Last one.

Start from the cervical spine, go through the thoracic. Good, keep the abdominals in and up. And exhale as we return. Nice, okay, we're going into rest position, so leave the foam roller where it is. Stretch out the back.

Last one. And exhale curl into a sitting position. Alright, good job. And that'll be it.