Stability Challenge Mat

Hi, I'm Tracey Mallett and today we're gonna do a whole class with balls galore. Yes, we have our little ball and we have our big ball. So, are you ready? So, grab two balls. We want a small ball, like a playground ball, and then obviously the Swiss Ball.

Alright, so we're gonna get down onto the floor. We're gonna grab the ball and place the ball just in between your inner thighs and actually just between your knees here and we're gonna squeeze the ball so the heels are in line with the sit bones. From here, we're gonna take a nice deep breath in, on the exhale, we're gonna draw those abs in and we're gonna round like a C curve, and then squeeze, and then come back up again. And again, round and squeeze, and then all the way up. This time, can we go a little bit further as we roll down, going a little bit further?

And slowly roll, and come back up again. Keep gradually going down a little bit further to the floor, and then exhale, round, and back up. Round through the spine, and then slowly lift all the way up, reach the hands up in that nice stretch. Take the hands forwards, and we're gonna slightly go back into that C curve and hold it there, squeeze that ball. And I'm just gonna ask you to squeeze the ball, squeeze the ball, squeeze, little squeezes, little squeezes.

Good, and squeeze, and eight, and seven, and six, and five, and four, and three, and two, and one, round, lift all the way up, and then slowly come back down again. Let's try that again, squeeze, one, and two, and three, and four, and five, and six, and seven, and eight, and hold, round, pull all the way up. This time, I'm gonna reach the hands forwards, incline back, you ready, for the right hand goes up first, (exhales) and back. (exhales) So as your arm comes up, you're challenging your abdominals even more, right? You're challenging those abs, round, good.

(exhales) Let's do four more, four, and three, and two, and one, hold it here, squeeze, then round back up again, nice and tall. Slowly come back down again on that incline. Now we do one arm at a time, but as we switch, alternate, alternating those arms. (exhales) And eight, keep squeezing that ball, six, five, four, three, two, one, both hands up, slowly come all the way back down again. Now we're gonna round through the spine, little bit further, little bit further, palms flat, slide them back, elbows on the floor. Inhale, exhale, bring the legs up.

So you're gonna press the elbows in, and we're gonna exhale down. (exhales) Inhale back, exhale down, inhale back, exhale down, inhale back, so you can feel those core muscles engaging as you're dipping those toes down into the floor. Two more. (exhales) One more. (exhales) Hold it there, hold. Now slowly, we're gonna squeeze that ball, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, hold, push up, slowly drop the feet down, grab the ball, take the ball in between your ankles now. Reach the hands forwards, round back, slide the palms back, elbows on the floor, depress your scapula, press down, exhale, lift the knees up. Ready, we go up, and down, now, out and down.

So we're going straight up, and then a little bit on a diagonal. So you can see, as you go up, you got your hamstring flexibility, and then as you extend the legs out, you got your core engaging on that diagonal. Up, down. (exhales) Exhale, (exhales) inhale as you extend, inhale. (exhales) (inhales and exhales) Two more. (inhaling and exhaling) And hold it. Bend your knees, extend, pull back. Bend your knees, extend, exhale, pull back.

Bend your knees, inhale, exhale, pull back. Reach, lift, pull back. Keep looking forwards, use your abdominals as you lift, and back. Your forearms are into the floor, lift, two more. One more.

And hold it here. We're gonna take your knees over to the side, come back. So you see, as I elevate the hip, and back. But all the time, I'm squeezing the ball, so my inner thighs are engaged as I rock from one side to the other. Good, give me four more.

Four, and three, and two, and one, hold it here. Now from here, we're gonna try and go up into a teaser. So you're gonna lift up into this position and then press the elbows back in. So reach, lift up, bend, pull your knees in. Lift, extend, in, last time.

Lift, hold it here, drop the knees down, and give yourself a little hug. Grab your ball, take your ball. Now, we're gonna place the ball just between your shoulder blades, this is where your thoracic spine is, so lower your mid upper back into the ball. From here, you're gonna squeeze the inner thighs together, reach the hands all the way around, and then put your hands behind your head. Now keep that position, you're in that C curve position.

Now from here, we're gonna lift your right leg up, so it goes right, and down. Left, so it's as if you're walking in place. (exhales) Good. (exhales) Four more. (exhales) Now we're gonna add the head with it. So you go down, (exhales) down. (exhales) So you're opening the chest, lifting up. Open. (exhales) Open. (exhales) Open. (exhales) Four more, four, (exhales) three, (exhales) two, (exhales) one, (exhales) open, hold that position, that stretch, now exhale, round back all the way up, look towards the pubic bone, bring your right leg in. We inhale, we exhale. (inhaling and exhaling) You're ready to add, one, up, the head. (exhales) Hold it, reach.

Reach. Reach. Reach, keep the head lifted, reach. Reach, reach, hold it here, leg circles. Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, last time, inhale, reverse it.

And inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, and exhale, point that toe, bring that leg down. Open back, and up, go. (exhales) You're ready to add the head. Now we go up. (exhales) Two, (exhales) three, (exhales) four, (exhales) breathe, five. (exhales) Hold it here, now reach. Bring it in, now imagine your abdominals are drawing that knee into the chest. (exhales) Keep looking at the pubic bone and reaching out. (exhales) You're ready to add the head, we go out. (exhales) Hold it here, extension, bend. (exhales) Really feel their extension, you're balancing on that ball so it's a little challenging.

Keep lifting your head and shoulders off that ball. (exhales) Last time, now flex that foot, we go, inhale, exhale, inhale, keep that stability, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, you're ready for the reverse. And inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale, flex that foot, inhale, and exhale, hold it. Point those toes, bend the knees, and go back, enjoy that stretch. Slowly, from here, we're gonna reach the arms and roll all the way up.

Take your head over, and then slowly roll all the way up. Good job. All right, so let's transition onto our stomach, all right? I'm gonna lie down on my tummy, and I'm gonna try and put the ball (laughs) between the ankles, and you're gonna be in external rotation, you see here? So I'm gonna try and grab that ball, and we're gonna squeeze that ball, and then lift.

Squeeze, and lift. Squeezing that ball, pressing the pubic bone down into the floor, squeeze, and lift. So you're in that beautiful extension. Lift, let's just do a few more, lift, last time, hold it here, hold, and then release. Let's grab the ball, come all the way out, reach the ball forwards.

We're gonna go up into that extension, and down. So make sure your feet are turned out in a V position. And back, pull your shoulder blades down and hold it here. Now we're gonna open, and back, and down. Shoulders down, open, back, and down.

And lift, palm is flat. Good, pull your shoulder blades down before you actually move. And lift, rotate, center, one more time. Lift, rotate, center, and down, awesome. And slowly, we're gonna leave the ball where it is, it's staying still, that's a good thing.

And we pull back and stretch. And then slowly roll all the way up. Okay, now we're going to move onto the bigger ball now, so we're gonna put this ball away. All right, let's grab the big ball. Now, we're gonna place the ball on the floor, we're gonna start with some bridging for the hamstrings.

So I'm gonna come down onto the back, and we're gonna slowly put your feet up onto the ball. Now, we're gonna imagine that your feet are on top of the ball, your arms by the side of your body, and you're gonna press into the ball. So we're gonna take a deep breath in, and we're gonna roll up into a bridge, so you're in that bridge position, and then we're gonna slowly roll down through the spine. And again, slowly roll all the way up into your bridge position, hold it there, and then roll down. (exhales) Inhale, curl the pelvis as you lead up with the pubic bone. And you've gotta keep that ball still.

It's not that easy, I know. It looks easier than when you actually do it, because you've gotta really keep that ball still. Roll all the way up. (exhales) And then back down again. Let's do one more, roll all the way up, we're gonna push out and in, don't go to full extension, keep a slight bend in the knee. (exhales) Four more, four, (exhales) three, (exhales) two, (exhales) one, hold it there.

Now go into little pelvic tilts, tilt, tilt, tilt, four, three, two, one, extend out, now your legs are straight. Hold it here, pelvic tilts. (exhales) Four, three, two, hold it there, hold, let's see if we can lift that leg up. Hold it there, and back down. Up and down, up and down, up and down, up and down, transfer. Get yourself nice and stable, ready, lift up and down, up, and really get those hips high, up and down, up and down, one more, up and down, hold it there.

See if you can bring your hands up. Hold it there, so you're balancing. Now bend your knees, pull back, slowly press the hands down and roll yourself down. From here, lift your head, neck, and shoulders off the floor, bring the hands behind the knees. We're gonna inhale, reach. (exhales) Exhale, round.

Inhale, reach, exhale, resist. Use your ball to really resist with those hamstrings as you come around. Inhale, reach, (exhales) exhale, round, three more. (inhaling and exhaling) One more. (inhales and exhales) Hold here, a little bit higher, lift it, and then slowly roll all the way down. We're gonna bring your knees into your chest, round over to the side, and lift ourselves up. We're gonna grab the ball, we're gonna come onto our knees now.

Gonna press your elbow into the ball, and reach the leg out to the side. From this position, all I'm gonna ask you to do is just some little lifts in this position. So now the instability of the ball is making it a little bit harder for you, 'cause now you've gotta really focus through your core, and through your obliques, and you can lift up in that position. Four, and three, and two, and one. Come around, quickly, to the other side, press the elbow down, lift up, press down into that unstable surface, and lift it up.

(exhales) Can you give me four more? Four, and three, and hold it there, and then come back, awesome. Let's turn onto our tummy now. So now we're gonna work on the core. So we're gonna come forwards, and this is no graceful way of getting on a ball, but we're gonna try today, 'cause we're on camera. (laughs) We're gonna walk forwards, and now I'm just gonna bend the knees and I'm gonna just push it out.

So let's go a little bit further, so I'm here. So I'm in that lovely plank position here, reaching out through the crown of the head. Now, from here, we're just gonna exhale and round and look towards your ball, and then inhale and come back out again. So I want you to exhale, round like a cat, look towards the ball, inhale and come back. (inhales and exhales) Push away from the floor, and reach out.

(exhales) And back out. Now, from here, we're gonna go into a pike. So we're gonna exhale, lift, inhale, come back into your plank. Inhale, exhale, lift all the way up so your ears are by your biceps, and then come back down again. Let's do two more.

Inhale, exhale, push. (exhales) And back down. Last time, inhale, exhale, lift up. And then slowly come back down. Walk back gracefully. And then slowly, we're gonna hang out on the ball, forwards, in that stretch.

And then slowly come back down. I'm just gonna bring the ball in the middle of the mat so you can see me better. Go back into that position, so you're gonna hang over your mat. Knees are bent. All you're gonna do is push out, and back.

So you're pushing out and back. Now you're gonna push out, reach into that extension, and then back, just like you would do on the reformer, actually. You're reaching out, and then back. Reaching out. From here, we're gonna lift all that way up into that extension, back up, curl, and back down again.

And lift, open, reach, curl back. Reach, now a little bit more of an extension as you go in that external rotation of shoulder joint, forwards, and then back, beautiful. Reach the ball forwards, and round. Hold that position there and enjoy that stretch. Take it to the right side, and stretch.

And then to the other side, and stretch. And then back into the center. Slowly lift up into a downward dog position. Fold back into your stretch, press your weight into your heels, and then slowly roll all the way up, lift all the way up, and we're gonna turn around, sit on the ball, and let's come all the way back into an extension, back. Now keep your knees bent, and just reach back in that extension.

You can really open up through your chest, and hold it there, and then come into a V position, just enjoy that stretch. You can hang out in that beautiful extension. If you feel that you can, you've got the flexibility, I want you to reach out for the floor, and then lift in that position here, and as if you lift up. And then bend, come back. And again, so you're pressing your hands down.

Here, bend your knees, now push up and extend the legs and push. And bend and pull back again. Let's try that again, so get your palms down on the floor, push against the floor, push up off the ball, extend those legs, and then bend and pull back. Are you ready to roll yourself all the way up? Pull back, and stretch.

Slowly bend your knees, roll all the way up. From here, your nice straight position. I just want you to think of lifting up through the crown of the head. Reaching up to the sky, rounding forwards, back up to the sky, rounding forwards, one more time, lifting up, from here, we're gonna lift up, back up, and come all the way back forwards. And the ball disappears again, did you see that? (laughs) Thank you guys, that was a great class, you can use your balls all the time, it just adds a little bit variety and a little bit more challenge to your Pilates, mat Pilates work.

So I hope you enjoy it, remember, keep your balls in control, because they like to wander around a little bit. Come on, back here boy, here he is. All right, have fun, bye. (laughing)