Creative Circuit Session

Hi. In this session we're going to experience a little bit like a circuit session. Do a warm up on the mat, followed by reformer, followed by the chair. Nothing really fancy but very connected. I'll start on the mat. I'm going to start up with a nice at dynamic flexibility segment here.

So lying flat on the Mat. The right leg comes up with an inhale, crosses over the body on an exhale. Inhale comes back. Exhale down with your arms out to the side. This time, inhale up. Exhale, press on your right arm as the right leg goes further over on y in the spine. Bring it back down. Last time on the right. Inhale. Exhale. I'm just exaggerating the breath. Inhale back. Exhale down, left leg up and over, back and down.

Try to keep your left shoulder blade down to receive the little mobility of rotation last time up and over and back and down. Now with the arms, inhale up, over, back and down, up and over. Back and down. Last time, up and over, back and down. Left arm up. Oh, or back and down. Reach. Rotate back and down. Last time, up and over, back and down. Two legs in and up.

Oh, over and back and N, n down, other side in and up. Oh, over and then down. Last one in, up left and pause. Taken. Inhale. Exhale. Pull yourself back to center. Other side over you go. Inhale. Exhale, back in and down onto your tummy. Mobilizing. Now through extension and rotation, it looks like this. Forehead down. Arms out to the side, right, like up and over. Back and down.

Right leg again. Open up the front of the right hip. Crease and back and down. Last time up and oh over and back and down. Left leg bend and lift over. Open up that left hip crease as you twist here and then resist it back and down.

Sometimes I use the word reluctant lift and Oh over and you can reluctantly come back and down. Last time bend lift you even press a little bit more if you needed and then bring it all the way back and then down. Bringing yourself up to your quadricep head position. Getting ready now for hip. Open, left leg out. Bring your right leg back.

Take your left arm inside your left knee and let it meet your right arm. Staying low, much like you're on a a low lunge here. You're going to press this leg up and back. Just get that connection first and then you go to a pump down and pump down and pump five times three and four and last time five. Now left-hand on the outside of this left foot.

You pump this left knee straight and then bring it there and straight and then bring it down five times. Here's three and down. Here's four and down. Last time, five and down we switch lips, right elbow inside the right knee, right hand inside the left arm. They press into each other. Lifting up the back leg. Stay long here. Inhale and press yours too. We're going for five, three and press four reach last time five and hold right hand comes to the outside. And then we go back and come forward.

Breach. Think of pike in your abdomen. We will get to a pike when we get to the fair section. Last time down last time. Lower down. Next exercise, hamstrings. There's three hamstrings. So the front leg has to be in three different positions. It looks like this.

First we have the leg and the heel parallel. We make a little cup with our hands back, toes curled under forehead. We'll go towards the left Shin, five times one and two, three and four and then last time five make sure here that this thigh is actually over. That shit. That's the hamstring. They're dynamically flexing. Now Watch. Turn this left foot out. Lateral hamstring, two three, four.

Oh I'm fine. Left foot turns in medial hamstrings. Exhale, one, two, dynamic flexibility is exercise three and four and last time five and then sweep other side back. Toes curl under. Inhale. Exhale one. Try to keep that front thigh over that ankle. Three and four in fact, you'll notice here that my neck also is not an extension.

I'm maintaining that deep neck flexor. Turning the right foot out. Here we go for five one lateral hamstring, two and three pull the belly and fourth and last time five hold and then lower dip, right toe turns. Your right foot turns in medial rotation of the thigh getting to medial hamstring. Two and three and four, and then last time five and bring yourself down. Swan. Nice lengthening of the front abdomen.

Arms down. First we start with a little mini ish swan. Inhaling, exhale, pause, dropping the draw. Now use those triceps. Inhaling, lengthening the chest. Exhaling, lengthening the abdomen. As I return myself all the way down. We'll do three. Inhale, exhale, pause. Inhale, exhale all the way down.

Ah, last one, little mini inhale, lift. Exhale, pause. Inhale, all the way up. Coil your chest backwards. Take your eyes to the ceiling. Just a smidge. Triceps engaged. Exhale, bending elbows. Lengthen your whole torso all the way down. Curling the toes, pushing yourself up and back.

Getting ready for our planking side. Blanking with a twist. A hen plank. Hold and hold. Turning to the side, turning the feet, opening up side plank. Holt and hold and hold. Adding the twist under and open three times under, and then open a last time under last time.

Open pause. Full plank. Hold. Inhaling, exhaling, rotating, holding side plank, right arm to the ceiling. Try to make sure your level in your ribs and then rotating the rib, k, that thoracic area, the thorax. We really got to keep it mobile and then last time and then bring it all the way back up and planking rocking and rocking. Long and Straw. Three more, two more. And then last time, dropping down on the knees. Preparing now, rolling up to standing.

We'll start with a rolling like a ball. Getting our shape in the spine. Inhale back. Exhale, inhaling. Exhaling. Sounds weird, but never worry if you actually come up. I mean, I'm actually having a good day today. Coming up. Last time back, last time up, switched to seal. Take those arms inside. Open up that hip and grabbed that foot. Other arm. Open up that him. Take the souls of those feet together.

Feel your head pull towards your feet from your trunk. Connection, clap, clap, clap from the hips. Back. Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale. Inhale. Oh, that was a good one. They're better some days. And others who, that's another good one. Last two. I'm thinking in my head, I have to come up to standing and then we finish with our standing foot work, which is also another dynamic up and down. When you lower your heels, make sure that your toad try not to get grippy. Okay, do that. Two more. Last one. Hold. Bend, knees, drop peels, zip up.

Doing this on the mat is actually a little bit harder than doing it on the floor because of the soft surface. Ben and drop last time up and bend and drop and Zip reverse bend. Hold. Now lift the heels. Don't change the shape of your spine. Zip Up, drop down, bend, lift, Zip and drop. Bend and lift the zip and drop. Next exercise.

Last one. Stable trunk and standing leg pumping. Two, three, five and six seven and eight, nine and 10 other leg, one, two, three and four five, six. Whoa. Seven, eight, nine and 10. Arms Up. Inhale. Exhale, spine stretching, pulling the belly and trying to stay forward over your feet so your butt doesn't stick all the way out behind you. Pause right here in Hale. Exhale belly poles in the table and drops down, but it doesn't grip. It just unwinds. It's called your lumbo pelvic rhythm and then the head lifts up. Last one. Inhale up, exhale over.

Inhale again. Exhale up and over. Stay over those feet as much as you can. Tell your hands, come all the way down. If you have the flexibility to go ahead and bend your elbows. Inhale, exhale, push into your hand. Drop the shoulders on wind the spine. So this drops down, but it's working. Thighs working but not gripping.

And then we come all the way to standing and now we add thoracic lengthening. So we lift the chest head stays in line with the arms. The lumbar doesn't increase but the thoracic does. And then bring yourself set one more time. Inhaling [inaudible] and then exhale it and then that will complete the warmup portion and that can actually be done alone before any workout. Continuing on now with the reformer segment, we're going to start in kneeling.

Our bodies all warmed up. Starting in kneeling. I have it on one blue or one red spring depending on where you are for your pulling straps. Back, chest expansion, thigh stretch. So shoulders are back, Belize. In inhale, pl. Exhale, release. Inhale, pull. Exhale, release. Inhale, pull, look left. Don't move your right shoulder. Look right. Don't move your left shoulder center and then release again. Inhale, pull, look right, left look, center release. Last time. Inhale, pull, look left. Look Right, look, center release.

Now I'm going to sit myself down by reaching my buttocks underneath me. Loading my thighs. Arms, pole, thigh. Stretch up, back you go. Return. Sit down. Hold the load, hold the load, hold the load, release the load arms. Paul, sit up, kneel up, tighten thighs, tighten bom whole thigh. Stretch, back. Return. Hold the load. Sit yourself down.

Release the load. Last time. Arms, thighs, stretch. Return. Hold the load. Hold the load, hold the load. Release Nailing arms facing front. Curling those toes. Well up underneath you. Grabbing your straps, making sure they're not crossed. Start with your arms here, right by your side so that you're already started in a loaded position. So just with the arms reaching up and then they come down. Press back with your feet to engage your thighs and your buttocks as your arm reaches four, that's two will go to five.

Inhale and exhale. Last two, last one coming forward and holding right here. Now, minimal movement of the carriage as the arm goes out, a little bit comes in a little bit. Inhale, exhale. One more time out. One more time in hug a tree, holding those blades stable. We'll do hug a tree in this variation without the serratus. Just moving the arm bones, shoulder blades, staying in place. We'll go to five. Here's two and three.

Here's four, and then last one. Here's arms come down. Now we're going to do a low hug. It looks like this. Low Hug, return medium hug and open. Medium plus and open. High Hug and then lower down part way, feet, pressing back and open.

Medium hug and open and then low hug and then release right there. Let's take the straps and put them back. Going to add a red spring here as I get ready for the front splits. But first we'll do the front splits in a holding pattern. It looks just like this. Notice the position of this left foot.

It's going to be parallel to the floor. This left foot is pressing down. The back heel is pressing back, looking for all sorts of relationships in the front of that right thigh right now. Take an inhale. Exhale, right arm lifts up its side. Bends my body to the left, lengthening all down the Fastenal plane in the right side of my torso all the way to my thigh and I bring myself all the way back up. Hope I kept that left leg level other side, right foot up. So the feet are in two different positions here. Dorsey flection in the back. Plantar flection force in the front. Hip socket, back belly lifts. Left arm up whole side.

Bend the torso to the left without fighting in the neck. Find the length all the way down through the left knee. Left one more time. Side Ben, right and then bring it on up. Right foot comes down. Taking off one blue spring. I have one red spring on total for the low front splits.

Now take my left leg Baca, keeping this leg parallel, curling those toes under of the back leg. I reach out, I lower the heel, I raise the heel, I bring myself in to a level foot press trying to keep this leg level. Tighten up the Quadricep, lower the heel, raise the heel, bring it back in the light spring, makes it tough. Press lower lift, and then reach her. Switching legs. Press holding that right heel up, up, up, and then lowering the right heel. Raise it up and then bring it back in.

Okay. Out lower raise. And then Ben last time out, lower res and then end it in two legs. Come back to red springs. Now preparing for knee stretches. The first shape will be a rounded shape.

I'm gonna press my forehead into my hand to keep this front deep. Next section, tying into my deep front line right here. Holding the shape out. Whoa. Yeah, just exaggerating the breath for five or going to 10, six, seven. Seeing how scoop I can keep my trunk. Seven, eight, nine, and 10 from here, taking the time which your journey, my spine in a more linkedin position, holding arms, moving legs at the hip joint. Five more. Four, three, two, one holding this. Now nod the head, curling your spine up one more time.

We're going into an offset arm variation for the rounded version. Taking my left hand over to meet my right. My right arm is going to cuddle underneath my ribs to give me that feeling of the ribs up and the trunk inflection 10 times. This is a toughie. Three, four push equally with both of your legs. Six, seven, eight, curling under nine. I feel I got better as it went along and 10 right arm over left arm cuddles, so the carriage is still going back in the same fashion, but I've offset my arm. One, two, three, four, curling. Ooh. Now it's getting better. Six, push seven, eight and nine and 10 you can really feel in that exercise.

The acentric centric work of the glutes on the way back in from here. Lengthen up one more time. Inhale, big exhale again. Okay, I'm gonna Change my springs now to prepare for side arms and going to come up to annealing. Again, switching to the awareness. Now one arm, as I pull my arm across the body, I'm going to resist any rotation of my trunk. So some people call is draw a sword. I call it don't move your spine, but move your arm.

So we feel this relationship here and I'll do that two more times. And then last time, tiny the arms again to the trunk. So important hold there for five, four, tighten your thighs. Three and two and one. Now switching to what I like to call drive a school bus.

I'm going to put the strap now in my other hand, make this big round circle here and I'm going to twist my trunk and look at my hand and then return back five times. Inhale into the rotation, trying to row tall. Exhale, return. Here's the third one. Legs. Strong trunk rotates and come back two more times. Inhaling twists, exhaling, return, leave those elbows lifted. Inhale, twist, exhale. Return. One more time because these are so good for three.

One and pull two and tall three, hold five, four, three, two, one. Ah, the benefits of giving your own self a workout. You can shorten the count. Just three now one and then two. And then last time three, hold for five, four, three, two, one. And then return other side. Okay, I like to take the arm behind your back to remind that sacred to stay put one and then return leaving that left elbow lifted two going for five here, tightening up the thighs, three great.

And then four, and then last time, five and whole five and four. Long and strong. Three, two, one right arm comes out, grabs that strap and then rotate. Drive that school bus to the left and then return. This one does help if you have looking at your trunk so that you try hard not to lean two more times. And then last one for three.

Now we'll repeat the same pattern. Pull one. The good thing about Palladia is often is we don't have lots and lots of repetitions. Last one, hold five, four, three, two, one and then return, right arm comes out, rotate and return. And then rotate and return, and then last time rotate and return, and then the arms come down. Preparing now for our long stretch series, putting on two red springs. I like to put my feet back against the shoulder rests here and then here we go.

Long stretch series chess way over the bar. Inhale, go in for five to elbow. Creases are facing each other. Three thighs engaged, four last time, five and this long stretch coming in, dropping down, down. Stretch spine starts in this rounded position. We've been in this shape before we pressed back. We take the thigh creases forward, drop the shoulders down, down, stretching.

Look up, go back in the lengthen face. Nod the head, curl the spine. Woo. That's one. Come on forward. One of my favorite exercises. Lift. Go back in that length and shape and then now the head curling trunk. Resist yourself. That's too last one. Coming up, opening up the chest, pressing down on the arms to lift the collarbones up. Linger back and then nod yourself all the way back up.

Stretch, lift the knees, bottom lifting back for one forward for two, three, four. Linger. Five, nod the head. We really bike yourself up from your upper body out. Forward, forward pike up again from the upper body. And now these next two will pike in from the lower body. This one's a little bit easier. I led with the pelvis and not the head.

This is the fourth one leading with the pelvis and not the head. I have one more and I'm going to do it the harder way. Yeah, come forward, not the head. Pull the red book. [inaudible] oh, stretch elephant. Pull that carriage in. Oh well it didn't care. I'm going to close my feet in and then I can really get e centric to my glutes. Khan centric to my trunk. Three more. Two more.

Last one. I'm gonna bring my legs closer on a pull on this foot bar because it's locked and let's sit myself down. Hold that squat length in my torso up. Inhale. Exhale. I'm going to get over there to that bar. I'm going to get over there and I'm going to nod myself up again. Elephant two legs are engaged. Three, sitting down, squatting down. As I squat, my buck goes back, my trunk lifts that I link. I don't know, just be ready for something like this. Hush. But that's another workout. Again, forward, get that and then when myself up last time, one and two, rolling that bell again. Last time three.

I'll make it work. You tighten up on winding the spine all the way up. Standing Tall. Use that foot bar and alternate your legs. So important to stay up tall as we. Don't worry. I'm not going to jump off. I'm just going to use this. Who in the balances even better. Last two, last one. Repeating the pattern of standing.

Footwork one down two. This is actually better now than it was when I did the mat work cause my body and my legs and my heels are more connected now I go up, I bend, I zip, squeeze and lift. Ben, drop, squeeze, last one and then reverse bend. Live, zip drop. Then lift, zip drop. Last Time Ben, linger, lift and drop. Take yourself down. Take yourself off one. Rounding down. Take your forehead down, tighten your bottom, earn yourself, and now we're ready for the chair section. We're in our final segment now the chair work. We'll start with footwork finely.

You're saying finally footwork starting with the [inaudible]. V Taking my bottom to the very edge of the chair, lifting my heels up, allowing my ankle position to stay the same as I use my thighs to press the spring away. My feet might think that they're doing it, but I know it's my thoughts. Five more for back of the thighs. Three reluctantly lift two and then one separating the feet to bird feed. I'm going to start a little bit of a down shape of the leg so that as I lift the legs up, I feel this ecentric work here. Belly pulling in 10 times nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three toes stayed curled.

Two and one. Switching right to the heels, asking for ankle flection upward and go. Sometimes when I put my hands like this, it reminds me to keep my ankles like that at Harris five and four and three and two and one with my heels apart. On the bar. Number two, position, ankles, curl back, trunk long. Ten nine, resist eight seven, resist 10, six, five and four. Three and two and one. Pause with the legs up, getting ready for frog. Taking my legs to the front edge with my feet again.

Raised high legs. Open arms right there on the edge of the chair. Everything down, everything up. Five Times. Ankle stain, legs day. Two more last time. Arms stay legs, 10, nine, eight, seven and six five, four. I guess I don't need to count three, two, one and have a seat down on the chair. Taking myself off the chair. Going to single leg work.

Now I'm going to have one spring this high up here. Standing leg pumping with a little variation of a twist. First it looks like this. I'm going to bottom my leg out again, holding that heel in a nice position to formulate the connection through my leg. So takes a couple to get going and then now I'm ready to count. 10, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Here's the tricky part.

Adding rotation. 0987654321 coming back to center, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine and 10 bring that leg down harder than it looks. Stressing this other leg to getting long and strong and this leg growing up so that your pelvis lifts right off your hip socket. Takes a couple tickets. Started to get that connection into that back leg. Let the ankle stay in this, in the moving leg.

Ten nine eight seven six and four three two and one and rotate. Two three four five, six, seven, eight, nine and 10. Stay long as you come back. Seven, six, five, four, three and two and one. Lower down. Put the spring edge on that you would need. Now to go up front, we're going to do a little variation here. Adding a front lift going up front or a standing lunge and then you'll see what I mean here. You can watch it one time and then me to start with my right foot.

Press it all the way down. Step up, going up one time down, one time, step back, raise the leg, step back and come up and step down. Raise up and two times, two times and then step down, raise up, step back one, lift low two and then lift. Step forward. Step down. Ooh, whose idea was this? Here's three and down, two and a and three and down. Step off.

Raise up step back one and two and three and all the way up. Who have their leg left leg steps down. Step up one and down to the floor. Raise it up, step back and up. It's okay to be wobbly. It's even okay to fall too.

And then maybe not off the chair too and down. Step to the floor and raise with control. Step back one and two and step down. Raise up, here's one and two and three step down. Step up and one lift to lift three and lift. And now for Pike, one of my favorites. Step down, step up.

Make that Nice heel connection. Arms on the side of the chair, a gentle nod of the head to curl your neck in or what I mean is that your neck is flexed and your bottom is lift. You press down on your arms and you lift your bottom up and down and lift and then lift. Two more. This last one come up and stay up so that you can feel your rib connection make from your forehead to your knees and then you can hear the quiver in my voice and then come down. Now for side Pike or offset arms, we take this right arm to the back, left corner and left arm stays here to the back left corner and then nodding your head. And then I'm lifting up on this diagonal here. One, two, one, four, five, three, four, and then five bringing it down. One more. I'm going to take the same lift arm, put it on the front of the chair, and then I feel myself making a drive right around this corner and go in for five and four. Three sticky pads might help do. And then one, Ooh, feeling those left obliques a little bit more when I rotate to the left, now I go to the right back, right corner, head nods, belly lifts, thighs engaged. Go on for five. One Elvis, stay straight. Two, three, four, five, lift. Hold that lift and then slowly lower down. Moving it one step further, nodding, scooping.

And then lifting one and two and three. Ooh, righto. Obliques. Four and five. Hold and then lowered. Stepping off and stepping up. Preparing.

Now after that big flection to our back bend where we'll change our springs, lower them down one level. So I press my feet down. I lie my spine down. I'm going to let my legs come up, keeping my chin in until my chest lengthens. Resist throwing the head back and just reach your arms back to this back bend position. So feel the chest bone length. Lengthen. Watch this. Length and chest.

Then legs and legs and legs through the heels. The toes pulled up and then the legs lift the arms. Come up the head lift, articulating, articulating, rounding, and press five for feel. The rolling like a ball here. Three and one. Rolling back again. Last time, taking my arms out, unwinding the spine, opening up the chest, taking the arms back over the head. Second, connect, raising that chest and legs. One, two, or last time. Five whole. Feel the whole back. Bend come alive. And then the knees come in, the arms lift the head curls, the chest returns.

You bring yourself all the way up the spine rounds forward. Coming into a plank position here, holding your nice plank yourself. One really nice push off it down and up. Bottom lifts, legs come in on wining the spine, bending the knees. Feel your tailbone dropdown. Fix your shirt. Unwind your spine. Thanks for joining me.