Straightforward Reformer

We are going to have a little fun today and do a pretty basic reformer work-out. But, we're gonna use the Aero reformer made by Stamina, which a lot of you you may have at home for your home work out. And, Yuni is going to use the Balanced Body reformer. We're going to make some modifications and adjustments because we are not going to use the box. A lot of people don't have boxes at home so hang in there, I think you'll enjoy it.

We'll have a little bit of fun. And, those of you who have the Stamina Aero reformer will be able to use it a little bit better, and understand some of the differences. Here we go. So ladies, let's just start right there, put your arms at your side and lift up both feet into a releve, and then release them back down. And lift them up, and release them down.

And, do that again, bring them up and bring them down. And, one more time, and down. Now we are gonna do right, and then left. And right, and left, and right and left, and right, and left, and keep going, left, right, left, one more, hold the right up, and take it across. Just go across, kinda roll over your metatarsals, warm 'em up a little bit.

We're gonna get ya ready to go for footwork. Take that across. And stop. Really sit down. Bring the other leg up, other foot up, I should say, and take it across.

Feel your metatarsal heads, feel them, they're your friends. They're an integral part of you being able to walk, so make 'em move really well. Go back to the right, bring it up, and kinda circle around. And you can put your hand down and go yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, there ya go. Circle it around, move around.

And, go the other way, circle that around. Still feel the metatarsal heads as you roll around on 'em. Stop. Put the other foot up, and do your little circle around. Da da da da da, we need a little music, huh?

Circle it around (laughs), move it around, excellent. And now, go ahead and let's go the other way. Very, very, very good. And we're gonna stop here. All I want ya to do is rotate around to your right, and have a little attitude as you rotate, and look off behind your right shoulder.

And, twist back around to the center and all the way to the other side, to the left, so you get to look around the other way, as well. Go back to your right. Hold one, two, rotate, go back to your left, hold one, two, go back to your right, hold one, and left, one, right, one, left, one, last two, right, and last one, left. Come back to the center and roll your shoulders around. Roll 'em forward and back, excellent.

And then roll 'em back and front. Pretty simple. Okay, so we're gonna get down on the reformer, supine. You're gonna lie down. You're gonna have two springs on.

So, if you're using a regular reformer, two medium weight, a red spring, or a yellow, depending on what you're using. And on the Stamina Aero reformer, you'll have two of the bungee cords on. What I'd like you to do is to put your feet into the foot loops. So, find a comfortable way to do that. You could either push the carriage out with one leg, and put one foot in and then the other, or you can roll back with both legs, and put both feet in, if you are so inclined.

Once you get in, organize your body, put your arms at your side. Bring your feet, with the insides together, and pull 'em out just a little bit. Knees can be a little wide. And let's just do some simple frogs. Pressing out, and coming in.

If you're using a Stamina reformer and this feels too light, you could try adding another bungee cord to this, but it might up the weight significantly. On a Balanced Body, or other manufacturer reformer, two medium weight springs should be fine. Let's do two more of these. So, you're pushing out, you stay organized, tail bone stays down, then you extend out and hold, outwardly rotating your hip socket, and do some small circles. We're gonna circle out, and around, and together.

Four times, that's all you have to do. And, then you're gonna go in reverse, and circle the other way. All the while, double check what your body's doing. Bend your knees back in toward your chest, as if you're gonna start the frog again. And do a little quick body check.

Where's your tailbone? Where are your shoulders? Do you feel your rib cage against the reformer carriage? Are your shoulders open? Is your head down?

And by all means, as a double check, make sure your headrest is down, and it's not up. Okay, let's go back again. We're gonna do eight frogs, pushing out, coming in. Pushing out and coming in. Pressing out, put it in your head, double check where your body is.

Make sure nothing's moving but your legs, in an organized way, zipping up and opening wide. Let's finish with two more, very good. And then pull your knees back into your chest. That's it, straighten your legs up, almost to perpendicular. Flex your feet and pull forward about halfway.

So, pulling the carriage out. Point your feet and lift it back up. That's right. Flex and come down, make sure your tail bone's in place, point and come back up. Flex and come down, point and come back up.

You've got one more to do, here. Flex down, and point up, excellent. Bend your knees in toward your chest, take your feet outta the loops. Next, we're gonna change and we're gonna do a little bit more of a leg warmup. What I want ya to do is put all of your springs on, or put all four of your bungee cords on.

You may wanna only put four on, here, instead of all five. And once you've done that, lie back down on the reformer, keep your headrest down, put your feet up on the footbar, on the heel position, and line yourself up right there, arms at your side, excellent. And then we're gonna do just a heavy-weighted push out, and come back in, that's it, and come back in. Try to keep your body pulled together. Press it out and bring it back in.

If it's too heavy, try to deal with this for a little while, just so you can warm your legs up. Press out, and come in. You've got two more this way, pushing out, staying organized, coming back in. We're gonna change the rhythm, we're gonna work this way, we're gonna press out, we're gonna come in, hold, in, hold, in hold, and stop all the way in. So, lengthen out, in, stop, in, stop, in, stop, last one all the way.

Push back out again, press out. In, stop, in, stop, in, stop, in all the way. And again, just push it out, reach. In, stop, in, stop, in, stop, in all the way. Last one, out, in, stop, in, stop, in, stop, in all the way, reverse it.

Go out one, two, three, four, and come in on one, there ya go. Take it out one, two, three, four all the way, and in on one. And again, out one, two, three, four, in all the way. And last time, out one, two, three, four, come in all the way and relax. Let your legs drop side to side, kinda release 'em a little bit.

And, determine whether you'd like to lower your weight down. I suggest you might do that if you have everything on. We're gonna do our footwork series next. So, we're gonna start with our heels again. Okay?

Aha, so you can do it one of two ways. You can have the feet completely together and centered, or you could have it as Amy is right here, where we have the heels, and the knees, and the hips lined up. That may feel better for some of you. And also, keep in mind on the Stamina reformer, this footbar is much narrower, so it will feel very different when you do a lot of weight on the exercise, as opposed to a padded, wider footbar. Okay, so we're just gonna simply go ten times.

Push out, and come back in. Lengthen your legs out and come back in. Think of elongating your body, coming out the top of your head as you go out, and come back in. Excellent, keep going. Press and come back in.

Lengthen out and come back in. Yuni having her feet together, Amy having her feet separated. Great, let's finish off with two more. All the way out and come back in. Next, let's go to our arches.

So, you're gonna lower your feet on the bar. If you're there alone, double check, make sure your feet are in the center of the bar. And then, dome your foot over the bar like a baby domes it's foot. And hold that position. And press out, and come in.

There we go. We're gonna go 10 here, as well. You may get a little crampy feeling in your feet, ouch. If you do, let go, stop moving, let the cramp go away, and eat your bananas later. Press out, come back in, push out, good.

Make sure you lengthen your legs and continue the flow of energy all the way up and out the top of your head. Let's do two more. I probably lost count, who knows? This is 12 This is 12, now 14, okay (laughs). Alright, we've gotta let go of that crampy position I know you're in.

Let's lower back down right here, onto your metatarsals. Lengthen your body out and away. Hold it there, organize, figure out where you are, and work your feet. Drop your heels down and lift up. So you go down, two, three, and up, two, three.

Down, two, three, and up, two, three. Down, two, three, little tiny footbar here. Bigger footbar here, it's gonna feel different. Down, two, three, up, two three. Again, down, two, three, up, two, three.

Let's do three more of these. Up, two, three, really lift up. Make the arch of your foot work. Make all those muscles and bones work together to strengthen your foot. Release, bend your knees and bring the carriage on home.

Good, next position, we're gonna go to Pilates V. So, you're on your metatarsals. Now, on the smaller reformer here, with the smaller footbar, it's gonna be pretty difficult for you to get your foot to wrap around, but see what you can do. Pretend like you have a claw there, and it's pretty loose, okay? Once you're in, organize and push out.

And come back in, that's it. Lengthen out, and come back in. Lengthen out, and come back in. Boy, it's a different thing here, isn't it? Mm hmm.

So, in the old days, the reformers had pretty narrow bars on them. This one's probably narrower than most, but it's pretty narrow. I guess Mr. Pilates made you really work your feet. Let's do nine or 10? 10 (laughs), and push out.

Alright, organize and come all the way back in. Last position. Let's bring your heels to the outer edges of your footbar, okay? Make sure that you've got your knees coming out over your feet, as best you can. And what I want you to do for this final one, is to pretend like you're grabbing pencils with your toes.

There ya go, so you can activate, don't let go of my pinky, and so you can activate your arch again. Here we go. Press out, and come back in, very good. Lengthen away, and come back in. Lengthen away, and come back in, excellent.

Pushing out, wrap your feet this way, there ya go. You've got six more, yeah we're feelin' the cramps, the cramps are happening, aren't they? You remember me. Cramps are good, sometimes. Is that gonna become a blooper?

More than likely. Push out, and here we go, one more time, alright. Bring your feet back to the center. What I'd like you to do is, we're gonna do a little running right now, to kind of reintegrate and get a little movement. So, press the carriage away.

Alternate and visualize in your head that the movement is your knees pulling up, pulling up, pulling up, your pelvis staying stable, you're organized deep inside, and your legs are moving, there ya go. Finishing off with four, three, two, and one. Bring the carriage all the way back in, and bring your knees in towards your chest. And give yourself a little bit of a hug there, stretching your legs. If you want, reach around and grab the back of your thighs and pull them in a little deeper, pulling your knees in toward your shoulders so you have a nice stretch.

And then kinda rock yourself a little bit side to side, so you may wanna let go a little bit. Remember on the Aero Pilates, don't go too far because this carriage is a little smaller than a bigger studio carriage. So, just move side to side. Excellent, excellent, excellent. Okay, what I'd like you to do is to stand up.

We're gonna go to one red spring, or we're gonna go to one bungee cord. And you may need to adjust that. The bungee cord, if one is too light, you may need to go to two. We're actually gonna do Eve's lunge now. So I'd like you to do Eve's lunge.

Let's start with your right knee on and your left foot on the floor. So you're gonna bring your standing leg up close to the upright support of your reformer. Make sure you've got the majority of your weight on the standing leg. And then basically think in your head, squat into your standing leg, and come back up. Yeah, keep your knee down, no, keep your knee down, that's it.

And then come back up. So, we're gonna move. We slide out, and we slide and come back in. Slide out, thinking in your head, stay balanced in here, in your pelvis, so that you're centered. Slide out, and come back in.

And one more time, slide it out, bring it back in. Let's change sides, so we can do both sides. So, again, the proportions are a little bit different. And when you're using the Aero reformer, just place your foot up against the shoulder foam pads. And, on the regular reformers, you're pushing your foot up against the shoulder block.

So, just push out, and come back in. There ya go, push out, and come back in. Very good, push out, and come back in, excellent. Push out, and come back in. From right there, take the leg off.

You're gonna get back down on the reformer. And, you're gonna put on two, two bungee cords or two springs. Something medium weight, so two reds would be fine. Excellent, lie back down and pick up your loops. So, Amy's got a short loop and a long loop, and she's gonna grab the longer loop.

And Yuni has got one loop on this reformer. If you have handles, then you would grab the handles. Bring your feet up. I'm gonna put her footbar down. Okay, on this reformer the footbar can go down.

On the other reformer, on the Stamina reformer, this is the lowest position it goes in, so you have to keep that in mind, okay? Bring your legs into tabletop, okay? Bring your arms up, pull your arms down, lift 'em back up. Simple, simple, simple. I'm gonna show you two versions today.

Amy is gonna continue with the arm movement, and she's gonna add flexion and an upper body curl. Yuni is going to stay down. She's not gonna lift her head. For those of you who may have some issues with your back, you don't have to curl up. You can engage your belly as you do this.

If you wanna add a little extra, if you're not lifting your head, as you pull, stop for a split second and pull you knees in a little bit, and then release. So, there's two options for you. Amy's doing the one with the head lift. Yuni is pulling her arms and pulling her knees in, okay? Now, leave your head down, Amy, and you can stop that movement.

Lift your arms back up, take 'em out to the side. You're gonna cup your arms and pull in, working nice and strong. And and open back out again. Yuni is gonna stay in this position, just working her lats. You can move your arms a little lower.

And, Amy is gonna start to lift her head up 'cause she wants a little bit more of a challenge. And then she's gonna release back down. And, if you want more of a challenge, and you wanna go for a lot of that flexion, you can hold your head up and move in. Now, pick up your speed just a little bit. So, you're pulling in and opening.

In and opening, try to get a connection, reach your arms long, long, long, long as you do this. We're gonna finish with three more, two more, last one, put your head down if it's up, bring your arms back and release. You can put your legs forward and relax for one second. Okay, so you have a couple of options. Couple of options to do some of these exercise, here.

Alright, are we ready for some more? Let's go. What we're gonna do now, put your handles down. We're gonna flip around a little bit. And, let's bring your footbar back up, and we're gonna go to the long stretch position.

Boy, this isn't a historical work out at all, is it? (laughs) Alright, so your headrest needs to be up for long stretch. Step off to one side of the reformer. The Stamina reformer, we've got the narrow footbar. Balanced Body, we've got a bigger footbar, it's gonna feel very different.

Okay, so your hands step on one at a time, here. Come up on your reformer and get in the long stretch position. Put your feet right in the headrest, there ya go. Hold the position. If you're in this position, your whole body's gotta work.

Sit there, grin and bear it. Okay, we're doing the plank, this is a plank challenge in Pilates, do we like it? Alright, make sure your bunda, your back end, is working, you're organized. Push the carriage back, pull the carriage in, as far as you can. I know it's a tough one.

You're gonna try to do five. If you can't do five, do four, or do three, okay? And, bring in back in. Kneel down, sit back and take a stretch. Alright, I need more challenge, Kevin, I wanna work harder.

Oh, you do? Okay, so here's what we're gonna do. Amy can't necessarily do that, which is what I want everyone to do, is take the reformer bar up higher. So, I'm gonna put Yuni's bar up. I'm gonna leave Amy's bar where it is, okay?

But I'm gonna ask Amy if she might be interested in taking off one of her bungee cords? I'll try. Okay. We'll see. So we're gonna see if that works.

Yuni's gonna keep her bungee cords on. Or, her bungee cords, her springs (Amy laughs). And she's gonna come back up on the reformer and do the long stretch. We're gonna have a little bit more of a challenge here. Yeah, and you're gonna, so, on the Stamina reformer, if it's too much to have only one bungee cord on, don't move, hold it.

Yuni's gonna come forward. The higher the footbar, the more challenge on the shoulder. You may not be prepared to do this, so don't do it. Try five of them. Smile as you do it (laughs), and then kneel down.

Look at Amy, one bungee cord, she's a strong woman. I'm not movin' very much. Okay, kneel down and sit back and stretch, okay. (exhales sharply) This is an interesting workout. Let's change and make some adjustments here.

Amy doesn't have to make an adjustment, we're gonna do down stretch. So you're gonna kneel down, place your feet up against the shoulder blocks. One or two? Uh, I would go back to your two bungee cords, and two red springs. But Yuni never changed her spring load.

Okay, come into your down stretch position, pushing the pelvis forward, feeling an arch start here at the pubic bone, and lifting all the way back up through your head. Inhale as you push the carriage back, exhale as you pull the carriage in. Inhale as you push it back, we're only gonna do five. And, inhale as you push back. And then we're gonna change and do another exercise.

You'll stay in the same equipment set-up. Good, we're gonna do two more. Try two more, inhale back, exhale front. Keep lifting, feel the stretch go from the chin all the way down to your knees. Sit back and take a short break.

As you sit back, we're going to stay in a similar position, but you're going to lift your pelvis up, pushing the carriage out so your head is between your arms, and the carriage is away from the stopper at the front part of the reformer. Okay, from there, hold that position, bend your elbows and bring the carriage in. And then press and go back out again. So, let's have your elbows bend to the side, that's it. So, feel the work in your shoulders.

You may get too much work in your shoulders, or not. This is a little Eve Gentry exercise. Keep the pelvis engaged so that you've got some organizational structure happening to support your back. Let's do one more. Okay, now take your right arm behind you, and let's work on the left arm only.

And I'll give you an option, you can have the elbow bending to the side, or you could have the elbow bending down. That's your choice of what feels better. Be sure to focus. And finish by just doing six, and then you get to change sides. Don't start right away.

Get in your position, organize your body, and then bend your elbow and move the carriage. Experiment if you want, with the position, with the narrow elbow or wide elbow, that's up to you. We're doing upper body work, here. Upper body work. And, bend your elbow, woo.

One side's probably gonna feel totally different than the other side. You may go ahead and stop and sit back and stretch. Bring the carriage back into its home place. Okay, we're gonna change, we're gonna stand up on top of the carriage. For Yuni, I'm gonna put her footbar up in the higher position.

And for Amy, we're gonna do the same thing. This footbar changes a little bit differently, I have to kinda pull it up and drop it down, and it's in place right there, okay? I want you to stand on top of the carriage and face the footbar with your feet close to the front end. Come into a little wider stance, about hip width, right? Hang on to your footbar.

Be careful if your footbar at home does not lock, don't pull back on it. Now, bend your knees and straighten your legs a few times. Bend your knees and straighten your legs. Get yourself accustomed to getting your hamstrings stretched. Bend and straighten, you've got one more to do.

Alright, little elephant prep, walk back to the position for elephant, putting your heels against the shoulder blocks, alright. Dropping your head and chest down, keeping your arms and your shoulders open and wide, and then pull way up through your torso, so you round your lumbar area and a little bit as the thoracic starts. Lift your toes up, here we go. Inhale back, exhale under, inhale back, exhale under, inhale back, exhale under. Small movements, three more.

Inhale back, exhale under, inhale back, exhale under, one more time. Bring the carriage in, hold it, organize your body, we're gonna go to one leg. Take the right leg straight back and flex the foot. And here we go, working just the left leg, that's it. Inhale back, exhale under, try to keep your body organized.

Try to keep it in control, two more. Good. Hold it there, bring your leg down. Let's take the other leg up. Take the left leg back, be aware of what's going on in your shoulders.

Inhale back, exhale under, inhale back, exhale under. Lift up a little bit higher here, Yuni, there ya go. Not your leg, your pelvis. Oh Yeah, not your leg, your pelvis. One more, and stop and bring the carriage down.

Or bring the leg down, bring the carriage down. Alright, very good. Walk your feet forward again, where you started. Let's finish off by bending your knees and straightening your legs again. That's it, five times and then you're gonna step off the carriage, and stretch.

So, step off of the carriage, step on to the floor. Reach your arms up, take a big stretch back, and then bring it back down in place. Excellent, okay. Moving now to short spine. So, let's put the headrest down.

You're gonna keep two bungee cords on or two springs, whichever you have in your equipment. And I'm gonna move the footbar down on Amy's, and I'm gonna put it down slightly on Yuni's reformer. And then what I'd like you to do is to keep the two springs on, lie back down and put your feet in the loops. You may do three or four frogs to get yourself accustomed to being back in the loops again, and then we're gonna do some short spine. Just pressing out and coming in.

One more time, and then pull your knees into your chest for the start of short spine. Inhale, straighten your legs out, exhale, keep your legs together, start to bring the feet back, as they pass the pelvis, curl up, lift up in the air, bend your knees in toward your chest, keeping your feet touching, and roll the whole body down in one piece. When your tail bone touches, stop. Take a breath in again, pushing the legs straight out. Exhale, bring your legs back and over, up in the air, there we go, peel off, bend your knees in toward your chest.

And again, roll the body down as a unit, bringing it all the way down, press through. And again, bring your legs back, exhale, bring them all the way back, bring 'em up and over, peel off, bend your knees in. Let your knees be about as wide as your shoulders, and control your body down until your tail touches. Finish with four frogs, pushing out and coming in. Excellent, and then you're gonna pull your knees in toward your chest, and take yourself out of the foot straps.

Very, very good. Okay, what I'd like you to do now is kneel on the reformer. And we're gonna actually kneel facing the back end. So put your knees up against the shoulder blocks. Let's do one thing.

Actually, let's go to one, one bungee cord or one spring, so it's not too heavy. Once you're kneeling, put your hands on the supports of the reformer. So, for this piece, you're gonna try to put your hands up here, right. You may want to, on your Stamina piece, actually wrap your hands around the other way. Come into neutral position with your knees against the shoulder blocks.

And then, from there, round the back, just the back. And then pull the knees toward your hands, pulling the carriage, whoa, and then bring it back. And again, pull the carriage in, and bring it back. Good, keep your back rounded, just move the legs. Think of this as a reverse knee stretch, you probably know it.

One more, put both hands on the left hand side of the carriage support or the rail, and pull again. Pull, try to round your back. Try to round your back, pulling the knees in and releasing, pulling the knees in, and releasing. One more time, and releasing. Stop, switch to the other side.

Hold that position, round the back a little bit, round your back. And again, pull the knees in, and bring it back. Be careful if you're on the Stamina piece of equipment that you're in a comfortable place, and you don't have the carriage run into you, because it tends to be a little longer by the shoulder blocks than some of the other equipment. Go one more time, and release. Ahhh, now just take a couple of seconds to do a cat and cow stretch in that position.

There ya go. Very, very good. And then we're gonna step off the reformer. We're gonna set it up for stomach massage. We're not gonna do the round back position, we'll do the flat back and the twist.

So we need two springs or two bungee cords. And if you need a sticky pad, grab your sticky pads and put them down. And I'm gonna lower the footbar on this reformer, and on the Stamina reformer this is the lowest footbar, so you'll have to find a comfortable position. Let's put our arms back and we'll do straight arms. We'll still keep the two springs on for flat back.

So we're gonna do six. We're gonna press out, lower lift and come in. Here we go. Pushing the carriage out, lower your heels, lift your heels, bend your knees and come in. And again, pressing out, lower and lift, and bend, and come in.

And again, out, lower lift, bend, and come in. Three more, out, lower lift, bend, and come in. Out, lower lift, bend and come in. One more time, out, lower lift, bend, and come in. Bring your arms from the back to the front and continue.

Pushing out, lower lift, bend, and come in. Excellent, pushing out, lower lift, bend, and come in. Good, lift up through the chest, ah, doesn't that feel good? Here we go, out, lower lift, bend, and come in. Two more please, out, lower lift, bend, and come in.

And one more time. Okay, we're gonna rotate, we're gonna turn to the right, so you're gonna reach and straighten and come back to the center. No lower lift here. Reach and straighten and open. You want us to-- And come back to the center.

What's that? Are we coming in? Yeah, come in all the way, right. Push out and come back in and reach. And again, out, and come back in, and stretch and reach and rotate, and come back to the center, and come back in, and we're only gonna do two more.

Lengthen and reach and come back in, and one more time, and reach and come back in. Reach forward now, and grab the foot bar, if you can. And if you can give yourself a little stretch, go ahead and do so. Again, you may have to open your feet. Sometimes what helps, some people like to stand on the outside support, too, of the reformer, if they wanna take a little stretch there.

Isn't that fun? We're havin' a good time, right (laughs)? So, as you've noticed we have not used the box, so we're not gonna use the box. What we're going to do next is we're gonna do a little cardio segment, and we're going to put in the jump boards. So, bring the carriage home, and let's install the jump boards.

On the Stamina we have the cardio jump board, which is more like a trampoline. And on the Balance Body we have a steady jump board. Okay, we're gonna start first by just gently pressing out, bringing our feet off, and then landing and coming back in. Remember with the jumps, right, you're landing metatarsals to the heels, metatarsals to the heels. Press out and take a little jump and go (exhales) out, and come back in.

And out, and come back in, right. And out, and come back in. Out, and come back in, there ya go. Make sure your jump board is installed correctly. In the Stamina reformer, the footbar comes out.

In the Balanced Body reformer, the footbar stays up on this particular model, and the jump board goes in for additional support. Okay, we're gonna stop and change the position. We're gonna come into Pilates V, or perhaps you can think about first position ballet, and you're gonna hold there and jump, and come back down. Press out, toe to heel. Press out, toe to heel.

Press out, toe to heel. On a reformer that has a carriage that can be adjusted in or out, like a Balanced Body, you may wanna play with that adjustment. We've left Yuni in the front position, but you may wanna take the position out further. It's up to you, at home. One more time, and stop.

Okay we're gonna do a little dance movement. We're going to press out, cross cross, and land. What is that called? Changement Changement, there we go, alright. Press out, changement, come in.

Ah, it's a little coordination. If you don't get it yet, keep tryin'. Press out, cross cross, come in. Press out, cross cross, come in, whoa. Press out, cross cross, come in.

Watch the weights on your reformers. If you need to lower it, stop, don't go anything crazy, and change the weight. One more time, alright. Stopping there, changing your position, so you're gonna be as parallel as you possibly can be, perhaps a little bit wider. And you're gonna do a small jump, so you're just gonna press out and jump, and come back in.

Jump and come back in. So, fast out, slow in, fast out, slow in, fast out, slow in. You'll have a lot more bounce on the Stamina, with the Aero end than you will on a solid piece of wood, on your Balance Body, your Peak, or whatever you're using. Let's do two more. Pressing out and coming in, and one more time.

Okay, reorganize. We're gonna go to one leg. You may want to drop your weight down. You may wanna come down to just one spring or one bungee, I'm gonna put you down to one, okay? And I want you to be in parallel, so I can show you here with Yuni.

Come into a position holding the other leg in, okay? Try to keep your pelvis in alignment as best you can, and try a few to get started. Press out and lift a little, and come back in, there ya go. If it's too light, and you really want more weight, then you can go ahead and put another spring or bungee cord on. Press out, and come back in.

If you wanna add a little bit of a challenge, straighten the leg that you're holding bent in the air. Or, you can bend as it comes in and straighten as it goes out, that's it. Bend as you come in, and straighten as you go out. Good, try to enjoy the ride out (laughs), okay? Try to make it almost slow motion.

Slow motion. Stop, switch sides. Become accustomed to this. Get into position, line your leg up. And again, push out, slow motion and come in.

There ya go, press out, keep the control. Enjoy the ride, lengthen and come back in. Lengthen and come back in. There ya go, lengthen and come back in. Let's do two more, press out, you can add that straighten and bend of the leg if you wanna get really fancy.

And then let's do a few more with just one cord or one spring on. So come back into a little Pilates V or first position, and press out there. Be careful, don't push too hard, because it's only got a light load on. You may end up at the other end, stuck. So lift and lengthen, and feel like you're flying, and come back in.

Lengthen and feel like you're flying, and come back in. And again, press out and come back in. Whoa, there you go. Two more, push out, come back in. Look at Amy, she's going way out, and barely coming back in, and stop.

Okay, very good. We're gonna move now, so I'm gonna give you a couple of seconds to take your jump board off. And we're gonna change it up and do some splits. Now that you've put your tramp away, or your jump board away, we're moving on to some splits. We're gonna start from the floor.

So you're gonna stand next to your reformer. Let's start with your right leg up against here, and your left foot up against the shoulder block. Okay, so make sure that your pelvis is even, and begin with your knee bent, actually. So, all you're gonna do is try to balance, and straighten and bend your leg. And while we're doing this, notice if you have the Stamina Aero reformer that we've taken the footbar out, so it's out of the way.

I've put Yuni's footbar down. So, after we do the straighten and bend, let's straighten and then split out. So you straighten your leg, split out, pushing from the back leg, splitting down, bringing the carriage back in, bending the left leg. So you straighten the left, you elongate out, you bring it back, and you bend. Put your hands on your hips.

That helps you realize where you are in space and whether or not your pelvis is tilting too much. Straighten and split, come back and bend. Stop, and let's walk around and do the other side. Step around, step in. So your left foot would go against the upright support of the reformer, on this particular model your right foot goes up against the shoulder block.

Your right knee is bent. Amy can't stand against the reformer, 'cause there is no external set up. And she's gonna straighten her leg, and bend the knee and come back in. So, just do the straighten and bend a few times. Your balance may be thrown off.

Once you achieve your balance, you're gonna straighten the leg, split out, bring the carriage back, and bend the knee. So there ya go. You've gotta be very careful and remember, one spring is about all you need. You may wanna add a quarter spring, you could have it a little bit heavier. But it's gonna be difficult to maintain your balance.

Come back in. Let's finish off and do one more, straightening the leg, pressing out, bringing it back, and bringing it in. Okay, take that foot off that's on top. We're gonna do some side splits now. So, Amy's gonna step up here on this platform, and Yuni's gonna step up on here on this platform first.

Amy is using two pads here, because on some of the Stamina pieces, the carriage is lower than the standing platform and it may throw people off. And Yuni's only got one pad, so she doesn't slip. So, step up on the sturdy platform first. And then change and step out onto the carriage. Start with your arms extended and open, there we go.

And press the carriage away. And bring the carriage back in. Simple stuff, oh my god, they're meeting in the center, there we go. Pressing it out, bringing it in, pressing it out, bringing it in. On the next one, stay out, hold the position.

Look down, look up, bring the carriage in. There ya go, so you're gonna push out, there's that hand, look down, look up, bring the carriage in. Don't move the carriage when you're out there. Bring the carriage home now. And again, press out, hold it, turn your head to the right, bring your head to the center, turn your head to the left, bring your head to the center, bring the carriage back in.

Little bit different, challenge your balance. Press out, turn your head right, center, left, center, bring it on home, stop. Make sure the carriage is in. Step off the reformer with the leg that's on the reformer carriage first. And then walk around and do the other side.

Okay, so you step up on the sturdy platform that doesn't move. Once you're up there, step out onto the reformer, hold your arms out. Yeah, be aware this Stamina carriage is very squishy when you stand on it. Some of the others are not so much, so make sure you've got your balance pulled together. Take the carriage and move.

Split out, come back in, good. Feel the inner thighs working, push out. Bring the carriage back in. Make sure your pelvis is stable. Bring the carriage back in.

We're gonna go one more time, pressing out, and bringing the carriage in. This time take it out, stay there, hold it sturdy. Look down, look up, bring the carriage in. And again, take the carriage out, look down, look up, bring the carriage in. Alright, again, take it out, turn your head to the right, and come to the center.

Turn your head to the left, and come to the center. Bring the carriage in. One more time, take it out, here we go. Hold it here, turn it right, bring it center, and left. Here we go, bring it center, bring it in.

Make sure the carriage is home. Step the leg that's on the reformer carriage off first, and step back. Hah, very good. Okay, let's do a little stretch and we'll finish off. So, turn around and face out, there we go.

From there, let's raise up on our toes, and let's come back down. And raise up again, and come back down. Raise up again, and one more time. And you've been practicing your balance with those splits, so what I want you to do is to pray for balance, and come up on your knee. On your knee, with your knee up, there ya go.

Hold it there, reach your arms out, open your palms to the ceiling and lift, two, three, four, five, six, seven, and stop. Lower it down and switch. Pray (laughs), lift your knee. We all gotta pray, man, these days. Reach your arms out and lift, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, lower down.

Stay on your right, pray, lean back, whoa, come front, and come down. Stay on your left, pray, how's your balance? Lean back, come front, lower down. Reach your arms up, palms reaching back behind you, rotate them open, lift your chest, reach back, come forward, bring your arms down, and bring them all the way. And thank you.

Thank you.