Strong Mat Variations

Hi, my name is Brett Howard, and today, we're going to do a mat class, and I have Andy and Aaron, double A. (Brett laughs) And let's start on the hands and the knees, just to warm up the spine. Hands are gonna be directly underneath your shoulders. Knees are gonna be directly underneath your hips. Round the back like an angry cat, dropping the head, dropping the tailbone.

Cat Cow

Inhale, round the back, and exhale, arch the back. Now, if your knees are healthy, just sit back on the heels. Stretch out your back, child's pose. There we go. Then keep your seat connected to the heels.

Child's Pose

Soles of the feet will be flat onto the mat. You're gonna have your feet in line with your knees, knees in line with your hips, thumbs with fingers holding onto the back of your thighs. Nice broad, wide, elbows. Start with the tailbone. Curl the spine down one vertebra at a time, keeping the elbows nice and broad.

Half Roll Back

Roll up tailbone, lower back, middle back, upper back, neck, head. And again, start with the tailbone. Curl down one vertebra at a time. When the arms get to full extension, hold there, and then rounding forward, nose goes to knees. Good, start with the tailbone.

Roll up tailbone, lower back, middle back, upper back, neck, and head. Let's go for two more. Start with the tail. Curl down one vertebra at a time. As you're rolling, think of your feet being like pancakes on a skillet.

Now lead with the crown of the head. Curve forward, nose to knees. Roll up tailbone, lower back, middle back, upper back, neck, head. Last time, start with the tailbone. Tailbone under, rolling down one vertebra at a time.

This time, you're gonna hold there. Take the arms. Reach them forward and hold for three, two, one. Roll down a little bit more and hold for five, four, three, two, one, roll a little bit more down, and hold for 10, nine, eight, seven, five, four, three, two, one. Roll all the way down through your spine.

Flip over on your stomach for a second. One hand will go on top of the other hand. Forehead will go right on top of that. Now, the first three, you're gonna keep the hands pressed into the mat. You're just going to lift your upper back up, but the hands, the forearms will stay down.

So lift the upper back up. Good. And now walk down your spine one vertebra at a time, delaying the head. Head will be the last thing down. Good, and again, lift the upper body up.

Swan Prep

Lift the upper body up, and walk down your spine, one vertebra at a time. Now, three more, but this time, you're gonna keep your forehead connected to the hands. You're going to lift your upper body up. Good, and then walk down your spine, one vertebra at a time, all the way down. And twice more.

Swan Variation

And again, breathing in, breathing out, staying nice and relaxed in the shoulders. Last time, take a deep breath in and a big breath out. Lower all the way down. Counter-stretch, child's pose. All right, now start with the tailbone.

Child's Pose

Good. Then from there, you're gonna start with the sternum. You're gonna melt down through your spine, one vertebra at a time, all the way down to the tailbone. Good. And once again, start with the tailbone, rolling up, lifting up to a nice bridge.

Bridge

This time, I want you to hold there. Lift the arms up and reach the arms overhead, two, three. Now, keep the hips up. Bring the arms down, and then all the way down onto the mat. Let's do that again.

Lift the arms up. Sorry, still keeping the hips up. You're gonna lift the arms up. Inhale, exhale, reach back, back, back. Inhale, arms go forward.

Exhale, arms go down onto the mat. One more time. Inhale, lift the arms up and reach back, back, back. Now hold there. Like a seesaw, you're gonna roll the spine down as you roll the head, neck, and shoulders up, and you're gonna reach forward through the fingertips and engage the abdominals, but make sure that there's weight on the sacrum, weight on the tail.

Now, lift the hips up as the head, neck, and shoulders back backwards into a good seesaw position. Excellent, guys. Now, start with the upper back. Melt down through your spine. As you go to the tailbone, you're gonna roll the head, neck, and shoulders up.

Engage the abdominals. Good, and then lift the hips up as the head, neck, and shoulders go back, and one more time. Roll the spine down as the head, neck, and shoulders roll up, engaging the abdominals, tailbone nice and weighted, hips nice and down. Now just roll your upper body down and relax. Good.

Bring your feet together, knees together, soles of the feet flat. Now I want you to keep the hands on the mat. We're not gonna lift them up. You're just gonna slide the fingertips forward along the mat as you roll the head, neck, and shoulders up and think of curling in on yourself like a tight snake coiling. Now, roll down through your spine, one vertebra at a time, all the way down.

Good, let's do that again. Slide the fingertips along the mat as you roll up through your spine. Good, now hold there. Keep the hands down. Try to go a little bit more.

Go a little bit more. Try to get those fingertips almost to the heels or even past it, that's the idea. Then roll down. It doesn't mean it has to happen, but it's just the idea. All right, once again, slide the fingertips forward and curling in, curling in, curling, now hold there.

Keep that position. Put more weight on your sacrum so you're not tucking. All right, and then roll down through your spine all the way down, and we're gonna for two more. Slide the fingertips forward and curl in. Curl in.

Curl in. Good, and then roll down through your spine, all the way down. Good. Last time. Slide the fingertips forward and curl in, curl in, curl, hold there.

Now what you're gonna do is you're gonna lift your right leg up, knee to knee. There we go. Actually, I'm gonna bring it right there. Now, you're gonna bring the other leg to it. Now, rotate the legs, heels together, toes apart.

Lift the arms up right above the waist. Curl up one more inch, another inch. Now, pump above the waist as you breathe in, two, three, four, five, and exhale, three, four, five. Inhale, and exhale, three, four, five, three, two, three, four, five. Exhale, three, four, five.

Inhale, three, four, five. Exhale, three, four, five. One more set. Exhale, three, four, 50, hold there. Bring the arms over your head.

Try to curl up one more inch, palms facing forward, and then pump back, two, three, four, five, exhale, three, four, five, inhale, three, four, five, exhale, three, four, five. Three. And exhale, three, four, five. Two more. Exhale, three, four, five, one more.

And exhale, three, four, five, knees into the chest, hug the legs, and relax. Good. I'm gonna have you guys bring your feet underneath this strap here. There we go, and you can then lie down, having good tension on the strap. Arms are gonna go straight up to the ceiling.

Now, you're gonna bring your chin to the chest. You're gonna roll up one vertebra at a time and then roll right into a C curve, hands forward, stomach back, head nice and relaxed. Then start with the tailbone. Roll down through your spine, one vertebra at a time, all the way down. Once you're down, bring the arms overhead as far back as you can control without splaying the ribs.

Okay, arms go to the ceiling. Roll the head through the arms. Roll up through your spine, one vertebra at a time. Find a C curve, stomach back, fingertips forward, nice. Start with the tailbone.

Roll down through your spine all the way down and then arms are gonna go slightly back past the shoulders once you get down. Let's do that three more times. Arms to the ceiling, chin to chest, inhale, rolling up, and exhale, C curve, pulling down through these underarm muscles. Excellent, now start with the tailbone. Round down one vertebra at a time, and exhale all the way down.

Two more. Chin to chest, inhale, rolling up, and exhale, C curve, hands forward, stomach back. Find that opposition, nice. Start with the tailbone. Round down one vertebra at a time.

And exhale all the way down, last time. Rolling up one vertebra at a time, and C curve, hands forward, stomach back, rolling down, massaging the back. This time when you get to the base of the shoulder blades, you're gonna hold there. Bring the hands behind the base of the head. Now, just slide the feet in.

Mmhmm, yep, bend the knees, slide the feet in. Bring the knees into the chest. Now, extend your right leg straight up. Extend your left leg out at a 45-degree angle. Now, you're looking at that foot.

Don't let that left leg move. You're going to bring the right leg across the body, circle down, and come up. Good, and across. Now I'm gonna play Operation. Don't touch me here.

Cross. (Brett imitates Operation buzzer) Up. And again, across. (Brett buzzes) And up. One more time, across, and up.

Reverse. Go straight own, across, and up. Down two, across and up. Down three, across and up. All right, Speed Racer.

Down four, across and up. One more time, (Brett buzzes) don't touch me, good. Bend the knee. Actually, don't bend the knee. Scissor.

Good. Now, same thing. Go across the body, down, and come up. Across, (Brett buzzes) don't touch. Cross. (Brett buzzes)

Down and up. Two more, cross and up. One more time, cross up, reverse. Go straight down, across, up. Down and across.

Down and across. Down and across, good, down and across, knees into the chest and hug your legs. And you can rest, good. Both legs out onto the mat. Arms to the ceiling, good, and then roll up to your spine, one vertebra at a time.

Good. Now scoot your bottom forward to the heels for rolling like a ball. You're gonna broad, have broad elbows, tight, tight ball. Now, I want you to imagine that there's a ball in between your heels and your bottom. You're going to hug that imaginary ball with the heels.

You're gonna start with the tailbone. You're gonna roll backwards. As you come up, pull into the imaginary ball with the heels. Good. And again, rock backwards, pull into that imaginary ball.

Excellent, guys. Four more. Rock back, pull into that imaginary ball. Three more. Rock back.

Pull into that ball. Two more. And forward through the crown of the head. One more time. Curl down and curl right back up.

Now, you're going to keep that position. You're going to keep the right hand on the ankle. Left hand will go onto your right knee. Exactly, right? Left leg out 45 degrees.

It's like playing Twister. Now start with the tailbone. Slowly, slowly, slowly roll down through your spine 'til you get to the base of your shoulder blades. Then you're gonna pull that right leg in, change. Pull the left leg in, change.

Right, change. Left, change. Three, change, three, change, four, change, four. Nice broad elbows. Five, more, pull, pull, and two, and two, and pull, pull.

You're doing good. Pull and pull and pull and both knees in. Grab your ankles. Arms back, legs forward for double leg stretch. Hold there.

Circle the arms, bend the knees, grab a hold of the ankles, give yourself a pull. And again, reaching out, two, and exhale in and pull. Reaching out, three, exhale in and pull. Reaching out four, exhale in and pull. Out on five.

Good, guys. Exhale in, five more. Inhale, reach, hold there. Clap your feet. Clap five, four, three, two, one.

Circle in and pull. And again, out, clap. Five, four, three, two, one, exhale in and pull. And again, out. Clap five, four, three, two, one.

Exhale in, two more. Inhale out. Clap five, four, three, two, one. Exhale in, last time. Inhale out, and clap five, four, three, two, one.

Exhale in, right leg up to the ceiling, left leg out 45 degrees. Hold behind the back of the right leg and pull, pull, change for the single leg, single straight leg. Change, two, two. Change, two, two. Change, three, three.

Three, three. And four, four, and five more with the hands behind the head. Right, right, and left, left, and two, two, and two, two. Three, three, and three, three, and four, four, four, four, and five, five, and five, five. Knees into the chest.

Bring the hands underneath hips. Rest your head for a sec. Mmhmm, just like this. Then you're gonna roll the head, neck, and shoulders up again. You're gonna bring both legs straight up the ceiling.

Don't wanna give you too long of a break. And then you're going to lower the heels for three just to give you a little lift there. Now lift up to 90 degrees. Good, lower, two, three, lift to 90. Lower three, two, three, up to 90.

Lower four, two, three, up to 90. Lower five, don't let this space change here. Up, oops, looked like that changed there. Now, lower two and hold there. Clap your feet.

Clap, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10. Lift to 90. And again, lower, two, three. Clap 10, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Up to 90.

And lower, two, three, clap, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, up to 90. Two more. Lower, two, three, clap two. (Brett claps rhythmically) Seven, eight, nine, 10. Up to 90, last time.

Lower, two, three, zipper up through the abdominals. Nine, 10, lift to 90, knees into the chest. And bring the hands behind the base of the head again. Mmhmm, now curl in on yourself. Twist your body to the right as you extend your left leg.

Hold for three. Hold two. Hold one, change. And hold. Hold, hold.

Change, two, lifting that right shoulder a little higher. Change two. Two, three. Change three. Try not to cross that midline.

Change, three, two, three. Change four, two, three. Change four, two, three. Change five, two, three. Change five, quick time.

Change one, change one, change two, change two, change three, change three, change four, four, change five, and hold there. Bring your left hand right in front of the thigh. Push your thigh forward, backwards, sorry, hand forward, and press for 10. Press nine, like a tug of war. Eight, seven, lift up higher, six, there we go, five, keep pressing, four, three, two, one, change.

And press, press, press, don't make it too easy for yourself. This is the grand finale of this abdominal series. Press, pull that knee back more. Press, we have four more. Four, three, two, one.

Knees into the chest. Relax and die. No, I'm kidding. All right, so, you guys all right? Yep?

He's like, no. You guys okay? All right, so, legs out on the mat. Arms are gonna go straight up the ceiling. And then this is a hard one, yes, after that.

Roll up through your spine, one vertebra at a time. That's a beautiful teaser. (Brett laughs) All right, now. What you're gonna do is you're going to take your Moon Box, and I want you to just sit on the Moon Box. So right, yep.

There we go. Width-wise, exactly. Then from there, you're going to bring the heels the width of the mat. Mmhmm, nice, straight legs. We're gonna do spine stretch forward up on here.

So, you're going to squeeze your bottom. You're going to lift your spine. You're gonna round up and over a big, imaginary beach ball. Hands forward, stomach back, heels forward, ball of the foot back, crown of the head down. Then roll up, tailbone.

Lower back, middle back, upper back, neck, and head. And again, squeeze the bottom, lift your spine, round up and over and exhale, exhale, exhale, exhale, exhale. Relax that and then roll up through your spine, one vertebra at a time. Last time. Round over and exhale, exhale, exhale, flexing at the ankle more, exhale, and then roll up through your spine, tailbone, lower back, middle back, upper back, neck, and head, okay.

You can put the box to the side. And you can put it directly aside, 'cause we're gonna use it again a little bit later. And what I want you to do is hold on to the back of your thighs, nice, broad elbows out to the side. Start with the tailbone. We're gonna roll down towards the sacrum.

Then from there, you're gonna try to maintain the shape. You're gonna lift up, make two right angles. Good. Now, you're going to initiate, with your tailbone, you're gonna curl backwards, and then come right back up and hold. Two, three.

And again. Rock back, and rock up, and as you come up, put the breaks on, pull the ribs back in opposition. One more time. Roll down. As you come up, ribs backwards, as you come up, and hold there.

Now, don't get fresh like that. You're gonna extend the legs straight up to the ceiling. Good. Everyone knows about getting fresh, right? Now, start with the tailbone.

Rock back, come up, and don't get fresh. Pull back with the ribs. Those are the brakes. And again, rock back, come up, and find that balance. Nice, two, three, one more time.

Rock back, come up, and find that balance. Now, hold there. Keep pulling back through the ribs. Close the legs. Keep pulling back through the ribs, reaching forward.

Now, hold there. Roll down three inches, come up three inches. Roll down three inches. Don't get fresh with that pelvis, guys. Come up three inches one more time.

Roll down three, come up three. Now, roll all the way down, bend the knees, and hug the legs. Good. We're gonna go for the mini tick tock. You're gonna bring the soles of the feet flat onto the mat.

Feet together, knees together, hand on top of hand. Actually, we have the dowels, no, let's do this. Hand on top of hand behind the base of the head. Now, what you're gonna do is you're gonna allow your knees to fold over to the right. Then from there, the left side, you're gonna pull down rib cage, then lower back, then pelvis.

Good, now knees are gonna go to the left. Good, and then pull down rib cage, lower back, pelvis. Come to center, knees to the right, then pull down rib cage, lower back, pelvis. Knees are gonna go to the left, and then pull down rib cage lower, so it's a nice successive transition there. One more time.

Knees over to the right, and pull down rib cage, lower back, pelvis. Last time. Knees to the left, and then pull down rib cage, lower back, pelvis. Now, we're gonna go for corkscrew. You can have either hands right down by the sides, or if your hamstrings or hip flexors are feeling tight, you can sit on the hands, your choice.

Okay, now, both knees into the chest, both legs straight up to 90 degrees. Pilates stance, heels together, toes apart. Circle the legs right, down, left, center. And you can rest your head, yep. And now reverse.

Circle left, down, right, and center, and circle right, down, left, and center, and circle left, down, right, and center, knees into the chest, relax. Now, we're gonna do this two more sets, but bring the arms straight up to the ceiling. Mmhmm. Now, imagine there's a magic circle in between your hands. Squeeze that circle.

Imagine that your spine is on a beam. You don't wanna roll or rock there. So, legs are gonna go up. There, now don't move anything, just the legs as you circle right, down, left, center. And circle left, down, right, center.

Circle right. Don't fall off that beam, 'cause I have a very sick sense of humor. Circle left, down. I might just laugh at that. Center, one more time.

Circle right. I lied, we're doing three, not two, and center. Now, circle left, down, right, and center, knees into the chest and hug the legs. Okay, legs out on the mat, arms straight up to the ceiling. Roll up through your spine.

Five, four, three, two, one. Beautiful teaser again. Now what you're gonna do is we're gonna take that box. You're gonna sit on the box once again. All right, bring the heels, and you can have them in line with the sides of the mat again.

Good, arms are gonna go out to the side, peripheral vision. Good. Now you're gonna twist your body to the right. You're gonna drop the arms, saw, and you're gonna reach for three. No problem.

Two, one, come up to center. And now twist and then drop, saw, and reach. Reach, you okay? Reach and come up to center. And now twist to the right, drop, saw, and reach, reach, reach, and up, center.

And now, twist to the other side. Drop the arms, saw, and reach, reach, reach, and up, center. We have one more. Twist to the right, drop, saw, and reach. As you're reaching, pull the left hip back and down in opposition and come back to center.

Now, twist to the left, drop the arm, saw. As you're reaching, sawing there, pull the right hip back in opposition, and then come back up to center. Now, keep the legs where they are. Let the arms drop down. Shake out the legs a little.

Then imagine that there are two pillows in front of you. Rest your torso on those imaginary pillows. So it's a nice passive stretch, not really forcing anything. Stay relaxed and rounded there. Take a deep breath in.

And a big exhalation. And again, inhale, and exhale. One more time, breathing in. Someone's spritzing over there, sweating, and roll up through your spine, one vertebra at a time to a tall back, and now you can scoot off of that box, place it to the side, and then you guys are gonna lie down on your stomach facing away from each other. Sorry, since we have those dowels, let's use those.

Bring the chin over the edge of the mat, good, and now what you're gonna do is you're gonna elevate the hands one inch above the wooden dowels. Good. Now what you're going to do is you're going to, for today, let's open the feet the width of the mat. Yes, then there'll be less compression in your lower back. Lift the upper back up and lower the upper body down.

And again, lift the upper body up, two, lower the upper body, two. Lift the upper body up, three, now hold there. Hands go onto the dowels. Continue to rise as high as you can. Good.

Now, lower the body. When you can, take the hands off. Control the descent the rest of the way down. Excellent, guys. And again, lift the upper body up, hands onto the dowels.

Continue to rise as high as you can. I want you to zipper up through the abdominals, pull down through the shoulder blades. Now, turn the head, look to the right. Circle the head down. Look to the left.

Look front. Reverse, left, circle down. To the right, look front. Again, right, circle down, to the left, look front. Last time, left, circle down, to the right, look front.

Now, roll down through your spine. When you can, take the hands off. Control the descent. Good, all right. Sit back on the heels, child's pose counter-stretching.

Good, is that okay on your knees? All right, now, you're going to go onto your stomach, one hand on top of the other hand, forehead on top of that. Then from there, I want you to bend your right knee. Now, with the right hand, reach back. Grab ahold of your foot and just take a quadriceps stretch there.

Now, while you're stretching, have equal weight on both sides of the pelvis. All right, now change sides. Bend the other leg and grab ahold of the foot, and you can rest your head onto your right hand. Is that okay on your knee? You okay?

Hamstrings cramping a little bit? And now, good. Let's not force it. All right, now. What you're going to do is you're going to make a sphinx position.

You're gonna come up onto your forearms. You're going to press down with two fists. Then you're gonna bring the two sets of knuckles together. Exactly. Now what I want you to do is push the fists down.

Push your elbows down. Lift your abdominals up. Lift up through the ribs. Lift up through the crown of the head. You're going to bend the right leg, kick heel to bottom twice.

Kick, kick, now the left leg. Kick. Try flexing the foot, Aaron, and now right, kick, kick, and now left, kick, kick. And right, right, and left, left, and kick, kick, and kick, kick, and kick, kick, kick, kick, five more. Kick, kick, and kick, kick.

Kick, kick, kick, keep lifting that back as tall as you can, kick, kick, two more. Kick, kick, kick, kick, one more time, kick, kick, and kick, kick. Now, bring the legs together. Curl the toes under. Open the forearms so they're parallel with one another.

You can still keep the fists, though. And then what you're gonna do with the pinky facing down, you're gonna lift up to a straight line and hold for 10 like a plank. Nine, fists down, eight, seven, six, five, that's it, third time's the charm, right, three, two, one, and lowering down. Okay. Let's do that again, lifting up into that straight line, one long line from head to tail like a long piece of, head to heels like a long piece of steel.

Hold for, that was two, so eight more. Seven, six, I'm being nice today, five, four, three, two, one. Lower down, last set. Let's make it the best. Come up to that straight line from head the heels and hold for 10, Joseph Pilates, nine, Joseph Pilates, eight, Joseph Pilates, seven, Joseph Pilates, six, Joseph Pilates, five, Joseph Pilates, four, Joseph Pilates, three, Joseph Pilates, two, Joseph Pilates, one, Joseph Pilates, the founder of the Pilates method of body conditioning, and relax.

All right, guys. Now, you're gonna bring your right face cheek onto the mat. You're gonna bring the hands behind your back for the double leg kick. Now bring the hands as high up as you can, press down through the elbows, and still keeping that right cheek down, you're gonna simultaneously kick both legs three times. Kick one, kick two, kick three.

Now slide the arms down the back as you lift that upper body. Two, and three. Now, other side. And kicking one, kicking two, kicking three, press down, and lift, two, three. And again, right, kicking one, kicking two, kicking three, and lift, lift, lift.

Lower, left. Kicking one, kicking two, kicking three, and lift. If it's okay, I'll give you a little back stretch. All right, lowering down, right cheek. And kicking one, kicking two, kicking three, now, slide the arms down the back, and you're going to lift.

That okay? And lower down. And then the left cheek. Kicking one, kicking two, kicking three, slide the arms down the back, and lift. Lift, you okay?

And lower down. And kicking one. What about you, Aaron, okay for a little back stretch? Sure. Slide the arms down the back and lift and lengthen.

That okay? Sure. And lower down, and kicking one, kicking two, kicking three, slide the arms down the back, lift and lengthen, lengthen, lengthen. Good, and lowering down, counter-stretch, child's pose. Good, start with the tailbone.

Roll up tailbone, lower back, middle back, upper back, neck, and head. All right, guys. You all right? Okay, turning around, you're going to bring your feet underneath the strap again. All right.

Now, you're gonna have nice, straight legs. I'm gonna open the legs so you get a good amount of tension on that strap. Hands behind the head, and you're gonna roll down through your spine, one vertebra at a time, all the way down, massaging your back. Actually, we're gonna roll backwards. I was not specific on that, yes.

So, yep, all the way down the back, sorry. Oh, I'm sorry. No problem. All right, so, chin to the chest, inhale, rolling up. Exhale, nose towards the knees.

Roll up through your spine to a tall back. Then from there, just start with the tailbone. Round backwards one vertebra at a time, all the way down onto the mat. And again, rolling up, inhale. And exhale, nose towards the knees.

Inhale, roll up through your spine to a tall back. Now, start with the tailbone. Roll down one vertebra at a time, all the way down. Let's go for two more, adding on a skill. So chin to chest, inhale, rolling up.

Exhale, nose towards knees. Good. Now, inhale, roll up through your spine to a tall back. I'm gonna give you a little bit of a chest expansion, and then roll down through your spine, one vertebra at a time, all the way down. We have one more.

Chin to chest inhale, rolling up. Exhale, nose to knees. And then roll up through your spine, one vertebra at a time. Good, I'm gonna give you a little chest expansion here and then roll down through your spine, all the way down. Good.

Soles of the feet flat onto the mat. Feet in line with knees in line with hips, and then just bring the arms right down by the sides. We're gonna do some more bridging. So start with the tailbone, roll up to a shoulder bridge. Then start with the sternum.

Melt down through your spine one vertebra at a time. How's that hamstring? It's okay? Yep? All right, and again, rolling up.

Good. And now roll down through your spine, all the way down. All right, now it's a little more warmed up, so rolling up. Bring your right knee into the chest. Now extend the right leg straight up to the ceiling.

Now lower the knee to knee and then lift up to 90 degrees. Lower knee to knee, lift to 90. Nice, guys. Lower knee to knee, lift to 90. Now bend the knee into the chest.

Bring your foot down. Now the left leg comes. Left leg goes up, lower knee to knee. And lift to 90. Lower knee to knee, lift to 90.

One more time. Lower knee to knee, lift to 90, bend the knee in, bring your foot down. Now, start with the upper back. Roll down through your spine, all the way down. Now, both legs out on the mat, arms straight up to the ceiling.

And then roll up through your spine, one vertebra at a time. Good, bring the soles of the feet flat onto the mat, flat onto the floor, actually, that'll help you guys. So bring, sorry, right in front of the mat. Now, this can also be done on a low mat, but it's a little easier on a high mat. You're gonna pull the heels and dig them into the front of the mat.

Then scoot just a little bit backwards. Good. Now, reach the arms in a high diagonal. Good. I want you to roll down to the sacrum, reaching on that diagonal.

Then you're gonna lead through the crown of the head. You can pull the heels into the front of the mat to help you, and again. Curling under, rolling down to the sacrum. Now, as you come in, you can pull back through the heels to roll up. One more time, rolling back to the sacrum.

Hold there. Reach the head and tail closer to one another. Now go down just a little lower. Now come up a little higher, and down a little lower, up a little higher, three, a little lower, up a little higher, four, a little lower, up a little lower, five, a little lower, up a little higher, six, a little lower, hold there. Go down a little lower, down a little lower, now up a little higher, down a little lower, up a little higher, down a little lower, up, down a little lower, up a little higher, down a little lower, up a little higher, down a little lower, down a little lower, down a little lower, up a little higher, roll all the way down.

Good, all right. That's my gift to you. (Brett laughs) All right. Now, scooting backwards. Soles of the feet flat onto the mat.

Feet together, knees together. And then what you're gonna do, actually, maybe scoot just a little bit more back, sorry. What you're going to do is you're going to bridge up one more time. Now, I want you to keep your hips high. You're gonna slide your right leg forward but keep the heel on the mat.

Mmhmm, now hold there. I want you to push your heel down. I want you to lift your hips up. Now, don't confuse one inch with one foot. Lift the heel one inch, that's 2.5 centimeters if you're on the metric system.

Hold for 10. Hold nine, hold eight, this okay? Which heel? This one. Seven, sorry.

Six, five, four, get that right hip higher, three, that's a little close, there we go. Slide the foot in. Now change legs. Left foot slides forward. I know that's for hamstrings, right?

Feeling it in the right place. Now lift the hips up high. Now, Simon didn't say anything about that heel yet. Now, keep that heel pressing down, hips higher. Lift the heel up one inch.

Don't confuse one inch with one foot. That's three, and four, and five. Get that leg lower, guys. Hold, hold. We've got three more seconds.

Hold, hold, hold, lower the foot down. Slide the foot in. Roll down through your spine. Okay, guys. You're gonna lie down on your right side.

You're gonna have your elbow in line with your tailbone at the very back edge of your mat. So, one long line from elbow to tailbone. Then from there, you're gonna bring your feet forward at 45-degree angle, okay? Mmhmm, now, you're going to prop your head up onto your hand. Mmhmm, good.

Now, that's perfect. Now your free hand, you can just place it onto the mat in front of you. Now, lift your right leg up, or top leg up, yep. Now, lift the bottom leg up to it. Clap, five, four, three, two, one.

Lower bottom leg, lower top leg. Lift top leg, lift bottom leg, and clap, five, four, three, two, one. Lower bottom leg, top leg. Top leg, bottom leg. Clap 10, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.

Bottom leg lowers, top leg. Top leg, bottom leg. Clap 10, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, bottom leg, top leg. Both legs lift up. Both legs lower.

Lift up two. And lower. Lift up three. And lower. Lift up four.

And lower. Lift up five. And lower. Good, five more. Lift, and lower.

And lift, and lower. And lift, and two more. And lift, and one more. Lift and hold. You guys both swim.

You know the flutter kick. So, little flutter. Flutter, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, repeat. Two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, repeat. Two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, two more sets.

Four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10. One more set. Four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10. Lower the legs. Flex both feet.

Now it's important that we're gonna keep a parallel leg here so the leg won't lift super high, but lift it up to where you can. Lift the right leg, top leg up. Mmhmm. Now, that might be a little stingy. Come up a little higher than that.

There we go. (all laugh) Now, lower the leg down, and again, lifting up two, and lower two. And lifting up three, and lower three. Lifting up four, lower four. Lift up five, lower five more.

Lifting up, nice active, flex, lower. Lift up two, and lower. Lift up three, and lower. Two more. Up, and lower.

One more time. Up and hold up. Now, flex that foot. Pulse up 10. Up nine, up eight, up seven, up six, up five, up four, up three, up two, up 10 more.

And up, and up, and up, and up, and five up, six up, seven up, eight up, nine up, 10 more, up. And up, and up, and up, and five up, six up, seven up, eight up, nine up, 10. Lower the leg. All right, guys. Someone's rolling their eyes at me.

(Brett laughs) I know. Now, all right. So lift the top leg up hip height. Now, I just wanted the viewers at home to know that someone was rolling those eyes, 'cause they can't see. Now, kick forward twice.

Forward, forward, back, back. And front, front, back, back. Think of your body like a grandfather clock. Back, back. Kick, kick, back, back.

So the body's the base of the clock. The leg is the pendulum. So the only thing that should be moving is the pendulum. Back, back, and kick, kick. (Brett claps) And kick, kick.

That was a little bit off, but it was okay. Choreographically, it looks nice. Back, back. Two more, kick, kick. Back, back, one more, kick, kick.

Back, back. Okay. Now, onto your stomach, one hand on top of the other hand, forehead on top of that. All right, now, I want you to press your feet down. Very slowly open your feet and see if one foot touches inside of the mat before the other foot does.

If one foot does, then you know you're not quite, quite square, and you're gonna have to adjust your hips a little bit so then you're right in the middle of the mat. Okay, now bring the legs together. Now, reach the legs long. Hold there. Just bring it a little bit over here.

Float both legs up into the air. Now, open the legs, close the legs. Open two, close two. And open three, close three. Open four, close four.

Open five, five more. Open, that's my telekinetic powers over there. Open. You didn't know I was an X-Man. Open, and close.

Two more, open and close. One more time. Open and close. Now, 10 more a little quicker. Open, close 10, and nine, and eight, and seven, and six, and five, and four, and three, and two, little quicker beat.

(Brett slaps thigh) And lower the legs. Okay, let's face the other side. So, Andy, you'll face back. Aaron, you'll face forward. Now you can't roll those eyes.

(Brett laughs) Now, what you're gonna do is you're going to bring the legs forward at a 45-degree angle. You're going to lift the top leg up, lift the bottom leg up to it, and clap. Five, four, three, two, one. Lower, lower. Lift, lift.

Clap five, four, three, two one. Bottom leg lowers, top leg lowers. Lift top leg, lift bottom leg. Clap 10, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Top leg, bottom leg.

Top leg, bottom leg. Clap 10, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Bottom leg, top leg. Squeeze the legs together. Both legs lift.

Both legs lower. Lift up, two. Lower, two. Lift up, three. Lower, three.

Make sure that shoulder's not flirting with the ears, guys. Mmhmm, lifting up five, and lower five more. Lift, and lower. Lifting up, and lower. Three more, up, and lower.

I'm seeing the claw. Up and lower, one more time. (Brett laughs) Up, and you can bring it down, but no claw. Now, hold there, little flutter kicks. Flutter, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, again.

Two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, again. Two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, again, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, one more. Three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10. Lower the legs. Flex both feet.

Top leg lifts. Top leg lowers. And lifting up, two, and lower. Lift up, three, and lower. Lift up four, and lower.

Lift up five, and five more. Lift, and lower. Lift two, and lower. Flex that foot more, and lower. Two more, lift, and lower.

Lift and hold, pulse up. Pulse up and up and up and up and five, up six, up seven, nine, and 10 more. Up and up and up and up, and five and six and seven and eight, nine and last 10. Nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Lower the leg.

All right. Lift the leg up hip height, and then front and back, kicking front, front, back, back. And two, two, back, back. And three, three, back, back. And four, four, back.

(Brett buzzes) Don't touch. (Brett buzzes) And five more. And kick, kick. Back, (Brett buzzes) kick, kick. And back, kick, kick.

We're playing team Operation. You're not gonna be my teammate. And back, better, kick, kick. And back, back. Okay, leg on top of leg.

Shake and bake, shake out the legs. So lay on your back and just shake out the legs, just to release them. All right. So, it's not hammer time, but it is teaser time. So you guys are gonna bring both knees into the chest.

Now, from here, you're going to bring, roll the head, neck, and shoulders up. Both legs straight up to the ceiling. Hold the back of the thighs. Like a seesaw, drop the feet, bend the knees, roll up to a nice, rounded position. Now, keep a C curve.

Extend the legs straight and hold. Reach the arms forward and hold for three, two, one. Roll the spine down, one vertebra at a time, knees into the chest. Relax, we're gonna repeat that. Hands forward, chin forward.

Legs straight up to the ceiling. Hold the back of the thighs. Simultaneously bend the knees. Drop and roll up. Now, keep pulling back through the ribs as you extend the legs.

Reach the arms forward and hold. Three, and roll all the way down, knees in, and relax. One more, hands forward, chin forward. Legs up to the ceiling. Hold the back of the thighs.

Roll up. Now, lift the legs and hold for three, two, one. Arms to the ears, sorry, forward, two, three. Now arms to the ears, two, three. Roll the spine down all the way down, knees in, and relax.

Good. Now, soles of the feet flat on the mat. Feet together, knees together. Now, I always suggest to bring the heels a little further away from the sits bones. That makes it a little easier.

Now you're gonna lift the right leg. Really, it does make it easier. Lift the right leg up, knee to knee. Now, arms next to ears. Rolling up.

Good, lift the arms up, roll down. That's okay. And again. Rolling up, two. Lift?

Mmhmm, good. Now lift the arms. I'm sorry, stay there. Twist to the right. Come center.

Arms to ears, roll the spine down. We're gonna repeat that whole thing. So, rolling up. Good, lift the arms to ears. Rolling down.

And one more time. Rolling up. Both arms to the right again. Twist, come center. Now, both arms up, both legs up.

Right leg bends, roll down through your spine. We're on the other side. So, rolling up. Now, lift the arms to the ears. Now, keep the arms pushing backwards as you roll down.

Roll down and push back, push back, push back. That was different, wasn't it? (Brett laughs) And again, rolling up. Now, hold up. Twist both arms to the left.

Come center. Both arms up. Now, push back with those arms as you roll down, back, back, back, back, back. Yes, and again, rolling up. Lift the arms to ears.

Roll down and go back, back, back, back, back. Yes, one more time. Rolling up. Twist both arms left again. Center.

Both arms up. Both legs up. Left leg bends, and roll down. (Brett laughs) Okay. Knees into the chest and hug your legs.

Last teaser. Both legs out on the mat. Arms are gonna go overhead. We're gonna go for teaser three. Everything is gonna fold up, and we're gonna reach towards the toes.

So roll up. Yes, now lift the arms to ears, and everything goes down simultaneously. Good, and again, everything goes up. We have two more. Reach for those toes.

Now lift the arms to ears and everything goes down. As you go down, go back, back, back, back, back. Yes, one more time. Everything goes up, and now, lift the arms to ears, and everything goes down and down, down. Wonderful, guys.

Onto your stomach, face away from each other for swimming. This one, you don't have to be over the edge for. Now, reach the arms straight out in front of you. Right arm is gonna lift. Left leg is gonna lift.

Lift the head up out of the water, and now start swimming. Swim, two, three, four, five, exhale, three, four, five. Inhale, three, four, five, exhale, shoulder blades down the back. Inhale, three, four, five, exhale, nice, long, straight legs. Inhale, three, four, five.

Exhale, three, four five. Inhale, three, four, five. Exhale, 50 more meters. Inhale, three, four, five, exhale, three, four, five. Inhale, three, four, five.

Exhale, 30 more meters. Inhale, three, four, five. Exhale, three, four, five. Inhale, exhale, last one. This is the sprint.

Inhale, three, four, five, exhale, three, four, five, lower down. Counter-stretch, child's pose. Okay. Now you're gonna start with the tailbone. You're gonna roll up through your spine, one vertebra at a time, to a tall back.

Turning around, sit facing towards each other. We're gonna go for the seal. All right, you're gonna reach through, tearing the place up over here. All right, balancing underneath, good. And you're gonna clap three times.

Clap one, two, three, rock back and clap one, two, three. And up, clap, two, three, and back, clap, two, three. And three, clap, two, three, and back, clap, two, three. And four, clap, two, three, and back, clap, two, three. And five, clap, two, three, and back, clap, two, three.

And six, clap, two, three, and back, clap, two, three. Up and balance, two, three. Good. Standing up, we're gonna do one more thing. So, you're going to stand at the front of the mat.

Then from there you're just gonna turn around. Good. Now, I'm sorry, facing that way. You're okay. Now, arms are gonna go straight up to the ceiling.

Now, you're going to roll over. Roll down one vertebra at a time. All the way down. Then, try to get the hands down. If you need to bend the knees, that's okay.

Now walk forward one, two, three, four. So one long line from head to heels. Don't open the elbows. Brush your elbows against the rib cage. Then stretch up one.

Brush two. Stretch two. Brush three. Stretch three. Two more.

Brush four. Stretch four. Brush five. Stretch five. Now, walk back one, two, three, four, roll up through your spine to roll back down through your spine.

Mmhmm, all right. And now, you're going to walk forward one, two, three, and four. Now, pushup again. Down and up. Two and up.

Three and up. Four and up. Five and up. Walk back. One, two, he snuck another one in there, that's good.

Now, roll up through your spine. Last time. Roll down. Okay, I see we're lifting those arms now. And now roll down, and now walk forward one, two, three, four, and again.

Down and up, two and up, three and up, four and up, five, hold. Simon didn't say to come up, guys. Go down and hold. Two, three, four, five, up. Walk back, two, three, four, roll up through your spine, one vertebra at a time.

Now we can lift those arms over the head. Then arch the upper back, come center, arms down, shoulders are gonna go up to the ears. Let 'em drop, and you guys are done for today. Thank you guys. Good work.

(all applaud) Thank you, thank you, good job.