Class #3886

Standing Wunda Chair

35 min - Class
315 likes

Description

Get moving on the Wunda Chair in this creative workout with Blossom Leilani Crawford! She progresses from her previous class, playing with standing work to challenge your balance. She also encourages you to try exercises that you don't always see. Have fun!
What You'll Need: Wunda Chair, Yoga Block, Pilates Pole

About This Video

Transcript

Read Full Transcript

Hi, I'm blossom. Lilani Crawford. Let's get moving together on these one to chairs. I Have Cynthia and Julie here and um, hopefully you have been doing some chair for a little bit and you're wanting to play around with maybe doing some more standing work balancing on top of the chair. Um, I'm steering away from the Usual Swan and teasers, uh, sitting on top of the chair and I'm just trying to have this be a little bit of a progression to some other stuff on the chair, but maybe also try to make you do a few different exercises then we see all the time or also from many of the other videos that I've done. I feel like I've done some of those exercises many times. So I wanted to share some different ones with you today.

So let's get started with what I love to start with a new way and we're doing it again is footwork. So have a seat on top of the chair ladies. Um, if you do foot work at home and you feel like you slip around, you could use a pad, but with your toes, press that pedal all the way down. Do you want a pad, Julie? Oh yeah, let's talk springs while they change springs. So, um, you can make the pedal as heavy or as light as you want. I suggest you play around. I have a, my favorite story about asking Kathy about springs, once I said, Kathy is such and such on one or two sprints, she goes, it only goes up and down. Push it out and in, you'll know. But it was a really freeing thing because then you just sort of were like, yeah, you'll press and at a certain point you're like, oh, this is too heavy.

Then you lighten it. And then if it's too light, then you go, oh, I need a little bit more than you add springs. It's really not. That part's not rocket science. All right, so here we go. Uh, we're at a footwork position. The pubic bone is in line with the front edge of the chair with your hands at the side of the chair. [inaudible] for now, just press the pedal down and get a nice uh, feeling of the pedal down. Good. Let's go to toes on only good. So here we go. Out of the pedals all the way down and just hold it down there.

And when you are down there, make sure that baby cho base is um, represented. I've been joking. They call it the BTBY baby toe base. All the, all the cool kids are saying it. Hashtag. Okay, so from here, can you stay there? Lift up nice and tall and just lift and lower the heels a few times with the pedal down. Thank you. So your, yes, exactly. Um, notice how Cynthia had to just change your position. She's like, wait a second, there's moving happening, right? So can you keep the pedal down and get a little bit of movement happening in the feet? All right. So as you're doing this, lift and lower the heel, make sure you're pressing into the big toe, big toe base, and not just the baby toe base. Oh, more hashtags. Are you finding a little spiral of the ankle bones away from each other? Right? And now let's take our focus to the pelvis. One Hand on the Tummy, one hand on the low back.

That stays nice and still as you're really lifted up tall, excellent. And keep the heels not too low and not too high, but someplace in between and begin to pump the pedal. So start to pump. And for me, the juice of this is really on the resistance of the pedal up. So as the pedal comes up, you're not just feeling the knees buckle, you're actually resisting. Yeah, because it's really a simple movement, but it's about the resisting of the pedal, right? On the way up. And you find your own rhythm, your own sort of breathing with this and after 10 and by the way, if you feel like your hips are in a good place, you can transfer your arms to this cross arm position.

And let's end with the pedal down cause I feel like that was at least 12 keeping the pedal down hole. Can you go to arches on? So almost mid foot, right and parallel if you don't mind with the toes, especially the big toes. Let's go to touching, right? Let's get to those big toes. Literally touching together. Know exactly, but arches or so on. So from here, can you press the big toes in? It's hard to press that pedal down while you do this.

Spiral the ankle bones away from each other. Knee slightly open, start to pump the pedal again, right? And as you pump again, you are thinking of the pelvis staying nice and still right. And if you need to put your hands back on your pelvis, do so. But start, keep pumping that pedal. Yes and just really pumped with it. Find that breath and find your own rhythm. And for me, when it really comes together is when you find your own rhythm and there's just this feeling of coming together, adding on, press the pedal down and whole, keeping the pedal down. Can you go to heels on? Yes, yes. And again, feet together. Not Easy as that. Right. Press those big toes in spiral the ankle bones and knees slightly out and start to pump the pedal again.

So this our third position but really fourth cause we did that little lower and lift yet. And the hard part is to keep that lift in that low back, that energy out of the top of the head and really resist as you come up. Right? So here we go. Keep pressing the pedal down and whole. Can you just play around with a pedal down? Say lifting up tall, extend one leg forward, feel energy out of the top of the head pump eight times on this one. Leg. One, two yet pump. Yeah. Aren't you glad you went fast? Yeah. Now don't worry about going all the way down. You can just, yeah, just that's it. It doesn't have to go all the way down with the pedal. It could just be a pulse of that thigh. And when you've done your eight, cause you know I'm not really counting change sides with the pedal down.

Ideally keep lifting up tall in that low back. Other leg. Extend. Start to pump. Exactly. Yes. And it's that resists. And now come back again. Keep pumping. But remember the pelvis stays nice and still footwork is almost over. Just a few more.

When you've gotten to your eight end with the pedal down and press it with both feet, heels as wide as they can. Go with the toes. Open in an open position. Exactly. Let's let the pedal come up. And let's relieve the thighs for just a moment. Take a moment to breathe. Fabulous. Right. All right. So from here, put your hands behind your neck and let's go to this next one. So I call this a footwork with an open position, but I also am taking a little cue from a Deborah lesson. So when you can, you're gonna take your his fingertips and instead of the usual hands behind the neck here, I'd like you to take your fingertips and put it at your spine.

Bring your elbows in. Yeah. And really rotate those elbows for, let's take a moment here. So a Cynthia, again, open up those elbows. Julie. U2. So notice the feeling and maybe the look of that who high. And as you exhale, bring those elbows in, sort of. Do you know what the tips of your elbows are called? I'm just going to tell you, it's called your awareness. [inaudible]. It's apparently not the technical term, but that is a slang for it. So weakness forward, that's definitely a Hashtag, right? But hopefully you're feeling a really nice lift. And for me, I get a relaxation in the shoulders that I don't normally get. Here we go ladies, press the L, pedal down, twist to one side. I don't care which one you twist to. Yes, yes, yes. And in this position, you're going to think of those witnesses, elbows forwards and that's it.

And come back to center and breathe. Inhale, press the pedal down. Twist. So as you do this, you're gonna still think elbows hurt. It's a rotation. Hopefully he's really feeling it in that waistline. That's great for you. Now stay here, this elbow up and forward in an up and forward. Yes. And come back to center a few more times because as you twist, one elbow is going to want to dip.

You're really gonna want to reach that right elbow around as you twist left and up. Yeah, that's exactly. And come back to center one more time for as you press and twist to the right, it's that left elbow that's going to really want to come up. Come up. This one, this one. This is yes. And come back to center. I just one more set I think is really gonna seal the deal. Press. Yes, that's right Cindy. So twist through that waistline. That's right Julie. Right elbow is up, up, up, up, up and come back to center to the other side. Press and twist. As you twist to your right, you're going to really need that left elbow to wrap around and lift and come back to center. Nicely done. Alright, you guys take a little rest of those arms and legs.

So the next line we're going to do is we're going to do the washerwoman. We're just gonna change the chairs around a little bit, right? So coming around. Oh No, we're not changing the chairs. I apologize. You're going to change. But we do need to change the springs. Maybe. So decide you do want some weight in the pedal, you just don't want too much where you can't pump the pedal with your arms, but you do want some support. So when you're ready, you're going to stand at the back of the chair and I suggest being pretty darn close. In fact, Julie come back up to standing. It has that feel. She's, that was her testing and did it feel okay? She's going to change it. Yeah.

And it might take some time to sort of press in and see you and like it also mid exercise, if you think, oh, I need to change it, then just change it. So Cynthia is going to, we're all both going to be standing in a v position of your feet and I'm going to do a little, a little bit of a cheat with Julie. Don't tell Mr polarities. She's actually going to put her toes on the, yeah, and she's still in a v of her feet. And so you could reach forward and touch the pedal by, let's try something different and said, can you, um, when you go to reach, try not to lock back and send the hips back. Think of just reaching over this very big chair as you reach and touch the pedal. But without sending the hips backwards. Yes. Oh, that's so effective.

Just stay here. Find that pedal. Some petals are lower than others. Exactly. All right. So when you can, um, so the only other thing is yes, on sound, the hips back, but don't go too far forward. So in this position now, can you send your pelvis back a little bit more Julius? So they're right over the heels. It's exactly it. That's right. So there's the hair of space right here between Julie's Fi's and chair. Let's see if she can keep it. We'll see. Press the pedal down and up please.

Yes. And come back up. I'm thinking again about like, I get into a position like this and I go, now what? Kathy? And she'd go, it only goes in one direction. And I go, Oh yeah. Okay. So that's it. So just play around with that. And now let's take the focus to the pelvis. So keep going. Right? That was great, Julie. So as you go up, especially, I want you to really feel the curl of the pelvis and again, push it down and now can you feel the curl of the pelvis and connect that all the way down to the heel. So you're really curling that under. Yes. Let's see that Julie curled. Now do that one more time.

Press down and now can you find a nice position someplace in between? Not too high, not too low. And pump the elbows. Bending and straighten the arms. Yes. And with every press it's an opportunity for you to think of sending the pelvis under as you push. Yes. Just one more. I know. And let's do that whole thing one more time.

Straight arms up and down in the torso. Yes, that's right. Yeah. You think it's an arm of size, but it's really all about this legs. Send that, send that. It's like, I think of, um, those old tents from the 70s that I used to have to set up. And you'd like nail, literally like nail a stake into the ground. To me that's the heels right down. You go one more time pressing down. Let's do a pump of those arms, pumping the pump. And as you pump think, if you think right now of just wrapping or externally spiraling those upper arms, you're hoping that you get a little more length in the neck.

That's beautiful ladies, when you can find your strongest position. So maybe not too high, not too low. Take a moment there and let's just sneak in a little single arm, reaching out to the sides. Take a little bit of a moment. Oh God. Change sides. Yeah, this is not easy. They're making it look easy. Nicely done. So just do another set of those and just reach it.

Changing arms. Now maybe on this set you experiment with going up and down in the torso. Yes. Right? So it's this, it's the same thing really. It's really hard going up and down. Yes. Yes. And so one of the tricks is to really reach out of that reaching arm. Good.

And to really externally rotate that pushing arm. Good. Now stay here. Maybe a tiny little pump of the pedal arm. Teenie. Yes. Oh, that's so good. Not the shoulder. It's the arm. One more change sides if you can. Whoo. Yeah. It's no joke. Washing washer woman is hard.

Really reach out. Yeah. And then you play around with going up and down. Yes. And you really reach. That's right. And so those principles from both arms really kick in now and push. You got one more. Find your nice strong spot. Yes. And then when you can think of externally spiraling that pedal arm and start to pump the arm, really reach out there, Cynthia. Yeah. Yes.

And it could be a micro Ben. You might barely be. That's it. And that's it. Ooh, yes, there you go. When you press the pedal, you're grounding the hips back, heels back, both arms back on the pedal and you slowly stop washing the clothes, slowly roll up to standing and really send the energy back into those heels. Here it is again. Same, same things over and over again, and just let those arms relaxed down by your sides. Excellent. Okay. So now we're going to do some stuff for seated on the floor. So, um, first thing is your springs cause we need a lighter spring. And again, play around with what you like. Um, I suggest for, uh, I suggest maybe one in the middle. We want something light but not too light. Yeah. But with a little bit of heft. And now let's talk props.

So we're going to sit on the floor and we're going to maybe need a little pad for the floor, right? So just so if you have a mat, great. But really all we need is a little pad. And if you have very tight hamstrings, I suggest something to sit up on a pillow, a yoga block. So ladies, why don't you grab some props. So if you're doing a pad, just again, just a little one. And um, we, let's put this yoga block here on the side cause we don't need it right away. Excellent. All right, so here we go. So let's do teaser from the floor. So you decide how far away you might have to move your pat and have a seat on top of the pads. And let's talk about this teaser position because the biggest question I often get on this one is where do my feet go? And in typical philosophies, fashion, it's, it depends if you can see it. Um, we have different two different chairs here, which I like working with and both of them are to have two different size bodies and legs. So let's see where I always sort of see, well where can you sit in a teaser position and where do your heels or foot hit?

So let's see. So Cynthia is going to go onto her feet and Julie's going to flex a little bit, which is what we all do. I remember Kathy would say position is so much of Pilati like just knowing what your position is and where you are is just a huge amount. So take the time with it. Excellent. So he, Julie's going to say here and let's talk hand position. So yes, it's hands. Can you air try to get more to the wrists.

Now don't lift the legs up right away. Let's just go for this position. Cause this is a big deep scoop. So in this position, yes, we're scooping, can you lift the rib cage up out of the waistline? Excellent. And then take the focus maybe less to the pubic bone. More to the knees. Yes. It's a little less crunchy in the neck and just a small pump of the arms. And for me, I even let the elbows bend slightly open because I feel like I can get a little more lift and then I don't feel stuck up in my shoulders. Yes.

So maybe open those elbows even more soon as you pump. Yeah. And with every release maybe deepen for usually that pubic bone. Curling. Yes. So every time the pedal goes up, you curl. Take a moment to breathe and whole. Now on the next one, press the pedal down. Deep in the curl again. Can you lift the legs, uh, and take it down. Do that a couple more times.

And I am asking can you maybe you don't pick the feet up today. Maybe you do. Maybe you can pick it up today and not tomorrow. All good. Just try it one more time. Yes. Belt Belt. Curl that pubic bone. It's hard. Yeah. Bend those elbows. Bend the elbows that, yeah, use that arm strength. And now pump with the legs up if you feel like doing the full situation. Yes.

Oh, it's fun. It's fun. [inaudible] is good. You know what's sad is that you don't really see how hard that is, but you know how hard that is. That's enough rest. Okay, let's get our legs down. So let's put our legs on either side. And now Julie, I'd like you to use this yoga block. I think just so you guys can take a s a s. Oh no, you keep that on the floor as well. You kind of want to put that on the same spot because it is nice to have the block sometimes. Even though my, if my hamstrings are feeling good, I still like to have the black cause I feel really lifted out of it. So in this position your legs are wide but not too wide. So Cynthia for you, I would like you to flex your feet. Yeah. And honestly for you too as well, flex those feet cause I feel like you can really lift up tall if your hamstrings are really tight you can relax. But I do want knees up to the ceiling.

All right so when you can first sit up tall risks again on the pedal, how by saying in that neutral and pump the pedal a few times. Yes. Yeah. It's so hard not to arch that back, right? It really is. Yeah. And to really say sitting up nice and tall, especially out of that low back. So almost that's it. Even taller, Julie, almost stick your tush out a little bit. It's going to feel like sticking your [inaudible] out. Exactly. Stay here.

And when you can press the pedal down, lets use that resistance to find extension. Lift your chin, lift your chest. Yes, good. Stay there. Take the focus up. Now inhale, stay here. And as you exhale send the chest even more. For now. Pump here, elbows bending again. Yes, yes. And hopefully you're really feeling that opposition. Excellent. Good. Press the pedal down and hold from here. Come to neutral or center.

Now walk that forearm maybe almost to the elbow into the, well, I know. Looks Weird. Let the pedal go up. Let the back round against it and just stay here and breathe. So the hard part with this is that the neck wants to do a lot of the curling. You press down and almost lift up. And as you exhale, as the pedal goes up, you round back, but also tall. Don't lose the height. Don't lose the height. Don't lose the height. That's exactly it. And again, press and keep that energy of that head coming up into my hand.

So I'm not pressing Julie's head down. I'm actually asking her to lift into my head. Yes, that was it. Do that a few more times. Right? So Cynthia, as you release the pedal, see if you can feel my, yeah, so do that again. Press the pedal down. And as the pedal releases you let the rib cage wide and your regal back with the ribcage. Go back with the rib cage. You go back yet. That's what I'm thinking. One more time. Press down. And as the pedal goes up, the ribcage goes back as the pedal goes up. Yes. Yes.

Now do a few in a row faster. Five, four. Yeah, that's the hard one. Three, two and one and back flip. Just kidding. Just kidding. No back flip. Just come up to sitting up tall. But it did almost feel like they were ready for anything, which I hope that is how you feel. All right, so next bit, come up to Santa and get rid of the props. You can just tuck them in back or moving them to the side. You know, I like to hide my props right here at this little spot in the back of the chair right here. And I think have yeah, you can tuck it right there. All right, so the next thing is we're gonna do, um, I call it the lag on the side in the letter t. Yeah. So you can use a pad or not lighten up the spring if you need to, but we are going to just try to achieve the position of tea with the legs out to straight legs together.

So it's like I've taken the crucifix position and I've just flipped it on the side. Right. Easier said than done. And honestly this is enough of an exercise. So we're going to stay here breathing and when you can, I'm just going to, for a lot of us, this is very common. Julie, you're good. Julie, for you. Crown of the head to the floor. A lot of us have the top hip back. Bring the top hip a little more forward. Good.

And just stay there and for you Julie, still more crown of the head to the floor. Now this is hard. Yes. And they just a little more crown of the head to the floor. Yes. So staying here before we go anywhere, inhale as you exhale, can you, we're not moving the pedal yet. Press the pedal down and lift the waistline or rib cage. Yes. So the crown of the head makes it gets heavier.

Right as this lifts up and maybe the legs lift a little too. Woo. That's it. Next thing they're saying there, reach the arm over your head. So now we've gone from a t and now I want to make a letter c. So you're going to lift the ribcage so much and drop the crown of the head. Yes. Breathing is good. Yes. Keep going. Keep going. Yes.

And reach back up into that t position. Take a moment to breathe. Good, good, good. Hey, that's it. And then a little back of the armpit. Two more times like that. Right. So that you're really lifting that waistline. Hip forward love. Yeah. Hip Four. Yes. Keep lifting. Keep lifting, keep lifting. Keep lifting. Yes. And slowly come back into the tee.

That's what I love about the chair is that sometimes you don't even have to move the pedal one more time. Yep. Yeah, that's it. That's it. Good. Julie. Good. Active, active, active arm. Yes. And come back to the tee. Well that was good work. So from here, twist the torso so that and bend that pedal arms so that you can touch the pedal with both hands. So for me, I'm look more like Julie when I do this. I have one arm bent. One arm straight. Yes. Good. And can you keep those legs together? Don't split the legs. Pump the pedal.

It could be a tiny pump. Bending and straightening as that straight arm you is usually the one that has to do more of the work. The one that can actually straighten. Yes. Nicely done. And then from here, split the legs. Notice I didn't tell them which one because usually the bottom one always goes forward. So from here, lift the chin, lift the chest, the arms, gently straighten as you lift the chin. Lift the chest. Yes. Lift the chin. Lift chest even more. Go into extension, Cynthia. Lift the chin, lift the chest, lift the pedal and push the pedal back down. Yeah, do that another time.

Look down at the pedal Julie. And again, lift the chin. Lift the chest. Give me a big exhale. Yes. And push back down. Just one more time. Lift the chin, lift the pin, lift the chin, lift the chest. Good. And look back down at the floor. Say in one long line. Pump the arms, tucking the chin ever so slightly, Julie. That's it. Yep. Keep pumping. Nice yet. Yeah, I've tried to straighten the one that can straighten. Yes.

Do that one more time. One more pump. That's enough rest. If you don't feel can bring the legs together, slowly come to sitting and recover like re bring all the parts together and slowly turn to the other side so you can do the other side. So when you can, can you just get ready and do a little twist? Um, yeah. I'm sorry not twist t I'm getting ahead of myself. Yes. Yeah. Again, this is enough of an exercise. So when I'm assisting this one, I'm really, the first thing is just simple lines, right?

So sometimes the legs like to drift forward or back. And instead of pulling the person there, I'll say to someone like, Cynthia, who's legs are a little forward, I'll stand where I want her legs to be. And I say, press those legs back against me. You'll find me eventually, honey, keep going. So it's a lot of pubic bone forward. Heels back to me. Yap. It's that much. Keep going. Love it. Yeah. So that she's doing it and I'm not pushing her into a position. Gorgeous.

Just stay here breathing. Wow. Great head Julie. All right. So from here, reach your arm overhead. Lift the rib cage pedal stays out yet. Keep pressing me sin. Keep pressing me love. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. And come back into your T. Woo. Yeah. Don't let me rush you. Take your time. Seriously. Yep. And then Julie, what if you gave me some flex? Feets a little more energy and one more time. That's it. It's really, so imagine the letter c shape that you're making.

So you're really linked in that side, closest to the ceiling and then come back into that t position. Yes, yes, yes, yes. And just say they're breathing. Nicely done. When you can twist to face the pedal. Keep the legs together. Yes, yes, yes, yes, Yup. And brie. So one arm is straight. What arm is bent?

Both legs are straight from here. Pump the arms please. Yeah. So the hardware, it's really more one arm working, right? The one that is that actually can straight. And then when you can split the legs and don't worry about which one you're going to go with, which one it is cause you most everyone always does this. And when you can up and down in the torso. Yes, right there.

It's an add extension. Lift the chin, lift the chest, gorgeous and push the pedal back down. That was great. Do that a couple more times. And by the way, if you're going faster, great. Just keep breathing and moving through extension and pressing back down. One more time. Come back up, gets it. Stay up here and pump those arms. Say in that extension yet. It's weird, but I kind of like it. Yes, you got one more. Thank you. And press the pedal all the way down.

Bring those legs together and unfurl your spine. Woo. Come all the way up to sitting. Okay, so now that we've sort of rung that all out, let's sort of just bring it all together in a simple mountain climb, shall we? All right, so add more springs back on and yeah, again, pick your poison. You decide what springs you want. I like a two in the middle for this chair. This one? Yeah, that's what you like. I often like to spring evenly. All right, so here we go.

Coming along to the front edge of the chair and let's just take a little bit of a moment. Getting Ready. Yeah, so mountain climb is next. So to get into mountain climb, if you're feeling unsure of yourself, you can put your hands onto the chair and then set the pedal down. But if you want to challenge your balance, what you can do is put your hands in, your hips are open, the arms out to the sides, and you press the pedal down with one foot, which that seems pretty easy, right? And then look at the chair and when you can step one foot to the top of the chair and then reach your hands for the back end of the chair and just stay there and reach that back in and hold. All right, so stay here before we go anywhere. We're in a nice rounded spine. Lift the back heel up really high. Yeah. Adjust that foot so you can get it.

Good. Now when you can really, really high, the back leg is super straight. Yes. Lower the heel all the way down. Still super straight. One more time. Lift that heel up really high and give me an in between position where you're not too high, not too low, and almost think of wrapping that ball of the foot around that foot bar. Yes. Are we okay? Lean. Uh, so Julie, maybe more hands more, even more. No, not the foot. The hands. More forward.

You're going to let bring your weight forward into that front leg. Start to pump the back leg. Here we go. And a one, two, yes. Three, four. Find the ham string against the pubic bone. Tucking as you reach two, three. So as you reach up, the focus goes up, up good and eight up there while you, that's it. Three. It's four. Maybe Elvis has snuck into the building and there's a little bit of a shake and eight to go down. Eight, seven. Yes. Six. Five. Don't lose her. Then four, three, two, one and rest.

Change sides please. Aren't you glad you're not climbing down? There's also, there's mountain climb up and there's also mountain climb down. Okay. Oh, you came all the way off. Great. Oh no you can't. No, that's fine. You can, you can transition by just keeping the pedal down. But Julie's being extra discipline and doing the full Monte. I like it. So just sitting here and your while you are setting up and waiting for her to do a lift and lower of the heel. That's right. Good. And then reach those hands around the spine. Lift that back hill up. Reach those hands all the way to the back edge. [inaudible] and lower the heel.

Keep the leg super straight. Do that one more time. Lift the heel up and find your neutral position where you're not too high, not too low. Grabbing with that front edge of the foot. Yeah. And when you can start to pump the back leg please. In no one, two, three more bend to the knee and yes, six. This is your harder ankle and start to reach up and you want to keep that ankle nice and still five, six rexy. See how that heel wants to lift it? Lift the chest. You're up there for eight. Lift the chest more. Yes.

Five things of the pubic bone. Tucking against the hamstring please. Eight to go down to three. Curling for five more. Belly, six, seven, eight and rest. How's our mountain climb? Delightful, right? Yes. Okay. Well you can slowly come off. All right. And let that pedal come up.

So now we're going to go for a doozy. This is a, the tricep dip, the one where you sit on the pedal, right? So when you can, I would add more springs. I, I would err toward the heavier, if you're trying this for the first time, if you already know what it is and stay on the light, but I would head to the heavier side, your arms, especially for your ladies like us. Well, thank you. So, um, and I also like, I think, where are you? Julie's. So two, one on the middle, one on the top. Um, that should be fine for you. Actually. We've done this before together. So take a pad. I'll actually like to put a pad on the foot bar. I think it helps and um, yeah, so you're gonna try to nuzzle your butt onto the pedal with your hands at the front edge. Yeah. In this position. Are we okay with that? All right, so pressing down into your arms, just walk the legs forward to straight from here. Pressing down into the hands. The first thing is, so yes, you're going to want to lean back. There is a little leading back happening, but you almost need to stick your tush out just to touch [inaudible] to lift the feet up and just stay here and hover those feet up off the ground. Yes.

And go for those tricep dip. Yeah, don't worry sin. That's it. So you almost want to stick your butt out. Yeah. And now the lower you go, the actually more fun it is. Get down the Yass slowly come back up. Yeah, we'll find in a masochistic peloton sort of way. Yes. Good. Just a couple more if you can stand it. Yes. And slowly up. You got one more? Okay. I think that's good. Put those feet down. Take a moment to rest how that feel. Seems like. Yeah. Okay.

So let's do that. Change your spring. Seriously. Change your springs. Julie, you change yours because that's usually what happens is people go, oh Whoa, now that I know what's happening, I'm going to do something different. By the way, as a small side tip, if you're having trouble lifting the feet up, you could sneak a roller underneath those feet and you could roll that roller under. Yeah. You feel better? You, yeah. Well, I mean no, no, no. This is good. This is good. You're going to be fine. Say here. Alright. Yes. So here we go. So the first thing is, so as the legs go to straight, there is this weird thing of yes though it's going forward, but I'm going to stick my butt out just a little bit, right? Because that's the length. And now just go down up three to five times and push it. You, I want you and surprisingly delightful tomorrow when you're done doing this.

Yes. And when you're done, you just simply bend your knees and go, Oh, I'm glad I did that today and you don't have to do it again. That's enough. That's enough. Okay. So, um, again, you decide your springs, this might be heavy, but we're going to do tabletop next. I thought it'd be sort of after something that's somewhat hard like that. Sometimes it's nice to sort of stretch out and lengthen all the, all of that out. So adjust your springs again if you're not wanting to, but let's table top with the hands behind you. Yeah, I think that, no, I think that looks good. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So when you can have a seat on top of your chair, hands go as far back as you can and you're going to get your feet in a v position. I Prefer v but you can also do it parallel, but toes are on the pedal.

Press the pedal down. It's just, you can kind of get your legs in that position. Excellent. So before we go anywhere downish though. So not pedal all the way down. Okay. You're welcome. So from here, as you presented to your hands, don't lower the pedal anymore. Ideally, as you lift your hips up and send your hips forward, let your knees slightly open. Glue the heels together. I don't look up. Look straight ahead. Start to pump as you pump. Think as the of the pubic bone. Almost curling in the opposite direction. Yes. Whoa. Hello. Right. Heels down.

Just a little bit more. Miss Julie. Yes. Knees. A little wider. Breathing. Yes, I keep pumping. Yeah, don't go too slow. It's really hard, isn't it? Okay. And when you can lift the pedal up and hold. There we go. Okay. Extend your right leg out to the side for fun. If not, you know, don't worry about it. If you're feeling groovy, you pump four times laughing. His breathing one and two and a three and four change sides almost there. Lift the chest, lift the pubic bone, left leg goes out and pump. Yes. Two, three, four, five and take it down. Rest. Yeah, that's challenging. Yeah. Have a seat and relax.

Ooh, well that was some work. All right, so when you can step off, but it's kind of fun. Now the next thing we're going to do is, um, I believe it's called the crossover pumping. It's not quite from my Romana training, but I really like it. So yes, are you're going to stand there. Now if you feel off balance, you can hold on to a Gondola Pole. Would you grab a Gondola Pole for me? Do you think you want to go onto a poll? We don't need it, but I'll, let's bring them in and then maybe on one side we'll try that on one side we won't. So use the pole if you need to. So there are different ways. There's open ones. I want you to do this one where you have the legs pair, the knees facing forward. So when you can, the farther away you are from the pedal, the harder it is. So I just want you to have your, I'm standing leg kind of in line with the pedal. Yes. And then when you can, the outside leg, the one that's farthest away from the pedal for you, it's your left for Julie. For you. It's your right, you're gonna press the pedal down with your foot and bring it.

Oh wait, bleeding to change the springs. O m g here, let me help you with it. See again, you know, I didn't have, she, she, she went to push it and she was like, that is too heavy. Yes. It's called good old common sense kicks in. Hopefully every time. You know, I, I always had my clients when they go, I think this is too heavy, as opposed to being like, I'm weak. It's like, well, should we check the equipment first? Yeah. Okay. Yes. Ooh. Hmm. Are you both on to, we'll give it a push. See how it feels, honestly. So as if they can hear me. I do this only on one spraying, but let's just see how it feels. See how it feels on that. Yeah.

Yes. You know, I, they just said mountain climb. They're like, I'm ready. All right, so let's do it. So, um, you can help hold that out to the sides. That feels good. But I think you guys are pretty good. Yeah. So when you can, first thing is take five field, fill the hip. So with your other hand, hold onto your hip. You want the hips nice. And even, and can you just to assemble pumping just like that. So see if you can find that rhythm and just an easy pump. Yes. Yes. So again, it's not the down. Do you feel it's the up? Yeah, it's the controlling the up. Yes. Do you wish you had a lighter spring?

Just like, I like it. She's like journaling. I'm doing it. That's right. We're going out for Tacos. That's what we're doing. I just said, do you wish you had a lighter spring? And Cynthia said it depends on where we're going. I was like out for Tacos. That was last night. All right, that looks good you guys. Yeah, that's it. So when you can just press the pedal down in a hold. And when you can, I just want you to turn your head and look to the twists.

So you're going to look to those um, Gondola pole arm. Yes. Just to add a little, yeah, just a little difference in this mine. Good nut. Can you twist without your hip going, but with you, uh, hut now pump the pedal. Oh yeah. That ain't easy. Just to challenge your proprioception. Hmm. I'm going to have to pay for that in Tacos. Yes.

And then other side please. So curious question, which, which is more tired? The pumping leg or the standing leg? Yeah. Pumping like, oh, interesting. I like controversy. Would you like to train your springs? I keep offering it. Like you can change your springs anytime. I'll be consistent. I love it. I love it. I love it.

You guys both came up with this different answers but they came up with the same answer on this one. So yeah. So find that spot [inaudible] and I think, yeah, that's it. Just putting that, just honestly, just getting your leg up there and balancing its work. I like to put my hand on the hip and just start an easy pumping. And again, it's not the push down. It's that slow control up. Yeah. And remember, hopefully you, I was talking about that back of the leg in the mountain climb, really feeling the back legs. So Julie's really feeling it here. So she's really pressing and finding the back of the leg. That heel. Excellent guys. Yes. Just a couple more. Yes.

And actually is the extra spring. Nice feel on the way up. Excellent. Okay. Press the pedal down. Hold. I like to do this with the pedal down. Turn your head, look to the Gondola Pole. Yes. Now when you're pressing down the pole, find that back of the armpit, especially for you, Julie. And start to pump one more time. I think that's your easier twist. Yeah. Yes.

Yeah. So it's not easy to pump. Yes. And twist at the same time. Just a few more. Three yes. Two. You got one more one and let that come up and remove your foot off the pedal. That's it. You guys were done.

So hopefully you've got a new sort of standing thing going. Let's end with just a little so you can just stand facing forward. And let's just have a little rejigger a Julie come in closer to me. Yeah. Good. So in this position, I'm going to hold the sticks. So while you're here, take a moment. Just close your eyes and just sort of hopefully let this all sort of settle in yet. Let's look down at our feet for just a moment and take a peak.

Let's really stand parallel so the heels are usually farther apart than you want. And in this position now lift your focus up, and now close your eyes and with your eyes close, lift all 10 toes up into the air and you're going to just feel a shift. Yeah. And now I hope you feel your head over your shoulders, over your hips, and over the heels. And from there you're just going to slowly lower the toes without going forward and open the eye. So hopefully you feel long and tall and maybe just a little rejiggered. Thanks everybody.

Comments

5 people like this.
LOVE BLOSSOM!!! 
Gerri M
3 people like this.
This is a fun quick rollicking workout on the ever challenging chair beautifully taught with humor and integrity 
1 person likes this.
Thanks for another awesome, fast passed quick class! Love it!
1 person likes this.
Great class! Mountain climbers are my favorite chair exercise! 
Blossom always love your classes.  Question:  I have the EXO chair and put on the heavy springs and struggled with lifting the legs.  Is there a much difference in the EXO and the Wunda chair.  I am sure it is some of my own weakness as well.
1 person likes this.
Great Blossom! I love your cues.
Amazing class as always Blossom - seeing that you had new chair classes got me to my chair this morning and now feeling taller, lighter and brighter as a result ❤️
1 person likes this.
Beautiful class!! Such wonderful energy, pace and cueing!! Thank you Blossom ...
1 person likes this.
Wunda-ful class!!  Loved the new moves and appreciated the changing of the springs to do the triceps again. I was just going to pause and rewind since i knew what i was doing now :) . You are the best, Blossom! How do you spell Wenis? Weenis?  Weenus?  LOL
Love this class, thank you Blossom!
1-10 of 23

You need to be a subscriber to post a comment.

Please Log In or Create an Account to start your free trial.

Footer Pilates Anytime Logo

Welcome to Your Pilates Era

Experience Your Joy

Let's Begin