Reformer Flow

Hi, thanks for joining us today. This workout is designed for those of us who find themselves sometimes short on time. I don't know if you ever find yourself short on time, but often do. And I still want to move my body and all different ranges of motion and that's what we're going to do today. And I came to make this class and my friend Amy was here, so she's going to do with us. All right Amy. So sitting in facing the back of the reformer, pickup the straps and I like to hold just above the hardware on the ropes.

We've have one red spring connected to the reformer. So part of this is a little easier on a blue part of it's a little easier on a red. This is the easy part on our red. I'll explain the easy part on the blue when we get there. So what we're going to do is we're going to bend our elbows and we're going to lift our chest going straight away and just into this small thoracic extension. And then stretch your arms out straight and then as you exhale, begin to go down. So go to where you feel comfortable.

If you feel that you can come all the way down, see that you feel your lumbar spine, come into contact with the box, inhale there, exhale, curl back up or resisting the pull of the spring, and then as we straighten up the back, we'll bend the elbows and then take that just a little bit further into thoracic extension because we all need that for sure. That is one thing I know for certain and now we'll go back pressing the legs together, maybe even squeezing the legs against the box that activates the hamstrings. Inhale and exhale, curling Baca. Establish the shoulders over the pelvis and then bend the arms and lifts the back and then go after that. Just beyond into that thoracic Ascension. Take the arms out straight, return to a straight back.

We'll do two more exhale to go down. [inaudible] legs are pulling back against the box. If this is too difficult for you to come all the way down to your low back, just go to where you can and then lift back up and bend the arms, find a straight back and then point the elbows downwards to lift the sternum till, lift into thoracic extension and then straighten out the back and straighten out the arms and go. One more time. Exhale and in here and now exhale. So the next part where we're going now is the part where it's easier on a blue spring because we're going to ask this spine, bend the elbows and lift to stabilize in not lower spinal flection position. Extend to thoracic spine.

Come back to straight and straight in your arms. Okay, so here we go Amy. This is where it gets a little fun. We're going to roll back. Pausing is the lower back, comes into contact with the box. We're going to inhale. We're going to lift the right knee and think of deepening the flection of the spine and put that down. Same leg again, XL left sta, and now as the right leg lifts, I want us to push down with the left and pull back against the box. We'll do two more. Do you think we should come up in between?

Oh, she says it's my choice. Okay, so I choose no, we lift the left and down. So what you could think about is as your thighs lifting, press your sternum towards your thigh. Not necessarily lifting higher, just intensifying on the work in the center of the body. There's two to go and one more and we go down. I don't know he comma, I know that many of us will appreciate that break myself included. Bend the arms, thoracic extension, straight back, arms go back forward. Inhale, exhale, roll back again. Once you feel that connection to the box, we're going to lift one leg or the other. Either one is fine.

We're going to alternate. So here we go. Exhale and change. Feel the bottom leg. Feel that hip extensor, the hamstrings pushing the leg down. We'll do two, two, one, one, and Amy, we're going to add rotation so we just turn with the body and turn with the body and for letting the straps come with us, letting the stirrups assist us upwards on the box. Two, two, and one. One both. Legs down. Take a breath in.

Left up, left the spine. There's one more thing. Bend the arms. Thoracic extension, back to neutral or straight. Arms forward. We'll roll back. Yeah, anchor that back. This is the toughest thing. We're going to lighten up on the feet, so I'm on my toes at this moment and we're going to lift both knees and reach down and lift both knees. If you can't go all the way to the head rest without the low back lifting, please just find a range that feels supported in your body two and why, and then let the toes land. Let the feet come down.

I left all the way. Oh, actually before you do, just chip that you're in position so that your shoulders are just over the edge of the box. You're perfect. I think I'm in a good position too, and we're going to come all the way back on. Okay, so we're going to take the loops instead of the ropes so you won't have tension right away. Don't worry about it. Breathe in. As you breathe out, you'll catch the tension on the ropes. As you roll back. Come to flection where you're just off your shoulder blades and bend your elbows. Stay inflection with your torso as your arms reach overhead. And now take the thoracic spine over the top of the box. Reach down and wide with the arms. Keep the head done until the very end. Then lift the head, then roll up. You're welcome.

Sit all the way up tall. It's always fun at a workout with a friend and go back. Okay. And then, and reach overhead. Take the spine back. Make sure the low back stays, stays connected to the box. The head comes up at the end.

We're looking straight ahead as we roll. Oh my abs are getting tired. My little feets want to lift up. We'll do one more. Go back bend, reach. Extend the spine. Ah, I'm stalling on purpose. Alyssa the head and left all the way up with the body. Awesome. That's enough of that. Put the straps away.

So we both did that on one red spring. But remember that a blue is also optional. It's just harder to roll up and down with the blue. So let's set up for foot work. I like three reds in a blue. You can pick your own spring.

Well just come down. Leave the head rest down for now. If you're attempted to put it up. Well you can't in a minute if you want, but not yet. Okay, so the arms come down. We're going to just start with some bridging and want you to feel that you're anchoring. Like what do I mean by that? Slide the heels down on the bar without actually sliding them literally. But just feeling the feeling that engagement through the back of the legs.

We're going to peel the spine up, rolling the hips up one bone at a time, coming up into that nice high bridge, thinking about posteriorly, tilting the pelvis and inhale. And as we let the chest come down through the arms, through the shoulder blades, we could feel that the head is reaching out in the opposite direction that the spine lays down longer than it was when we started. Oh, Meredith moved her carriage and let's go again. Roll. So let's try all try. Meredith. Meredith included to keep the carriage stuff and inhale nice high lift, posteriorly rotating. So we get that nice stretch to the front of the legs and now exhale as we roll down.

So a teacher I admire said gave me a cue recently that I really like and it's roll up again. Most of the time when we're doing this, we all often Q and talk about the spine, but this teacher, my friend Jenice Athena is Athena said try instead of thinking about the spine to feel that wide outsides of your entire body, make your body wider as you lay it down, which is something that we don't often think about employees, but it really resonated with me. So if you like that, thank you Jenna. We're going to lift up again. For me it helps me feel like I lay down more evenly and that's why I like it down. Why stretching the body wide or on the carriage.

And then we'll come all the way down. And if you like your head rest up for foot work, you can put it up now and we'll flex the fee. What makes sure that the ribs are soft and that the tailbone is down and we'll take it out and bring it in. And so creating a rhythm, working with breath and as you're, we're moving through this. There's chess, the check checklist.

I check in with my shoulders, I check in with my abdominals, I check to see that I've got even weight on both feet. We'll do two more and last time outs and then bend and hold the bent position and a tiny push, pull, push, pull, push. So it's not a push up, it's not a drop down. It's a working in both of those directions to them more and press all the way out. And then, and then we'll come onto the toes. Finding an equality of weight across the toes and push and pull, reach out and drag the spring reach. Ah, I like to imagine that as my knees are bending, my spine is lengthening the other way. So I'm like trying to get longer on the carriage. As my knees are bending or shortening.

We'll do four and back. Three and two and in one. Here we go, we come almost all the way and we'd push and pull, push and pull shoulders soft, tailbone down [inaudible] and then, and then at the bottom bring the heels of the feet together. Re anchor the pelvis, check that you've got even weight on both of your feet. And here we go, we're off and we come back, we stretch out and we pull in really connecting to the center of the body.

So of course this isn't a lot about our legs, but I believe that we can turn any movement into a full body experience if we just put our focus in the right places and we'll do for pulling back theory, pulling back to wrapping through the back of the leg and one and come back. Here we go. We go out, feel the squeeze of the heels, connecting the inner thigh muscles. Feel the glutes wrapping from behind five, four, three, two reach-outs and come back. Heels come to the outside of the bar. Think of sliding the heels towards one another just to navigate that inner thigh connection and reach and pull. Inner thighs.

Active, extra rotators. Active abdominals. Active. I was laughing because it sounds like I'm trying to conjure up a superhero or something and full body. Activi less. Three. Sorry, two and one. Thank you for bearing with my childish sense of humor and push, pull, push, pull. I feel like the older I get the more childish I feel [inaudible] last three and two. I think that's not a bad thing. And and then onto the toes.

Keep that wide. V position. Feel the inner thighs connected and how to hang back. Stretch and come in. I again, checklists, Pell arms, soft, hands-off, neck soft, last four and three and bend to bend one and bend. And here we push and resist. Push and resist. Keep thinking about that center body connection.

Last four, three to add. Oh the way and bend and moving back to the center of the bar, staying on the toes. We take it all the way out and we take first both heels down and up, down, fully articulating the foot, getting that nice full stretch. As my heels go down, I feel like I'm trying to wrap my toes around. The foot. Bras are in stretching the tops of my feet as well as the backs of my legs.

Oh hold you. Three more here. [inaudible] two more. And from here we'll alternate. Here we go. Drop, lift, drop, lift. So that there's that full stretch. And then I'll sense of lightness as we meet in the middle, keeping the pelvis nice and steady. And what do you, four four, three, three, two, two, one and stretch under [inaudible] and change. Stretch under and left 10 bend.

And now take your legs and reach over the foot bar with your knees. You can scoot away from the shoulder blocks a little bit. You're going to want, maybe you might want those knees to bend or lift the arms. Lift the head can pull the back with your legs. Roll at. Take the bar, lift the back. Oh, and we can thank my teacher rail for this beautiful transition. It feels so good. And then let's reach down and adjust the spring.

I'm going to go one red, one blue, and then we could just roll back down. It's difficult to queue correctly for every every person's specific dimensions. That works well for me. But, um, anyway, let's make sure the strap, sir even and put our feet in [inaudible] and to take the legs into a frog position, we're gonna stretch forward and pull back stretch forward. So really warming up those hip joints, feeling again, that sense of inner thigh connection with the press of the heels. I imagine my abdominal muscles initiating that forward push up the legs.

So I'm like pulling the carriage with my stomach before my legs start to move one more. And we go out and we'd go down, out, around together and ah, at aura to gather. And what's difficult for me, it's making my legs do the same thing at the same time, in the exact same range as the legs. Press down, feel that they're reaching away. And we'll do for a ride around together theory. Ah, all around. So yeah, and to add around an app last one and pause to reverse. Go put down together and up the center.

Open, reach out. Again, you could checklist pelvis even on both sides where the rims, and I'm not suggesting that we have to like lock our ribs onto the reformer. I'm just thinking about more of a softening idea in that, in that area of focus. So for just making sure the mid back isn't lifted up off the carriage is basically what I'm saying. Theory last two and one way. Okay. Amy, what we're going to do now is the long spine. It's been quite awhile since I've done the lung spine, but I hope you'll join me and I'll try to do my best job.

So we're going to come up to a vertical position with the Langs. We're going to keep the carriage still and now roll up with the spine pressing down with the arms. So we lift the spine up, finding the back extensors separate, keep the carriage so as we roll down. So that's just a perfect combination of hip extensors or hamstring work and yeah, a perfect combination of not too much and just enough left. Ah, so push into the straps with your feet. Step into the straps as you lift up. If you're pushing the carriage, you're pushing too much in legs open.

If the carriage is sliding back towards the foot bar, you're not connected enough. Arms are helping us stabilize our scapula. As we lay the spine back down into the reformer, press down, come together. We'll do one more left and articulate this fine. Well open.

That loop was me not being perfect and down and down and together we'll do three shorts. Binds now bending the knees, pressing at this time, folding all the way into the stop or before we actively begin to pick up the spine. Then once we get there, we roll up and back. We bend the knees, we roll away from the feet, keeping the carriage still as we do. We drop the thighs down towards the torso and then we bring the legs across the top and push out. Fold in half. Come all the way in, lift up and bend and down. I don't reach through and forward and one more fold in, half touch left up right.

Bend the knees and come down. And once we get there we can finish by coming all the way down. And then let's just slip the feet out of the straps there. [inaudible] and I think trying to come up the way we came down and up last time is nice way to practice, Amy, you'll just find a place that doesn't make you feel like you're gonna fall off the reformer. We're going to roll it up. Feel free to use your legs as much as you need to.

And we're going to bend the body, bend the body, then the arms that'll lift the chest, and then we'll go. Let's go to a red spring. Well, just do an arm variation in series that I've been liking lately. So what we're going to do is we're just going to sit towards the back of the carriage. Then we'll do our chest expansion here. So it's if it's too difficult back here, simply move yourself a little further forward. So bringing the arms down next to the sides of the torso, just simply press back and forward reaching down and forward.

Feel that the spine as the arms are reaching back is lifting tall and, and forward and back. We'll do three more, two more. One more now holding the arms back, reach down with the arms, lift the sternum and return keeping that upper back active lift. The certain may be pulling the arms back just slightly more and return. We'll do that one more time. Lift the sternum and return and then just reach back. You may have to readjust.

I do to get to my spring, but I'm going to add a blue [inaudible] arms are going to reach out straight. So again, we're just in that upright position. Just a simple bicep curl in. And ah, as I bend my elbows, I'm thinking about how deep can I pull my navel back towards my spine. So it working the trunk musculature of the trunk to stabilize the orientation of the torso. And we have four and a surprise is coming. Amy. Three a very special surprise. Two and one.

Now we're going to hold there and we're going to lift the elbows and take them down and lift the elbows. Hello deltoids and lift the elbows down to simple and effective. Last one. And then hook the straps over the elbows and just open the elbows out to the sides and back and open. Yeah, and back. So as I'm opening my albums, I'm thinking of spreading my scapula, not squeezing them. Fear.

Curious about what I'm thinking. We'll do three more here. One, two more and last time. And then we'll take our arms at and now just reach back and in stead of a red and a blue, remove the red. So you just have a blue and then scoot a little closer in. So now my toes are on the edge. Take the arms out in front. So we're going to bend the elbows. Amy, it's pretty light.

We're going to go into external rotation. So we'd take the fists up and back. Now let the straps hook on that thumb. Reach your arms up and back. Thoracic extension again. Take the arms around and bring them forward. Yeah, and bend. You're welcome. This one I learned from Karen Clippinger. So we're learning all the time, all of us from everyone reach up and back, all around and it's nice to credit the source of my inspiration I had this moment.

I think we'll do three more up. Reach back, reach out, come forward and bend, rotate up and back around. And for the last time, bend, rotate, reach back, pause for a moment. Extend the thoracic spine a little more around to the sides and take the arms forward. Okay, so let's hang those straps up and we'll grab those boxes again while you're at it. Take the foot bar down, hang up some Springs. We're heading into some side overs, so you want to make sure the carriage is nice and secured. I've collected my strap. Get the box.

Okay, so let's just sit on the outside of the hip and reached down on the head. Rest with the hand. Think of internally rotating and lifting up into the heel. If that feels comfortable in your body, reach one hand back or the arm can be forward up to you. And hands.

We're going over the box nice and simple and find a straight line and in Nia and find a straight lie. And in here pressing the head into the hands. I have about one more in me today and then we'll take the hand can either put your elbow down on the headrest or you can reach down if you have the flexibility and it's comfortable for you without strain to rest your hand down on the floor. We'll stretch the arm overhead. And what also feels nice here is to push that foot away. Yeah.

And then I like to let my pelvis roll back a little. That feels really amazing in my body, but only a suggestion and not our demand. And then let's all take our hands to the frame, do a little spinal rotation forwards. And then from here we'll lift up and come into a little bit of back extension pull. I'm pulling with my hands, my spine forward and my hands are pulling back towards the box, which is locked in place and for me and come back up when you're ready. Gives me a really nice oblique, bleak stretch.

Okay. So other side we did five if I'm counting correctly, which sometimes I do and sometimes I don't, but I try. Here we go over and out and feeling the length of the spine. Thinking about that medial rotation of the street like then what I like about that as this for Amy or three, no, I'm talking on, I'm going to do two more and maybe that's an extra. And if you know that it is, you can stop when you're ready. But what I like about that medial rotation idea, and here we are, we're done, is that it helps to, um, it helps those lateral hip muscles become part of the equation.

So again, your ha elbow can either be down or your hand can be on the floor. I'm gonna roll my pelvis back like I did on the other side. You can do that if you wish or you don't have to. And then we're going to turn taking the hands either side of the frame. Go down.

Yeah, reach out. Come up there. Okay. Let's quickly turn the box and let's go to a, um, just a blue spring. Lay down on the blocks and then just energizing the legs so they feel they're about, we're going to just hold the frame. So yeah, we just take the hands kind of as far as you can reach up the frame comfortably. And then what we do is we start looking towards the risers or towards the back of the reformer.

We start gliding the scapula down the back and then stay pretty low on your ribs, but try to pull the sternum up and forward. Yeah, another simple exercise that just feels great and then reach back down. So it's a reverse articulation. The head goes up, the scapula glides. It's that scapula glides that moves a reformer. It's not about making a huge movement.

It's more about generating sensation in my mind in the mid back. So as I'm gliding my scapula down, I'm also thinking about going forward, not forward more than op in my brain. I'm certainly change it in your experience. If it feels like you need something different and I'm reaching out two more times. [inaudible] I find as I moved through it, I'm wanting to go a little more into extension each time.

So I think it's all good for everyone to explore their own experience within their movement. And I encourage you to do that everyone, and then go down. And then once we get all the way down, we'll just take the hands on the box and push up. Bring the knees kind of towards a friend so the feet are sitting over the edge and then just sit back on your feet. Your arms can hang down at the sides of the reformer. Ooh, I just found something that feels good. If you reached down, can you hold onto the underside of the reformer and pull again? Diamonds? Yeah. Or just put your hands on the carriage and enjoy the resting position is another choice. And then when you're ready, can you use your hands to help you out? Just come up and we'll go on with the rest of our day.

Thanks for joining us. I hope you had fun.