Quick Full-Body Tower

Hi, I'm Gia. And today we're gonna do a tower class. It's gonna be featuring a lot of the exercises I just like to do especially if I don't have a lot of time. So we're gonna start with the rollback bar. I have it at the top and we're gonna start with some rollbacks.

So feet are gonna go against the poles here. And then I'm holding onto the outside of the bar trying to keep my wrist straight, shoulders down away from the ears, take a deep inhale as I grow a little bit taller as I exhale, curling the tailbone under rolling down one bone at a time, should feel nice. Inhale at the bottom, exhale as I roll up. Inhale lengthen, exhale again, starting from the tailbone pulling the navel into the spine as I roll down, reaching my heels toward the poles. Inhale at the bottom, exhale, roll up.

Trying to keep the arm straight letting the bar help me when I need it, inhale. Since it's just the beginning. I'm not trying to overdo the abdominals. More thinking about movement in my spine Opening the chest at the bottom, and then rolling up reaching out through the heels, trying to stay connected. One more full one like this, and then I'm gonna add some arms.

All the way down, open the chest and then roll up. The next time down you're gonna stay, so inhale tall, exhale, roll down, articulate through the spine. Keep that long spine as you're down, arms stay straight. We're gonna lower the arms to the thighs and lift. Just go as low as you can can.

If you can touch your thighs, that is great and lower trying to keep both arms even. I'm thinking of pushing down from my back not just my hands. I'm opening the chest as the arms go down, watch the wrists, two more. Last one and then roll all the way up. Inhale, sit tall, this time we're gonna roll halfway back, halfway back.

Find a position where you feel challenged, hold keep that lower back round. Pull the arms into your chest. Elbows are wide as you pull in. Still reaching out through the heels. Tryna touch the poles.

And in and stretch, four more. Pulling into the abdominals every time, three. If you like me, your elbows will be cracking every time. Last one, arms stay straight, roll all the way up. Sit nice and tall, bend your knees if you need to, keep pushing the bar down and then back up.

So as I push down, I grow my spine taller and push. Just watch the ribs, make sure they're stacked on top of your pelvis. Four more. And three, two, last one. You're gonna lie down on your back, take the bar with you.

And you're gonna put the bar underneath your knees. So you can find a position that works for you. You may need to adjust as you're going. Arms are just gonna stay down by your side and we're gonna bring your legs up to tabletop. So the goal is to keep your pelvis neutral.

You're not trying to round and lift your tailbone up. You wanna keep that tailbone down. You're just gonna lower your feet down toward the mat and then lift up. So it's not quite a tabletop 'cause you wanna squeeze the bar a little bit to hold it in place, but you're aiming for that 90 degree angle or a little bit further with your thighs depending on your flexibility. And think of using your low abs to lift.

Pretty sure I learned this from Cara Reeser and I've always liked it. It's a simple movement but it's very effective. And then pull it in. Make sure both knees are coming in still reaching that tailbone down to the mat. So I'm not curling my tail under.

And then I'm thinking about what my neck and shoulders are doing so that they stay long and quiet. Two more. Last one. This time I'm gonna hold my legs in. Keep pulling your knees in, arms up to the ceiling.

As you inhale here, exhale, push your arms down by your side, curl your chest up and then lower back down and then curl. So again, the knees are still coming in. You're holding them in that curl as you're moving your upper body. One more. This time, we're gonna hold it up.

And we're gonna to pump the arms for the hundreds. So you inhale two, three, four, five, exhale, inhale keep those knees coming towards your head but keep that tailbone coming down to the mat. Inhale and exhale, arms are pumping nice and strong, inhale and exhale. We have four more sets. Exhale, three exhale, two try to get a little deeper in the abdominals.

Exhale, last set and exhale and rest. We're gonna take the bar out from under your thighs and then we're gonna turn around and then bring the bar with you as you lie down for breathing. So again, I'm still holding on to the outsides of the bar. I'm gonna scoot down a little bit and then my feet are gonna be fairly close to my sits bones. So shoulders are down the back, away from the ears.

We're gonna press the hips up. We're not rolling, we're just pressing, push the hands to the thighs arms come up to the ceiling and then we're gonna roll through the spine to come down. So press up in one piece, push the arms down arms come up and then roll through the spine on the way down. So get an articulation on the way down, press, shoulders down as you push the arms, try to keep the wrists in line with the rest of the arm and then roll down, press into the feet to lift the hips and push the bar down. Arms up, toll down, try to keep the neck long.

So you're not having your chin on your chest. You wanna keep a little space there, arms up and then roll down one more time and press up, arms pressed down to the thighs, arms up and then roll down. Good. So I'm gonna let go of this bar. We're done with the rollback bar and I'm gonna go into some leg springs.

So I have my leg springs, they're about the fourth down from the top. You can adjust where you need to, depending on your height and the strength of your legs. This is where I personally like it. And then I'm gonna push out a little bit away from the tower. So I'm gonna keep my hands on the tower, a little bit lifted trying to keep as close to a 90 degree angle as I can.

And then I'm gonna have my heel together, toes apart in a little V. Legs are straight. I'm just gonna lower both legs down toward the mat and then lift them back up to the ceiling. So I'm going slow as I can control it, keeping my heels together. It's been a while since I've been on the tower too so I can feel my heels wanting to kind of slide against each other.

So I'm really trying to keep them glued together. Now my abdominals are activated from the earlier exercises. I'm using them to help stabilize rest of my pelvis. And I have four more. Keeping the tailbone down as the legs come up to the ceiling.

Three and I'm using my arms to also stabilize me, really pushing. So it's a full body exercise even though it looks like it's mostly your legs. One more. Keeping the legs straight, we're going into circles. So we're gonna open down together.

So we wanna make sure the circles are the same size. Since the springs are separate. It's easy for one leg to kind of go wild while the other leg is controlled. I'm trying to get them moving at the same time. And back up two more in this direction.

Last one. And reverse. Another goal I have on the tower is to keep the springs quiet. 'Cause sometimes especially with the leg springs they can get a little bit loose and a little bit loud. So the quiet springs is another goal.

One more, heels stay together. I'm gonna flex my feet, we're gonna go into frogs and then push it back out. So we bring in to the chest and press, again stable pelvis, that tailbone stays down. I'm trying not to rock back and forth by tucking. I wanna keep it neutral, and out, bend in and out, last two.

And last one, I'm gonna turn the legs parallel. I'm gonna point my toes again and then lower them down just slightly. So we're gonna walk up by little scissors. So you're just gonna walk up as you scissor your legs, trying to pass through that midline and then walk down. Think of using the backs of the legs, not the feet as you press up.

Make sure both legs are passing and then back down. We all have one leg that's a little stronger that does a little bit more work on this one. We gonna try to use both equally. And then back down. One more set, walking up and just breathe how it works for you.

And back down. Bend your legs, take your feet out and then shake them out. Hug your knees into your chest and rock side from side. So we're gonna switch into the push through bar. So I'm actually just gonna take off my rollback bar 'cause done with it this class.

I just get it out the way. So clear it up and then we're gonna load the spring from the bottom so we're gonna put our safety strap on first And then I have one red spring coming from the bottom. So we're gonna do a hip opener, just open up the hips and work on side body a little bit. So you're gonna come underneath the body. The closer you are, better it is to the tower and then I'm gonna push it up with my arm and then put my foot up here on the bar.

I'm trying to get it as close to the center as I can. Your hips aren't very open. You can have 'em more forward. So trying to stack myself all the way on the side and then I'm just resting my head on my hand or my arm. So keeping the hips stacked, I'm trying to push the leg up.

Feels really nice, I'm a little tight in my hamstrings today and then bend it back in and push and bend. Pay attention to this top shoulder. You don't wanna let it roll forward. You wanna keep it in line. It's a little bit tight in here with the spring and the tower bar or in the pushy bar, but feels really good in your hips, your hamstring, inner thigh, reaching that bottom leg long.

We have four more. And three. I'm not letting my knee bend all the way in. I'm still controlling it so there's that, there's a little bit of tone in the thigh as I bend. So I'm not just letting it collapse.

Keep the lake straight on this next one. I'm gonna point my toe and flex, point and flex trying to keep all five toes on the bar. So I'm not rolling in or out on that ankle. We have four more. And three, two, last one, bend the leg, grab the bar with your hand and then use your arm to control it back down.

And we're gonna switch to the other side so you can roll over. Again I'm lying toward the back, pull on the tower and then I'm gonna push it up with my arm, trying to get my foot as close to the middle as I can. And then making sure I'm stacked on my side. One hip on top of the other, resting my head on my upper arm and then pushing the leg up and down. While I'm bending and straightening my leg, my foot is not fully flexed, not fully pointed.

It's kind of in an in between position. So I'm focusing more on opening my hips and trying to get them square. The side is a little tighter for me, so harder to get square. And then I'm focusing on keeping that shoulder open too. So I'm not rolling my upper body forward.

Think I'm turning out from the hip. And press. We have two more. Hold this next one straight. And then we point the toe and flex, point and flex.

The bottom leg is reaching long. The top leg is straight as it can be without hyper extending. Yeah, four and three, two, last one, bend the leg, grab it with your hand and then come onto your back as we go into tower. So I'm gonna start by pushing myself out to find my position and then I'm gonna push the bar up so I can get my feet on the bar. So I'm gonna, feet hip distance apart right on the ball of my feet.

And then I'm gonna hold onto the poles here, trying to keep my arms straight. So I'm pushing into the bar like I did with the leg springs. So we're gonna start with a little progression. So we're gonna keep the legs bent. I'm gonna lift my hips up.

My knees are gonna be parallel to the mat. I'm just reaching them past my head. And then I'm gonna roll down, keeping the legs bent, so that a couple more times. So this is a nice position, just pay attention to what your feet are doing, 'cause you don't wanna turn your head. You wanna keep looking up so I can see if my feet are rolling in or out.

And if I have the weight even on my feet. Let's do one more like this and roll up and then back down. So you can keep going like this or you can add on. So I'm gonna roll up again. Knees are parallel to the floor.

This time I'm gonna keep my hips up. Push legs up to straight, bend the legs back to that bent position and then roll down Two more like this, hips come up, knees parallel to the floor, push the legs straight, bend the legs in and then roll the hips down. One more time, roll up. And then hips, legs press. Think of using the hamstrings as you press, bend and then roll down.

One more add on. You can stay with the last version if you'd like though. Straighten the legs at the bottom now. We're gonna keep the legs straight the whole time as we roll the hips up and then roll it down. Just keep the legs straight, roll up.

Your tailbone might not get all the way down, that's okay. Depends on how tight your hamstrings are. One more time. And roll down. Hold it here.

If you need to adjust and come closer to the bar, you can otherwise stay here. Just gonna flex feet and point. Just a little footwork to stretch out the calves. Keep the ankles mobile. We have two more.

Last one. I'm gonna go into a little running. So bend one knee, you push the other heel under and then switch. I'm trying to get that full range in both directions with your feet. Two more sets.

Last set And then bend your legs. You're gonna take the bar with your hands. Take your feet out from underneath you and then come on up with control and we're gonna change the springs again. So we're gonna take off the spring from the bottom. Take off the safety strap.

And then we're gonna use the push through bar from the spring at the top. So I have on the outside here one red spring at the very top and we're gonna use this for the rest of the class. So we're gonna go into a swan. So from here, I'm gonna push the bar down and control it so I can get onto my stomach. So my legs are together, abs are pulled in.

Shoulders are away from the ears, my head is down. From here you're gonna bend your elbows wide. Just pull the bar behind you, keep your head down and then push the bar in front of you. So trying to get a little stretch on my shoulders, open my chest a little bit. And then stretch from here.

We're gonna add a little chest lift, little baby chest lift, bars behind your head and then lower down, stretch the arms, bend, baby chest lift lower stretch, two more, bend, baby chest lift. Trying to keep that bar behind the head to keep the chest open without letting the head push forward though. Now I'm gonna go a bit bigger. So bar comes behind my head again. I'm gonna shift the bar in my hands.

As I try to get the arms straight up over my head, lower down bar, still behind my head and then I push the bar forward. So elbow's done first, lift the spine up, keep lifting as I push the bar up and then bend, bar's behind my head. It's the last thing to come forward. Two more, elbows are wide, open the chest lift up the spine and bend and reach forward. One more.

You just wanna let that bar swivel in your hands so you don't feel stuck or rigid. And then bend. Now keep the arms straight. Arms are gonna stay ahead of you and you're just gonna lift your spine up for another swan, lower down and lift, lower, two more, lift, lower, we're gonna hold this next one up. Find a position where you can control it and then little kicks with the legs, we're swimming.

So we inhale for five and exhale for five. Try to keep those legs parallel, inhale and exhale. One more set, inhale and exhale, lower with control. Keep the bar in one hand, use the other hand down to push up so you can bring the bar up safely and then we're gonna go into child's pose. Squeeze hip apart, feet together, arms are straight and just stretch your back the other way.

Breathe, this is quite a bit of extension. So it's just nice to get a little counter stretch. So we're gonna roll up and we're gonna go into push through. Our bar is already set up, which is nice. And then we're gonna back to that position we were in, in the beginning with the feet against the poles.

Really push the heels in, hold onto your push through bar nice and wide, sit nice and tall. Arms are gonna stay straight for this exercise. So you're gonna bring your tailbone under again, like we did in the beginning. So you can roll back, once you can't go any further you're gonna use your abdominals, push forward. Think of bringing your head toward the pushy bar and reach into a nice stretch.

Try not to let your head drop. You wanna keep the neck in line with the rest of the spine. Now you're gonna roll back again into that little mini roll back. Again once you can't go any further, then you're gonna push the bar up, flat back as you hinge forward. Watch the ribs, that they're not thrusting forward.

You wanna keep everything in one line. So you roll back, push forward. If you need to bend your knees to feel a little bit of a stretch on your spine, you can, just do what feels good to you. Roll back and then hinge forward with a flat back and length and roll back. Abs pull in as you push through and roll back.

Just like with the swan, you wanna let that bar kind of turn in your hands. So you're not feeling stiff or rigid. You wanna be able to move with ease. And forward and then roll back and push up, hold it here. We're gonna keep one hand on the bar.

The opposite hand is gonna come toward that other ankle or you can grab onto the pole, whatever feels good for you. And then just try to keep that other hip down. Lengthen your spine. Try to open your chest, get a nice little rotation And then let go, bring that hand back up and we're gonna switch sides. So again, you can grab onto the leg or the ankle, or if you can reach the bar grab onto that, keep that opposite hip down, lengthen your spine, open your chest into that rotation.

And then you can even push the bar up a little bit too, to get more length. And then bring the bar up, come up to seated and then we're gonna finish with the mermaid. So I like to do kneeling mermaid. You could also do the seated if that feels better for you. So it takes a little bit of playing to find the position that works for you and your length.

So I'm about halfway on the mat. I'm keeping this arm bent. So that way I can keep the shoulder down and I'm not doing anything funky with it. Other arm is gonna come up out to the side and then I'll just bring it up by my ear actually. So use my back to push it as far down and then when I can't go any further, I'm gonna lift up and over to the side.

And then back up and then let the arm bend. So arm comes down, lift up and over trying not to twist directly to the side and then back up. One more time. So I'm thinking of pulling that shoulder away from the ear trying to make the movement smooth and then back up and then we'll switch to the other side. So from the back, you can kind of see my feet are parallel.

Not I'm trying to keep them parallel as much as I can and you can see what my back is doing. So shoulders down, using my back to move that bar. Arm is up by my ear and then I'm lifting up and over And then back up to vertical. So as I'm going over into my side bend I'm pushing down with that opposite leg. So I'm not letting that knee lose contact with the mat.

I wanna try to keep both knees even with the weight. And then gently let go of the bar and you are all finished. Thank you for joining me in my favorite tower exercises.