Pilates with a Hand Towel

Hi, I'm Kira Lamb. This mat class uses a hand towel or a kitchen towel to build upper body strength and help eliminate neck strain in the exercises where your head and shoulders are curled off the mat. We're gonna start in the center of our mat and start off in your parallel position and then pivot on your heels into Pilates stance. So there's about a fist distance between your big toe joints. Root down in the three corners of your feet, the mound of your big toe, small toe, in the center of your heel.

Find that internal lift by pulling your lower abdominals away from your pants. Slide them all the way up the backs of your ribs. Press your head through the ceiling. Now, the towel. Hold on a little bit wider than your hips and make sure you're squeezing the towel even with your pinky fingers.

Watch what I do with my wrist. I push my pinky fingers away from one another so my wrists are straight and press my upper arm bones apart. Now you should feel really connected to your upper body. Let's add some arm movement. Inhale, breathe into your lower back as your arms go forward and up.

Exhale, lift your lower abdominals, reach forward with your towel and lower. Inhale, push the towel away from your powerhouse and reach up. Exhale, keep pulling the towel apart as you reach forward and down. You have three more. Inhale, make sure your wrists are straight.

Check in with your pinky fingers. And then exhale, pull your upper arm bones apart as you reach forward. Last two, pull your lower abdominals in and up. Press your head through the ceiling as your arms go forward and down. Last one, you'll keep your arms up towards the ceiling and pause.

Press your shoulders away from your ears and your fists up for side bending. Keep reaching your inner heels into the floor and then slide your left ribs up towards the ceiling. It's not a big curve. It's almost like I'm just trying to punch the ceiling with my left fist. Make your right arm a little bit longer.

Press your heel deeper into the mat and come center. Other side, lift first and then slide your ribs, your right ribs up along the ceiling. And then make your arms a little bit longer. Pull your lower abdominals in and then come all the way up to standing. Reach through your inner heels.

And then as you curve over, can you press the crown of your head towards the towel instead of elevating your shoulders? Push through your inner heels. Make your arms longer and then lift from your center and return. Pull your lower abdominals in and curve. Remember, you wanna grow taller.

Lift your ribs up towards the ceiling and then return center. One more set. Pull your lower abdominals in, fine lengthen your spine, not a big bend. Open up your ribs and then return center. Final one.

Find that internal lift and reach. Curve over, and then come all the way up. Grow taller as your arms go forward and down. Chest expansion. Take the towel, place it behind you.

It's underneath your hips, palms face back. Same thing, reach your fist down to the floor. Press your pinky fingers away from one another and pull your upper arm bones apart. As you inhale, pull the towel apart and reach back. You'll feel a nice stretch in your chest.

Keep pushing your fist back. Look over one shoulder. Look over the other shoulder. Look center and lower. Inhale, reach back.

I'm pulling my lower abdominals back towards the towel. And then look over my left shoulder, right shoulder, center, and return. Reach back, pull your lower abdominals back and then look over one shoulder. Look over your other shoulder, center, and return. Last one.

Pull the towel apart and pull your shoulder blades together. And then look over one shoulder, the other shoulder, center, and lower. All right, let's start with the mat work. Go to the bottom of your mat. Go back into your Pilates stance and then drape the towel over one forearm and stack your forearms.

Press them into one another and find that same internal lift. You can either meet me on the mat or do the traditional descend. If you're doing the traditional descend, start to bend your knees, send your elbows, chin, and chest way forward. Try to drop your tailbone right below your heels. Keep lifting, keep lifting.

And then take a seat with control and then scoot back a little bit. We're gonna start with the towel underneath our head and shoulder blades. So set it up vertically on your mat. And when you lie down on your back, you wanna measure a hand width between your head and the back edge of your towel, right about here. Your knees and your feet are the same distance as your hips.

Grab the back corners of the towel. Hold on tightly. Pull the towel back like you're trying to slide it out from underneath your body. And as much as you pull the towel back, slide your shoulder blades down towards your hips and then fold your elbows in towards your ears. Take a big inhale.

And as you exhale, pull your triceps forward towards your legs and curl your head and shoulder blades off the mat. Keep pressing the backs of your arms towards your legs. Can you let the weight of your head fall back in the towel? And then start to press your head back, lower all the way down. Open your elbows out to the side.

Make sure you're pressing the three corners of your feet into the floor. Also, feel like you're dragging your heels towards your hips. And then pull the towel out from underneath you and then fold your elbows in. Press your triceps, the backs of your arms towards your leg with a heavy head fold forward. Keep pressing the backs of your arms forward and pull your heels towards your sitting bones.

Press your head back, lower all the way down. Open your elbows. One more. I'm pulling on the corners and sliding my shoulder blades down my back. I fold at my elbows, press my triceps forward so much, it helps me lift my head and shoulder blades up off of the mat.

Hold here. Add a a pelvic tilt. I press my lower back into the mat and I'm pressing the backs of my arms to my thighs. And then release. Exhale, press your thighs forward and your lower back into the mat and then release one more.

Feel like you're pressing your inner thighs down to the floor. Press your lower back into the mat and release and then rest everything all the way down. Open your elbows wide to the side. We're gonna use the towel to support our heads during the first half of the hundred. To set up, bend your knees into your chest, press your legs together and then press your heels into one another.

Peel your knees apart, so they're as wide as your shoulders. Feel like you're pulling the towel out from underneath you, shoulder blades down your back. Fold your elbows in. Press the backs of your arms forward. Now try to curl up and get your elbows as close to your knees as you can.

Let your head fall back into the towel. Straighten your leg. We'll focus on breath. Inhale for five counts and then exhale all the air out. Two, three, four, five.

Inhale, two, three, four, five. Let your neck relax. Two, three, four, five. The bottom tips of your shoulder blades are on the mat and your upper abs are working a lot. Two more sets.

Two, three, four, five. And exhale, two, three, four, five. Final one, two, three, four, five. And exhale, two, three, four, five. Knees to your elbows.

Rest your head and shoulder blades all the way down. Open your elbows. We're gonna do the second half of the hundred. You can keep holding onto the towel or rock up to seated. Take the towel and it goes underneath your thighs.

Reach your arms forward, hip distance apart. And as you reach the towel towards your heels, squeeze the towel with your pinky fingers and try to break the towel. Pull your knees deep into your chest. Press your knees apart, heels together. Curl your head and shoulder blades up.

Can you push the towel away from your hips? Legs go up towards the ceiling. And now pump. Inhale, two, three, four, five. And exhale, two, three, four, five.

Curl up so high that the towel doesn't touch your legs. Two, three, four, five. Inhale, two, three, four, five And exhale, two, three, four, five. Two more sets, two, three, four, five. And exhale, two, three, four, five.

Final one, exhale, two, three, four, five. Hold here. Can you reach a little bit more? Pull your lower abdominals in, bend your knees, rest your head. Take the towel out from underneath you and then slide your legs straight.

Flex your feet and try to squeeze your legs together. Your arms go back. Lower ribs stay on the mat. The roll up. Reach your arms up towards the ceiling.

Pull the the towel apart. Curl your head and shoulder blades up off the mat. Keep pulling the towel apart. Roll all the way up, round forward. Find your C-curve.

Pull your upper arm bones away from your ears. Pull your pinky fingers apart and roll down one bone at a time. Rest your head down. Arms go up and back. Lower rib stays on the floor.

Arms go up. Curl your head and shoulder blades up. Now pull your lower abdominals back, reach your heels forward, round forward. Inhale, breathe into your lower back. Make sure your wrist are straight.

You're pulling your pinky fingers apart. Roll all the way down. Arms go up and back. Two more. Reach up, curl your head and shoulder blades up, and then pull your lower abdominals back round forward.

Keep pulling your upper arm bones away from your ears. Pull your lower abdominals back. Roll all the way down. You have one more. Reach up like you're trying to scrape the ceiling.

Curl your head and shoulder blades up. Slide your waist back. Round forward. Press your heels down. Roll back one bone at a time.

Rest your head and shoulder blades all the way down. Let's stretch our hamstrings. Bend your left knee just enough to place your foot flat on the mat. Your arch of your right foot goes in the middle of the towel. And then pause to feel the weight of your hips.

Take a big inhale into your lower back. As you exhale, straighten your right leg as much as you can. And then inhale, bend your knee. Exhale, straighten your leg. Pull your lower abdominals in as your heel goes up and then bend your knee.

One more exhale, as you straighten your leg. Can you pull down on the pinky side of your foot a little bit more? And then bend your knee. We'll do two more. And if you can straighten your leg, straighten it.

Press your left leg down and your right heel up and then bend. Final one, exhale, reach your leg up, pull your lower abdominals down, bend your knee. Let's switch sides. Right foot is down. The towel goes across the arch of your foot.

Make sure you feel the weight of your hips and that you're not rolling backwards on your lower back. Push your right foot down and reach your left heel up. Inhale, bend your knee. Exhale. As your heel goes up, can you pull your lower abdominals in and up?

Make your leg longer and then bend. Last two. I mean last one, reach your heel up, pull your lower abdominals in. Now we'll do two more. If you can straighten your leg, straighten your leg.

Bend your knee a little bit. Exhale, pull your lower abdominals down and reach. Last one bend. Exhale, pull your abs down and reach your heel up. Single leg circle.

Take your foot out. Bend both knees. Take the towel and place it behind your hips. Hold on a little bit wider than your hips. Push the towel away from you.

Press your pinky fingers apart and pull your upper arm bones away from your body. If your leg was straight, your bottom leg was straight when stretching your hamstring, straighten that and press the back of your thigh into the towel. If not, you can keep your left knee bent. Reach your right leg up towards the ceiling. Your arms help to stabilize you.

So keep pulling the towel apart. Inhale, cross over your body. Exhale, circle it around and left. Inhale, cross. Exhale, pull the towel apart and lift.

Three more. You're stirring the inside of your hip socket with your thigh bone. Exhale, around and lift one more and then reverse your circles. Pull your upper arm bones away from you and lift. Open.

Maybe you can make your circles a little bit bigger once you feel stable. Last two. Open, cross and lift. Final one, open, cross and lift. Lower that leg down and then send your other leg up.

I'm pressing the towel with the back of my right side and trying to pull the towel apart. Inhale, cross. Exhale, pull your lower abdominals in and up and lift. Inhale, cross. Exhale, you're still squeezing the towel with your pinky finger.

Cross. Exhale around and lift. Two more. Exhale around and lift. Final one, in this direction.

And now reverse. Reset up. Pull your upper arm bones apart. Open, cross, and lift. Pull your lower abdominals underneath your ribs.

Three more. Open, cross and lift. Maybe get a little bit bigger with your circles once you feel stable. Final one. And then lower your leg all the way down.

Bend your knees. Take the circle- not the circle. Take the towel out, straighten your legs. Reach your arms back but ground your lowest driving your heels into the floor. Then roll up.

Reach your arms up. Curl your head and shoulder blades up. Pull your lower abdominals back. Round forward. And then come all the way up to seated, rolling back.

Place your feet flat. Lift your hips and curl your tailbone under. Take the towel and stand on it. Your arches go right in the middle of the towel. Cross the ends of the towel.

So I'm holding onto the left side with my right hand, the right side with my left. Pull on the towel so you get into a tight ball. Lift your powerhouse, round your spine, pull on the towel and pull your knees up toward your shoulders. Keep pulling on the towel. You have five rolls.

Roll back on an inhale. Pull on the towel to come back up. Roll back. Exhale, dive your head up and over your knees. And again, roll back.

Exhale, pull on the towel to come up. Two more. Roll back. Exhale, pull on the towel to come up. One more.

Lift your lower abdominals. Pull on the towel to come up. Place your feet down. You're ready for single leg stretch and double leg stretch with the towel for neck support. So set it up like you did at the very beginning of class.

Lie down on your back so you have a hand width away from the back edge of the towel. Hold onto the corners. Make sure you're squeezing with your pinky fingers. Feel like you're dragging the towel out from underneath you and slide your shoulder blades down your back. Fold your arms in.

Pull your knees into your chest. Press your elbows towards your knees to curl up. Stay up with your head relaxed. Reach your right leg through the wall in front of you. And switch.

I'm pulling my lower abdominals into the towel and pressing my elbows towards my knees. And switch. Can you pull your knee in closer and reach your straight leg further forward? And reach and reach. One more set.

Reach and reach. Bend both knees into your chest. Press your head back into the towel. Open up your elbows. Pull the towel out from underneath your side, your shoulder blades down your back.

Fold your elbows in. Press your elbows and triceps forward. Try to touch your elbows towards your knees. Let your head fall back. Inhale, reach your legs forward for double leg stretch.

Exhale, pull your knees towards your elbows. Inhale, pull your lower abdominals into the towel. Exhale and in. Inhale, pull your lower abdominals back. Let your head be heavy.

Exhale, return. Three more. Can you pull your lower abdominals into the towel? Exhale, inhale and reach. Press your triceps forward.

Final one. Reach, now really try to get your elbows on your knees; knees on your elbows. Curl up even higher. Press your head back, lower all the way down. Rock up to seated.

Grab the towel for the spine stretch. Separate your legs a little wider than your hips. Flex your feet. Feel like you're dragging your sitting bones, your inner thigh and your inner ankles together. And then reach your arms forward.

Check out your wrists. Make sure you're not breaking at your wrist. Press into the towel with your pinky finger. Press your pinky fingers apart and lift your chest above the towel. Inhale, curl your chin downwards.

Exhale, you round forward. Keep pulling your upper arm bones away from one another. Pull the towel apart. Lift your lower abdominals. Roll all the way up and exhale.

Inhale, lower your chin. Exhale, reach the towel forward and lift your ribs up to the top of the wall behind you. And then pull your upper arm bones apart. Roll all the way up. And exhale.

One more. Inhale, curl your chin downwards. Exhale, feel your lower back slide up the wall behind you. Keep lifting your lower back. Round forward to feel a stretch.

And then roll all the way up at the top. You exhale, we're gonna go into saw. Keep pulling your upper arm bones apart. Now exhale, twist. Try to rotate your rib cage to face your right thigh.

Curl your chin downwards. As you round forward, reach your towel over your feet. Try to rotate your right ribs back. Reach your left fist further forward. Push your fists away from you.

Roll all the way up and return center. Pull your lower abdominals in and twist. Lower your chin. Round forward. And as you reach forward, can you pull your lower abdominals into your lower back?

Hold here. Reach your right fist further forward. Pull your left lower abdominals back. Roll all the way up and return center, a little flow. Lift a twist, chin to your chest, round forward.

And then push your fist away from you. Roll all the way up and center. Lift to twist, chin to your chest, round forward. Pull your lower abdominals back. Push your towel away from you.

Roll all the way up and center. Last one, twist, round forward. Can you push your left fist forward more? And then lift to roll all the way up and center. Final one, twist.

Lower your chin, round forward. Push your right fist forward and pull your right lower abdominals back. And then roll all the way up. And then return center. Relax your arms.

Swan prep. Lie down on your stomach. But first, set up your towel horizontally at the edge of your mat. Lie down with your arms extended in front of you. They're as wide as your shoulders or wider.

The tip of your nose points to the floor. This is just like that standing position we started in. Reach your tailbone and your sit bones towards your heels. Pull your lower abdominals towards the towel. Start to pull your chest forward so much that you pull the towel towards your powerhouse, powerhouse towards your towel.

And then lower all the way back down. And again, you have two more. Pull your lower abdominals forward and then lift your chest forward and up. Keep lifting your chest above your arms and then lengthen and lower all the way down. Last one, we're gonna hold that lift.

Slide your shoulder blades down your back. Pull your powerhouse over the towel. Once you're here, press through the palms of your hands. Drag your upper arm bones back. Pull your lower abdominals forward.

Single leg kick. Kick, kick, switch. Kick, kick. Remember, you're trying to keep your hips still. And each time, you're trying to get your heel closer to your sit bone.

And pull your lower abdominals forward. Keep reaching your chest forward. You have one more set. Kick, kick and kick, kick. Lower, lengthen everything down.

Take the towel. It goes on your lower back. Your hands are a little bit wider than your back. Your tip of your nose points down to the floor. Pull the towel apart.

Lift your elbows up. Pull your heels to your seat three times. Three, two, one. Reach your legs back. And now stretch the towel back, chest forward.

I am reaching my fist back, spinning my triceps up towards the ceiling. Bend your elbows lower. Keep your elbows up. Kick, three, two, one. Reach your legs and tailbone back.

Pull the towel apart. As you reach back, can you send your chest forward, tailbone back even more? And then lower. And again, kick three, two, one. Reach and lengthen.

Tailbone back. Push your fist back. Now what about your pinky fingers? Try not to break at your wrist. Two more.

Kick for three, two, one. Reach, pull your pinky fingers apart and then bend your elbows. I forgot to lift them the last time. Keep your elbows lifted. Kick two, one, reach.

Now pull the towel apart. Reach back. Pull your pinky fingers apart. Triceps up towards the ceiling. Lower all the way down.

And then sit back in a child's pose. Shoulder bridge. Lie down on your back. Make sure your ankles are underneath your knees. And hold onto the towel a little bit wider than your shoulders and then reach your arms back but keep your lowest rib on the floor.

Keep pressing your pinky fingers apart and your upper arm bones away from your ears. As you lift your hips up into a bridge, you inhale, reach your arms forward, press your hips up, hold your breath and keep pulling your arms apart. And then exhale, roll down one bone at a time, reaching your arms up towards the ceiling and back. Two more. Inhale, roll up and reach.

Try to reach the towel past your knees. Slide your lower abdominals under your ribs. Check out your wrist to make sure you're not breaking at your wrist. And then exhale, roll down one bone at a time. Arms go up and back.

Last one, roll up and reach. Feel the three corners of your feet, the lift of your hips, and the scoop of your powerhouse. And then exhale. Articulate one bone at a time down onto the mat. Reach your arms up and back.

And we're ready for sidekicks. Lie down on your right side. Make sure your tailbone to your shoulder are up against the back edge of the mat. Start with your legs into a tabletop. Reach your arms into that same V-shape.

Push your fist away from you but slide your shoulders away from your ears. And then break the towel. With your knee stacked and hip stacked, press your top knee up towards the ceiling. And as I press my knee up, I'm trying to press my upper arm bone up too. And then lower.

Exhale, press your arms apart to lift your knee up and then lower. Exhale, one more. Lengthen to lift and then lower. Same thing, but straighten your top leg. Push through your heel.

And then as you push through your heel, lift your leg up and push this fist away from you. And then lower it down. And again, push your top fist away from your heel. Find length and then lower it all the way down. And again, push through your top fist and through your heel.

And then lower. Final two. Exhale, lift. Are you still anchoring your bottom leg? And then lower.

Final one. Pull your upper arm bones apart and lift. Lower all the way down. Stack your knees. Come up to seated.

We'll do the same thing on the other side. So reach your spine long against the back edge of the mat. Go into your tabletop position and try to pull the ends of the towel apart. Shoulders away from your ears, head lengthens. Press your bottom knee into the floor.

Exhale, press your knee and your upper arm bone up. And then lower. Three more. Exhale, press your bottom knee down and lift your top knee without rotating your hips. Two more.

Pull the towel apart and then lower. Final one. Pull the towel apart and then lower. Straighten your top leg all the way to the bottom edge of the mat, ideally, in line with your shoulder. Now make your leg longer and lift it up.

As you reach through your heel, push through this fist and then lower. Exhale, pull your lower abdominals under your ribs and then lower. Exhale, lengthen. Are you still pulling your pinky fingers apart? And then lower.

Last two. Lengthen to lift, lower all the way down. Final one. Lengthen to lift, lower it all the way down. Stack your knees.

Come all the way up to a seated position. Teaser prep. Lie down on your back, knees bent, feet flat. But make sure your heels aren't too close to your hips. Slide them as far away as you can.

And then press your legs together from your sitting bones, your inner knees, and your inner ankles. Reach the towel up towards the ceiling. Break the towel by pulling your upper arm bones and your pinky fingers apart. Push the towel up higher. Notice how my shoulder blades came off the mat?

Keep your shoulder blades off the mat and float your arms back by your cheeks. And then reach up. Try to get your fist to touch the ceiling. Curl your head and shoulder blades up. And now pull your lower abdominals back.

Roll all the way up with your arms parallel to your thighs. Modified teaser. Reach the towel up and then pull your front ribs away from the towel. Roll all the way down. The towel goes up and back.

Reach up. Feel your chest bone sink. It becomes concave. Curl up. As the towel goes forward, your chest bone goes back.

Keep your arms parallel to your thigh. Pull your lower abdominals back. Roll all the way up into your teaser. Squeeze your legs together. And I'm pulling my ribs away from the towel.

Towel away from my ribs to roll all the way down. Reach your arms up and back. Lowest rib stays on the mat. One more, reach up. Shoulder blades are off the mat.

As I curl up, my chest bone pulls away from the towel. And now reach the towel forward. Pull your waist back. Roll all the way up into a lifted C-curve. Curl your tailbone under.

Roll all the way down. And then reach your arms up and back. Keep them there. Extend your left, your right leg. Turn it out and squeeze your legs together.

Reach up towards the ceiling. Press your chest bone down. Curl your head and shoulder blades up. And I'll roll up. Press through your spine.

Roll up into your teaser and hold. Switch. Your left leg is straight. Squeeze your legs together. Now push the towel forward.

Pull your ribs away from the towel to roll all the way down. Reach your arms up and back. One more. Scrape the ceiling with your knuckles and then curl up. And then squeeze your legs.

Roll all the way up into your teaser. Hold. Find your lifted C-curve. Extend your right leg so both of your legs are together. Now pull your lower abdominals back and reach the towel for your toes.

Lower your legs and your head at the same time. Let's flip onto our stomachs for a modified swim. Extend your towel horizontally across the mat. Arms are straight, a little bit wider than your shoulders. So reach your sitting bones back towards your heels and slide your lower abdominals towards the towel.

Pull your shoulder blades down your back and then just lift your chest, pulling the towel closer towards you. Press your hands down and pull your chest forward. And then lift your right thigh off the mat. And then lower it down. Lift your left thigh off of the mat and lower it down.

Now press the top of your left foot into the floor as your right leg goes up to give you more stability. And then lower. Pull your chest forward and reach your left leg back. And then lower. Pull your chest forward.

Reach your right leg back and lower. One more. Can you pull your lower abdominals forward as your leg goes up? And then lower. One more each leg.

Lift from your sit bone and then lower. Final one. Lift from your sit bone. Lower all the way down. Lower your chest.

And then press yourself back into a child's pose. We're gonna repeat that same rolling like a ball exercise you did earlier. I know it's hard. So you're gonna take the towel and stand on it and then cross the end of the towel and hold onto the opposite ends. Bend your elbows like you're pulling them behind you.

Lift your powerhouse and then lift your feet up in balance. Can you pull on the towel a little bit tighter? And now lift your lower abdominals to roll back. Pull your heels for your tailbone to come up. Inhale, lift your tailbone up.

Pull your heels to your tailbone. Three more. Roll back. Now pull on the towel to help you come up. Roll back.

Pull down on the towel to come up. Last one, roll back. Pull down on the towel. Find your balance, and then place your feet down. Let's finish with chest expansion.

We did it before with our hands facing back. Repeat it, but this time, turn your palms forward. Reach the towel down towards your heels and then roll your triceps to face the wall behind you so it opens your chest. Look down at your feet to make sure you're in a good Pilates stance and root down through the three corners of your feet. Reach the towel down towards your heels.

Inhale, stretch your arms back. Feel the opening across your chest. Hold your breath. Look over one shoulder. Look over the other shoulder.

Look center. And then lower. Repeat. Pull your lower abdominals back towards the towel. Can you reach back more?

And then look over one shoulder. Look over the other shoulder. Look center and lower. Last two. Lift your lowest abdominals and reach back.

Keep your shoulders square. Look over one shoulder. Look over your other shoulder, center, and then lower. Final one. Pull your shoulder blades together and press your triceps way back.

Look over one shoulder. Look over your other shoulder. Look center, exhale and lower. Thank you so much for joining me today.