Abs and Legs

Hi everybody, I'm Tracy Mallett here. Super excited to be back here on Pilates Anytime. We are going to be working our abs and legs. That's our main focus today. All we need is obviously a reformer, but we're going to be using a little ball today too.

So if you can grab a ball, we can get going and really walk into our core and tone up that lower body. So first of all, we're gonna get onto your reformer here, and we're gonna have it at one red spring, you're gonna have your headrest down. We're gonna place the ball in between the inner thighs just to warm up here. So we're gonna put the ball in between the inner thighs, make sure your headrest is down, and get your shoulders a little bit away from your shoulder rest. From here, we're gonna go into a nice little pelvic tilt here.

So we're gonna do a little tilt and a little release, a little tilt, as you exhale, squeeze the ball, inhale back. Let's do one more time. Exhale, tilt, squeeze that ball, let's work those in the thighs and release. Now, circle the hands around, interlace the hands, and lift the head, neck, and shoulders off of the mat here. And we're just gonna do teeny-tiny little pulses.

Now remember, every time we lift up, we're gonna squeeze the ball just a little bit more, and we exhale and squeeze the ball. Press the heels into the bar and drive the navel to the spine. And breathe. Ready? We're gonna do eight more of these. Go.

Exhale, eight. Exhale, seven. Exhale, six. Exhale, five, and four, and three, and two. And hold it here, squeeze, and then release.

Lower the head, neck, and shoulders down. We're gonna go back into our pelvic curl, but guess what? We're gonna go up into a bridge. So those hamstrings are gonna start to fire. And then we're gonna roll back down again.

Ooh, feel those hamstrings. And again. Inhale here, pelvic tilt. Lift up into that bridge, squeeze the ball, and then curl down one vertebra at a time. Let's do a couple more.

Inhale. Tilt the pelvis first with a lower abdominals. Lift up into your bridge, and then sternum goes into the spine, and each vertebra comes down back on the mat one by one. You have one more time. Inhale through the nose.

Exhale. Scoop out that lower body. Keep squeezing that ball. Don't let that ball go. Hold it here, squeeze tight, and then curl down one vertebra at a time. Bring the knees into the chest, take the ball away, give yourself a little bit of a stretch.

Now we're gonna get moving into our ab work. So we're gonna roll ourself up, grab your ball here, put the ball just in the lumbar spine. We're gonna keep on that one spring, one red spring. So I'm gonna put it right here in my lumbar spine, right just behind the actual shoulder rest here. You're gonna be in a V position, and we're gonna place the hands just slightly behind you, elbows bent.

You're just gonna push out and in. Super simple. I always think we set up for success. So if we're in the right position, the exercise is gonna be successful. So take your time to make sure the ball's in the right position, and our feet are in a V position, your heels are glued together.

Now, I want you to focus on lifting through those lower abs. The abdominals are lifting in up and back, kind of behind the back of the rib cage. That's kind of where we wanna think of the lifting up. Now we've got it, we're gonna actually bring the hands up. So it's kind of like a little bit like a stomach massage, but a little variation here cause those lower abs are working.

Here we go. Now take the hands behind the head, continuous moving. You feel those abs just start to burn in the lower abdominals. Let's do about six more of these. Exhale, six.

Exhale, five. Exhale, four. Exhale, three. Exhale, two. Exhale, one.

Bend the knees. Now, come back into a parallel position, take the hands behind the back of the knees, extend back out again. Now, bring the right knee forwards, take the hands back behind the head. Now we do our single leg. (Tracey exhales) Once again, you're in that chair position.

Those lower abs are firing. We're gonna add the next level here. So we go one, reach, knee to chest, extension, knee to chest, extension. It's almost like the abdominals are drawing the knee to the chest. All right, let's do four more of these.

Exhale, four, and three, and two, and one. Drop that knee down. Let's switch to the other side. Put the hands back behind the back of the knees, extend, lift that left knee. All right, let's go in and out.

And let's take the hands back behind the head. There we go, in that little chair position, your shin is parallel to the sky, and we're still in that lovely C-curve with the spine. Now we're gonna take it to that next level with a leg if we can. And we go in and out, (Tracy exhales) in and out. Your abs are drawing the knee to the chest and you're still in that C-curve position looking towards your feet.

Ooh, feel those abs. Let's do four more. Exhale, four. Exhale, three. Exhale, two.

Give me one more. Exhale, one. And bend the knees. Put your hands back behind the back of the knees. Give yourself a little extension here.

Now back into our first position. Now, just making sure your ball's in the right place, take the hands back behind, kind of resting towards your shoulder rests here. Now we're gonna push out, bend your elbows. Now, if you feel comfortable, we're gonna add like a little baby jump. Little baby jump.

So as you push out, really think of the inner thighs connecting together. Stay small. And then as you get a little bit more confidence that you're not gonna miss the bar, we have a little bit more power. (Tracy exhales) And (exhales) soon as you jump, those abs are frying even more to stabilize the pelvis. Good.

Okay, we're going to do four more. Exhale, four. Exhale, three. Exhale, two. Exhale, one.

Stop. Now the next level, if you don't feel comfortable, you're gonna repeat exactly what we just did. So let's try. Ready? We go.

Abs. Woo. That first one is a little challenging. If you wanna keep your hands going back, you're not quite ready for it yet, that's totally fine. We always need goals. Reach the hands forwards, eye level.

(Tracy exhales) Abs. Heel taps. Heel taps. Can we do six more? Yes, we can. Ready?

Exhale, six. Exhale, five. Exhale, four. Exhale, three. Exhale, two.

And exhale, one. Amazing. Bring the knees into your chest, slide around. Take your hands behind your head, give yourself a little bit of stretch. You kind of need it after that.

Hold it there. Now we're gonna go into our legs. So we're gonna take the bar down, and we're gonna put the ball on the floor. We don't need the ball yet, so I'm gonna pop it down here. We're gonna take it into one green spring or one blue, one red one and a half springs.

We're gonna step up onto the top. Gonna keep that heart rate moving. Your foot is on the end here, onto your bar here, and we're gonna push the leg out and in. So what I want you to make sure is that your toes are over the edge of the actual reformer, and your other foot is on the platform here. The hands are nice and wide, and you are lifting up off of your thighs.

So your abs are lifting against gravity, you're drawing those abs in, and you're pushing that leg back and back. There's a lot of hamstring work. Exhale, push back, push back. Let's do a couple more. (Tracy exhales) One more.

(Tracy exhales) And now extend the legs. Now you kind of got it so we know where we are. Okay. So you're gonna pull in those abdominals as much as we can. We're gonna do that again.

Toes over the edge, heel up, suck in those ab, you got it. Are you ready? We're gonna push it back. (Tracy exhales) Now a little bit more dynamic. Now you know what you're doing. You're gonna push a little bit more with power, strength, focusing on your hamstring and glutes.

There we go. Come on, push it out. There we go. (Tracy exhales) Four more. Four, three, two, and one more.

Extend those legs, quick stretch. Beautiful. Ready for switch. The other leg or the foot is on the platform. Toes around the edge. Draw the abdominals in.

Look down towards your toes and then push back. There we go. Remember, if it feels too challenging, just take it down a half a spring. Or if you can ramp it up again, put it up a half a spring. Each reformer is gonna have a different weight.

So you know your reformer better than me, so you know your body better than me. But remember, we always need to be challenged. Yes. Push away and away. Keep those arms straight.

Ready? Let's do a few more then we take a little stretch cause then we're gonna do it again. Let's do one more. Woo-hoo. And then stretch. Pull in through those abs.

Ready? One more set. Little bit more power, a little bit more strength. Ready? Go. Push back.

And push back. Look down to the floor. Push. Keep the heel up. Toes wrapped around the edge of the reformer.

And you're pushing back, arms are straight. Ooh, feel those hamstrings and glutes. We've got this. This is great exercise to build strength in that lower body. Okay. Are you ready?

Let's do four more. Exhale, four. Exhale, three. Exhale, two. And exhale, one.

Extend those legs. Beautiful. Now, we're gonna quickly turn to the front, and we're gonna put our foot somewhat towards the edge. I'm gonna stay at the same spring. I'm on a green spring here.

All right. We're gonna put our hands on our hips. Toes are pointing forwards here. They're in a neutral position, slightly tilted underneath. Now we're gonna push out and in just to start with.

Push out an in. So you're gonna keep in a squat. Push out and in. Now I'm gonna take my hands into a little prayer position here just because we can. We're pressing the hands together, your knees are back.

Super simple. You've got your cup of tea on the top of your head and you don't want that cup of tea going all over you. That's sacred. Tea, good for the body. Then push out and in.

And keep going out and in. Let's do four more. Four, and then we're gonna progress. Three, two. Now take the hands behind the body.

We push out and then go to the other side. So we push out, one leg bends, one leg straights into our skiing or skating. As you can see, I'm neither a skier or a skater. And back, push out, and I take the body with it. And we take the body with it.

Ooh, feel those inner thighs, the quads, the hamstrings, the lower body. And not to forget, your balance too. Good. Push out and in. (Tracy exhales) One more. (Tracy exhales) And back.

Let's quickly turn around to the other side. Put that foot somewhat near the edge. Hands in your prayer position. Stay in your squat and just push out and in. So you're transferring your pubic bone over and then back.

Your hips behind your body, your weight is in your heels, you're focused on your hamstrings and glutes, and we stay on the same level. We're not bobbing up and down. And yes, you can feel the fire. Those legs are firing up now. Trust me, I feel them with you.

Here we go. Looking good. Let's do a few more. All right. Now we're gonna go into our skiing.

Hands behind your body, we push out and push back. Out. Just look at that beautiful day today in Santa Barbara. Fantastic, beautiful November 1st. Yes.

Gorgeous weather. Push out, other side, and out. Keep your body pitched forwards. Push and back. Your weight goes in the direction that you're moving in.

Might take a little bit of while to get that little coordination, I get you. Little coordination here. Couple more. (Tracy exhales) One more. Keep pressing your body forward, and bring it back.

Let's step down, step down. Give yourself a little bit of a stretch. Push your hips back into that stretch. Beautiful. Now we're gonna grab the ball.

We're gonna take it down to one red spring or one spring. Let's grab the ball. We're gonna be facing the actual straps here. Place the ball on your feet. Okay.

And then pick up your straps. Let's get working into our abs now. So from here, I'm gonna choke mine up just a little bit to make it a little bit shorter. Now super simple. We're gonna roll down to start with, roll down into your C-curve, exhale, roll up.

So now we've got our feet on the ball, making a little bit more challenging your proprioception here, a little bit more challenge. And exhale, roll up. Inhale, down. Exhale, up. And we are rolling down.

Let's just do a few more. It's gonna get increasingly more challenging. Of course. Last time. Holding in that C-curve position, I'm gonna try and reach the arms up, and then come back.

There's the train. Yay. Push up and down. You're in that C-curve position. Arms go as high as you can depending on your strength. Our goal is just to lift the arms up, challenges the core even more, put you are in that C-curve position.

(Tracy exhales) Palms are facing down. (Tracy exhales) Just a couple more. (Tracy exhales) One more. (Tracy exhales) And down. Take it around the straps, around your elbows, hands behind your head.

We close in, and then guess what? We're gonna roll down and then close the elbows as we roll in. Just another variation here. Rolling down. All the way down.

Let's got down a little bit further, you've got this. And then close the elbows as you come up. Let's do that again. See if we can go down a little bit further. Test the water, see how we feel.

We're rolling down. Exhale. Scoop up through those abs, press the feet into the ball. Yes, those hamstrings are gonna be working. Inhale, down. Open the elbows.

Now, chin towards the chest as you roll up, bring the elbows forwards. And let's do a couple more. Exhale. Yes, there we go. One more.

Inhale down. Exhale, curl. Elbows come forward and you stay in that C-curve position. Beautiful. Now, we're going to take your ball.

Got your ball, scoot your butt a little bit closer to the shoulder rests. Yes. You're gonna love this one, I promise. Gonna hold onto the straps now. So everyone's holding onto the straps. Gonna take your ballie here in your hands.

And I'm gonna roll down, lift the legs up and take the hands over your head. So we will here. Look towards your pubic bone. Beautiful. Lift up, open the legs, squeeze, and then take everything down.

Exhale, lift up. Let's grab that ballie. And then everything goes away from the middle line of your body. Keep your head lifted. Inhale, let's grab the ball, squeeze it.

Inner thighs are firing and back. Keep lifting and looking towards the ball. Your head does not change. Your head stays lifted. Your arms and legs are moving away from your mid center. And lift up.

Woo-hoo. Squeeze. Don't drop that ball though. Can we do two more? Two more, that's all I'm asking. Two more.

One more. Got it. Hold it there. Now, bend the knees, roll all the way up. Yes.

Had to come, it's a teaser prep. We were right there, it had to happen. Are we there? I'm waiting for you 'cause we're all gonna go back down together. Ready?

Go down. Keep your head lifted up, arms by your ears. Now keep your legs straight or do it bent, your choice. Lift up. Up.

And roll down. Keep your head lifted, look towards your pubic bone. In, now keep your legs still, roll all the way up or bend the legs. If you need them bent, bent them. And then roll down.

You have two more, two more. Ready? And exhale. Teaser, teaser, lift. And roll down.

One more. You've got this. Exhale, roll all the way up. Everyone's here. And then we are gonna bend our knees, and we are gonna come down.

Ooh, that was a good challenge. And are you all smiling? 'Cause you all love a challenge. All right, guess what? It's our legwork now.

So put that ball down. Now, you're gonna go either a half a spring or one red spring. I'm gonna try it on a red spring. But I know on my reformer in my studio, I would need to be on a blue spring. So I'm gonna let you choose.

So I'm gonna try on a red today. You may need it on a blue. So you're gonna try, see what works on your reformer. Come to the corner, we're gonna work the legs and the booty, we're gonna put the foot in your strap. We're gonna start with sideline.

So take your hand onto the riser, and we're gonna lift that leg straight up. Now bend your stabilizing leg, point that toe. We drop it down to the floor, and then we lift it back up again. So this is your sideline work here, your Pilates sideline. Lift up.

Now you're supporting these bent, and it's somewhat underneath the pubic bone. Your hand is straight. You're initiating lat serratus core work here. And yes, you are lifting from your glute medius. And yes, it's firing.

Don't you love that? There we go. And lift. Can we do four more? Four, three, two, and one.

Turn it gracefully around, put both hands on the top here, and we're gonna lift that leg. Now, look out on the horizon. Do not take the leg too high. It's always gonna be slightly underneath your hip. And for most people, it won't be anywhere near the hip.

We are working your glute and your hamstring. And everything else is stabilizing, allowing you to move at that hip joint. Let's do a couple more. And now we're gonna transition. We go up, side, back, down.

Up, side, back, down. Arabesque, side rotation, back, down. Arabesque, side rotation, back, down. And up, rotation, back. Two more.

Up, rotation, back. Last time. And up, rotation, back, and down. Did you see I was smiling more. When I smile more, you know it's challenging.

So I know you're smiling along with me. All right, let's go to the other side, and then we'll stretch afterwards. Okay, you can pat it. It's still there. All right, let's go to the other side.

So now, we've got the opposite leg of course. And we're gonna be facing inwards. Hand on your riser, bend your stabilizing leg, hand on hip, and start to lift that leg up and down. You'll notice of course, one side is always going to be stronger than the other. And now, we're on the second side.

Your legs are already fatigued and then you gotta work it again. But you have to be even, so we have to do exactly the same. Good. Lift it and back. Lift. And back.

And lift and back. (Tracy exhales) Breathe. Lift up on that stabilizing side so those obliques are firing, hand on hip, a long waist. One more. (Tracy exhales) And down.

Turn it around. Both hands on your riser, pull your shoulder blade down, look on that horizon, and then we lift. I have an amazing view to look at here. Bend your stabilizing leg, everybody. The super important that your stabilizing leg is bent, and we're lifting that leg up and down in that arabesque.

(Tracy exhales) There we go. Abs are nice and tight. You've got this. Can we do four more? Ready, guys?

Go. Four, and three, and two, and one. Now, ready? Arabesque, sideline, go. Arabesque, sideline, back.

Arabesque, rotation, and back. Lift that leg, rotate your torso to sideline, and then we come back. And lift, rotate, and back. Keep moving. Think strong.

You will be strong. It's all mind over body here. You've got this. You're staying with me. You've got two more.

I'm not letting you go. Reach, sideline. Last time. And reach, sideline, and back. (Tracy exhales) Shaky, shaky with those legs.

Put that strap down. Come around just to the edge here, and give yourself a little bit of a stretch. Bend the knees. Releve if you can. Okay, now we're gonna work out abs now again.

All right, so we're gonna pick up your box. Let's put your box on the top of the risers here. Make sure it's a little bit further away from your shoulder rests. I'm gonna go into one red here. You may want a green spring or something heavier, but I'm gonna stay with one red.

We're gonna work our hamstrings and core. So come back. Here we go. Put your heels on the edge. Now, first of all, we're gonna put your hands here to start.

I'm gonna draw the heels to the butt. Now, if that feels way too light, get up now. Adjust your spring and then come back with me. All right? This is perfectly good for me.

I can feel my hamstrings. But now, I'm going to incorporate the core. So I'm gonna circle the hands around, and we're gonna do like a little crunch, (Tracy exhales) a little chest flexion here. (Tracy exhales) Inhale. (Tracy exhales) Inhale.

(Tracy exhales) Those hamstrings and abs are on fire. (Tracy exhales) (Tracy inhales) (Tracy exhales) (Tracy inhales) (Tracy exhales) Now pulse it. Go. Eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Bring it down. Release, take the hands behind, lift those legs up.

Single leg stretch. (Tracy exhales) Straight legs, scissors, (Tracy exhales) elbows are bent, C-curve position. Reach those legs long for, eight. Seven. Six.

Five. Four. Three. Two. One. Chair position.

Balance, of course, and then take the hands and legs down. Turn around quickly. Put your knees against your shoulder as we're gonna stay at one red. Here we go. Wrap the hands around.

You are in a slight C-curve position, and we're gonna exhale, draw the carriage towards the box, it's gonna hit the box. (Tracy exhales) If you need more range of motion, you can move your box a little bit further forwards, and keeping it in a small range of motion. Those lower abs are firing and we're gonna work it a little bit more dynamic. Ready? Exhale. Eight, seven, breathe.

(Tracy exhales) Six, five, six. (Tracy exhales) One more. (Tracy exhales) Love that exercise. Fantastic for the lower abs. Come back to here, press the hands down, curl yourself up into your plank position here.

Hold it there. Reach out to the crown of the head. Bring the hands together in the box and hold it there. Rotate, everybody, to the side, put the hand behind your head. Hold it here.

We do our side plie, and back. Side plie, and back. Inhale, and exhale, as we're transferring our weight to the side in a plie plank. One more. (Tracy exhales) One more.

(Tracy exhales) Hold it there. Rotate. Plank. Reach out to the crown of the head. Rotate, take the hand behind the head, look out.

Lift up underneath the oblique. Lift up, everyone, and plie. And over. Inhale. Exhale.

Inhale. If this is too challenging, you can always go on your forearm. And inhale. Exhale. Keep that shoulder stable, pull your scapula down, lift up underneath the oblique. Inhale. Exhale. One more.

Inhale. And exhale. Rotate around. Hold here. Right leg lifts up for 10 times. 10, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two.

Back down, press through the heels and rock. So you're rocking, pressing the energy out through the heels. Rocking back, rocking forward. Rocking back. Hold it here. Left leg, exhale.

10. And nine. Eight. Reach out to the crown of the head. Seven. Six. Draw those apps in.

Five, four, three. Two. Don't give up on me yet. Hold that plank and rock forwards and back, press the energy out through the heels. Couple more. One more.

Hold your plank. See if we can lift the hips up into a little downward dog or a pyramid, and feel that stretch. (Tracy exhales) Awesome work, everyone. Drop the knees down. From here, just take your right leg forwards.

Give yourself a little bit of a stretch. We're gonna go forwards, forwards, forwards, forwards, forwards into that stretch. Lift up, take the hands behind the head, and lift and open your heart center up to the sky. Press the energy out through the heel. Press your pubic bone towards the box.

(Tracey exhales) Isn't that a great stretch? If you need to keep your hands on the box for support, carry on. (Tracy exhales) Lift up, shoulders stacked over your hips, hands down. Slide back one other leg cause we have two legs. Reach.

All righty, let's slide that leg forward, flex the energy out through that heel, reach the hands behind your head, heart center, lifts up to the sky. draw your scapula down, (Tracey exhales) and breathe. Feel the heart rate coming back to a normal pace, hopefully, once we get out of this position, and breathe. (Tracy exhales) Take the hands down, slide yourself back, and let's stand up off your reformer. And we're gonna take our feet hip-width apart here.

Inhale through the nose, exhale, chin to your chest, curl down, we're gonna touch our toes. Roll yourself all the way up. One last deep breath in. Awesome work, everybody. One more time.

Think how great you feel. You've worked your core, you've worked your legs, you feel super strong. Fantastic working out with you. Don't forget to come right back here and work out with me again. Bye, guys.