Arms & Core Cardio

Hello everyone. Tracey Mallett here with Pilates Anytime. We have fantastic class for today. Yes, it's going to be focusing on arms and core cardio because yes, we've got the jump board out, my favorite. We're gonna get that heart rate up.

You're gonna also need some light dumbbells. I have three pound dumbbells here to work those arms. So let's get down onto our reformer. We're gonna start with one spring. So I've got one red spring.

You wanna make sure your headrest is up and we're gonna have the weights to start off with. And let's get down. So we're gonna roll down onto our back here. First of all, just put your hands by the side of your body. You can just hold onto those weights with your hands here and we're just gonna push out and then bend the knees, push out and bend.

So you're on your balls of your feet here, just pushing out and in. Yes, I know it's light because we're gonna get ready to start doing little baby jumps, just to start to warm up the body. And remember when you jump, your core is focusing on stabilizing the pelvis. So this is why we're calling it core cardio 'cause your heart rate is up and we're working out core as we jump. Are we are ready to go?

So we're gonna start to do little baby jumps. Now when you're jumping, you wanna keep your feet towards the top of the jump board here and your landing toe heel. And let's do a little heel click, little baby heel click, baby heel click. So the spring is pretty light, moderate resistance here. And let's do four more here.

Four, three, two. Go into first position, heels are together and we're gonna land toe heel. Scoop out those abs. Remember this is just your warmup to get the oxygenated blood circling the whole of your body. Get those muscles working.

And let's do four more here. Exhale four, exhale three, (deep breath) exhale two, exhale one. Back to parallel. Inner thighs connected together. Now bend the elbows. You've got your weights, gonna reach the hands over your head.

Beautiful. Let's go into a little tricep extension. So we bend, extend. There we go. Elbows in line with the shoulders.

And we are hitting full extension of the elbows and full extension of the knees too. So when we're jumping we've gotta really elongate those legs as you jump. (deep breath) Four more. Four, three, two. Now keep jumping.

The arms are over your head. Now lift your right knee up. So you're in that little tabletop position here, beautiful. Now we're gonna open into a fly. So we bend and lift, opening those arms as we land and we're doing a single leg.

I like to think of this as like a single leg squat. You are landing toe heel, bending your knee, and really pushing off with the ball and the heel of the foot. The whole foot, push off. Now let's switch to the other side. And this leg, same arms in your fly.

And we call this hugger tree. But look at your leg, your knee is over the hip, your shin is parallel to the sky, and we're landing toe heel and we are breathing all that, yes. (deep breath) Now switch, right then left. Right, left, right. The arms are still moving.

Right, left and right and left, four more. Exhale four, (deep breath) three, two, one. Switch with the right leg in front and your arms overhead. Now extend that leg straight up to the sky. Swing that straight leg.

Now all we are going to do is bend the elbows and push up. So we go bend, push up, bend, push up. So as we jump the arms go towards your foot. Push up. So you're gonna start to feel the heat on that jumping leg.

Couple more and now ready, switch, other leg. So now we're on the other leg. Leg is straight up. And we'll reach the arms and back towards your foot. Extend and bend. So the elbows touch the carriage and we're still landing toe heel.

Bend that knee, really push off with that hamstring. Hamstring here. Fantastic, there we go. (deep breath) Four more here. (deep breath) Three, two.

Now arms overhead here. Now switch, right then left. Straight legs, straight legs, arms are up. We are nice and strong. We are not relying on our arms by the side of their body.

We are working on stability of the core as we switch the legs. And that little extra weight makes it a lot more challenging. That heart rate is raising. Beautiful. Let's do four more here, ready?

Four, switch, three, switch, two, switch, now switch to the right leg and hold it. Keep jumping. We don't stop. We don't stop. We think we're gonna stop, but we don't. Palm's facing outwards.

Bend that knee and we bend, chest press. Now we're gonna add like a little flick with the leg. We do like a little flick. So we are kicking the sky and we are doing a chest press. Kick the sky. (deep breath)

And we're still breathing. (deep breath) One more. Switch. Ready with the other side in our chest press, elbows are wide to the side. It's like a little rainbow.

Now kick the sky. Kick and kick. Kick in that rainbow. (deep breath) Four more everyone, you've got this. Exhale four, exhale three, exhale two, exhale one.

Switch, right then left. Bring their arms down, elbows down, palms facing inwards. Back to our little pony move here. Good. Now a little bit more power to power it up. Power it up.

Power it up. Four more from here. Four, three, two, one. And bring it down. Knees to chest, quickly turn around.

And let's just place our little weights down onto the floor here. And we're gonna come up into a quadruped position. Facing away. Feet against the shoulder rests, taking it down to a half spring, a blue spring here. So take that red off.

One blue spring or a half spring. Pick up your straps. Come into your quadruped position here. There we go. Reach that right hand forward.

And we're gonna press, the elbow is bent, and we are gonna push straight towards the jump board. Now keep your scapula depressed. Reach bicep to ear and scoop out those abs as much as you can. So those arms are working, your back is working, your core is working. One more (deep breath) and bring it down.

Switch, elbow high. Depress your scapula before you start. Now reach towards the jump board. Palm is facing flat, the elbow is high and we are pushing forwards and back. That's it.

Keep that elbow in line with the wrist, in line with the shoulder, and keep that scapula depressed into its little pocket there. (deep breath) Give me one more. (deep breath) Last time. (deep breath) And bring it down, knees together. Now let's come forward.

Let's put those lovely straps down. Come all the way forward. So your knees are right at the edge. Palm's facing the actual jump board. Elbows down.

And we just gonna push away. So the elbows are going down towards the springs. Sit on that light spring 'cause we're gonna progress. But make sure your knees are right on the edge here so we get that nice range of motion. Now bend your elbows and push.

Now we're gonna add our reach arms forward. So we reach, bend down, reach. So we go in that mid-thoracic spine extension there as you bring your biceps to your ears, look and lift, and lift. Now we can either stay doing this progression if we wanna add a little bit more we're gonna circle the arms around. That feels just too challenging for you.

Stay in the two, progression two. Push, circle in. Push, circle in. Push, keep your palms facing forwards. Two more.

One more. And down. Reach, roll all the way up in that lovely extension. And then come back. Okay, let's grab your box.

Put your box forwards to here against the shoulder rest. Headrest down. We're gonna keep it in one blue spring. Come forwards to here. Now wrap these little guys around your thighs.

Okay, keeping it pretty light. Move your hips to the edge. Place your hands behind, onto the reformer. Now you're externally rotating in your shoulder joints, you bring the knees into your chest. Now first of all, we're gonna inhale down.

Exhale, draw the knees to the chest. Inhale, down. Exhale, draw the knees to the chest. This is your starter. Draw out your shoulders. Scoop out through those abs.

Inhale, drop up the knees. Exhale, bring it back. Now we're gonna progress. We're gonna bring the knees to the chest. Keep your feet together, open the knees and press down.

So you're doing those lovely hip stirs to get some lovely hip mobility within the hips. The femurs moving around that hip joint. And we're breathing and let's reverse, here we go down, keep the feet together. Got nice big circular movements. We're working that core at the same time.

Down and back. (deep breath) Two more. Last time. Knees to chest. Let's see we're gonna take those knees straight up.

All right, we're going to inhale, drop the legs down as far as you can. Exhale, pull them back. Inhale, drop those legs down. Exhale, bring them back. Inhale through the nose. (deep breath)

Exhale. (deep breath) Couple more. One more. Hold it here, drop the left leg down. And we are gonna helicopter around and bring the legs and cross into a split.

Helicopter around, bring it into a split, so you're on the same side. Helicopter around and bring it into a split. Switch legs, helicopter around and split. Helicopter around and split and helicopter around. And now split, split, split.

Two more, a little challenging. Last time. Knees to chest. Walk up. Walk up and put your feet down.

Woo hoo. And fold yourself into, roll yourself all the way up. Take those lovely straps off your thighs. And we are moving on. From here.

We're gonna turn around, step down. Gonna work those arms and legs. Gonna put your foot on the actual headrest. Pick up your straps. And then from here you're gonna take your straps wrap your fingertips around the edge of the box.

Step up. Now I'm gonna bring my leg forward. So I'm in that lunge position here. Now we're gonna squeeze the box with the inner thighs. I've got my straps and I'm gonna slightly lift up.

Find your balance, keep your body pitched forward, and squeeze that box. Now when you're ready, we're gonna lift up, shoulders stacked over your hips. There's your goal. We are presenting. And we're presenting forwards and back.

Look why your shoulders are, they're stacked over your hips. And that box is fantastic because I'm actually gripping it with my inner thighs and it's helping me balance. Both knees are bent and you're presenting forwards and back. So you're on that light spring, you're on a half spring. Beautiful. (deep breath)

Now we're gonna add an open close. So we present, open, come back. Present, it's in your peripheral view. So not too far to the side. It's kinda like diagonally in front.

Keep breathing. Just a couple more. One more. And bring it back. Grab your straps and turn around. So I've got the right hand here, which is your left hand.

It's gonna be holding onto the back strap. Here we go. So we're gonna start in a plié position. Now we're gonna reach your arm over your head and then bend and bring it back. So you've got one hand going overhead and then one elbow bending.

So as you are reaching over your head as your other hand goes out to the side. You're in a plié position here. And we go over (deep breath) and over. Keeping that plié position for now. Now we're gonna be adding on.

So we open, hold it, rotate around, bring it back to where we start here, bend elbows in. We reach overhead. Keep those arms straight. Rotate through your torso, keep the knees bent in that plié. Arms straight. Elbow in line with your shoulder and lift.

Rotate, rotate, rotate, back to center. And bend, one more. And lift, rotate out. Back to center and bend. Now we're going to go the other side. Now isn't that fun?

So let's step down. Gonna step back and step down. Grab your straps. We're gonna work with the other side now. So we step up onto your headrest.

Reach forwards, fingertips over the edge. Step up, take the other leg forwards. Squeeze that box. Suck in those abs, pull them in, find your balance, and start presenting. So shoulder stacked over your hips.

There we go though, I can feel those arms already. And we're hugging with the inner thighs the box. (deep breath) Are you ready to add that little open close? Let's go. Present, open, bring it back.

Present, open, bring it back. Present, open, bring it back. (deep breath) Bring it back, two more. Last time. (deep breath) Add in, grab your straps in one hand, turn it around, so you're hugging the box and you're gonna plié.

I'm gonna grab my straps. My front arm is taking the strap in front and then we're gonna rotate around. So elbows are high in line with the shoulders. Now in that plié position, reach overhead as the arm goes out to the side. So we open and back.

Now keep your scapula depressed as you're doing it. So keeping your shoulders away from your ears. Yes, it's a little challenging. (deep breath) That's it. Exhale. (deep breath)

Keep a little bit lower in that plié. (deep breath) One more, then we're gonna add that rotation. Ready for the rotation. So we go overhead, rotation, center, back, reach, rotation, center, and back. You got two more.

One, rotation Back. Last time. (deep breath) Rotation. Back. And bend.

Ooh. And come all the way down. Nice work guys. Put your straps down, out the way there we go. And let's come off your box and we take your box away. I'm gonna put the box back.

We're gonna get onto our jump board here. So keeping at that one half spring. We're gonna go to our side, this is one of my favorite moves. We're gonna be on our sideline here. Lift yourself up, prop yourself up.

Hand on your headrest. Top foot towards the corner of your jump board. Start to jump. Now once I said this is core cardio, our hips are stacked, our obliques are firing, and our heart rate is gonna elevate (laughs) and lift. All right, you can keep your hand here.

Most people feel comfortable keeping their hand here. But if you feel that you have the strength, put the hand behind your head. It's your choice. (deep breath) Now we're gonna externally rotate that top leg. So that means your toe is turned out, your foot is turned out at the femur, and your toe is pointing at the corner of your jump board.

This is where we're gonna get the obliques action right now. So if you can put your hand behind your head, if not, keep your hand forward. I'm gonna draw the knee towards your shoulder. So it's like a little knee to shoulder. Now we're gonna add oblique, oblique crunch.

So the elbow comes to the knee, you're shortening your waist. Lowest rib to hip. Slow it down. Control your movements. (deep breath) Three more.

(deep breath) Back to a jump. Hand down everybody so we're all there. We got that. Now we're gonna go into a little split here. So what happens is we open, bring it back.

Open, bring it back. So the underneath leg is going forwards and the top leg is going back. A lot of oblique work here. And yes, a lot of glute work. And split.

Split. Keep your head in line with the spine. Split. Split. Développé kick. Développé kick and kick.

Can you gimme one more? Woo. And bring you back. Isn't that a great one? (laughs) Take that hand onto your leg, onto your foot. And that stretch out, that hip flex around quad here needs a good stretch. And let's do everything on the other side now.

Yippy, we can do it on the other side. Yeah, yippy. (laughs) All right. So top leg, right to the corner. And let's just start to jump. Yes, that underneath oblique, right here.

Sorry. The underneath glute, should I say is on fire 'cause you can feel it right now. Now we're gonna work this glute here too. And obliques. Obliques here. So if you feel comfortable, take your hand behind your head or keep it forwards wherever you feel comfortable. And wherever you can maintain that upper body stability.

So gather your shoulder, drop it down. Now we're gonna externally rotate the leg. Toe is pointing to the corner of your jump board, slightly turned out. If you can put your hand behind your head, draw the knee towards the shoulder. Remember in that light spring, don't be in a rush.

Slow it down. Control your movement. It's a quiet reformer. I always say that in my classes. Keep your reformer quiet.

No crashing. We are controlling the reformer. Now oblique crunch, oblique crunch. (deep breath) Side obliques. (deep breath) Couple more.

Oblique. Oblique. Keep that jumping. All right, put your hand forwards. Now we do our little sides, scissors.

So the underneath leg goes out, back leg extends. Underneath leg goes forwards, the back leg extend. Underneath leg extends forwards, back leg extends. So we have that and split. Split.

Obliques are lifting up. (deep breath) Can you give me four more? Four, three, two, and one. Woo, roll all the way up. Turn around, put the right leg in front.

Hold onto your jump board, push back into that stretch and quickly switch to the other side and push back and stretch. Okay. Now we're gonna go to our arms again. So everyone, let's take all the springs off. Don't be scared. (laughs) All the springs all the way off.

Okay. And we're gonna pick up our dumbbells now. Now our jump board is gonna become like a wall. So we're gonna do a wall squat here. So we're gonna press against the jump board and we're gonna walk into a squat position.

So our goal is hips in line with the knees or just a little bit above it. That's our goal. But you're gonna work to it. So we're in this squat, we're already working. I'm chatting away. But you are already working, right?

You're in your squat position. So now we get to work our arms now. So we can do little arm circles. One, two down. One, two down.

Make sure your tailbone is touching the jump board. Oh, one, two, down. Oh, one, two, down. Oh, one, two, down. Reverse the circles.

Oh, one, two, down. Out, forwards, down. One, two, down. Those legs are starting to burn. And one, two, down.

Oh, one, two, down. One more. One, two, down. Lift up, hammer crawl. We go in and out and in and out. Elbows high. (deep breath)

That's it. Palm's facing inwards. Shoulders over hips. The jump board is kind of putting us in the right position. We love it. And four more here.

Three, two, one more, hold here. We open out, in, lift it up. The arm out, in, lift it up. Do you feel your quad's working now? Don't give up.

You need to stay where you are. Building strength in your lower and your upper body. We go out, in, up and down and out. Keep smiling, it makes it easier. Promise you. And out, in, two more.

And out, in, one more. And out, in, pulse it down. We go down, down, down, down. And eight and a seven. Don't give up.

And a six and a five and a four. Woo, and a three and a two and a one. Hold it here for eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Release, gracefully get up. Woo. Do you feel those legs?

And flick it out. Hold it here. I'm just gonna open and close. Open and close, those little shoulders here. Super simple, working those shoulders.

There we go. Out and in. Let's just do eight more of these. Easy peasy. Eight, seven, six, arm finishes.

Good, four and three. I'm not very good at counting as you know, two and one and down. Put those dumbbells down. All righty, we are nearly done. Okay, the reformer's way back.

Gonna put your hands forward. I'm gonna step back, push. So the reformer's not going anywhere. There's no springs, push. Lift up into your plank work here.

We're gonna hold that core here, hold it here. Downward dog, go into your pyramid position. Back into your plank. Take your right leg down into your lunge, stretch out that quad. Now we're gonna go into a cat plank.

Cat plank, cat plank. Look out, release. Hip flex a stretch, release, hip flex a stretch. One more, release and hold it here. Step back into your plank, downward dog.

Hold that stretch, come back into your plank. Ready with the other leg and lunge. Press down. Ready for your cat plank. Exhale. (deep breath)

Release. (deep breath) Press those hips forwards. Feel that long leg, hamstring is lengthening but we're focusing on your hip flexer and quad. And one more, feels so good I got carried away. But that's okay 'cause we love to stretch. (laughs) Come into your plank position. (laughs) We're all there. Feels so good.

Up into your downward dog, press the heels down, and then come back. Bring your back leg forwards, turn around into your side stretch, back to the side. Just go over towards your jump board here. And then open your arms. Turn it around, back into your plank.

Step the opposite leg forwards. Turn around, side bend here, over that leg. Bring it back over towards your jump board in that stretch. Once again, turn around back into your plank. Hold it here for ten, nine, eight.

Nice and strong. Seven, six, five, four, three, two, and one. Amazing. Come down, little stretch to finish off with, relevé. Doesn't it feel good when you've worked out and you just feel really good? That's how, hopefully you feel right now.

Got a bit of cardio, core, arm work, got a little sweat going on. You're ready for the day. And let's roll ourselves all the way up. Let's finish off with a roll down to realign the spine. Feet hip width apart.

Inhale here, chin your chest. Curl down, we're gonna try and touch those toes. I know you can do it or you can least aim for those toes. Beautiful. Ooh and roll all the way up one vertebrae at a time.

Shoulder blades pull down and back. Awesome, awesome guys. Thank you for joining me. I always have so much fun with you. I hope you do too.

Can't wait to see you back here for more fun, torture. Did I say torture? Never torture, but you know what I mean. Have fun. See you soon. Bye.