Strength Training Fusion

Hello, everybody. Tracy Mallett here. Welcome to Pilates anytime. Now this workout is all about strength training. We are fusing Pilates with traditional fitness strength training routines.

So it is a fusion of the 2. I understand, as I've age, and I've said this before, I really need to prioritize building muscle mass. However, I still love Pilates, so sometimes I kind of fuse them together. And I just wanted to let you know that before we go into the workout, that's why you need dumbbells. So I have some dumbbells right here, and they are anything between, obviously, £38, obviously, as we build more strength, we'll be able to go for a heavier weight but I'm going to leave that up to you. Mine look a little heavy duty, but they're actually £5, but probably around about 7, actually, because they're a little heavier. Okay. So there's my disclaimer before we start the workout.

We're on our beautiful allegro a 2 reform, which is awesome. We are going to start on a blue spring, so that's a half spring. Alrighty? So I'm gonna start with a half spring, we're gonna come to the edge side of your reformer. We're gonna take both hands forwards on the long strap, and we're just warming up. So I want you to bow bend the elbows and just go into a little squat. I'm not pulling.

Nothing's pulling. I'm just going into squat here. I'm just warming up the lower portion of our body. We're gonna hit legs and arms and obviously call a little bit later, but we're gonna start with the legs and the arms. Let's do four more here for 32.

Now, one more holder here. Tilt underneath and back as we exhale, just mobilizing the lower spine, working those legs at the same time as you exhale Inhale, neutral, exhale, and back one more. And hold it here. Lift all the way up. Now plant the inside leg forwards.

Gonna reach the arm out, hand on hip, and we're gonna go into a lunge. So you're gonna split lunge here, and we're gonna add a row. So we go row with a lunge, Now this is working your back, your posterior deltoids, your lats, and, of course, we're working our lower body as well. It's really important that you draw your shoulder blade down away from your ears, of course, in and out and scoop out those apps. 4 more, 4, 3, 2, and one holder here.

Little plies and little squats here, little pulses to work those legs. That's to 4, 3, 2, and 1. Bring both arms forward. So you're grabbing hold in the straps. Bring that leg in.

We tap it in and out. In and out. In and out. Keep that elbows bent in and out for 4, for 3, for 2, for one. Now bend your knees, reach that leg forward, and we're gonna do single leg squat, single leg squat. So you can see my foot is just off of the floor, and we're doing a little single leg squat.

The actual Loops here with a resistance on the spring is health and rebalance in that single egg squat. Just do about 3 more of those. 3, 2, 1 more, and I see we can hold it here, hold that balance, hold it there, and then bring the knees back, and lift yourself back up again. Come all the way back. Let's quickly go to the other side. Grab. Gonna repeat what we just did.

Squat. We go. Squat. Remember, this is just a little warm up. Here we go. Keep those elbows bent, and we're working the lower body. Really trying to warm up the body.

Get the oxygen around to those valuable muscles that we're gonna build nice and strong. One more, holdy here. Palvic tilt, release, pelvic tilt, release, exhale. Inhale back. One more.

Hold it deep. Hold that squat. You can go a little bit deeper now. Lift up, plant the inside leg closest to the reformer, outside arm, and we're gonna lunge. Put the hand on the hip just to stabilize the hip, that long waist, and you're ready to add the row. There we go.

Keep your hips facing forwards in that row. Both knees are bent. Fantastic. Alright. Keep it there. 4 more here.

4 3, 2, 1, hold it here and just go down. Feel in the burn in those legs. The arms are straight. Pull your shoulder blade down. Remember, this is our workout today.

We are focused on us, on our own body, and then we hold it here. We're just gonna tap it in and out. There you go. Tap it in and out. If you need to adjust that stabilizing leg, just a transference of balance here. Couple more.

2. One more. Bring it in Now that leg is gonna go all the way forwards, both arms here. We do lift that leg up, if you can, single leg squat. Now if that's just too challenging, of course, you can tap the leg on the floor can even bend their elbows a little bit more.

We're just using the pulley system here just to help us stabilize. Because balancing on one leg and doing a single leg squat is no easy feast. It's a lot of balance, a lot of proprioception going on here as I lost it. But I pick it back up again. We're gonna lose it.

You just pick it back up again. Right? 4 more. 4 3, 2, and one more. There we go. Now let's put that little strap. Amazing work. Alrighty.

We're gonna get our box to still be on that blue spring. Now we're gonna push the reformer forwards and pop your box in at the end here. Alrighty. Now we're gonna be picking up our dumbbells. Play their dumbbells on the top, and we're gonna come up onto the top of the reformer here. First of all, we're just gonna go into a knee bend here squat, pick up both weights.

Super simple. We're gonna go into some rows here. There's your row. So you're not using your reformer. You're just on top of the reformer because we are going to be using it in a minute. Got some compound movements in that row.

Let's do 8 more like this. 8 7, 6, 54, 3, 2, and one more drop the weights down, place the feet against the shoulder rest and push out. Now just gonna bring the carriage forwards and back. So now we're using the reformer to connect to your core, your abdominals, Now reach out to the crown of the head. There we go.

And we're just gonna do about 4 more of these. 3 2. Let's do one more. One more stack. Your shoulders over your wrist. Come forward, swing the cabbage in gently, we go 4, 3, 2.

1, step back. 4, 3, all the way. 4, 2. 1 more. Bring it back gently. Close the carriage.

Ready. And, again, for two's, for one, for two, for one. Step in. Now singles. Step back, push out, and in row, we're going at a moderate place. We don't need to pick it up any faster. We're going with intent. We're going with control.

You should not be any faster than me. I know you want to. You've gotta control it. I'm bringing you. I'm slowing you down a little bit.

I always feel a lot of times we do everything way too fast, slow it down. So principles of Pilates quality of movements that we are trying to attain while we're adding that fitness element and building the muscle mass. Here we go. 2 more. Close the carriage step forwards. One more. Super simple, but very challenging, holy here.

Let's just go into some triceps because we were right here I'm gonna work those triceps. Let's go down a little bit deeper. Don't be frightened to bend those knees. Guess what? Knees are meant.

To bend. Obviously, if we have any problems, that's the different stories, but they aren't meant to bend. We think we get scared of bending our knees. 4 more. 4, 3, 2, and 1 more.

Come down. Now turn the weights this way. We're gonna turn around. Put your foot on the top. We're here. Right? Now before we do anything, just slide it out and back. Slide it out and back.

Just wanna make sure you feel comfortable here before we do anything. Alright. So we go out. And in. So now we're incorporating your adductors, your inner thighs with your shoulders, In hell out, slowly bring it in. In hell out, slowly bring it in.

It's all about the control coming in. That slow. The spring is pulling you in, and you're resisting the spring as you pull in. Let's do 2 more. Let's do one more and bring it down into your fitness squad here. That's it. We're squatting.

8 more, 8 7, 6, 5, 4, 3. To hold it here, drop 1 weight down, we go down. So we go out, down, open, down, open, down. Whoo. Down. Inhale.

Exha. Kinda like a little chilly to hear. Here we go. Oh, disco dancing. 3 more. 3. Whoo. Feel that hamstring on that stabilizing leg.

One more. See, I'm smiling. And then bring it back. Alrighty. We're gonna go the other side. So be careful. I've always got my box here for support.

I feel much more comfortable when I got my box there. My foot is there. On the top is parallel. And I'm gonna bend the knees. Alright. I just want you to push out just to start. Just want you to feel comfortable in that position.

Stack your shoulders, then when you're ready, release the arms. So remember, the further the way the foot is on the reformer, the harder it's going to be for your inner thighs. So if you're here and you feel like, you know what? I can work a little bit harder. I wanna work my inner thighs a little bit more. Just take your foot out a little bit further before you push out.

There we go. Oh, I feel those shoulders. Keep it going for 3, 2, and one more. Okay. Let's just go into some squats here. Now remember the next one is the disco 1.

Alrighty. That disco 1 or you're a RAVA cheerleader 1. You're gonna remember me for that now, aren't you? Alright. But we still gotta work that booty in our squats. Are we ready? So just drop one way down, place it on top of your box.

Alright. We go. Rah rah down. Out, we go down, out, and in. Out. Remember, your body is moving. You're reaching down to that foot, and then you're opening up like a star.

There we go. Stop. Ed. Super style. You got it. Woo hoo. 4 more everyone. 4, bring it down.

3, bring it down. 2, bring it down. 1, bring it down. Can we do one more for good luck? I kinda wanted to do that extra one. Don't ask me why. Just felt good. Put the weights down.

Turn around, give yourself a little bit of stretch, weight centered back into your box. Now we're going to take your left leg forward in the center. And then I'm just gonna put my right leg just about kind of right by where my shoulder is, but not quite there. And we're gonna lift ourself up hinge forwards, fly, fly away. Fly away. So now my lower body's working really hard because I'm on a light spring here, and I'm trying to keep the car reach still.

So you can see my legs are working hard, isometrically here, while the upper body is working, your posterior deltoid, your middle upper back, posture, super important for, wooh, 3, 2, m one arms here. Now we're just gonna bring it in and out. Very small. And we can add a little row. Why not? Cause we're here. See how tiny it is, but don't let that fool you. This is mighty challenging here.

Your stabilizing leg is on fire. 4 more, 4. You got this, 3. 2, and 1. Hands down.

Hold it there. How are we doing? Come back. Give yourself a little stretch. We've got the other side to go now. So plant your opposite leg in the middle of your box, get the other leg back.

If you feel more comfortable against the shoulder rest, go ahead. Alright. We're ready. Find your balance. Push out. Feel that stability there.

Draw those abs in. Hinge for it. Ready for your fly again. Fly is one of my favorite exercises to do. Because I really feel like it accesses all of your back muscles and your deltoids Keep it going, hinging forwards, scooping out through those abs to protect the spine. Those abs are gotta be strong.

Don't let those apps go on vacation. Draw them in. You got this. Okay. You got 4 more. Woo hoo. 4.

3, 2, and one more arms down. Row now that we're gonna bring that leg in and out. This is the killer one, small and mighty, being the elbows back behind the back of the body if we can. Can we squeeze the shoulder blades together? Can we do that? Alright.

Let's do 4 more. We go. 4. Oh, 3. 2. Shaky shake.

One. Come down. See my legs shake there. Yes. I am human. Just like you. Come back. Press back. Amazing.

Alright. We're gonna come down. I'm just gonna place the weights on the floor just for precaution of images, we're gonna turn on to our back while we're here. This is perfect. Gonna put you in steps on your shoulder rests.

And we're gonna come all the way back. So your box is right in the middle of your scapula, kinda right where your thoracic spine is, Hands behind your head, pelvic bridge up. Are we there? So we're just gonna push it out and in, Love this exercise because it really does access pure hamstrings, pure glutes your back is working too, total whole back body work in. Now focus on the heels coming towards the sit bones. Can you do that so everything is tracking in line, your hip, your knee, your ankle.

So we're not pronating or supernating. We're trying to keep on that right track heel to sit bones. Let's do 4 more. We got it, like, a little tabletop, 3, 2, one, hold it here. Now drop the tailbone down Look, press up, curl down. If you think about it, this kind of simulates like the circle.

You'll semi circle, right, because you're articulating the spine, articulating down, looking forwards, articulating up. We're trying to keep the carriage still, but as you can see, that's pretty challenging, but we always have to have a goal. Scroll down. One more. There we go. We're all all the way up.

And then curl down. Beautiful. Come up. Give yourself a little bit of a hug. Amazing. From here.

Step back. Put your toes against your shoulder s and push up. Perfect flow. We're gonna go into some little dips now to work your shoulders. Whole body weight here. So from here, we're gonna push out and we do our little tricep dip and just push out and in.

Triceptip, push out and in. It's really important. Again, your shoulders away from your ears, when we're going down and up and just pushing that cabbage back. But look at my pelvis, my shoulders are stacked over my hips, So as I push the legs out, the hips stay where they are. Yeah. Not easy, is it? But you guys are rock stars, and you're doing it. Let's do 3 more.

Woo hoo. 3. 2. One more. And let's do 4 foot good luck. 4, 3, 2, and one. Woo hoo. That last 4 just finished them off, didn't it? We'll reach up. Amazing.

And release. Okay. Moving the carriage well, actually, not the carriage, the box, but we're moving the box forwards on the carriage. So I'm gonna be careful here. We're gonna move it forwards just like so. Okay.

Now We're gonna come forward, and we're gonna hug. Now I like the box. We're gonna be standing, but we're hugging the box. So we're gonna start with the hands like this, and you're gonna go across. I'm keeping the same spring, which is kinda nice Now the box is there because we're gonna be standing, and I always like to have a box when I'm standing just for support.

So this is where you can come to if you just don't feel like standing today. Alright? Let's stand up. Hook the box and cross. Cross.

So my adductors, my inner thighs, pelvic floor lifting up, and I'm in a plie. One more. Now we go across, lift up, circle around, across, circle, and around, and see if we can go bigger now. Woo hoo. Bigger.

Move those arms. Scoop out those apps. Can we do 2 more? One more. Bring it back.

Come into here, elbows bent. Plea. There we go. Keep the carriage still. You should feel secure. Because you're hugging the box.

Oh, fill those in the thighs. We got 4. We got 3. We got 2. We go, 1, and we come up, and then we sit down because we can because we rock stars. Remember. Alright. Bring the hand to the side, lift up.

Elbow here, we're gonna shave our ear off. Love that terminology. Some of those Pilates terminology is hilarious, but that's what we're doing. And now, can we lift that leg? Can we? We can always try.

Maybe. Oh, we could go with both legs. Remember there's always a goal If we're not there today, guess what? We'll be there tomorrow, maybe next month, next year, whenever it is, but we are on a journey of self discovery of what we can do, not just physically, but mentally too. It's all about the mind. Keep the scapula still.

Here we go. Woo hoo. 3. And 2, keep pressing here. It'll help you on the On the box, one more, bring you back, center, Lenthan, back. He knew I was gonna do that because you're in a perfect position to go into teaser. Yes. It's quads and legs.

One more. Hold it there. For 87654321, bend the knees. Voila, you did it. Let's turn to the other side, but yes, you're gonna do the other side. So let's pick up your straps.

We're gonna quickly move on. Alrighty. So it's your choice. You can either be here. Remember, or if you wanna come with me, I'm gonna stand up. So you choose now where are you gonna be?

Alrighty. So I'm gonna stand up. I'm hugging the box, and I'm going for it. There we go. Yes. This is Pilates.

Yes. This is strength training. We are strength training when we do Pilates. We're building strength. We're building muscle mass is what we're doing. Keep going.

Just two more. Woo hoo. One more. Rotation. Now we go. Lift up in that circle.

I know you're getting tired. So am I, but I am doing it. Cross. Let's go into a circle and circle. It's all in your core too.

Core is moving. Your arms are moving. And your lower body is stationary. It's doing a lot of work to stabilize. Can we do 3 more?

Come on. See. I use my voice to motivate you. Come on. One more. Oh, one more. Amazing. Come in.

Yeah. That does kinda like riding a little horsey clippety clop. There we go. There we go. Little pool scene. I'm not gonna make you laugh, but that's okay.

For 5, for 4, for 3, for 2, and for 1. Woo hoo. Down we go with control. Come up. Ready. Feet up. Hand down.

We are pressing against to here to engage the laps of arthritis. Elbow is high. And we go up and down. Remember, we could just keep your feet where they're at. They can even dangle forwards.

So you're in a seated position. Alright. Everybody is gonna go for it. Your outside leg goes first. Should we try? Let's go for it.

And we breathe in. We're focusing. Let's try and get into that c curve with those lower abs. That powerhouse, really, in your lower abscess, what's holding you there. 2 more, everybody.

One more. Bringing the hands into your center. Just wait. By your sternum, shoulder blades pulled down, elongate those legs and bend, lengthening those legs. So, yes, this is your squads and your hip flexes, elbows are to the side of the room. Can we do two more? One more.

Now this time, hold it up there, hold for 5, for 4, for 3, for 2, and for 1, and we bend the knees, and we come down. Fantastic work. Put your straps down. Turn around. We're gonna put our knees all the way down.

We're gonna go forward to here, and then what we're going to do is try walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, walk, elbows. Here we go. We're on a strength training mission. This is one of my favorite exercises to do. Kind of mimics like the graviton machine in the gym. Obviously, we are working.

Shoulders, our arms, and our back. There we go. Elbows are hitting the box. So think of the elbows hitting the box. Let's do four law, four, three, 2, 1, hold it here, reach, start to flow to kick the legs, elbows bent, bring you back.

It's a lot to kick the legs. So, you know, you're working in hip extension. Your glutes and your hamstrings are working. Now look at your head. You got that laser beam shooting from the crown of your head.

It was a fantastic queue that Cara Risa gave me. Thankly for Kathy Grant. Let's keep going. 3 more. 3. And 2, And one more.

Now reach the arms out nice and straight, lift, open, in, and down. Lift, open, in, and down, lift, open, in, and down, 3 more. One more. Daa, daa, daa, daa, daa, bend the knees. Slowly catch. Come back.

Now from here, we're gonna stand back up again. Grab hold of your straps. Now look, my hands are forwards, my toes are against the box. I am going to go for the smallest straps, and I'm going to choke it up. So I'm here to start with.

Tilt the pelvis slightly underneath. Pubic onto belly button, lift up. Supernite. Now it's feeling really light. And there's a reason for this because as we extend, we're gonna go up back.

Up, back, supinate, palms go down. Supinate. So I'm pressing the booty forwards, pubic bone goes forwards. It's a lot in your hamstrings here. And back and back.

Now one more and back straight legs, press back. And forth. You can have a semi bend if that feels better. Tilt the pelvis underneath slightly, so you can see it. I wanna arch my back. Knees kind of like straight or semi bent. I like to keep mine slightly semi bent.

It's just great for swimmers. Imagine your fingertips are going through water as we press back through the resistance of the water. Is a great cue to feel the lats, feel the serratus, your back, your balancing with your legs, Cool. This is a hard one. You got 4 more. 4. Ready?

3. 2 more. 2, you got one more. Oh, and then bring it back. Relax. From here. We're gonna step forward. Step forward.

Alrighty. From here, open. Back into your back. So now we were in the fly. We're still on that light weight.

Now we're gonna go into a little combination. We go hyvee out to the side. And then a little bit lower. To the side, hyvee, Back out to the side, a little bit lower. Back out to the side.

High V, out to the side, and down one more dah, dah, up, dah, and down. Bring it forward. Curl through those hips. Now from here, we're gonna circle the arms, circle around, hold it here, lift that right leg up, circle, lift the left leg up. Circle, lift, right leg up, circle, left leg up when you're balancing.

Circle, woo hoo, and a right leg up. Last time, circle and then the left leg up. Amazing. Put that little straps down. We got it there. Now from here, we're gonna reach back.

Reach back. Reach back. So your fingertips are over the edge a little bit. Now reach those legs straight up. We're gonna go into some circles here. So we go circle to the right, and then circle to the left.

Inhale exhale to the right, inhale exhale to the left, inhale exhale to the right, Inhale exhale to the left, down and up, one more, down and up, now straight leg. Down and up. Inhale down. Pull those abs in. Heck. I'll use your abs to pull back up again. Inhale down.

Exela, couple more. Use those abs to bring the legs back up. One more, and we're just gonna hold it out there. Can we hold it? Can we hold it? Can we lift up a little bit higher?

Can we lift? Can we lift? How about it? Can we lift up higher? Oh, there we go. Can we bring it? Yes. I'm going for it. And we can hold it there.

Who's taking my challenge? Yes. For 4, for 3, for 2, for 1. Bring it back. Take it down. There we go. Did you do it? I hope so. Well, if you didn't, next time, we're all the way up.

We're gonna come down this direction here, keeping up the same spring. And if you need a little bit, some of you might need that spring, we're gonna try and do a variation of a snake twist. So you may wanna go up into a red or stay at a blue with me so you can play around with that. So we put your front hand right on the corner and the other hand here. So it's in like a diagonal line. Don't push down on that box.

Now cross that leg in front, we're gonna push out rotate your hips, come back up, and close the carriage off. So I went slowly then. Push out, drop the hips, and then lift up, close that carrot. Gonna go a little bit more fluid, and then up. Ah, and down dropping those hips.

And then lifting up. Now one more come out, drop those hips, and then use your apps to lift all the way up. Let's go to the other side. So a hand forward is gonna make sure that box is right in the middle. Other hand is in that diagonal line, across that front leg in front, We reach out. We drop the hips.

We look towards your feet, and then we lift ourselves all the way up. So it's a prep. It's your snake twist. But that box is elevated to assist you a little bit more. So it's a good preparation for the full version of your hands on the platform. Keep the arms straight.

Reach out. Now rotate and drop your hips. Look towards your feet. Use your abs to pull back. Can we do 2 more? Absolutely. There.

And up one more time. Drop and then curl all the way up. Come back, split the feet. Stretch we go. And then we're just gonna dismount.

Just step back if you can. I'll step to the side and just reach out and then curl through the spine, and then roll yourself all the way up. Oh, amazing work, you guys. It's coming to the center. We're gonna finish off with a roll down.

We're gonna take a deep breath in on the exhale, chin to chest, rolling down, touching our toes, And then rolling all the way up. Fantastic work. A lot of strength there. It's about building muscle mass. It's about feeling strong. So sometimes it goes a little bit slower, but that means we're recruiting every single muscle fiber.

So just because it's slower, doesn't mean to say that it's easier. It actually means it's harder. Because you're recruiting all those necessary muscles to be a stronger person. So I hope you enjoyed that, and I look forward to hearing your comments. Look forward to seeing you back here again. Goodbye.