Athletic Empower

Hi. I'm Courtney Miller. Welcome back. I have Holly with me, my friend, and fellow Pilates teacher at Pilates Republic. And we have a challenging class today using the reformer loops booty band. This band will be sprinkled throughout the class not the whole time, but make sure you have one. If you don't have a resistance band like this, grab a latex band, tie it in a loop, and make sure it's about this size.

Alright. Let's get started. We're gonna have the band around our upper thighs just above the knees The tension for the spring is whatever you're gonna bridge on. So I've got Holly set on 2 red springs, go a little bit lower for more intensity, or a little bit more resistance for more support. Lie on down. Drape your legs over the foot bar. I want you to work on keeping this band taught anytime you're using it, the purpose of this band is to find more activation into the outer upper hips.

Let's start with reformer roll up. So arms to the sky take a big breath in. Exhale all the way up, you go, forehead to knees, arm stretches long, roll halfway back, hold it, lift the arms up to the sky, and then roll yourself back down. Just three here. An opportunity to connect, breath, and movement. All the way up, row halfway back, pause, lift the arms up and then take it all the way down.

Nice job connecting the spine into the mat last time. Big complete breath out all the way over the legs. Rolling halfway back, lifting the arms, and rolling down. And I'm gonna have you leave your arms up for an additional challenge and bridge. Heels of the feet go on.

Remember to keep that band nice and taut. Let's practice our flat back hinge, lifting the hips up, and lowering the hips almost all the way down and coming right back up again. So a constant amount of outward pressure in that band coming high from the hips. If you don't like having your hands up, just put them back down onto the carriage, but it is an added challenge to have them at next time you're up, hold it, presses out into the band. Keeping the carriage all the way in, you got it and just pressing out into the band. Yeah.

Pushing and pressing, upper outer hips working, glutes to stabilize, carriage is closed. We've got 5, 4. Keep opening your chest. 3. 2, and 1, let's put those moves together. Drop the hips. Lift the hips. Press it out and pull it in.

Do it again. Lower lift, press, and pull again. So Holly is using her abdominals to really stabilize her spine. It's one of the challenges in that flat back hinge. Nice. Let's do one more complete combo. Bringing the carriage closed and keeping the band taught.

Arms can go down, presses back. This is gonna feel like a stretch after that last series. Push evenly into both feet. And if you're not feeling enough tension in your band, widen your stance even more. Knees traveling right over the toes.

We've got 4 more here. Ribs staying closed, knees driving forward. Hips pressing up 3. Good. 2, one more time like this pushing all the way out, dropping the hips as you push, lifting the hips as you pull hold, I want you to stabilize your weight in one leg and then extend the opposite leg long, keeping the thigh bones level with each other.

Now press out with the band and return 8. Keep going. 7. Good. 6, 5, 4, 3, 21. Put both feet back down. Anticipate the challenge on the other side. So feel that glue ready to stabilize you. Extend the opposite leg.

Both sides working, press out and return in 8 presses, 8. 7. Keep both legs as stable as you can. 6, 5 hips lifted in level 4, 3, 2, and 1, bend the knee, place the foot down, and then roll the spine all the way to the mat nicely done. Drape the legs over the bar, lift the arms up to the sky, 3 reformer roll ups gets you there, big exhale to roll up, and big inhale as you roll down. Yeah. Do your best to keep the legs relaxed. If you're feeling a lot of legs right now, think of a heavy sensation in your lower body and focusing on most of this work coming through spinal mobility, working the abdominals and finding that breath. I think that's 3.

We're gonna stay up and swing our legs off to one side. So we're standing on the floor. With that band around the thighs, rise on up to standing, take a nice wide stance, toes forward, hips go back, abs are in, seals you rise to come up. Let's go down and up. If you wanna use that carriage behind you as a marker of how low you wanna go, try to tap the booty and lift.

You're almost there. You got, like, 3 inches There it is. And it was close down and up. Good. Keeping tension in the band. So the band is trying to pull your knees in, you're working those upper outer thighs to keep the knees tracking right over the mid foot.

Let's add a relevay at the top, inhale down, up to the toes. You go. Yes. There's a little bit balance while you're there at the top, inhale down, exhale up, perfect, finding that synergy between the front and the back of the body. And now changed to a vertically popping up for 10. And 9. That's 8. Good. And 7.

You're almost there. 6. Sending the hips low. 5. Keep the chest lifted. 4. 3. That's 2. And I want you stay low for 1.

Keep the toes forward and the big toes down as you press the knees and the band out. Good pressing out. And out. Chest is lifted. Sit bones pressing back and wide, low abdominal zipping up.

You've got 8. 7. Sit down a little deeper if you can. 6. Good. 5, 4, 3, 2. Now stay low. Last push here is a side tap. Tap and stay on that same side out and in.

There it is. So you have to shift your weight onto one leg. Keep the core tight. And fully extend that opposite leg. We're gonna do a very similar move to this when we're standing on the machine in our skater lunges.

Let's do 3 more. And 2, and one switch leg. So find that shift, press all the way out. If your band starts to lift up, just make sure it's down low by the knees, not over the knees, but I really want you to feel the maximum stretch of that band. That resistance band getting stretched, and returning in.

Last 4, last 3, last two, and one. Okay. Rise on up. We're gonna take that band off. You are gonna see it come in a little later throughout class, but you can ditch it for now. I'm reducing the springs coming down to one blue, and I'm lowering the foot bar in preparation for what's to come. I'm gonna have you straddle the machine facing back, thighs squeezing into the frame of the machine, hands on the shoulder blocks, try to get your chest as low as you can parallel to the ground and take a small step forward. From here, exhale, push your arms forward fully bending, bending the knee bending the elbows to come back in.

So this is not a very heavy tension on a blue. This is actually very easy for Holly. Maybe you're finding it easy as well. I don't want you to add more weight, though, because I do have some more things planned. Instead, focus on those shoulders down, the neck long, the tail feathers lifted, and the core zipped up strong. From here, we're gonna go right into some arm jumps, so toss the carriage and catch. Good.

If this is not enough tension, step forward, No? Okay. She's good. So stepping forward is gonna increase the tension. Good. If there's a reason why you want it to be heavier, by all means, go for it but we're really working high repetitions here, and we're gonna be coming back to this in a second set shortly. 5 4, 3. Try to open your knees towards your baby toes. 2. And one nice job, bring that carriage in.

Now come right up onto your knees and place the hands onto the headrest. Good. Grab your left rope and hold on nice and high. The higher you hold on the rope, the heavier it's gonna be, right hands on the head rest elbow a little bit soft. I want the back long and straight and your arm extended and straight. Pull the arm straight up.

This is a lap pull. Try to get the hand a little bit higher than the hip, and then lower the arm without dropping the shoulder. Good. We're doing 8 like this. So big lift up. This is coming from the back and lower down. Good. So Holly's just resting her right form on the shoulder block, and that's kind of a cheat that I use too. I don't know if you got that from me or somebody else.

But resting your elbow and forearm on the shoulder block, totally okay if that feels comfortable for you. I find wrapping my fingers under the headrest really make a big difference versus being in a flat palm. Good. One more time like this. And then leave the arm up nice and high. Bend your elbow.

Find that ninety degree bend. Keep the elbow and kick it back. Good. Kick it back. That's 2. We're gonna add a challenging leg variation. That's 3.

Do one more like this. Keep the shoulders nice and open. That's 4. Now for our last set and the elbow, as the arm extends, the opposite leg will also extend see if you can do 4 here. That's 1. Tap the knee down as you bend the elbow. Good. That's 2.

So stable. That's 3. One more time like this. Find that length. That's for and take the knee down.

Well done. You're gonna keep that strap hold the short loop in the same hand and turn your whole body 90 degrees so your side facing on the machine. Hold the short loop in your outside hand and come into a 4 point kneeling So walk your knees way back. So your knees are right underneath your hips. Shoulders over wrist. Good. The row could be to the outside or inside of the forearm, whatever feels intuitive.

You're gonna look towards the risers and bring that left hand underneath your body. Good. Okay. Think of this as four movements. First one, elbow comes up, square off the shoulders to the ground. Nice second one. Extend the arm all the way out to the side like a letter t. Good. Now go back to that bent elbow position.

And then rotate your chest towards the risers. That's nice. The whole thing starts again. Elbow, extend, bend. You got it. And rotate, but keep going. So this is gonna remind you of your drawing the sword, bend, and take it down. But in the 4 point kneeling position, slightly different mechanics.

Good. Little disorienting, right, doing the exercise in a different way, but it still has those four points. Elbow up, extension, flexion, and arm adduction. 2 more. Lift extend, good, bend, and bring it home. Last time like this, shift your weight forward. Yes.

Shoulders right over the wrists. Bend and bring it home. Nicely done. Okay. I want you to switch hands. So hold the loop in the other hand. Choose the long loop for this one.

And then bring both of your hands over to the front of the carriage and you're a feet through the shoulder blocks so your feet hang off the head rest. Keep both legs down for now and take your strap arm up to a 90. I like palm down, but palm in or down totally works and then push your arm all the way forward. Find that length and then bend your elbow. Yeah. So palm down or palm in whatever feels better in your body. Nice long line with the spine.

We are gonna add that balance challenge. So the next time your arm reaches forward, it's gonna be the opposite leg lifting off the carriage, extending back, find it, And then the leg comes down as the elbow bends in. Yes. Really challenging to do because the more we move into a position and then back to start, But more quickly, we have to find that stability pattern. Holly, you're doing a great job. Let's do two more here.

Arm and, like, extend together push, find that oppositional reach, bring it in. And this cross diagonal training so functional push, find the reach, and bring it in. Good. Okay. I want you to put your hand down, wrap it over the front of the carriage. Extend that same leg. So this leg's gonna stay here hips are square. I want you to think that the only reason the leg lifts up is because the chest comes down. So do a wide elbow push up, leg comes up, chest goes down. Perfect.

Now the only reason the leg comes down is because the chest comes up. So push yourself up. Leg lowers. Good. Do it again. So kind of like your one shape going down, going up. Yes. As the chest goes low, the leg comes up, and we're gonna see a really similar movement to this coming up shortly. As the chest goes low, the leg comes up.

Last three. Awesome. One shape down. Head in line with spine. Last two. Good. One more time like this leg nice and high.

And one, bring that knee down and then rotate so your side facing again. We can hook up the strap for this one and come into our mermaid legs. So right shin will be against the shoulder block and left shin parallel. Now I like my right shin, my right knee that is more towards the headrest. So coming back a little bit and see if you can scooch closer to the wooden platform.

Keep going. Keep going. Yeah. So if you can avoid having this leg jamming into the shoulder blocks, it'll work better for the flow. Take your arms out to the side, shoulders down, keep your chest lifted, and rotate towards that platform, and then forward fold hands go on to the platform. Perfect. Okay. So really similar idea. The chest is gonna go down.

And because the chest goes down, that leg, the whole shape of the leg is coming up. So when you're ready, Holly, leg comes up, chest goes down and keep your elbows nice and straight. And then as the chest comes up, the leg will go down, but try not to rest it totally down onto the mat. Good. And then do it again. This leg is slightly back behind her, so she's in hip extension. Yeah.

There you go. There's those straight arms, square shoulders. Do it again. Chest goes down, leg goes up. Nice. And she's feeling all the way into her back. Right? You're feeling it up in here. Yeah.

Now I want you to try the leg extension as chest goes down, leg extends long. Yep. And then as the carriage comes in, knee bends. That's it. Try to keep the height of your thigh bone really high the whole time. Yeah. Press out. This is intense work as you can feel, so you don't have to do too many reps press out, you're using your hamstring to bend the knee.

So the thigh bone is staying behind the body, Now here's your last push. Press out. Keep the leg totally straight. As the chest comes up, the leg will drop down right between those shoulder blocks. And then as the carriage presses out, the leg will lift up. Yeah. Good. In addition to all the work that's happening here You're holding this amazing rotation.

The rotation and extension combination is like medicine for the spine. It so good. Last two. Nice. One more time like this.

Last one, lifting that leg up as high as you can, reaching foot away from head, and then bring the carriage all the way in and then pivot so you're facing the back of the machine come right back to your straddle. The party starts again. So feet are on the ground, hands to the block, step forward a little bit to intensify, get the chest low. Now this time, we're gonna do a single arm press. So take one arm out to the side like a t and pushing forward with the opposite arm. Good.

Keep going. Here's one of the reasons why we're on a blue spring. So the idea was to progress into the single arm variation. If you wanna change the tension and increase, you can, or step forward to make it more challenging. Good. Let's do 3 more here. As the elbow straightens, we have to work to keep the shoulder blade itself down away from the ears. One more time like this, and now switch arms.

So take the opposite hand knot, other leg other arm out to a tee, and press. Yeah. Squeezing the thighs towards the frame of the machine, rolling the knees and toes open, lifting the sit bones, and the tail feathers up. And press. Good. We are gonna go into those same arm jumps, but we'll do a reciprocal landing. So toss the carriage with one hand and catch it with the other. Toss and catch.

That's it. And we're gonna call this a wind meal movement, and you're gonna see that come up later too. Good. What I love about this is all of these deep muscles in your back and core have to work to stabilize against catching that single arm. 5, 4, 3, 2, one more time. Make sure you feel even out. Yeah. I knew you had to do that one more, and then come up onto your knees, and then hands go down onto the headrest. Good. So reminder wrapping the fingers under usually feels a bit more comfortable on our wrist Make sure you grab the other straps that were on the other side. Hold high on the rope, the higher you hold, the heavier, and then just work on that four point kneeling position with your straight arm sweeps.

Straight arm pulling back and down. So it's really common when the arm drops down for the whole shoulder to kinda collapse and come down with it. So as the arm comes down, the collarbone still stays very wide. Yes. Equal work between the back and front of the body. Stabilizing elbow a little bit soft, use that shoulder block by all means. And you can untuck the tail a little bit, lifting your tail for those up, so other direction, even more. Yeah.

Cool. The next time your arm is up, leave the arm up, bend your elbow, practicing our 4 tricep kickbacks before we add the leg. Here we go. 1, elbows squeezed into the side of the body. 2, Good. 3, when precision is high, intensity is high, right? When you're trying really hard feels more challenging.

That's 4. Okay. So now the opposite leg to arms is gonna be this leg will extend at the same time the arm. For good. Keep your elbow really high. Good. 3, and bend it with control. 2, one more time. You got this. One and bring it home. Good.

It feels good to have that done. Holding the short loop in the same hand, turn your body 90 degrees so your side see now. Enhance to the carriage. Knees go back so your shins are hanging off the back, rope to the inside or the outside. Look towards the risers and bring that hand underneath you. Okay. Good.

So here's our four points. First one, square the shoulders with the ground and lift your outside elbow up. Second move, extend the arm out to the side like a letter t. Good. Now keep that arm bone where it is. Bend the elbow and then drop the elbow and look towards those visers. Yeah. And there is some rotation there. Yep.

And then do it again. Elbow, square off the shoulders, extend, bend the elbow, and take it down. You got it. Keep going. Try to lean forward a little bit so your hips are right over your knees and your shoulders right over that wrist. Good. Keep going. Resist the temptation to round the spine in this 4 point kneeling position.

Neutral spine, abs are tight, tail feathers are lifted hips are wide. Let's do 2 more like this. Good. Rotate center, extend, and bend one more time. Rotate through center, extend the elbow, bend the elbow, and rotate through. Nice switch so you're holding with your inside hand long loop.

Bring your hands over to the front of the carriage and swivel your feet behind you. I know we're doing this whole around the world thing, the more you do this class, the more intuitive this will get. Keep both knees down. Take the strap arm up. Palm could be down or palm in.

That's your choice. Reach your arm forward. And then pull the arm back. Good. Do it again. Reach forward. Nice.

So this kind of work is really training us to extend at the elbow to straighten the arm without the shoulder coming along for the ride. This is gonna help with push ups just in case we do some later. Let's add the opposite leg to arm. So as the arm extend the leg comes up, as the elbow bends, it comes down. Good. Do it again.

Find it. I'm such a fan of finding your edge and just kinda pushing past it a little bit because I do think those moments where you feel unstable And then you find recovery are so beneficial, right, for training our body for recovery. The world is a very unstable place. Lots of things to wiggle and fall on, so find that stability here. And Nice. Okay. So the arm is gonna stay down.

The leg extends. That same leg. Good. So the relationship between the leg and the chest is such that the leg can only lift up when the chest goes down. So find that wide double push up leg high leg high. Now the leg can only go down when the chest presses up.

Good. Keep going. Yeah. So it's not really about the hip hinge here. It's holding the hip in extension, getting the chest to drop, leg lifts, and push. And we see the same sort of setup and movement when we go into the mermaid next. Let's do four more. Color buns are wide, and press.

I think these push up preps are so helpful, right, for when you go into the full variations really teach us how to keep those shoulder blades flat and wide, how to move the body as one unit, Good. One more time. Leg comes up. Chest goes low. And then rise. The knee can come down. Well done. Going into our mermaid seated position facing the other way. So take those legs into your z sit.

Left shin is gonna be against the shoulder blocks. Scooch a bit closer to the wooden platform if you can, and then slide that inside knee back. It's gonna set you up for more hip extension and more activation in the glutes. Take your arms out to a tee, focus on that posture, rotate towards that wooden platform, and then forward fold hands go on. Good. As the chest goes down and the carriage pushes out, the whole shape of the leg comes up.

Nice pause here for one second. Try to get the leg a little bit more behind you. Feeling that back body squaring off the shoulders. As the chest comes up, the leg will drop. But if you can, try not to let it go all the way down and then just keep on going for Yes.

Staying really zipped up through the front of the body here too. 3. Two more here. Good. And one more like this before we add that extension. So chest goes down leg comes up.

Chest comes up leg goes down. Okay. Here we go. Same move. Chest goes down leg up, but extend the leg. Find that leg. And then use your hamstring to bend the knee, think heel to booty. That's it. 4 like that.

So three. Nice work keeping those shoulders level. 2, and I know she's using the hamstring to bend the knee because her thigh bone's staying in extension back behind her. 1, Rise, bend the knee. Now I want you to press out, extend the leg, leave that leg straight.

And as the chest lives up, the leg's gonna go right down in between the shoulder block, and then exhale big lift. 4. Good. 3. Chest down leg up. Working back, working glutes, working core, too.

And then one more like this. Big lift all the way up. And release. Nice. Swing those legs in front of you. And come on to the ground. That was amazing.

Change your springs to a heavier spring. Let's do one red Holly, and then grab your booty band, step through it again. So it's in the same spot it was when we started today's class, which is just above the knees, not too high. We'll be using the platform. So if you have your footbar down, perfect.

Step your outside foot onto the platform Good. Yes. You can feel that van doing what it's doing. Lean your chest forward. I like to be in prayer positions to start. All your weight into front leg, back leg, and back leg taps. Good. The nice thing about this variation is that platform's absolutely stable.

You could also do this on the ground if being up onto the machine wasn't working for you. Let's incorporate the arms. Stretch them. Pull them. Stretch them. Pull them. Good. In, out. In, out. Yes. When you have a new resistance band, you gotta work to really lengthen that fan out.

We got 876 5, 4, almost there, 3, 2. Now rise up onto the machine, one foot onto the carriage, one onto that platform, have your feet as narrow as you can. I usually hook my big toes off the edge, sit deep and low into a squat, and shift all your weight onto your platform leg, Now the carriage presses and bends. This is the exercise we did earlier on the floor. Now not only do you have the resistance from the band, but you have the resistance from the springs. Are you doing okay on that red? So it's not just the spring resistance. It's the springs and the band.

So if you're starting to feel like you need to change resistance, drop it down to a blue, that'll help. 8 is our magic number. So one more here. Now we're gonna do the opposite leg. So keep the carriage knee, bent, knee, in line with hip and heel, and push through the platform leg and bring it in. When I do these moves, I always think about my heel, staying directly underneath my sit bone, and that's what helps to keep me in alignment as I do the pressing. Nice.

8 is your goal. You're halfway there. Change the arms or extend them forward to make it more challenging. And keep your weight into the outer edges of your feet. Good.

And do one more of these and then come halfway home. So just halfway in. So you've got the band tension, the spring tension, take it down an inch, lift it up an inch, down and up. Now this is a move that I'll do without the band quite often on the machine, but while doing it, I'm trying to imagine what it would be like if I had the band. So here you go. You don't have to use your imagination.

You got those upper outer hips working. You got 876543 to and rise up for 1 and step your carriage leg back first and then your platform leg back. Nice. Let's get out of the legs and into the arms. Come in line with your carriage, reach your arms up, get really big, and then forward fold hands go on to the carriage. Step back. So you're in a plank position with your shoulders over your wrists.

This will be a narrow elbow push up with a single leg lift. When you're ready, take it down. One leg comes up and push. Good. Do it again. Opposite leg comes up. Nice. Keep those hips square. Good.

One shape down. One shape up. She's a master at this by now. Good. One more and rise to standing. Now turn your whole body around in preparation for our tricep dip. So you don't even need to sit on the mat. Just place your hands on the carriage. Bring your feet forward.

Good knees right over those ankles and wide stance. When you bend your elbows, press out on the band. When you straighten your arms, you can resist in a little bit. Extend. Good. If you're not feeling enough tension, just widen your stance down and up. We're almost there. 5 neck is staying long, 4.

Color bones are open. 3. 2. Good. One more time. And now sit sit forward towards the edge of the carriage. So you've room to lie back, v ups, lean back, swing your legs up, come to your v sit.

So come all the way up, palates. You're just onto your bottom. Keep tension of the band if you can. Inhale. Lower the spine to the mat, extend the leg. Exhale as you lift, rotate opposite elbow to knee, inhale lower down.

Good exhale. Twist. Good. Draw both knees in together at the same time. Twist. Good, lower, and lift. Try to go all the way down almost into your hundred position, low back connecting to the carriage before scooping up into that almost teaser shape. Last three. Last two. And now hold your for one. Put your hands onto the carriage behind you.

Here's how we switch sides. Swivel your legs and body over the other side. They're so graceful and rise up to standing. We did it. Okay. So turn around, face your carriage. Remember that you step onto what's not gonna move first.

So that foot comes up onto the wood platform. Lean forward into that leg. All of your weight is forward. Abs are strong. Nothing with the arms yet, back knee in and out.

Good. So what the band is doing in this exercise is it's helping to remind us that our hip extensors are working to press back, press back So often, we're just focused on the hip flexors pulling in, pulling in. So it takes an exercise you've done and just shakes up a little bit. Last three, you're almost there. 2, And one rise up onto the machine, good, and take that really narrow stance. So bring the feet in, in, in, in, low squat position, stabilize your weight over the platform leg and carriage legs pressing down.

Good. Now it isn't just the carriage leg that's working. So because she's got the band on, the band is trying to pull her stabilizing leg with it. So she's working more on both sides. And so are you. So I don't have to remind you that the work has the workload and the challenge has increased by adding this prop last two, And last one. Now keep your carriage heel right under your carriage hip and push out with your platform leg. Yeah. And when I do this one, I'll usually keep my hands on my hips so that you don't have to change it, but I tend to twist a little bit.

So trying to keep your shoulders and your hips square Yes. Going into that full leg extension, reminding you of those taps we started with on the ground. Last two, One more time like this, and then bring the carriage almost halfway in, not quite, keep the knees nice and wide, down an inch and up an inch down an inch and up. And I want you to feel the fire and feel the work nice and high in those glutes. Try not to tuck the hips, wide hips, Deepabs engaged, you've got 87, 65, 43, 2, carriage isn't moving an inch. That's perfect. Rise up.

Step your carriage leg back, and then your platform leg can meet it. Push ups round too. So align yourself with that carriage bed, big stretch up, forward fold with the hands onto the carriage, spread the fingers. Find your plank position first, shoulders over wrists, maybe a little bit more weight into your fingertips. When you drop down, one leg extends up and then press Good. We've got 4 each side.

So that's one. Good. I like narrow elbows. You can change it up if you'd like. That's 2. Keep leaning forward.

Let those hips drop down. That's good. 3. One more each side. Keep that band nice and tight when the foot goes down a wider stance.

There you go. And step forward. We've got those tricep dips. So spin yourself around. Hands go to the carriage bed, feet forward, knees right under heels. Good. When you go down, press out on the booty band.

And then when you come up, booty band releases in 10 times 1. 2. Wide in the collar bones. 3. 4, nice job keeping the hips right underneath the shoulders. This is a body weight exercise. So hips are pressing back right under shoulders, spine is vertical.

Last three, V ups are next, 2. And once when your hips onto the front edge of the carriage, legs come up, you're in a V balance, good palms and prayer, inhale extend the legs, lower the spine, exhale knees come up and rotate. Good, inhale down, exhale legs come up and rotate other direction. Good. Taking it down all the way. Inhale down, exhale up.

Last four. Last three, almost there. So close to that home stretch. Last two, make sure you feel even out for 1, and then rise all the way up onto your feet, and you can slide that band off. I can't promise you won't see it again, but it's gone for now. Okay.

So we are using our long box in this next series. The long box is gonna go beside the carriage, and we'll be on one blue spring. So a nice light tension. I'm gonna have you stand onto the box holly facing front. Good. The leg that's closer to the carriage is gonna go against the shoulder block.

And I want you to think of legs and hips being an external rotation. So your foot is gonna be in door side flexion, heel down onto the carriage toes up onto the shoulder block just like this. I like my palms in prayer. You can change your arms if you'd like. This is gonna be somewhat similar to what we did stand on the carriage moments ago.

Standing leg bent, carriage leg stays straight, low squat, hips back, rise to come all the way up. Do it again. Low squat. And rise. Good. Make any small adjustments in your body that work well for you.

You shouldn't feel restricted in the hips. This squat should feel very, full in the range of motion getting down really low and then all the way up. Good. Getting down really, really low and up. Yep. And the hips are moving back in space and rise, last two like this. Good. We've got the 1 blue spring on.

Hold it. Bend the carriage knee in and kick it out. These are your carriage kicks. Isolation on the standing leg. Nice. Wide hips, long spine. Give me 4 more. See if you can bend that knee in even more big bend, full extend, 4, 3, 2, and 1, rise to standing and both feet come onto the I love that one.

Really feels like a lot of mobility in the hips. Rotate now face the front of your machine. The inside leg goes against the shoulder block. Heel is gonna be against the block, toes on. Outside leg is on the box. Let's start with your hands on your hips and go into our front lunges.

Bend deeply into the front knee. Keep the back leg straight. Rise all the way up. Good. Do it again. Press all the way up. Find that straight straight leg.

Get lower, get lower, and then rise to come all the way up. Yep. You got it. As you bend into the front knee, The knee itself is moving forward. So see if you can get your knee to touch my hand. Forward more. Forward more. There it is.

And then rise to come up. And this really helps with mobility in the ankle. Big press. Good. And rise. One more time like this. And rise. Let's add a reciprocal arm pattern.

So arms down by your sides. As you bend deeply into your box knee, arm comes up same side. Good. And then as you rise and the carriage comes forward, arm comes up same side. Good. Keep going. This reciprocal pattern is kind of mimicking a running or a walking gate, and it's gonna include, more muscles in in your back, more those postural muscles and stability challenge.

Yeah. 3 more like this. Reach and rise. 2 more reach and rise. Last time like this, big press all the way out, and I want you to hold this. Both hands will reach down to the box to the outside corner. The leg that's on the box will lift and ankles will cross.

If you don't like your ankles crossed, just have your feet together. Keep your shoulders over your wrists and bend your knees in towards your hands. Nice wide knees like a diamond and push all the way out. Nice. We have 8 of these knee stretches in and out. Good. 4, 3, Good. 2. Do one more and then keep those legs long.

Step your box foot back onto the box into that plank position you were just in. Yes. Let go of the box, see if you can stay in a low lunge position. And now scooter back leg in and out. Lift your chest nice and high. Pull the ribs in and get the hips nice and low. Yes.

Driving your standing heel down into the box. Let that knee come forward and find that full extension. Last three like this. And they were going back down hands to the box. 2, leave your back leg straight. Hands go down just where they were.

Back leg swings up. Same as before, except time, Holly. It's 8 pikes. Keep your legs straight, hips to the sky. Press out and find that long plank position. Yeah. So notice how she's looking down towards her abdominals as her hips draw up.

In a pike, you wanna start the movement from the upper spine. So plank, nice, long spine, look towards the hands, pike, round scoop, and lift. Last three. Last two, shoulders right over wrist, last one, lengthen out, lift and then step back onto the box, bring the carriage all the way in, well done, and then you can step off the box. That was great. I'm gonna take the box on to long box position now, and we're gonna give those legs a bit of a break and go into arms pulling strap. So lay your stomach onto the box, head facing the risers, chest hanging off the back, grab a hold of the ropes, and hold nice and high.

Drop your chest down completely. So when I do this move, I wanna check to make sure my head touches the headrest That's a good indicator that I'm in the right spot so that big flexion. Legs can be lifted and together, or legs can be lifted and apart your choice. On your inhale, lift your chest high, pull your arms up, stay here. The goal is to get the hands higher than the hips, turn the palms in, find that strong back, Look down so the neck is long, and then on an exhale, lower all the way down. Good.

So you have already practiced a move like this very similar when you are doing your 4 point kneeling. Now we're focusing on including that movement of the spine through flexion up into neutral into extension as those arms move. The whole time legs are active. Back of the body working. Good.

You have 4 more here. Drop it. Drop it. Drop it. And then lift as high as you can. That's 4. Good.

That's 3. Almost there. That's 2. And the next time you're up, hold everything up, hold the arms, hold the chest, and swim the legs, flutter kicks. Use those hip extensors, find that back stability. Keep the back of the neck long.

8 7, 65, 432, and everything can resist down, hook up those loops, and come off your machine to the other side so we can move the box off and do our lunging again. So I got this for you. When you stand on the box, turn around so your back is facing the machine. Good. And then you've got your, inside leg against the shoulder blocks. So I'm kind of angled. Yeah.

Legs are turned out. Carriage leg stays straight, box knee bends, hips go back, and just pause here. So in this squat, you're very much in this position. Sending the hips way, way back. It's gonna help you get even lower.

We're talking mobility and then rise to come up. Yep. Do it again. So the box knee is driving over the foot because you're in external rotation, just be mindful that the knee is rolling inwards towards the big toes. Yes. The heel drives down onto the carriage toes are lifted.

You're in door side flexion. Low, low, low, and then rise. I just think this one feels so good, especially if you have limited squat when you're in parallel. This turned out position, spine forward hips back, allows you to get really deep and low into that squat position. The next time you're low, you're gonna stay low and go into those carriage kicks, bend the knee strengthening the knee. 8, 7, kinda squeeze your shoulder blades together behind you. 6. Good.

5. 4, 3, that's 2, and 1, rise all the way up. Well done. Both feet go on the box turnaround and face the front of your machine. Inside foot goes to the shoulder blocks. Outside leg stays onto that carriage.

I like hands on hips. Slide back into the lunge, just gliding and hold. Chast is leaning forward, front knees driving over the toes. Keep that back leg straight in this position and then rise to come all the way up? Good. And then do it again.

So because the box is pretty squishy, you'll notice that your stabilizing foot and ankle are moving a little bit. What a great way to strengthen those deep muscles in the feet. Try to feel the foot engaging down into the box. You've got your big toe, your baby toe. You've got the inner and outer part of your heel, and then the arch of your foot is staying lifted.

Last 4. Nice. 3. Showing about doing the lunging on the box. It just kinda makes a little more fun.

Last two. And do one more like this? And then we'll add those reciprocal arms. Rise up. Good. So reach the box. Arm up. Yep. And as the carriage is back.

The carriage arm stretches up. Just pause for a moment. I just want you to see what's happening. So this arm that's lifted is opposite to the knee that's spent. And then as you rise to come up, boom. Good. Do it again.

Yeah. And that's kind of mimicking that, like, lunge up position. That we've practiced in other classes. Yeah. Press and pull. Very good. We're getting ready for those knee tucks in 4.

Love and how low those lunges are. 3. That's 2. Now stay low. Keep the back leg straight. Take your hands onto the outside corner of the box.

That outside leg swings around, cross your ankles, or change the legs if that's more comfortable. Bend your knees in like a diamond shape and kick it out eight times. Shoulders right over wrist. 1. 2, finding that long line is part of the exercise. It's not just the tuck.

It's the press, the hold. For more Holly, that's 4. Here's a a tough transition coming out. 3, 2, Keep your legs straight, hold here, take that outside foot back onto the box, find your stability first, hover the chest, good, scooter in, out, in, out. Good. This is definitely a little cardio burst here. You don't have to be jumping around to get that heart rate elevated.

Last four. We're going back into that low position, that plank position in 3. That's 2. Keep your back leg straight one. Place the hands down. Here's the real tough one.

Legs swings back. It's a pike 8 times, hips up, head down. And then press out, find that long line, hips, up, head down, and long line 6 more. Shoulders are staying right over the wrists, pushing out to the plank, looking at the hands, lifting up to the pike, looking down to the core. Last three. Good.

So controlled. Last 2. One more time. Push out to the plank. Push. Push. Push. Drop the hip pull up and step off, step to the box, and then step to the floor. If doing snake is an important exercise to you.

This will help you getting ready for snake. Good. How you feeling? Great. Fox comes on. She said she's feeling great. I don't know if we have a lever. I'm gonna add more attention so the carriage feels stable, take a seat on the box and face back.

The box is being used kind of like a mat, so scooch forts you have room to lie down, and lie down onto your back. Hug your knees into your chest and curl up into a little ball for a series of 5. So one thing I just wanna drive home is the arms are working in this your size, so you're gonna use them. And I want you to work on staying really connected to your spine into that box. First move, single leg stretch one leg straight, one knee bent in, exhale as you switch.

We'll do 8 of each variation. Got palpable sustained stable, chest is staying lifted, and higher you can stay in the scoop, the less you're gonna feel your neck. Last two. 2. Last one.

One. Now hug both knees, and at the same time, reach your arms back and your legs long. Hold that hollow body lever. Legs lower. Arms lower. Circle your arms around, hug your knees in. That's 17 more to go.

It's really common to wanna drop your chest and look up when you do this exercise. But try to stay in the scoop. Keep the chin down. Keep the gaze at your thighs. It'll keep you out of your neck.

It'll keep you into the core. This is an exercise of endurance, not just strength one more time, stretch back, hug and hold, scissors, both legs up to the sky, grab one ankle with both hands, drop the other leg, two pulls, one switch. Pull pull, good. Pull pull, legs are long. Reach high towards the ankles.

And when you pull, pull, try to scoop, scoop, see if you can deepen that abdominal lift. Last three. Hands are going behind the head. Last two. One more each leg. Hands behind the head.

Bend your knees in. Nice wide elbows for cross straighten the leg, turn to the bent knee, exhale switch. This exercise includes rotation in the upper body, but not in the hips, the pelvis stay level, The elbows stay wide. You're at exercise number 4 out of 5. It means you're almost all the way through.

Last two. Last two. Last one. One comes through center hold. Both legs go up to the sky, drop the legs, and lift. And I like to door side flex when my feet go down and plant around the up. I'll typically do this in a pilates, V, although you do not have to.

And a lot of times I bend my knees to get out of my hips and into more abdominals. Last two, One more time, last one, bend your knees, rock and roll yourself up to a seated position. Whoo, swing your legs off. Grab that booty van. There's one more little push we're gonna do.

Step through. Band nice and high. You've been here before. You're almost done. Stand towards the footbar side of your reformer and get nice and low into a squat position.

Stay low as you take a big step out to the side and a small step in. Do 4 of those the side. 2, 3, 4. Now while you're here, give me one vertical jump and repeat. And so big step out small step in. Good. Awesome. Vertical jump rise up. Yes.

Big step out small step in, so you keep the tension in the band the whole time. We've done a lot of work today to really fire into the upper outer thighs putting it all together here. We've got those legs working. We've got cardio. Good coordination.

Balance. Keep going. Nice. Last time? Give me a jump. Okay. Meet me towards the center of your machine and stay low into that squad. Step forward, so you've got a little bit of movement.

You're going to take one top out to the side. We know what we've done at, bring it in, and then one top out on a diagonal back. Bring it in. Same thing, same leg, side, diagonal. Good. Side diagonal. Nice. Side diagonal. Perfect side, diagonal. Chest is lifted. Shoulders down the back.

Good. I mean, if we're gonna use the booty band, right? We might as well. Last two and switch side. So go side. Diagonal. Yep. When I do this move, I think about standing in the center of a cube. I reach out to the side and then the back left corner.

Yep. To the side, back left corner. Yeah. Hips are staying square. Good. Core staying tight. Last two. Anchor the feet.

Keep your legs in that wide squat position. 22. So stay low pressing out. And out taking it down and down repeat. Out and out and down and down. We're almost done.

Push and push down and down. Keep going. By the way, these are awesome moves to do without the reformer. So if you just have 10 minutes, just do the booty band work. Right? They're great to do prior to a reformer workout too if you wanna really activate through those glutes before coming into some traditional Pilates. Last set here, out and out, down and down, rise up, give yourself a forward fold, reach all the way down, take a moment, take a breath, relax your shoulders, slowly rebuild the spine coming all the way up to standing. Do that one more time. Yes. We did a lot of glutes.

We had the band on, but we also did a lot of upper body, unilateral stabilization, a lot of coordination work, and a ton of spinal extension. You did awesome. Thank you. You guys did great. We'll see you again soon.

Thanks for joining me. Bye.