Athletic Power Reformer

Hi. I'm Courtney Miller, and Holly's with me today. She's my friend and fellow Pilates teacher at Pilates Republic. We have a challenging class plan for you. There's a lot of glute work, a lot of balance, and strength. We are using a resistance band around the shoulder blocks. If you don't have a fabric band like this reformer loops 1, take a latex band, tie it in a loop, and put it over the shoulder blocks.

I have one blue spring on. I'm also using my short box at the front of the, excuse me, the back of the machine kinda tucked in there. And we have the footbar lifted for your footwork or bridge position. Let's get started inside the the well. Take one leg back and hook it behind the band.

Good. And so there's basically 2 bands you can hook it in the center or behind. It's gonna feel a little bit heavier if you hook it behind, and you want your standing leg to be pretty far forward. So scooch forward if you can. Now bend both knees coming into a low lunge. I like hands on hips or hands in prayer.

And then as you rise up to a standing straight leg, bring carriage forward, bending that back knee, and you're gonna feel the carriage kinda touching your calf, and then inhale drop both legs. Exhale as you rise and pull, and inhale. I just wanna remind you we're on a blue spring. I wouldn't say that's light, not for this series. So it's enough tension that she can really feel those hip extensors and feel those glutes working. Inhale as you drop low, exhale as you rise driving that back knee forward. Good. See if you can do a little bit more of a pulse.

You feel that headrest touch your calf. Yes. When I do it, I'm always looking for that connection of headrest to my calf. Last two like this. Good. And then one more like this rise all the way up. Now go low and stay low.

Reach your arms forward and scooter the back leg in and out. In and out. In and out. Use your core. Think of this as standing core exercise. This is your warm up. I told you it's gonna be a tough class.

We're just diving right into it. Last four, shoulder blades pulling down. Last three, Nice. That's 2. And then one, you can extend the back leg, place your hands on your risers, and use your risers to help you as you hop your front foot forward onto the box in front of you.

I want you to hold on for this, at least in the beginning, and practice those scooters again in out. Your front foot is anchored down. So push through your heel. Now see if you can do these scooters with your arms reaching forward. 5 Driving that knee in. Good.

4. Takes a lot of breath and a lot of power. 3. You're doing great. 2. Now one more. Pull the knee in. Keep your back leg straight.

Rise to standing as you swing your arms down and then drop into that low lunge. God. Do it again. Exhaled her rise to come up and inhale, glide to come down. Keep going. 10 is a great place to get to, so if you can target 10 repetitions here. Bending into that front knee, so knees over toes powering up through the glutes, last 4, glide back, lift up That's 3 come all the way up to a straight standing leg. You're almost there.

That's 2. One more holly. Get low. Rise all the way up, use the glue, and now get low. Place your hands down onto the box. That front leg is gonna step back.

You can have your feet beside each other. You can have your ankles crossed. You're gonna plank with your shoulders over your wrists. 8 knee tucks. Drive your knees forward through the risers. 1. That's 2.

Good. That's 3. Elba's a little soft. That's 4. You're almost there. 5. This is power pedal to the metal. 6. 7, one more time, 8, place your feet down onto the ground, reach down, touch your toes, take a moment, and take a break.

Relax your head, neck, and shoulders. What a way to get warmed up? So soften your knees, slowly rebuild your spine, come all the way back up. Let's do it again with the other leg. To send your other foot back, hook it behind the band.

Remember, lunges are done best when they're very wide. So you wanna scooch that front leg forward, maybe even a little bit more if you can, Holly. Good. And then hands on hips or hands and prayer, your choice. Bend both knees get low. As you rise, pull the carriage towards you, front name drives forward. Good. Again, exhale rise. Nice. If you feel like you can get a bit more range of motion, scooch the front foot forward.

Inhale low. Good. Exhale. Right. She's like, navy. She just did a very small scooch. But it was forward.

So that's good. The direction we wanna go. If you feel like the tension is too heavy and you have a yellow spring or a quarter spring, that would be less. We're on a blue. That's a half spring. Exhale as you rise, inhale, and we're focused on the standing leg glute.

So the hip extens your work. 3. That's too good. And that's one. And the next time you're gonna get low stay low and start scootering that back leg in out. Yes. So drive your standing heel down.

Keep those hips square. When you're ready to intensify, you reach those arms overhead. The reason this makes this more challenging is now we're integrating the upper body, the backs of the shoulders working hard to keep those arms framing the face, That's 4. Drive it in and forward. 3. Good. 2. You got it.

One hands go on to the risers. Hang on to those risers as you hop up front foot comes onto the box. Press down through the heels. Stay low. Go back into those scooters if you can. There's a lot of waste strengthen your core, lying down on your back, doing abdominal crunches is one of them, but this is another.

Reach your arms forward if you can. Think about those abdominals wrapping. Wrapping from the back around the front. Tight, tight, tight in the middle. 4, driving the knee in. 3. Good job. 2. And, 1, keep your back leg straight.

Rise to standing arms come down fully straight in that standing leg. If you got it and then take it low into the lunge, exhale rise. Good. The lower you can go into the lunge, the more of a release you get on the springs. So as you get down there, you feel like getting lighter, lighter, lighter, lighter, lightest, and then lift up and find that work and load in that front leg. Big exhale to lift. Good.

Inhale to lower. The exhale to lift and inhale to lower. And I want you to work hard to straighten this leg on the last three, all the way up and straight, down low into the lunge. Good. Pull up through the knees. Nice straight leg.

Down low into the lunge. One more time. Big lift. Good. Take it down. Hands go to the box. Step that front leg back. Let's do a second set of those knee tucks.

You can do this. Pull in for 8. Pull in for 7. And 6. Fully exhale.

5. 4. She's got her finger spread wide to distribute the weight. 3. That's 2. And one, the feet can come down, take a moment, and take a break. Well done.

Rebuild your spine when you're ready. Come all the way up. Turn around and face your shoulder blocks. That was a push exercise where she was holding herself in a plank. Now she's doing a pull exercise.

So wrap your hands around the shoulder blocks You wanna move back quite a lot and drop down into a low squat here. Good. See if you can get your hips even lower. Yeah. And maybe your chest a little bit higher. Good. Let's do a bilateral row who do both arms first for a couple. It's not gonna feel very heavy, not yet. Focus on keeping your shoulders down. As your arms extend forward.

So as you reach forward, the shoulders don't come up. Does that feel good? Now you're ready for the single arm. So one arm goes out like a t, you do a pull stretch switch, pull stretch switch. And in this single arm row, she's not just working her bigger muscles in her back.

She's working the deeper muscles along the spine. See if you can sit down a bit deeper, weight into the heels, This is an amazing time to feel low and deep abdominal zipping up. Neck is long. Big pull for fat. That's 4. Good. That's 3. 2. And 1, make sure you feel even on both sides. Perfect, return the carriage all the way home, step backwards towards the back of your machine and sit down onto the box.

Yeah. I always say there's really no graceful way. Just kind of commit to the sit. Now from here, so you can do this at home without my assistance. You're gonna grab the lower rope. The lower ropes that are correct connected directly to the carriage, and you can pull that carriage in towards you. Okay? So lower ropes pull.

Then take your feet and take them underneath. And I just usually use that front side of the resistance band. Make sure you have some room behind you to roll back. Don't be at the edge of your box. Good. Rock your hips back as if you're going into teaser, keep your chest wide, and take your palms to prayer.

From here, we're doing knee tucks, knees drive in, and out, exhale in and out. Good exhale pull. Nice chest is wide. Try pushing your hands together really strongly and feeling your shoulders drop down. Good. Now as you pull your knees in, rotate to one side, through center, rotate to the other side.

You got it. Exhale pull and twist. And pull and twist will take a break in 5, and 4, feeling this in the sides, into those obliques, 3, 2, to get out of the exercise, you wanna hold those lower ropes again so the care doesn't go crashing in, take your feet out, and then resist the carriage all the way forward. Come forward again for another row exercise. This time, we're gonna add a single leg variation So sit down into your squat first. Grab a hold of those shoulder blocks. Without kicking the frame behind you, so be aware of your space.

Take one leg up and then extend that leg all the way back behind you. That's perfect. And your arm should be pretty straight here, and you wanna lean back on that standing leg. Try your double arm row pulling the carriage and stretching it long. That's it. Good. By moving your body forward toward the foot bar, it'll feel lighter. By moving your body back away from the foot bar, it'll feel heavier. Now instead of doing the reciprocal arm where we change each time, I want you to reach your left arm long and just pull with your right.

Let's pull for 8. Good. And 7. Nice. 6. That's 5. See if you can lift that back leg long. Yes.

4. 3. And your chest can come up just a little bit higher. Good. There's that letter t. 2, and one foot can come down. Both feet on the floor. Sit down low. Good.

Now draw the other leg back. Good. Find the squared off hips and start to pull with both arms. Nice. So as we switch legs, the challenge changes. Right? We don't feel the same left to right.

Drop your left tip if you can holly and stretch the leg long. Good. Let's do the single arm. So right arm's off to the side, left arm pulling. Good. Left legs lifted. Nice. Right heels driving down into the ground.

You've got 4. So strong in those arms. 3, 2, and 1, you've done it both feet to the floor and rise to come up. We're gonna come right back into that seated position on the box. So take your time. Grab the lower ropes, the ones that are connected to the carriage, pull it towards you, and then the feet hook under. Nice.

Let's do a double leg stretch variation. Make sure you have some room to roll back. So knees are bent. Hips are rolled back. Pull the care towards you and touch your knees or shins.

Extend your legs as you reach your arms long and then circle your arms and hug. That's it. Inhale stretch and exhale scoop. Good. Inhale stretch and exhale scoop 4 to go for Nice. 3, circle hug. 2, and 1, let's do our wind meal.

So I want you to stretch one arm back as the legs end twist and look, return to centers, the knees bent. Other arm legs extend, knees bent. Nice. Stretch and pull. You'll recognize a lot of these moves from our reformer roll ups, a little bit different here with the resistance in that lower body, pulling knees in, one more on that right side, one more on the left side. Good. You can grab those lower ropes, take the feet down and allow the carriage to return all the way home. Cool. Rise up to standing, turn around to face the box, and then step both feet forward onto the box.

Nice. And then you can turn around and face your footbar. Here's a little cardio drill for you. So let's leave our left foot on and step the right foot back onto the ground. Take your hands lightly onto your risers and start driving your back knee up and up. Now those hands are meant to be light because eventually they're not gonna be there.

Pushing down into your front heel and keeping most of your weight on that front leg. Reach your arms forward overhead and keep going. Up and up. Nice job. Arms higher if you can. You've got 5, 4, 3, 2, back leg is down on the ground, meet me in a lunge, palms, and prayer.

Good. I want you to rise all the way up onto your standing leg, pulling the knee up, And then stepping back. So slow and steady does it on this. Big lift. Nice. And lower. Cool.

Change your arms if that feels intuitive. Do what's gonna work best for you so you feel motivated, challenged, you feel like you have the support you need in the exercise. I do have a tough one coming up here in 5. They're all challenging, but when I say that, you should be worried for 3. Remember, lunges should be really big, so don't be afraid to step that back leg back 2, and then go down into your lunge And you're gonna do a lunge switch on the box. So really power into that box leg, hop, and opposite foot goes on the box.

That's it. And go ten 9, 8, 7, nice, 6. Holly, you got it, 5, 4, 3 finished with that opposite leg on the box and 2. Done. You did it. Whoo. Hands go down onto the risers, lean forward, and start driving that back knee in. And in. This almost feels like a break compared to that one. And in. And in. Drive your front heel down. Reach your arms forward.

Go in. And in, we're gonna slow things down in 8, 7, 6, arms higher, 5, 4, 3, 2 into the lunge, low and slow. So pumps to prayer, rise, and find that stability challenge, and then step back. Yep. It is a good thing to be wobbly and wiggly to me. It means you're finding your edge. You're pushing your edge.

Teaching yourself how to recover from an unstable situation is a great skill to have, whether it be physical or emotional. It's a good skill to have in halo and exhale rise. Good. As the knee drives up, think core, Last three, we are gonna do those scissor lunges in 2. Not doing very many, and then you will not see them again. And one step back. Good. And here we go. Ready.

10 times switch. 10987 6, 5. You can do them here on the floor with me. 3, 2, 1, and done. Both feet up onto the box. You go. Here's the good news. We're now moving into more of a strength and power series so you can catch your breath. So earlier I had you holding the lower rope, the one that was connected to the carriage.

Now I want you to re reach on to the higher rope, the one that's connected to your loop, and I want you to hold really close to the risers. Good. Bend your knees. And I want everyone to take a second and find your anterior tilt in your pelvis. So your hips are lifting up and wide. We're not tucked and narrow. So see if you can feel that in your body, up and wide, knees are bent, squeeze your shoulder blades behind you, and then use the power of your legs to rise to standing, and then hinge to lower. And it should feel like the hips are moving back, lift, Little bending those knees, hips back, hips back. Good.

Lift. Good. The closer you hold to the risers, the heavier it is, adjust your tension if you want more load. Inhale lower and exhale lift. Try to make this less of a squat more of a hinge at the hips There you go. And then exhale up straight legs.

Squeeze the glutes. 2 more. Lean, drive the hips back. Rise. That's it. One more.

And rise. Okay. Single leg. So bring your feet in a little bit narrower, Holly, to the right underneath your hips. Let's rise up to standing. Take one leg up. Same balance position we were practicing earlier.

As you hinge forward that leg extends behind you, standing knees a bit bent, and then exhale rise to a straight standing leg, bring that knee up and forward eight times. Inhale as you kick back, that's 2. Axill as you rise up. Good. The arms are staying long and strong. Now this is some work for your grip strength.

If you need to take any breaks, shake it off. Go for it. I feel like Pilates people have very good grip strength, though. So this is easy for us. Good. As you go down, the arms are staying very straight for now. Yes. So the movement is all happening on your standing leg in that hip last 2, and then I'm gonna have you stay low. Good hinge forward, make that t position.

And I just wanna do it five times. Give me five rows. Elbows up 1. Elbows up 2. Good. Elbows up 3, driving them up and back, 4, and one more time, 5.

Let the arms go long. And come all the way up into a standing position. And you can release that carriage for now, so let it go all the way home. Let's give those arms a little bit of a break. Turn so you're facing side.

Good. Take your outside foot down onto the ground. Go into a low squat position. Exhale come up to box leg. Inhale go down. Yes. You've done this a million times on the carriage with me, and I often reference if you don't wanna be here on the carriage doing this step up, do it on the box. Or do it on the floor.

Inhale, low, exhale up. Nice. Now, Holly, I want you to add a knee tuck with a twist towards that bent knee. So you go down in the squat, up and rotate. Good. Down in the squad, up and rotate. There it is. Down in the squad, up and rotate 5 Same principles here when you're in the squat, sending those hips back for 3. 2, and you can stay up on the box for 1, turn around and face the other direction. So, yeah, it's a cardio burst. But you get to take a break for your hands.

So face the other way, outside leg steps down on the floor, send the hips back, knees over toes, practice rising up, and going down. Did I mention there was a lot of cardio built into this class? Kinda goes without saying landing toe ball heel, driving the heel into the box as you rise, adding the knee tuck with the twist. Think of this as core work standing up So if you've got neck issues, you've got back issues, you don't like being on the cares doing the 100, what a great way to strengthen the core in a vertical and functional way. Stay with me, Holly.

We got 5. Hips go back when you're low. 4. We're gonna slow things down again. In 3, That's 2 squeeze your shoulder blades together, rise onto the box, and turn to face your carriage. Same exercise. Exact same.

It'll be to the different leg when we do single leg. Grab ahold of the top rope. The rope that's actually connected to the loop, hold close to the risers. Bend into your knees a little. Send your hips back.

Lift through your chest. You feel really open through the front body. Use the back body. Use the glutes to rise. You're lifting from here and lower, flat back hinge.

When you're in this hinge forward position, you're actually feeling length and stretch through your glutes and through your hamstrings. Acts heel lift. Nice. Inhale lower and exhale lift. Good. So strong in that back. 3. 2.

And then one more time, like, this hinge and rise you're gonna take the opposite leg up. Make sure your feet are right underneath your hips. Knee comes up. And then when you're ready, kick it back. Lean forward, finding that letter t position, and lifting eight times. So it is the standing leg when she's standing on that's doing all of the is where the hinge ends happening.

The knee is soft as she leans forward, and then the leg fully lengthens as she comes up. The goal is not to pull with the arms. Instead, stabilize with the arms, the goal is to press down into the standing heel Got 2 more like this. We'll hold that low position. We have those rows 5 times remember. So go down to the t.

She's like, I don't remember. Hold the back leg and row elbows drive up, send them down. When the elbows drive up, pull the abdominals up with, that's 3. That's 2 one more. 1, rise, release the carriage, and the feet can come down off the box. Well done. Come on off to either side.

Now let's do some easy stuff, like the 100 or something. Come over to your carriage. Add the tension that you like for bridging in the 100. I'm gonna do 2 res for Holly, making her bridge easier because her legs might be tired for that, but making your hundred harder. So that's what you get. Buy on down. Let's start with bridge.

Take the heels of the feet onto the foot bar, hands down beside you. Just some articulations first. So roll up one bone at a time. Color bones wide. Roll yourself down.

This is an opportunity to come back into your zone, feel your body, the carriage is telling you where you are in space. So today's workout started just with you and gravity, basically. And now you've got the beauty of that machine telling you where your body is. So just channel into that One more time like this, big exhale as you lift up, and then stay up. Let's do our presses back, inhale lengthen, drive the hips up to the sky as you pull.

We'll do 5 like this. 1, we are gonna build. 2, this is your time to feel your base, build your foundation, 3, 4, and then one more time. That's 5. Keep the keratin. Send one leg up to the ceiling toes pointed. As the carriage pushes back, swing that leg down and see if you can tap the footbar, and then kick that leg up 5. Nice.

4. Very good help pelvis and hips staying lifted and level. 3. 2. One more time. 1, bring the carriage in. Here's a new move.

Bend the knee. Drop the hips. Is there a can can? Lift the hips and kick the leg 5 times. Big kick, energy out 4. Energy out 3. That's 2, one more time, One place the foot down, roll your spine to the mat.

Keep both feet on. Let's do that articulation again. Rolling up slow and rolling down slow. Do a couple of them. So elongate your breath. Instead of speeding up your movement to match a quick breath, Think about slowing down the movement and taking a bigger breath here. Yeah.

Really filling up the lungs and then really emptying the gonna help you when you do the 100 coming up soon ish. 2 more articulations. Well done. Roll down, and then one more roll up, and you can stay up on this one. Keep both legs on and go into your presses back. Since you know what's gonna happen, you know we have that single leg challenge coming up, start to think about it.

What's it gonna feel like? How do I stabilize? What do I need to work? No surprises. It's it's coming up and 2, and it's coming up and 1, bring the carriage in sending opposite leg ups. In this case, it's Holly's left. As the carriage pushes back, left leg swings down, and then it kicks up five times.

Swing it straight down, lift it straight up. That's 2. That's 3. Nice. Pushing all the way out 4. Yeah. One more time.

5, kick up hold as you bend the knee, drop the hips. It's a flat back hinge, kick and lift energy out. 1, energy out. 2, Push into the arms 3. That's 4. And 5, the foot can go down. Roll the spine down slowly one bone at a time, hug your knees into your chest, curl up like a little ball. So I'll often do this right before I do the 100 because this curl up into a little ball is what I need to do in order to get into the 100 and get out of my neck. So I use my arm strength, and I give myself a big squeezey hug and I try to get my shoulders off the mat so that when I do the 100, I remember what that feels like.

Go ahead and lie down, reach back behind you, and grab your straps. Now poly's on 2 reds. You might wanna use your long loops. It's totally up to you. The long will feel a little bit lighter than the short.

Before we do the 100, let's do a couple other moves. Fancy moves. Take your legs up to table. Big breath in. As you exhale, pull your arms down to the mat, curl up, hold the lift. We're doing over under. So extend your legs.

They go over the bar, bend them in, extend they go under, over under. And if you don't like going under, don't do it. Take it out and go over. Alternatively, sometimes I don't wanna go under, but I think I should. So I split the difference and I do one leg under. Can you show them that? Good and in, and then one leg under? Yeah.

Sometimes I do that. Right? You have to figure out how you're gonna move through these exercises. Challenge yourself and find your edge. Each day. 3, bend it in. 2, keep reaching through the arms.

1, bend your knees. Rest your head. Let your arms float up, take a little mini break, still have tension, legs or table, big breath in, exhale come on back up, curl nice and high, turn your palms in, extend your legs long leave your legs for now. Only the arms, open close. 5, use your back and stay in that curl. 4, Good. 3. 2.

One more time. 1. Bend your knees. Lift your arms. Take a little mini break. We're coming right back into that exact same position. So when you're ready, arms down, lift up. Extend your legs.

Turn your palms in. This time, arms and legs open together. It doesn't have to be too wide. Pull in. These are your snow angels. That's 2. 5 is the goal.

3, feeling your back and your sides on this. 4, and one more time. 5 head goes down knees, bending. Now here is the big one, the 100. We're also gonna do something fancy with the legs.

It's gonna challenge your coordination, inhale to get ready, exhale, curl up, extend the leg straight up to the ceiling. Yes. Start to pump your arms. Inhale. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, exhale. 1, 2, 3, 4, drop the legs an inch in. 2, 3, 4, 5, XL 23. That's 20. Drop an inch in 2, 3, 4, 5, XL 23. That's 30. Drop an inch 2, 3, 4, 5, exhale, 2, 3. That's 40, drop an inch in 2, 3, 4, 5, exhale, 50. Hold the legs. In 2, 3, 4, 5, lift an inch.

That's 60. In 2, 3, 4, 5, lift an inch. That's 70, in 2, 3, 4, 5. Listen in inch, 80. In 2, 3, 4, 5. Listen back up. 100. Hold everything steady.

Maybe you can lift a little higher. Nice. Rest your head. Rest your feet. Take a break. That's awesome. Drape your legs over the foot bar. Let's do a couple of our former roll ups just to kinda shake things up.

Yeah. So I find when there's an exercise that's very direction based, like, I'm just telling you what to do the whole time, it's nice to do a movement where I'm not telling you what to do. So you can get back into your breath and your flow to do 2 more here, Holly, and enjoy that stretch for your back. You earned it. Big XCLF, and then one more time. And on the next one, stay up, and swing your legs off to one side and adjust your springs.

For this next flow, we're gonna be on 1 blue. See if you can go ahead and make a change, add the blue and take the other ones off, rise to standing, and turn to face your footbar. Now if you've done classes with me where we do our lunging from the floor, this gonna feel a little bit light, but trust because there's a big plan. Take your inside leg. That's the one closest to the machine and put it against the shoulder blocks.

And place your hands onto your hips for now, dive down into that lunge and then hold that lunge position, start to bend your back knee in and out. Yeah. Now if you do want this to be a bit heavier and you don't wanna check change the springs, just scooch back so you're not standing so close to the foot bar. Oh, she's doing it. I didn't think she was gonna do it. Okay. So now that you feel good about what's happening, you're gonna press back with so much power that your foot is gonna leave the shoulder block even an inch. And then land it. Yep. And like anything, the more you do, the better you get.

So have fun with it. If you miss the shoulder block and it comes crashing in, I think that's okay. Not that big of a deal. Press and power out the leg fully straightens. The leg fully straightens.

Good. Fully straightens. Good. Last three. Last two. One more time like this. And rise to come up to your standing leg. Brilliant.

So that's we're kinda learning the first part of the puzzle. There's a second part too. Drop down into the lunge Back leg is gonna stay straight. As you rise up, do a little hop off your standing leg, and then go back down into the lunge. Listen. If your foot doesn't leave the ground very far, you're in the same position I'm in. Right? I'm not getting a lot of vertical height. If you can, great.

If you don't wanna add the hop, try coming up onto your heel. Let's just do two more here, Holly, down, little hop, one more, down, little hop. Okay. So now that you know, those two movements, we're gonna put them together in a combo. So get low into your lunge. Do 2 kicks with a jump on that back leg. 1, and 2. Now as you rise up, do a little hop. That's it. Again, 1 and 2. And as you rise up, do a little hop. Yes. 3 more times. 1.

And 2 and rise up do a little hop. 1 and 2 rise up little hop. Can you do one more? Kick it back 1. And 2 and rise up and do a little hop and rest. Both feet go to the floor.

Here's the good news. You're gonna be working the other leg. Here's Also good news, you're still doing more lunges. So this is your curtsy lunge series. So you're taking your outside leg onto the shoulder block.

Yeah. So I just wanna remind you, in a courtesy, you're sort of in this diamond position. So that's what we're going for here. Let's take palms to prayer for now. I want you to bend into your front knee, press that carriage back, and then rise to come up. Can you get this heel more lifted? Yeah.

We're coming kind of into this position and up. Good. Bend deeply into that front leg. There's there it is. Yep. Add the arms swing when you're ready. Arms reach forward overhead when you're low and rise to come up, and challenge yourself to fully straighten that back leg when you're low. And very good. And remember, in the lunge, your front knee is moving forward towards your toes.

Good. Last three like this. Well done. Last two. And then one more.

Get as low as you can, swing those arms forward, one rise up. Hand that's closest to the foot bar goes onto the foot bar. I kinda take my opposite hand just up like this, and you're gonna take that carriage leg and kick it long. Keep that leg long. Bend and kick. Let's do 10. And 9. And 8. Good. And 7.

Bring this thigh bone back a little bit. 6. Good. 5. 4, 3. They kick 21. Now take the foot back to the shoulder block.

We're doing another combo. 2 curtsies in one kick. You got it? Go down 1, rise up. Perfect. Go down 2, hand to the bar. Big kick.

Yes. Back to the curtsy. 1, and 2. Good hand to the foot bar, rise up. Big kick. Yes. Do it again. 1, it's impressive how high she can get her leg because I'm kicking, but I haven't done any of the other work. So, like, I'm not feeling tired yet.

1, and 2, hand goes down big kick. You got one more in there. 2 curtsies, definitely feeling that standing leg glute during the curtsy, and then one big kick all the way up and over you go. Both feet go on the floor. Okay. It's just gonna be 30 seconds.

That's all I have to say. Place your hands onto the footbar. Keep them really light. Take your inside foot onto the carriage. Care tough. Let's go up and over.

We're just ripping the band aid off. Light in the hands, fast in the feet, try to land toe ball heel, 10 9876543. 2 Lynn on the other side. Breathe. K. Awesome.

So starting from where we began on the other side, your inside foot goes to the shoulder block. You're facing forward and hands on hips as I believe what we had going into the low lunge, holding the low lunge, and just practicing the scooter without the jump first. So just kinda practice what it feels like to push through the heel. Then when you're raring to go, which you are, add that little hop and catch. Good.

If it's more comfortable to hold to the foot bar, absolutely go there. The foot doesn't need to leave that shoulder block a whole lot. But in really, what the focus here is the essence is to straighten that back leg all the way with power. Kick it, bended. 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1, and rise to come up. Okay.

Here's where things I think get even more challenging. You're going down into that lunge. Good. And then as you rise, little hop off that floor foot. Good lunge. Lift to hop. Yep.

And the alternative was a lift to heal. Yep. Down and up. Go ahead. Keep the chest wide. And up.

Last two. One more time. And good. Okay. So our 2 jumps with the back leg, one jump with the floor leg. Whenever you're ready, lean into it. Bend and jump it. 1 2, rise and hop. Repeat.

1, 2, rise and hop. Repeat. 1, 2 rise and hop. Yes. 1. 2 rise and hop. 3 more sets to go. 1. 2 rise and hop.

1. 2 rise and hop. Last time. 1. 2, rise and hop, and rest. Both feet go on the ground. Awesome. So now it's time for the curtsy. So slightly angled, The outside foot goes to the shoulder block this time.

Good. And I think we had palms in prayer. The floor leg is going to bend as the back leg stays straight and then rise to come up. This is one of those exercises where you settle in. I call it settling in. You sort of wiggle around you adjust your standing foot, you change things.

Maybe it takes you 4 or 5 reps, and then you find what feels right. So settle in and find what feels right. Good. Inhale, getting low, opening big, exhale lifting up. Inhale, and exhale. We've got 4.

And the reason one of the reasons Holly's leaning forward in the lunge 3 is because when you lean forward, you load up the glute on your standing leg, you feel more butt versus staying vertical in a lunge. One more time. Good. Inside hand goes to foot bar. Outside hand comes up. Kick.

Kick. Kick. Good. Try to get that leg behind you. You think she was trying to kick me a second ago? And kick and kick. Last 3, last 2, last one combo. So here we go. We go down to the curtsy 2 times.

1, and 2, and then the hand goes down and lift and kick. Good. Do it again. Into the curtsy 1, and 2, and the little weight transfer lift and kick. Again, curtsy 1, and 2 and lift and kick. Keep going.

1 and 2 lift and kick. 2 more sets like this. 1 and 2 lift and kick, and last time like this, curtsy, curtsy, lift and kick, and rest. You wanna do those carrot tops again? 30 seconds? She said, yes. Fend to get low, light hands to the bar, one foot up onto the carriage 30 seconds. Let's go. This will be your last power move up and over, up and over.

Try to keep that carriage as steady as you can. I know it's a light spring. What'll help to keep the carriage from moving is the idea of going vertically up, vertically up. You got 5. You got 4. 3, and I want you to land on the same side.

I'm on and 2. And then one more land on my side. Done. You did it. Okay. You don't need to move Springs for this next move, but you do wanna drop your footbar down at least enough so that you can put your hand on the platform and the bar is not in your way. We're gonna do a push up, plank pressed combo a little bit more than that, but that's where we're starting.

So forward fold, put one hand onto the platform, and we love that forward fold. And one hand onto the carriage. Spread your fingers nice and wide and lengthen out to a plank where your shoulders are over your feet together. 2 things happen. 1, the carriage presses out. 2, the same leg to the arm on the carriage opens like a star stance and then closes everything. Good. That's good. Open and close. And if your carriage is crashing in every time you close, just scooch your feet a little bit away from the foot bar.

Open and close two more like this. Open and close. One more and then we're adding on open and close. So we're only gonna do 3 of each of these. So high level precision, we're only doing three times 2. So open hold, do one push up down up, and then close. That's one. Open hold, Do one push up down up, close one more time, open hold, one push up, and close. Now here's the reverse.

Do one push up here, down up, open and close. Good. 2 more down up. Open and close one more down up. Open and close. Walk your feet forward and rebuild your spine. That was amazing, kneeling on the carriage facing back.

Last thing you wanna do after a series of push ups is anything on the wrist. So walk your knees back, come down onto your elbows and forearms, take your palms and prayer, elbows wide. So if you can't do something in your wrist, you might as well do a pike. Press all the way out, feet onto the wood platform, squeeze your heels together, drop the hips a little bit so you're one long line and look at your hands. Okay. So let's really dissect what's happening. The hips are not initiating the movement.

Tuck your chin, round your upper spine, look to your toes. Yeah. Do you see that? Once that happens, then the hips can drive up. The carriage can close, come all the way in at the inversion. And then lengthen back out to the plank looking at the hands. So the direction is head, back, hips, then hips, spine head. Yeah. Do it again. Tuck, scoop, lift, lower, lengthen head comes up. Good. 4 more.

Nice. Lengthen all the way out. 3. Good. Lengthen all the way out.

To empty all of that air out, try to stabilize your ankles. One more time. One good. Length and all the way out, take a knee down, and then the other knee can meet it. Before we do the push ups on the other side, walk your knees all the way forward the shoulder blocks for reverse knee tucks. The hands go on to the rails.

The further your hands are forward, the heavier it's gonna feel. So this is a way that you can really make it your own. You'll wanna lean your shoulders forward. I'd say bring your hands forward just a little bit more, Holly, and then lean your shoulders forward to the over your wrist. Good, flat back knee tucks. First set of eight knees and eight.

7. Good. 6. She's working hard on her shoulders. 5, 4, 3. 2, and 1, sit back, take a moment, take a break, quick little stretch, come right back into it. Shoulders over wrist, round back knee tucks. So scoop. Lean your shoulders forward more over your wrist. Good. Get out of your neck.

Here you go. Eight times. Stay in your round back. 8, 7. She's trying to push her spine up to the ceiling 6. 5. Good. 4, 3, 2, and 1, take it all the way back, sit back, and take a break. One more move here.

Go ahead and lean forward shoulders over wrists. Good. Keep yours back in a flat or long position. Bring your knees a little bit forward so knees are under navel. Now don't pull with your hips and knees anymore. Pull with your lats and back. Chest forward, chest back rocking, forward and back. 8. Good.

7. You got it. 6. Good chest bone pushing up. 5. Good. 4. This is almost feeling like chest expansion. 3.

2, keep your knees a little bit more forward right under your hips. Yeah. And 1, and sit back and take a break. Good. Come off your machine to the other side. Shake out those wrists. Reach up.

Do your dramatic forward fold. And then walk out to a plank, spread the fingers wide, and then just practice the star. Open it and close it. That's it. Open it. And close it. Very good. Open it.

And close it. Feel like you have an even amount of weight in both hands and an even amount of weight in both feet. When you're closed, and then even when you're open. Yes. Last two like this. And now one more time, we're gonna add those 33. Good. Close it. Okay. Here we go. Open hold.

1 push up down up. Close. Again, open hold. 1 push up down up. Close one more time like this. Open hold doesn't have to be big to work when it comes to that push up and now reverse.

Down, up, out, and in. Good. Can just be a small bend of the elbows and press one more time, small bend, and press walk your feet forward, and shake it off. Awesome. We're coming back into a kneeling position. Elbows and forms down, palms together in prayer. Lengthen back out to your low plank position squeezing the heels together. Good. Same exercise. We're doing it twice.

You get to perfect it. So tuck your chin, round your back, find the scoop. This is gonna really help you in some of the more challenging choreography. Press all the way out. Like snake.

Good. Find that scoop. Good. Like your cardio lunges with your pikes. Exhale chin to chest, find that scoop. That scoop is also tendon stretch. So this movement is really applied to a lot of pilates exercises, tuck the chin, find it.

3 more. That's 3. Almost there. Looking at the hands when you're low. Looking at the toes when you're high.

That's 2. And one lengthen out. Take a knee down and then the other knee. Let's do a few more variations of those reverse knee tucks. So knees against the shoulder blocks hands onto the frame, bring your hands a bit more forward, and then lean your shoulders forward over your wrists. Now this time, extend one leg straight and long.

Hold it there. And one leg knee tuck. Here we go. 4 times 1, 2, nice, 3, and 4. Other leg knee down, opposite leg up. Here we go. 1, 2, 3, and 4 knees down. Sit back for a moment. Take a break. Coming back into the flow when you're ready, shoulders over wrists.

Good little tension that carriage now take one hand over to meet the other. Side cinch on that side, knee tucks go 1, 2, 3, 4. Walk it right over to the other side. If you can, no break. Here we go. Knees in and out. 1, 2, 3, and 4 and sit all the way back. And there's a third and final part here.

It's a cat cow while you're in the resistance of the reverse knee stretch. So shoulders come over wrists. Bring the knees underneath the hips. Keep tension the carriage. Here you go. Ex heel into your round back. Inhale into your flat back. Good. Intuitively, the knees will come forward as you scoop, and the knees will come back a little bit as you lengthen.

X, he'll find the scoop, less movement in the neck, more movement in the mid spine. Scoop up. Scoop up. Yeah. Do 2 more. Scoop. Last time, lift, sit all the way back, hips to heels, hands to rails, head to shoulder blocks, or head to head rest, and breathe and stretch.

Stretch and open your back. Breathe into your back and sides. You did a great job today. It was a tough one. I told you so. Am I allowed to say that? I told you so.

Thank you for joining me. I can't wait to see you again next time. Thank you, Holly. We'll see you guys again soon.