Traditional Fusion

Hi. I'm Maria, and today we're doing traditional fusion. We'll be blending some of the old goodies with some new tricks. Set your machine up on 1 red spring. The foot bar is down and then start facing the back. The legs are straight in front of you.

We have about five fingers behind you. Start with the hands up at your your chest, and we're going into traditional rowing. From here, tuck your tailbone under. We're gonna be moving nice and slow to warm up the body. Really hold this c shape drop the shoulder blades.

Open the arms east and west. Keep getting tall. From here, dive forward and pull those arms so far back behind you. That's stay here for one breath in and exhale. Reach behind you clasp the hands.

Pull the knuckles back, pull the shoulder blades together, pull the shoulders out of the ears, and just feel that nice stretch through the chest, From here, take your nose straight down to your knees, lift the arms up as high as they can. You might wanna bend the elbows a little bit. That's wiggle the head a little bit from side to side. Release the hands, circle the arms all the way up and over towards your feet. Grab your feet or your ankles and just take a moment here to stretch and enjoy that stretch.

We're gonna add in a spine twist. The foot closest to camera pulls into your heel, wrap your arm around, place the arm behind you, lift the chest, and pull that thigh bone in towards the center of the body. Come back center, change legs. The opposite leg pulls into the sit bone, wrap the arm, around the thigh, turn and look back behind you, maintaining that nice long posture up and through the crown of the head. And come back center to the top of your row. Beautifully tall, tuck and peel yourself back, curl, curl, curl, curl, stay here, open the arms, pause here, float one leg up and catch that leg, From here, this take us nice, slow, flex, and point, and flex and point. Keep lengthening the head, flex and point pause here. In one piece, we lower slowly down.

Bring your hands back to your chest. Tuck and curl back. Open the arms, float the other leg up and catch it, stay here, and a flex and a point. Keep pulling your head to your foot just like you do in Climate Tree. The shoulders are dropped. And in one piece, the whole shape lowers slowly down to the ground.

Bring your hands back into your chest. That's one do one more rowing. Tuck and roll back. Open the arms. This time we dive right away, interlace the hands, pull the arms away from you into the ceiling, the nose, go straight down to the knees here, release the hands, reach them all the way forward, grab the feet, take a stretch, drop the shoulders.

Deep breath here. Bring your hands in by your side. We're gonna prep tendon stretch. So your spine is in a c shape. From here, push the machine away and lift your tail up off the mat.

And lower it down. Try to keep that pubic bone pointed up. Again, the abdominals pull in, drive through the hands. The shoulders move out of the ears. And lower down option to do this from your fist as well and lift one more time. The pubic moan points up to you and lower down.

Moving on. Turn around and face the other direction. We're gonna build your back stroke. So onto your back, The hands are coming behind the head. Leave a little space between you and the shoulder blocks, legs to tabletop, and you've in your ab curl position. From here, the legs go straight up to the ceiling.

The legs open the distance of the machine. Circle the legs down and together. Hold, hold, hold there. Pull your knees and see if you can lift just a little bit higher. The legs go straight up. The legs open the distance of the machine.

Circle down and together, squeeze those legs tight together, pull the legs in, lift, lift, lift, back up, and open. Maybe your legs don't go that low. That's fine. Pull the legs in and lift. Pull your knees into your chest, lift yourself up into a ball shape, and then roll yourself up, moving on. We're going to rowing front a traditional exercise.

Reach back and grab your loops. We're gonna build this exercise starting with the hands at the shoulders. You're still on that one heavy spring. From here, press the arms out on the it'll pause, feel what your shoulder blades are. Bring the hands back to the shoulders.

Back out again. We exhale here. We're gonna add on press those arms down like you're pushing a window pain down. Take the arms back to that same diagonal. Then the elbows in. Again, pressing out, lifting as the arms lower, Back to the diagonal. Really feel where your shoulder blades are. Resist to come in.

Full exercise now out on the diagonal. Press those arms down. Take the arms all the way up over the head. Keep pulling yourself up, up, up, up, up, do not lean back. Press the arms down, come to that awkward transition that Joe did out on the diagonal, press the arms down.

The arms go all the way up. Get tall, tall, tall here, like you're getting pulled up through a straw, press the arms down and put your ropes down for me. From here, the hands go on top of the shoulder blocks, bend your knees, Step into your feet. We're just doing a little counter stretch here, push through the hips, take your gaze to the sky, and lower down. And, again, pushing through the feet, opening the front of the hips.

This should feel really nice after what we just did and lower down. Last time, press through the heels and lower down and pick up the loops again, moving on to the second rowing, The hands are by the hips. We're gonna build this one again in hell here on an exhale. So in the lower back backwards and extend the arms out. Arms are parallel to the floor. Palms are up. Hold it here for one second.

Come back to your start. This is an inhale. Exhale is if you're moving backwards through space. Lengthen here, back to your start, picking up the tempo a little bit, exhale, dive forward, and pause slip the hands, the palms are down. Inhale, bend the elbows.

The thumbs touch the shoulders. Exhale out. Inhale in. And exhale out. And now I want you to think about moving from the center of the body.

The arms are a reaction to the movement of the trunk and exhale out last time. Stay here. From here, we continue with the choreography. We roll all the way up to the ceiling, get so tall here. The palms are out. Press the arms down.

They come back to the hips. Now let's flow all that. We exhale. We die forward. The palms turn down. Let's do one overhead press.

That's something new Joe didn't do. Peel all the way up reach for the sky, press the arms down, inhale, then exhale to move. The plums turn down. One overhead press. Shoulder blades are wide.

Sequence all the way up. Press the arms down. Put the ropes down. Let's go back to that counter stretch. Hands go to the shoulder blocks, feet to the carriage, and then press your hips up.

Big breath in here. And lower down one more, push through the heels, the knees track forward, shoulder blades pull together, and lower down. Time to move on. We're going on to all fours. Come to your hands and knees, and I have my feet back on my head rest, reach back, grab the right rope into the right hand, and be in your all four setup.

The spine is neutral. You can stay here or immediately add the opposite leg straight back behind you. From here, let's begin just a simple bicep curl. So the bicep for me here is almost a little bit of a distraction. Right? For me, this is not the hero.

I really want you to feel The rest of your body is the important part of this action. Last time here, keep that arm back behind you. From here, lift that opposite leg if you haven't already. We pull that knee into the elbow, and back out behind you. And, again, pulling in the leg is going in sideways towards the trunk.

A little feeling of a side crunch here. Try to keep that carriage nice and still. Try to keep the shoulders out of the ears. Last one, and now an option to do this in a combination. So bicep curl and the knee comes in.

Control the return. Back in. And return. Continue moving for me. Maybe you're back just to the simple bicep curl.

That's fine. We got 2 more here. Big excel as you pull in. It's a big balance challenge throughout this. And then lower everything down, put that loop down.

Let's take a quick child's pose. Reach back, grab the other loop. Come back to all fours. Maybe you stay here. Maybe the opposite leg lifts right away.

And let's go into that bicep curl. So the spine is neutral, and the cervical spine is neutral, which means you're looking straight down at that spring. We're controlling the action both directions and the upper arm is still. Last one. Keep that arm behind you.

If you don't have the leg up, lift it up now, and then draw that knee in towards the outside of the elbow and take the leg back. Back in for 2. Try to keep your head and shoulders still. You are gonna have a strong sensation on the side of the body. Bottom arm is straight.

Last one like that, option to come into the combination. So we buy zip curl and we move the leg. Strong exhale always seems to help me. Keep your attention on the crown of the head to the tail. Check-in with that lower spine.

Nice and still throughout. And lower down. Take a quick child's post just to kinda give the wrist a break. And we're going to kneeling abdominals facing front quick spring change. We're going to something light.

I'm going to a yellow. I'm taking the red off, and I'm gonna clear my ledge so I can put my hands there. The hands come to your ledge. We're doing kneeling abdominals facing front. The feet go against the shoulder blocks.

Bring yourself into a perfect modified plank. Make sure you're supporting the lower back. From here, inhale and push the carriage out any amount will do an exhale pull in. And, again, pressing out Some of you pros out there might wanna do this without a spring at all. It's very doable, particularly if you're getting quite low, like about here, you can definitely do this without a spring.

Inhale out, don't drop that head though. Don't sacrifice your form. Last time, shoulder blades are wide, wide wide. Come on in and then turn to camera. So you can meet me, grab the front loop, knees are together.

The hands come to go a little bit of a yoga influence now. The arms come all the way up over the head. The arms hug into your ears, tighten your inner thighs and get so tall. Moving from your waist, we side bend towards the foot bar and we come back center. And, again, up and over, this is harder than you might think.

You're gonna want to initiate this from the arms, from shoulder. Don't do that. It's all about the waist. And now to make it a little harder, you could also bend in the opposite direction. And then moving from the waist up and over, like, you're creating a rainbow shape with those index fingers. That was very woo woo.

I can't believe I just said that. And I get up and over. Last one. Up and over, you notice I shortchanged that one. We go up and over transfer the loop into the top hand and the hand comes down to the shoulder block.

We're back into something very traditional. Swacaty. Press that top arm straight. The arm wraps up and over the head. The hips stay pushing through right back up for 2.

Very little action at the shoulder here, guys. The action is completely at the elbow. Keep that head profile That rope should be nowhere close to your face. Breathe into that top lung. Enjoy that side stretch.

Keep that tension throughout. Don't start swinging around. Last one here And we're gonna do all that on the other side. You're gonna see my backside for a minute. Remember as you're setting up here, your tension will be determined by where you placed yourself on the carriage.

Class your hands, index fingers point. The arms go up over the head, pull everything tight into the midline, initiate from the waist and side bend and come back to your center point. And again, from the waist, and back to your center point. Elbows tight to your head and up and over. And Center Point moving a little bit further this time up and over.

See if you can bend towards the back of the machine as well. Don't make it too big from the waist. We come up and over. Always focused on length. And up and over. Pulling the ribs continuously out of the pelvis Last one, everyone.

Up and over, we come up and we transition. Transfer that loop to the top hand. The opposite hand goes down to the shoulder block. Very profile here for Suakati. Pressing that arm up to the ceiling and then draping the arm up and over the head.

Exhale always helps me. Nice and smooth and controlled. Check-in with your hips. Keep the hips pushing forward. Take a nice breath into that top lung.

Enjoying that stretch on the side body. Last one here, and then put that rope down. K. Now we're going to something brand new, something I call bear crawl. So the hands are on the ledge. The knees are under your hips, which means your feet may or may not touch the shoulder blocks.

Curl the toes under And from here, without moving the carriage, float your knees up and hold it. Pelvis is neutral, head in line with the back, and lower down. Let's do that again. Craw position. Stop here. Now we're gonna begin crawling.

You're gonna take tiny baby steps forward. You are still the carriage moves back. Make it all the way to that edge the reformer and reestablish your crawl position here. Nothing changes, bring one foot to the floor. Bend that knee.

Come to your fingertips. The machine is light. I'm aware. Go slowly out. And slowly in just to kinda get your bearings and to feel where you are in space.

Once you feel comfortable, Experiment with taking your hands away, maybe to your knees or knee, maybe hands to prayer. Now I do want you to keep this bottom leg bent. Again, the work is more about all of this stabilization. Last one here, this time as you bring that leg in, bring it to the crawl position. The hands go back to the ledge.

The foot on the floor comes to the edge of the reformer, establish the crawl position. So your shin bones are parallel to the ground. Step the other foot down. And from here, come to your fingertips and start moving that back leg out and in. As soon as you're comfortable, maybe you just take one hand off.

Maybe you take the two hands off. It's really up to you. And I want you to choose what feels right for you. And maybe next time you do this, you you level up a bit. Last one.

We're going back to the crawl. So bring the carriage in, not all the way in. The hands go to the ledge. The foot on the floor comes to the edge of the reformer. The shin bones are parallel to the ground.

Now we crawl backwards. Tip toe back, little steps, feed the carriage in all the way to the stopper, lower the knees, quick child's pose, one breath, back to all fours, curl the toes under, now you know what you're doing. Establish the crawl position, float, crawl forward. Come right to the edge of the machine, feel the crawl position from here, either step to the floor, or step to the ledge. Come on. You knew I was gonna do that.

Fingertips here and start moving that back leg out and in. So a much bigger challenge here from the ledge. Keep your fingertips down if you wish or hands to the knee. Spine is still long. Maybe hands to prayer.

Your leg should be on fire by now. Last one like this. Set that back leg into the crawl position. The hands go to the ledge. Take your foot back to the edge of your reformer.

Pause here in that crawl. That's transfer right away. The other foot comes to the floor or the ledge establish your position, start moving that back leg out and in. Even just being on the fingertips will change the level of your exercise a lot. You can always come hands to knee, hands to prayer, Check-in with your breath.

Check-in with your breath. Allow all expression on your face just to kinda drop effortless effort for me. Maintain that focus. Let's do just one more. K. We're coming back to crawl.

Set that back leg up for it. The hands go to the ledge. The foot comes to the edge of the reformer. Shin bones are parallel to the mat. We crawl backwards.

That's end strong in this series all the way down to your child's post. Okay. Moving on to long box. Add a red spring to your machine. We're going back to some pretty traditional work. Make sure you put your box in the center.

Pick up your loops. This is how I get on the long box. So I'm gonna have a seat at the front edge. I'm gonna use my feet against the ledge. I'm gonna use my hands.

My hands come to the edge of the box. And I'm just seated up. I have control of the box. I'm holding on here. I'm gonna roll down to the base of my scapulas, release my hands, and we go to single leg stretch.

Inhale and exhale. Constantly lifting that chest You guys have done this a lot on the mat. So go to the full expression of this exercise here. Really push yourself connect to your breath. Option to add some arms.

So we would open for 2 XL 1. 2. So, yeah, it's a little coordination. The legs are doing double time to the arms. Inhale for 2, exhale 1. 2. The back is pushing into the box.

1. To stay here. The knees pull in. Put your hands down. Use your hands to help you rock up. Bring the feet to the ledge. Okay.

Moving on. We're gonna go back to something traditional with back stroke. So from here, lower yourself back down to the base of the scapulas. The knees come in. The hands go up over the forehead just like Joe did. Everything goes straight up. We open the distance of the machine.

We circle. We close the shape in, hug in, recoil lift a little higher back up for 2. Open, exhale, circle close, hug everything in, Annery coil in lift a little higher back up, but trunk is so still. The back doesn't change. Last one, up, open, pull, and hold, recoil in. Bring your hands down.

Give yourself a little lift and up we go. Bring your ropes down. We're gonna move into a little grasshopper modification. So bring your hips right at the edge of your box. Way far forward than you think you need to be. Start by lifting yourself out and up.

Reach through the legs so much that they begin to lift and that lift tilts you forward. Length in those legs to the ceiling. Lift the chest to come back up. And, again, the legs are the motor. They tilt you forward and lift yourself back up.

If your machine is too unstable, just add another heavy spring, dive forward, long legs, head to toe or an extension. Last one, dive forward. Keep lifting those legs up, up, up, come all the way up. Step off your machine. We're gonna take the box off.

We're gonna set up for tendon stretch, which we also prepped a little bit earlier. If you added that extra heavy spring, take it off now. I'm on a heavy spring and a light spring. Bring the foot bar back up to where you were for footwork and step onto the machine We're going into tendon stretch. Have a seat on your foot bar. Thumbs and fingers the same direction.

Heels are off the edge of the carriage. Stand yourself up and just establish that shape. The head is dropped. The back is very round. The heels are dropped.

Tuck the tailbone under, press the carriage out, and then pull yourself right back in, crown of the head to the tail, your inflection, and do look for that sensation of stretch in the lower back, push, and pull into lift Again, push the footbar away from you. Pull yourself in. We're gonna do one more. Push and pull and have a seat down. That was fun. Come off your machine.

Remove all of the springs. Step into the well. We're gonna end with some ballet stretches. So bring one foot on the arch right up onto your foot bar cut that hit back. Length in the arms up over your head.

Get beautifully tall. And from here, lengthen yourself all the way up and forward over that leg, pulling the spine long, knowing there's probably gonna be a little bit of a curve there. Length and out and up. And lower the foot down. The other foot comes up onto the arch, pull that hip back, lengthen the arms straight up, get so tall that you begin to hinge forward keeping that length in the back.

Eventually, the back will round a little bit The fingertips come down. The head lengthens towards the foot. A deep breath in here. Exhale out, lengthen out, and up. Press the arms down, and then have a seat back on your reformer.

Sit cross legged. The palms are on the knees. Feel the calmness. In your mind, to the energy in the body. Take one deep breath in.

Long, slow exhale. And we are done for today. Thank you for joining me.