No Flexion Mat

Hi. I'm Maria. Welcome to my math class. I'm here with Colette, professional athlete who also teaches up body line. And today, we're doing a no flexion, no rotation, mat workout. Let's begin. Come to your hands and knees.

We're gonna place your hands right under your shoulders, your knees directly under your hips, your spine is neutral. We're gonna start by circling the trunk. Start off kinda small, and I want you to be focused here on that rotation in the shoulder joint as well as the hip joint. Go ahead and reverse that circle, and you can begin to make that circle a little bit bigger. Taking yourself forward over your wrists and the sit bones a little closer down towards your heels.

Last one like this and come to just a neutral position without shifting. Extend one leg straight back behind you really experiencing that nice long plumb line from the heel to the sit bone and lower down. And let's take the other leg without shifting. Slide the opposite leg out. The knee point straight down, collarbones are wide.

Your gaze is also straight down in the mat. Key lengthening through that leg, energy through the crown of the head, lower the leg down. Back to the first side, slide the leg out, hold it here, and now slowly reach the opposite hand out and forward. You're in a beautiful straight line now. That back leg is gonna begin to draw a tiny circle.

And I'd rather you work in a little lower range than higher range here. Just really experience the top of the thigh bone in the hip socket. More than the foot. Think of circling that ball at the top of the thigh bone. Lower everything down.

The other leg extends out. It's nice and long. Opposite hand reaches up over the head. Cervical spine is long. And begin to draw that circle.

Really, again, envisioning that hip socket and that ball rotating in the hip socket. Notice how nice and still the pelvis is, and everything comes down. Turn towards me and come onto your forearm. The knees are bent. The bottoms bottom body is nice and long.

From here, we're gonna lift into a modified side plank. Push your hips forward and lift yourself up and lower down. Right back up for 2, really opening up the front of the hips and lower down, right back up for 3. And lower down last time lifting up for 4, hold it here, and lower down. Come on to your back for me. Your feet are parallel from here, keeping a neutral position, float the hips straight up to the sky and lower down.

We're staying neutral, so no rolling. The action is just at the hip socket. Press up. And lower the hips down. And, again, press back up really opening the front of the hips.

Lower down. Let's take the arms up continue push up and lower down. Last time, press up. And lower down. Hands come down. Roll to your side and set up for side plank.

Your back will be towards me. The knees are bent straight line from the elbow to the hip. And from here, press the hips forward, come into a nice straight line, crown of the head to the knee and lower down. The hand can be on your hip. The hand can be behind your head. Push forward through the hip.

Try to keep the side body nice and long. The hips go backwards as you come down. Keep pushing through the forearm. And, again, press the hips forward. And lower down last time here and press those hips forward.

And lower down, come back to your back again, plant your feet, float one leg up to tabletop and then the other leg up to tabletop. So we're gonna go through some toe taps, keeping the knees bent, slowly lower one leg down to the ground. And as you exhale, draw that leg back in, continue like this, moving slowly and methodically, really feeling the lower back pressing down into the mat. You can even think about slightly biasing this towards a flexed position in the lumbar spine just so that you're super steady and still. Let's float the hands away to make sure you aren't using your triceps to help stabilize. And a few of you might begin to take a double tap down and up. Now be honest with this.

Pay attention what's happening in that lumbar spine. Make sure your range of motion makes good sense. Last time here, I recommend inhaling down Exhaling up, place one foot down, the other foot down, hands are by your side. Step into your feet. Press the hips back up.

Neutral bridge up. That's add a little marching here. So without any shifting, float the right leg to tabletop, place that leg down. Step into that foot. The other leg floats up.

And down. Continue to move like this. Nice and smooth and methodically. Really feeling the connection of the heel to the sit bone each time and inhale and exhale last time, inhale and exhale neutral bridge straight down, pull the knees into your chest, grab the knees. We're gonna do a little knee stir here. So really using your arms here to circle the legs.

So we're really open in the hip socket. And let's reverse that circle for 32. So you're using the arms here and one. One foot goes to the ground. The other foot goes to the ground. Step into your feet and neutral bridge back up. From here, extend one leg to the ceiling.

It's nice and straight without changing the hips. Lower that leg down. And up, back down 2 and up. Last time, 3 and up put that foot down. Be nice and still as the other leg extends to the sky and take that leg down and up. The range of the leg is up to you.

Down and up. Last one, down and up. Put the foot down. And neutral bridge straight down for me without shifting your hips, cross one leg over the other into a figure 4, flex foot, open the knee, pull the bottom leg into you, just taking that stretch into the outside of your hip, the piriformis. Now keep your legs where they are. Release your hand. So now you're using your abdominals to pull that shape down. And we're gonna go back to that feeling of the toe tap.

This whole shape lowers down. The back doesn't move. Exhale pull the legs in and take that stretch. Inhale down. Exhale pull in and squeeze that knee in for the stretch.

Inhale down. Exhale up. Last time. Inhale down. Exhale up, lower the shape down, come out of your figure 4, take the other leg up, notice what happens to the hips here, come to your figure 4, the foot is flexed. The knee is pressing wide.

The hips are stable. Lift up the bottom leg. Grab it and pull it into you. Enjoy that stretch on the piriformis. Try to keep the shape where it is.

Notice my sacrum is heavy, by the way. The hands come down by your side. And now we lower that shape, ribs stay tight, exhale pull in. Lower down and exhale in. Inhale.

And Excel really squeezing in here last time inhale and Excel lower the foot down and come on out. Length it out through your fingertips. Let's start pulsing the arms, and let's do a little breathing here. Breathing in 2, 3, 4, 5, out 2, 3, 4, 5. Inhale. Out 2, 3, 4, 5, maybe bringing one leg up to tabletop, changing legs, maybe having your two legs at tabletop, legs are squeezing together.

You might be surprised by how much core work you feel here Keep your lumbar spine lengthening. Last time, hug the knees in. Extend one leg straight to the ground. I don't care which one it is. Use your hands to draw that knee into your chest and press the bottom leg tight into the mat.

Let's change sides. The other leg comes in, compress the knee in, compress the back into the mat, compress the bottom leg into the mat. Come back to your first side, compress the knee, compress the back, but now float the bottom leg up a few inches. Hold it here. Inhale change legs and switch. So a little single leg stretch with the head and shoulders down It's a push and a pull.

You decide how low the leg is going in front of you. Make the pass nice and clean. Like a dart coming right out of your toe for 3, for 2, for 1 hug your two knees in, lower your 2 feet to the mat, extend one leg up to the ceiling, taking a hamstring stretch that's flex and point that foot, flex, and point flex and point lower that leg down. Take the other leg up. Stay here and flex and point flex and point last time, flex and point lower that leg down.

Take the first leg back up again. Slide the bottom leg out straight. We're gonna go to leg circle. Let's flex the bottom foot, compress the bottom thigh into the mat. Little circle here.

You choose the direction around and up or around and up last time. Are rounding up and stay here. Now float the bottom leg up off the mat a few and just point the toe. Same circle. Around and up. Be honest with the circle.

Around and up. Be light with your hands. Around and up. Let's do one more. Around and up, lower the bottom leg, catch the leg, pull it into you, deep breath in, long, slow exhale, let's change sides. That foot goes down flat. Opposite leg is up.

Give it a stretch here. Flex and point. And then stretch the bottom leg out straight. Hands go by your side. Traditional leg circle, bottom leg is flexed.

Circle the leg or around and up. I don't care which direction. Typically, I cross the midline first. Around and up. Last one, around and up.

Now the bottom leg points. You float the bottom leg up. And same circle around and up, around and up, really connecting to the work in the center of the body, around and up. Last time, around and up, lower the leg down. Give yourself a little stretch here.

And let's come onto your belly. Flip right over and bring your hands right under your shoulders. And we're gonna lift into a mini swan. So the hands don't even do anything to begin with. In hell, lift the upper back out and up off the mat.

There's energy through the legs. The knees are not touching the mat. Lower right back down. Continue again, mini swan, lift lift lift, abdominals pull up into the body, and lower down. Let's take it to a full swan.

So we pass through the mini swan. The arms assist us now. We lift up to the pubic bone. You're pulling the ribs out of the pelvis and lower down. Again, drag the heart forward, press out and up, getting long, long, long here, and lower it down.

Last time, inhale and lift. So the arms are doing some work, but we're not relying on the arms to get us up. Come all the way down. Make a little pillow with your hands. Turn out the legs.

The heels are glued. Bring your forehead down. Like you're doing a little reverse frog. So the heels kick up to the ceiling. The pubic bone stays rooted into the mat.

Stay out of your upper traps. Keep the abdominals lifted. Keep the back still. For 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, take the legs out straight. We're gonna work on breaststroke here.

It was a little unusual to do it on the mat. Choose how close your legs are together and bring your arms into a w position. Lift yourself up just a smidge, just so you're hovering off the mat, we're gonna start just with the arms. All ten toes are down. The knees are off the mat.

Stretch the arm straight out over the head. Hold it there. Notice how much work just that is. Bend the elbows back in. Excel push the arms out, shoulder blades stay wide, and pull in.

So the shoulder blade does an upward rotation here and a downward rotation. Let's move on. The arms shoot over the head. Reach the arms to a tee. Reach the fingers to the toes. Then the elbows back to your start.

We're gonna add a little lift of the upper back here. Start with the arms up over your head. Open the arms to the tee, and now lift the chest up. Your back is in a mini swan. And lower down.

And, again, the arms shoot out. The arms open to a tee lift the upper back, 10 toes on the mat, and back neutral. Last time here, shoot the arms out, Circle the arms, lift the upper back, lower everything down, hands come down, come back to all fours. Knees go right under your hips, curl the balls of your feet under. Keep the spine neutral.

Lift the knees up and hover. So your shin bones are parallel to the mat. This is your crawl position and lower down. And, again, come right back up. Hold it here.

And lower down. We're gonna try a little bit harder stabilization. Lift yourself up. Hold it here. Without shifting at all, right heel to your right glute.

Hold it there. Put the foot down. The booty doesn't lift. Other heel to to sit bone hold and lower down, put the knees down. Lift your hands up, lift the chest up, take the gaze up, circle the arms back behind you, curl the toes under for me.

I want you to think side stretch. Tuck your tailbone under. And as if you're reaching back towards your heel, hinge back. You may or may not touch the heels and bring yourself back up. Tuck that tail hinge from the knee. Hands touch the heels and then lift yourself up one more time. Think of tucking first just so the back stays neutral.

Come on back. And come all the way up, come back down to your hands and knees. You're back in that crawl position. Lift the knees up and hold it here. We're gonna add a little bit more here.

Reach one leg all the way out and all the way down. Doesn't have to be high. Just stretch the opposite leg out. And lower it down and reach and down. And last time, reach and down. Come to your knees.

And let's lay down on your side. First little side kick series. Set up yourself in a perfectly straight line. I like the head to rest on the arm, bring the 2 feet forward towards the front corner of the mat, and really lift that bottom waistline. Hand can be here.

Hand can be here. That start simple. Pure abduction of the hips straight up and straight down. Back up for 2 and down. And 3, I don't like the leg to touch it lowers, but it doesn't stop back up Two more here, who nice long leg.

Last time, stay up, point the toe, From here, we tap right in front of that leg. 1, 2, we lift the leg up. We go to the back. 1, 2, up. Nice and light and brisk. Now I've heard this called hot potato, but I call it triangle. I know it's super creative of me.

Up. 1, 2, up. 12 up. 12 up. 12 up. 2 more here. Last time, lower the leg down.

Pull the legs back into almost a straight line with you, maybe slightly flex. Use this hand to help you here. Glue your legs together. Imagine them like a mermaid tail. Lift the two legs up.

Now you'll notice that bottom waist pushes into the mat and lower down. Right back up for two long legs. They can be flexed or pointed with your feet, lower it down, And last time, lift pressing into that waist will help your greater trochanter. Hopefully, you know what that means and lower it down. Last time and lift, lift, lift, lower it down, move the legs again a smidge more forward, then the top leg catch that with your foot, your hand, your hand catches your foot, and just enjoy that stretch. One more breath here and bring yourself up. We're going up and over to the other side.

Line yourself up along the back edge of your mat, lift the 2 feet up, bring them forward, decide what position you're gonna be in, flex the foot, and now we do that hip abduction straight up. The leg lowers, it doesn't rest back up for 2 and lower. Now we're keeping length in the top waistline here. So unlike the next series, the bottom waist stays engaged. So the obliques on that bottom side are working and lift. Let's do 2 more. Lift and hold. Point the toe into the little tap.

1 to up. Real light. 1 to up. 12 up. 12 up. 12 up.

12 up. 12 Hips are still hang in there. Last time, two legs together. Pull the legs back so you're in a straight line. And now the bottom waist pushes into the mat as you glue the legs together and lift up and lower it down. And, again, long legs.

So we're working obliques and the QL and lower down. You can try going out with this without that hand, if you'd like. So the hand would be there, but I'm not doing it. Hand lift up. And lower. And last time and lift up, up, up, and lower bending the knee, bring the legs a little forward first.

Bend the knee, catch the foot, and enjoy that quad stretch. If you don't feel it, try tucking your tail under. Push your pubic bone towards me, and then you'll feel that a lot more into your quad. Roll yourself onto your belly. Make a little pillow with your hands again, forehead goes on to the hands, lift those legs up, and let's beat them together, drop the upper traps You're breathing in and you're breathing out and inhale and exhale And last time inhale and exhale, lower the legs down.

Let's build a little swim, shall we? Reach your hands back behind you. From the crown of the head out to the toes, everything lengthens out and up and pause here. Start swimming those legs, breathing in for 5, and out for 5. From here, slowly open the arms to a tee. Really feeling a huge wingspan here.

So not just the arms reaching, but the shoulder blades also reaching east and west. Without changing the height of the chest, reach those arms forward, thumbs point up for me, and maybe you add the arms. Maybe you don't lower everything down. Come back to your hands. And niece.

That starts stepping in and out of a plank position. Step one foot back to the ball of the foot. The other foot back to the ball of the foot, hold it here, hug in with the arms. And lower down 1, 2. Start with the other foot.

Step one foot back. Step the other foot back. Glue the legs. Nice and tight with the legs. Feel that nah nice alignment from the crown of the head out to the heels.

And lower down 1, 2. Let's step back again. One foot back, the other foot back. From here, begin to pull one knee in and the other knee in. So the tail might draw under ever so slight but the thoracic spine is not changing at all in and in slow and methodical. Feel where your head is.

For 3 and 2 and 1, come down to your knees bring yourself up to your knees. We're gonna begin standing. So take one foot forward. Step all the way up, take the opposite knee down, and down. Other side, step, step down, down. Now you can use your arms as you like. And we can start picking up the tempo.

You are gonna be surprised by how many people don't have the mobility or the balance or their strength to do this without using their hands and without getting too wobbly. Kinda notice what's doing to your heart rate too. Right? It's a full body exercise. Up, up, down, down, up, up, down, down, last time, up, up, down, down, and stay here. Come back to your hands and knees.

Reach one leg back behind you. So we're working on leg pull facing down. The hips don't change. Kick that back leg up. 1, 2, and tap the toe down. Again, 12 tap.

12 tap. 12. Tap option to come to fingertips or reach that arm over your head and continue. 12. Tap. 1, 2, tap.

1, 2, really squeeze out that glute. 1, 2, lower that down. Slide the other leg out. You'd be ruining your pet ruining your pedicure from here. Kick that leg up. 1, 2, tap. Nice, long position, long neck.

Your gaze is straight down. Maybe you've come to fingertips. Maybe that arm is reaching up over your head. 1, 2 down. 1, 2 down. Last time. 1, 2 down. Come to your knees.

Let's go to a forearm plank, elbow, under shoulder, the other elbow, under shoulder, push through the forearms, hug in with the forearms, step one foot back, step the other foot all the way back, and find a nice long position from the crown of the head out to the heels. Even notice the alignment on the feet. You might wanna be on your hands again. Keep breathing, breathing, breathing, and come back to your knees. Come back up to your hands.

We're gonna go to a full side plank now. Step 1 foot back. I want you to have your feet the distance of your hands. Take the other foot back. Stay here.

The arm furthest away from me comes right under your nose, Pivot on your feet. That's key. And then take the other hand up. Really show me length in both sides of your body. You're gonna have a lot of success if you have a split stance, like I'm showing you here, and you have weight on your feet.

From here, come back to your plank, take one knee out, take the other knee out, lift the arms up, take the gaze up, take the chest up, push the hips forward, circle the arms back behind you and come all the way back down to the hands. Come to that plank again. One foot goes back. The other foot goes back. You're in a perfect plank.

The feet are open guys. Make that adjustment. The hand comes under your nose. Pivot on the feet. Feel your weight on the inside and outside edges of those feet.

Check-in with where your tail is. Keep holding holding holding. Pull the body so long. Come back to the plank. Come back to your knees.

Left the arms up, pull the abdominals in, take the gaze up, take the chest up, circle the arms back behind you, and come all the way back the other foot back to plank, hold it here, option to stay here, or come to your knees, we are gonna do a little bit of a push up. The elbows don't hate me. The elbows open east and west and push up. So think about doing less today, not more. Right? So notice the relationship of my head to my tail. And I really want you to show me that at the bottom, you're able to stabilize your shape.

If you can't hold your bottom position in good form, you're going too low. So you can be on your knees. You can be in full stance. Last time like he like this here, come out of here and bring one foot forward. Bring your hips forward.

Bring one hand to one knee, the other hand to the other knee, and just take yourself upright. And calm down the nervous system, calm down the breath. One more breath here. The hands come down. Let's change sides.

The other leg comes forward. Bring your hips forward. Let the hips sink. Bring your hands. Ideally up onto your knee.

With a feeling of sinking here through the front of your hip. Keep breathing, breathing, breathing, And bring yourself out of there? Let's go down to one more swan. So come back to your belly, slowly lower yourself all the way down to your mat, release the feet. We're gonna go into swan dive also known by some as rocking.

Use your hands to lift yourself I'll and up into your swan. The abdominals lift into the spine. The legs become the motor. They kick and they take you forward. They kick, you dive forward. And again, last time and come on up, turn and face me, sit cross legged, reach one arm straight up to the ceiling, and we're just gonna side bend up and over with a feeling of that opposite hip planting down take a breath here into that top lung and come all the way up.

The other arm reaches straight up. Crawl your fingertips up and over. I don't want you to rely on this hand too much. Really feel that top rib opening up, breathe into that top lung, and all the way up one more each way, have a feeling of going up first qualify the fingertips away. Opposite hip stays grounded. Inhale here. Exhale all the way up.

Last time, The arm lifts. You crawl the fingertips away. The opposite hip stays grounded. Breathe into that top lung. Lift all the way up.

Bring your hands down onto your knees. Close down the eyes. Just take a moment to feel the effects of your practice. I hope you find yourself in a calmer energized or a grounded version of you. Thank you for