Reformer/Tower Combo Workout

Hi. I'm Meredith, and thank you for joining me here today. We're gonna play with some fun and creative variations on the reformer tower combo. So we're gonna be loading the carriage from both ends. So let me tell you a little bit about how I have it set up. I have a box, clearly. On the reformer, I have attached one blue spring.

Of course, you can adjust the springs to your liking. These are all the spring tensions that, work really well for me. So as you wish, but this is what I'm what I've got going on. Then over here, you'll see the push through bar with 2 blue springs attached to the top. In addition to that, I have some yellow arm springs with handles, and I've connected them just on the loop that sits just above the push through bar. So about shoulder height on my body.

And then what I've done here, because they'll be in the way for this first bit, is I've just tucked them around the back. So you may wanna do that too, so you're not running into the springs in our first exercise. The last thing is we have some yellow long leg springs, and I have those at the very most bottom of the choices there. So similar to where your risers for footwork on the riff or a hip work on the reformer might be, you you won't see the reformer risers in this beautiful picture that we've created for you because we remove them just to make a cleaner shot. So you don't have to remove your risers at home, but that's why you won't see mine, and we're not gonna use them, so it doesn't matter. So I I felt like I should ask if are there any questions, but I guess guess I'll have to wait and see in the comments So we're gonna start by stepping inside of the frame, bringing the hands onto the push through bar 2 blue springs. So, it is not the lightest spring, but it's totally manageable.

Standing tall, taking a moment, pressing the elbows out to the side, just finding the alignment. The very first thing we're going going to do is to take the arms down. So now you'll feel the weight of the spring. Roll down. Keeping the pelvis over the feet, what you'll feel here is the abdominals lifting to support the spine.

And as you start to elongate your spine, you'll feel the spring pull you. When you arrive in a long spine position, we're gonna bend the knees just a little bit to open up the back of the legs, open up that lower spine, then stretch the legs back towards straight and then roll back So here's where the heavy spring tension comes into play. Press forward with your pelvis towards the weight of the spring. Don't let the springs take over. Keep the arms straight until the body is all the way up to straight and then bend the arms as the arms pass by the chest just allow the weight of the spring to take the chest up and back. So it's that the springs are assisting that thoracic extension there.

Come back upright and take the arms down again. On the exhale, the chin drops into the chest, the abdominals lift up. The back of the size, press forward all in an effort to keep the pelvis right over the feet. When you can't round anymore, you allow your spine to start to elongate reaching out into the frame of the tour, breathing in as you bend your knees. Just a tiny bend.

Gathering the abdominals pressing down with the feet, keeping that spine in flexion. In fact, press forward with your legs to maximize the spinal flexion. Continue pushing down with your arms. Bring the body all the way up. The arms are still actively pressing start to bend the elbows.

And then again, as the springs pass by the chest or the bar passes by the chest, allow them just to bring the body up and back. Come back up to straight. Press down with your arms. We'll do that one more time. Round down. So we're piking.

We've got the whole body is involved here, the hamstrings, keeping the pelvis organized. The abdominals first creating that pipe shape and then supporting the spine as the spine reaches out in space. The knee bend really helps me find that opening through the lower spinal area. The leg stretch again. We press down through the feet.

Forward through the arms, pelvis presses towards the bar. Spine stays around, stays around, stays around. There can be a feeling almost a pulling the bar in towards your body at that very last moment, come up, bend the arms, Let the springs take the body. And then press with the arms. Bend the elbows and just step all the way out. Moving on coming to the box.

So one of the most challenging things for me on the tower, reformer combo, is safely getting the carriage to the tower spring. So look after yourself there. We're gonna have the arms straight ahead on the push through bar. Spine is tall. We inhale there.

As we exhale, curling under. So we're using the spinal to bring the box in underneath the arms. Go nice and low. Nice and low. Nice and low on the buck can press down with your arms a little bit. That's helpful. And then roll back up. And what's nice here is that the spring from the reformer pulls the box back and you can resist that with your abdominals and come back to sitting and inhale and exhale starting from the pelvis.

I'm pressing my legs against the front edge of the box or the back end of the box. However, you think about that, but touching the box with my shin so that I can pull back into the box with the hamstrings. We roll back up just allowing the spine to undulate with spring and sitting tall and in here and exhale rotating the pelvis using the abdominal muscles to bring that box through. Little light pressed down on the springs is worthwhile to think about, and then we roll back up, letting the pelvis slide back underneath the shoulders. And making a change, but it starts it doesn't start here. It starts soon. Rolling under. So the shoulders don't really move.

The box moves. The pelvis moves forward of the shoulders. But then as the box comes back and the pelvis comes in underneath the shoulders, you'll notice that the shoulders have just stayed still. We're going to now bend the elbows, lifting the chest into that bar, straighten the arms, and start again to rotate the pelvis, rounding the spine, bringing the pelvis underneath the bar. Roll back up, control the spring coming from behind on the reformer, find a straight back, and bend the arms. Maybe lifting the chest as you do that.

And stretch the arms forwards. Once again articulating the spine. So using the abdominals, pulling that spine down, taking an inhale, exhale, curling the body back, letting the pelvis arrive under the shoulders, and bring the bar to the chest, the chest, to the bar and make a pulling the bar apart. That's the one thing I think a lot about when I'm looking for my upper back specifically. Here's another change.

We go down. And for it staying around now. Let the box come back So the spring is pulling our body into an elongated shape. From that place, we bring the bar to the chest bring the box underneath the shoulders and take the arms back straight again. Super fun. Right? And roll down, roll underneath that bar.

Remember to press down a little bit on those springs. And roll up, again, staying around this time as we bring. Allow the body to reach out over the thighs. Stay low to the thighs as you pull the bar to the chest and then bring the pelvis under the shoulders. And then take the arms once again out to straight.

We'll repeat that one more time around the spine. Going under, going under, going under, roll back up. Working with the spring, not against the spring allowing the spring to take the body. Just feel so free to me. Bring the arms in. Lift the body up so the pelvis comes underneath the shoulders again.

And straighten the arms. So making a transition, the easiest way and just be careful with that carriage. Remember it's got spring on it. Let it come to a full stop. Come all the way up.

We'll remove the push through bar. Just take it down. So one of the things that's the most challenging for me is figuring out how to get the springs and get back on and off the machine without damaging the machine and with control. So I've just had bull springs in my hands. I'm stepping to the side and coming back up into that seated position this time with the springs in my arms. So there is some float here.

As as you're sitting up on these boxes and working with both springs, what we're doing, bend the Left arm pulled down with the right arm. Rotate your spine come back center. Control the float. Bend the right arm push down and back with the left arm come back to center. Now bend the left arm and round the spine. So you're taking rotation and flexion.

Come back through center all the way to the top and bend the right arm. Pull the box through towards the push do bar. He'll only go so far, come back up, and we alternate taking the upright rotation one side and control the springs. One arm bends. The other arm presses down and wide and center. Then we take it into flexion, reaching down the box, narrow elbow bent, and back up controlling the float and pull with the arm that you're rotating towards.

And come back up to the top. We'll do one more time through rotating and pulling down. And center and rotating the spine as you're pulling down. And center. Let's do one more spinal. Flexion the arm that's not pulling is just reaching forward. It can do a down push, a little push and find center and rotate and pull.

And find center. We'll finish that piece of choreography by bending both elbows, bringing the spine and lifting the chest up and then stretching the arms. Taking both springs into one hand. Be careful with the reformer as you bring it all the way back and just walk the springs back. I'm gonna tuck them out of the way again. The next thing that we're gonna do is just go through a quick hip footwork series. So I'm gonna remove the box, set it off to the side.

I'm choosing for footwork today, 3 red springs. We're gonna be moving from a double leg position to a single leg position So just know that when you decide which spring you would like to challenge yourself with coming all the way down onto the reformer. For this because I'm alone, I like to have my head rest up so I can see when I'm changing from foot to foot. Arms down at the sides. Heels pressing into the reformer, feel the backs of the legs as you stretch out and resist in. And backs of the legs as we stretch and resist the springs. And a pelvis is anchored in a new position and bend and 2 and bend.

And here's where we change. When the legs are straight, stand on the right leg. This takes some organization Without shifting anything else, lift the left leg into tabletop and bend and press with the right. And pull and press with the right, keeping that left leg nice and still bend. And press with that leg, resisting the spring, and press last time.

When the right leg is straight, place the left leg back down, Let's do one knee bend with both legs. I like to just feels like a little bit of a chance to reset. Get organized. Both legs go to straight. Right leg lifts up. And here we go, bend, and press holding the right leg up in a tabletop position and feeling the hipic sensor initiate the movement.

Feeling the hipic sense at the back of the, like, resist in. Last two. Be a miracle if I could count to 5 today. And, hopefully, I'm doing an okay job. So far, I think so good, but if I miscount, please. Forgive me and remember that I am a human just like you.

Come all the way in onto the toes and away we go. Press out and bend in. When the legs are straight, the heels are lifted when the knees bend, the heel stays still. So we're working around organizing in the ankle joint. Keeping everything nice and steady in our feet.

There'll be one more here. Press out standing onto the right leg, left leg in tabletop, and bend, and press and in. And, this is really only thing we're doing today that isn't gonna utilize springs from both sides. So enjoy. Feels pretty normal.

Pretty recognizable. Last time, Both feet on the bar. Take your time. Find your organization. Both knees bend. Both legs straighten.

Left leg stands on the bar. Right leg comes up and we go. Bend. Keeping the back of the pelvis on both sides. Very level. Very organized.

I like this kinda rhythmic pace. It's maybe a little slow for some, but I enjoy a little bit more time to really think through all my pieces. This is the last one. We're gonna go out step onto the foot bar, bend the knees and come in, go into a small v shape, and we go out and drag, press out, and pull. And press out bringing awareness to the center of the body as well as the legs.

And, 2, and bend. Number 1, here's how we're going. Keeping the right leg there. When the left leg lifts, it comes up in that externally rotated position and bend the legs will kind of match and reach. The left leg, we wanna keep it active.

So active in that external rotation. Once again, the pelvis is nice and level. This is number 3 of 5. And in 2 of 5, And in number 1, go out, step the legs together, Bend one time in and at. Here's where we change. Get yourself organized ready to lift the one leg, and we go in and keeping that rotation in the right side hip.

And press in and press 2 more and reach last time and reach both feet down. Both knees bend. Return back into that parallel position with the feet and take both legs out to straight, and we go under the bar and, and under the bar and up and 3, saying organize through the center of the body and 2, and lift up and one lift up. Right leg stays. Left leg comes up and the right leg goes down. And left's 2 and left's 3.

And let's see all the whole backside of the leg supporting this movement. Number 1, go up both feet on the foot bar. Both feet down and up. Both feet down. And 2 both feet down and 3.

2 more and then we change to the other side. And one more. I think you can see why I like that little bit lighter spring here. The right leg comes up to float, and the left leg goes under and up. Under and up. Under arms active, heavy in both sides of the pelvis, clean in that right table top. This is the last one.

Both feet on the foot bar, and we go into our prancing. 1 down. Both up. Change in the middle in that lifted position, really working that heel under the bar to maximize the stretch on that side. Feels good after those heavy lifts to me and reach and lift and reach and lift and for meet in the middle, 4.

Meet in the middle, 3. 3. 22 and take a stretch. Just pause. Meat in the middle.

Take a stretch and pause. Meet in the middle. Bend the knees back in. Scooch a little forward of the shoulder blocks. Take the knees over the footbar.

Hopefully, it's locked in place like mine, lift the arms, lift the head, roll the spine up, Take the bar in your hands and lift your body up towards your legs. And then come around to the side with the legs. Okay. So let's come up. The next thing that we're gonna do is we're gonna collect these leg springs. So please, once again, just look after yourself and look after your equipment.

Gonna bring the springs in both hands with us. Sit down on the reformer, roll onto your back, center your body and then bring the feet into the straps. So here's another place where it's quite floaty. So what I'm gonna do is start in a frog position, give all of us including myself a chance to settle into that place. I'm gonna take my head rest down.

I don't need it anymore. From here, we reach the legs out now. You feel that float in the reformer. So we control and bend and feel the backs of the legs pressing. I really like this floaty feeling.

It feels nice. It's, a fundamental challenge to really see how much you can control it for me. And, Ben, just two more. Reach out. And Bend and reach out and bring the legs up and circles. We go down.

Stabilizing the reformer as we reach out, and then the reformer has to move as the legs finish the circle. And we press down. And open seeing how controlled, how fluid, how integrated, you can make these movements. So we're never letting either spring take charge. Working with both springs too around and center.

And one always finishing one movement before the next and center pausing in the center for the reverse. We go out and then down. It's a different feeling and So once you've done one, you know, pull down together and up coordinating the movement from both sides 3 and up. And to down together feel the abdominals helping you stay connected to the carriage. Number 1.

Keeping the legs now low. And then we open the legs. Gotta control both directions and close the legs back and open the legs and bring the legs back. I like to do a little pause while the carriage settles and open. And back, touch together, and open, and back touch together one more time, and then we make a change.

Open. Control that float. Touch together from this low position. We're gonna go into a scissor. So let's do right leg up, left leg down.

Helicopter the legs. And then meet back in the low position. So there's a little bit of movement in the reformer, but not much. Other direction, helicopter the legs, and then meet in that about 60 degree angle. We're alternating in here and exhale.

60 degrees. And in here, at exhale. Coming again. Meeting in the center one more time through. Fun to try to keep the carriage from moving here and around opening the hips all the way around to the other shape.

And center and reaching and opening the hips. And meeting again in that sixty degree angle, perfect position for a frog, bend your knees. Stretch your legs. We're going into the short spine. So if your head rest is up, now is the time to take it down.

Fold in Not a heavy spring, but try to keep coming in, coming in, coming into the as far as you can towards that stopper. Then you have to step into the straps a little. This is the hardest part. Roll up and back. Bend the knees, tuck in small.

Keep that small shape in your spine. As you now roll down all the way down through the spine. Once the pelvis lands your back in your frog position, Okay. Stretch the legs. Fold in half. When you lift up, you have to keep reaching into the spring to keep tension on the spring.

You want that spring tension. Bend the knees. Remember we're coming into a small shape. So you bring the feet to the seat, and then keep the shape as you peel down. It's a totally different feeling.

I like it a lot. I hope you do too. Stretch the legs out one more time. Please roll fold. Keeping the legs externally rotated and together coming in, rolling up and back.

Bending the knees in small. Keep that knee bent consistently tight. Roll down through the spine. And then once you land back into your frog position, We'll just let the knees open so that the soles of the feet reach up and face the ceiling. We'll do a little down pull on those springs, little out pull on the knees with the elbows. It's a happy baby shape.

And then from there, we're in a very optimal position to just one foot down onto the foot bar, the other foot down onto the foot bar, hold both straps in one hand, and roll to your side to come up, bring the carriage into a stop, and come back up. Now we're gonna take those leg springs away. Just takes a minute, so I'm not making any additional excess noise. I'm gonna rehook up the push through bar. So I like those 2 blue springs.

You can decide what you like. I was gonna say on this spring, but because we're gonna change for the next thing, let's just change now. So this is a spring change going from a blue to a yellow. For me, that is the best. We're gonna come on to the knees now to be careful with the carriage.

It is loose. Take the push through bar in your hands, and we're gonna come into a seated position down on the feet. Now allow the carriage the spring on the reformer carriage to pull you out into a long spinal position. Gonna bend the elbows wide. Lower the elbows so that they're parallel and straighten. So a wide elbow bend, rotating to parallel, and reaching forward.

Wide elbow bend. This just feels to me like a massage in my back. I like it a lot. Because it feels that way to me doesn't mean it will feel the same to you, but that is just my personal experience in this moment. Go out to straight. Now pull with narrow elbows.

Open the elbows and straighten. And pull with narrow elbows, bringing the head just over the bar. Open and reach. Keeping the spine just long over the bent knees pull. Oh, been in reach.

Lots of mobility work happening last time. Pull. And open and reach carefully come up. I think it's worthwhile here to just step off, remove the springs from the push through bar, Collect the arms springs. Lots of spring changes here. Bring them with you.

So it just takes a little bit of, what's the right word? Sensitivity. Make sure that the there's no banging around with the equipment. So we're gonna settle down onto the feet again with the pelvis. Arms in the handles.

Give yourself a little tension on the spring. And now we just do a simple chest expansion. This is why we want that yellow spring down and back. Down and forward. This is the control release part. So I always have tension on my springs.

I'm not letting them completely release. Pull down. It's a really nice opportunity to really feel what it feels like to control the release of the movement and pull down, floating forwards, and control the release 2 more. Sometimes it's beneficial to take a small pause, allowing the reformer to settle between the two springs. Last one.

Pull. And release. Now we are going to bring the arms in the front of the body Ben elbows. Pull with the biceps. Straighten the arms. Control that e centricly.

Then bend the elbows out to the side, taking the chest up and forward and then return the arms. So it's the release. That's the challenge to control and bend holding the body in that upright position and control release. And pull and control release and lift the body into the springs just energetically is what I'm thinking about when I say that and pull taking that little bit of thoracic extension there and control release. Last two rounds pull.

And open the spring, open the Elvis, or I guess it would be closing the spring there. And reach. And just one more time through. Pull. Letting the body float along with that carriage and reach and pull letting the chest reach through the arms. Lots of opportunity for upper back extension here.

Here's a little bit of a tricky transition. We're gonna hold the drops and find a way to turn all the way around So I just keep my straps in both in one hand, and then we're gonna have to let them go. Okay. So the positioning here is once again sitting down on the feet, and I have my, pelvis right back up against the shoulder block. Okay. So just bring the carriage back towards the arms.

Be careful with yourself here. There's some balance involved and it's not as easy as it might seem. So wide elbows, we're going to push out with tharms. So now you know what it feels like. Open into a hag a tree shape.

Close the hag a tree shape. And wide elbow bend. Lifting the elbows just underneath the springs. Push out pulling back through the abdominals into the spine open. So we're combining. Come back in and bend.

And reach and open and Close. 2 more Ben floating on the reformer and push. And open wide and close. And last one, Bend. And push and open and making a transition from the front.

Turn the palms face down. Arms circles. We take the arms up towards the ears. As the arms open, we allow the thoracic spine to extend. And then as we find our hug, we come back to a straight body. Palms turn down.

Arms reach. Feel the head reaching out through the hands. Open the chest and the arms. You've gotta control that. And come back to just a more of a neutral orientation in the spine. We'll do 3 more reach up.

And open and close the arms and reach up and open and close the arms last one. I'm laughing because it's fun to reach up and open the chest. And close the arms. And now we're reversing. Open the arms.

Stabilize reach over the top. As we press down with the arms, we're gonna round through the spine. So rounding into flex. As the arms open out to the side, we bring the body back up. Arms reach over the top.

And we round into flexion and reach out to the side Controlling the spring and over the top and rounding, drawing in. Pushing the arms away. Keep feeling like you're pushing the arms into the springs as you refine that initial shape and over the top and press down and out to the side, moving like a wave through the body up and down and out to the side. And then just taking the arms all the way down, transferring the springs into one hand and coming to step off. So let's be careful as we bring the carriage into closed.

Come up, and then we're gonna put these springs out of the way again. So they're gonna just, again, tuck behind for this last bit, the last two pieces, we're gonna be utilizing the push through bar again, but we're not gonna be using the spring. So we're good there. We'll get the box It's gonna go a long ways on the reformer, and my preference here is a blue spring. Heavier than a blue, you might slide off the box. So you could stick with the yellow or go to a blue.

Is my best advice. We're gonna get on to the box, positioning the body so the chest is just right at the edge, and then we're gonna up along the frame and take the push through bar. So I can use my foot bar with my feet get my body exactly the way I want it, and then my legs are gonna just reach over the top. So we're gonna bend the elbows wide pulling the body in towards that push through bar, bring the elbows in just like you did before, lift your chest up to the bar, So now we have a little bit more at thoracic extension start to remove that extension going back towards down and take the arms out straight. I'll see if I can explain that better. Wide elbow bend. The body is low.

The elbows drop down. And with that drop down, we can pull down into the back muscles with the arms coming into thoracic extension. Start to come back. Let the elbows reach out and let the carriage come home and pull wide arms. Elbows down as we lift up over the top of the bar.

It's a beautiful back extension, fairly easy to find in my Imagination, maybe even really user friendly for clients, I like to think of nice, easy, creative ways for people who have challenges finding that upper back extension to be able to access it. This is the last one. Wide elbows drop them down in pull. Come back and reach all the way out to straight. You can carefully step down.

I'm just gonna hold the box with one hand, the push shoe bar with the other hand, let the carriage come in, and then come in and up once again onto the box. So we're finishing with just a seated spinal wave. We're gonna roll the pelvis under just the way we started. So we're revisiting, really? Going down, going down, is it easier to find maybe?

And then start letting the box go back towards the foot or letting the spine reach out over the size. And then bringing the carriage and lifting up with the arms, straightening the arms, on waving in the spine, rolling. So here as I come forward over my legs, I let that back spring. Take me. Take me. Take me. I'll let my spine just move with fluidity and then bringing the borrow.

Bar to the body and straightening the arms similar to what we did earlier. Slightly different feel. Try to find some ease in this movement. Go back. Go up.

Allowing all the shapes just to come together, reaching and arms let's do 2 more. Let the pelvis go under. As the box goes back, the body is pulled forward over the length, and then we bring the body up. And reach the arms. And last time everyone enjoy, reach through reach over the legs.

Come up. Holding here, pulling the bar right up into the chest, take your best, best, best, best, upper spine, maybe full spine extension. Take the arms forwards. Carefully control the release of that bar. And thank you so much for playing with me.

I had fun.