Lower Body Reformer

Hi. I'm Meredith, and we are gonna do another quick 20 minute reformer. For those of you who are short on time or to add on to a different workout. Today, I'm doing something I've never done before. I have weights. So let's see how it goes.

They're just two pounds, and my reformer is set up just to go straight into regular footwork. So My choice for springs typically is 3 reds and a blue. You can choose for you, and here we go. So coming all the way down onto the reformer, organizing the feet in a parallel alignment, Bringing the arms down just next to the sides of the body for now, and then we're just gonna pause before we move just for one moment. Give us all a chance to get sorted, feel connected.

And all I want us to do in this first moment is rotate the pelvis so that the spine flatten. So posterior tilt and press the weights in your hands forward. They might not move much. It's just an idea. And then as you release back into neutral, settling into that spinal shape, we're gonna do that three times press the low back flat. Push the weights away.

This is our most exciting abdominal work, so enjoy. Maybe we'll do it five times. And press the lower spine down to reach the weights away. This is an attempt to get connected, to find our body, to feel into the position that we wanna remain in as we go into our footwork last two times. Press feel the abdominals Halloween.

And reach, last time. Last time with the abdominal, last time with the spinal bend, as you settle back down into neutral, feel your feet on the foot bar. We're getting ready to push. Here we go. As the legs go out, the arms go up.

And now we're gonna find some coordinated timing you and me both. Bend the knees, press the arms down. Stretch the legs, lift the arms up. Bend the knees, press the arms down. I chose to use weights today because 20 minutes is great for the lower body focus, but I wanted to try to find a way that we could get a little bit of our movement, a little bit of brain activity coordinating movements of our upper body and our lower body at the same time.

Last five. Feel the feet connected to the bar. All the time. So we're initiating with the backs of the legs 4. Push the arms and their weights aren't heavy, but you could make them heavy. If you so desire, 3 push and bend 2.

Push. And then as we bend, instead of pit placing the arms down, which you are more than welcome to, let's just hover them. And we'd go small. And small. And it's a push and a pull push and a pull.

Push and a push and a pull, 5, flexing the feet, 4. 3, 2, push out and lift up. Keeps the arms there and bend and come back in. Move onto your toes. As we press out this time with our legs, we press down with the arms.

As the knees bend, the arms reach up as we press, we push down, as we bend, we lift up. So as the legs are straight, the heels, the feet are in point. They're they're in plantar flexion at the highest possible angle where we can keep our feet organized and oriented nicely. And by nicely, I mean no pronation. No supination. And once we establish that landmark with the heels, the heels just remain still all the time.

Last five. If the arm movement doesn't feel good because of the weight against the shoulder blocks, please feel free just to let that go. Leave your arms at your sides. And I've lost count. We'll say 2 more.

Maybe I've given us an extra one. You won't be mad at me. I hope Number 1 is happening now. So bending the knees, floating the arms, holding here, just let the weight sit in the hands as you do your pulse say. Pull and push and pull.

And push and 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, all the way out. The arms press down. Bend your knees in externally rotate to bring the heels together or turn the palms face up. So we have external rotation in the hips and the shoulders as we stretch the legs. We'll bend the hands to the shoulders like a windshield wiper. And bend.

And windshield wiper, everything is centered in the middle and pull. And push opening the chest and bend, keeping the elbows close to the body push. And bend and push and bend. And 5 and bends and 4 zipping the legs together. Maintaining neutral pelvis 3 and bent to and Bend.

Last time, And, Ben, keep the arms as they are at palms face. I've let the weight sit in the hands and push. Resist. Push, resist, and 3. Neutral pelvis, abdominals engage.

I started counting, but I don't know where I am. We'll do 3, 2. 1, push all the way out, come all the way back in, Turn into the feet are parallel to one another. Palms are facing the body. Push out with your legs.

Lift up with the arms, hold the arms as they are as your heels lower, and lift. And lower and lift. Feel the weight of the weights in your hands. Just allowing your shoulder blades to settle back into the mat underneath you. And what's interesting for me is can I move here on the reformer through my feet without actually letting my arms move? The fun brain challenge one more time.

From up, we bend the right knee and lower the left foot and the left arm. Both weights up both feet up and change and taking your time reach under. And up and under and up. It's taking that big stretch as we take the heel under the bar. Everything meeting in the middle and change.

And up and change and up and 4. Up for push down. Thuri with r. Thuri. And 2, 2, and 1 one both arms up and bend the knees and bend the arms.

Place the heels on the foot bar, straighten the arms above the shoulders again. We're gonna roll the pelvis up and press the arms down. Get nice and high in those hips. Roll the spine down and reach the arms back over the shoulder. And in here and see if you can find some timing where the pelvis is all the way up and the arms are all the way down. And the arms pass by reach past the pelvis so that as the pelvis is dropping, the arms are floating above the shoulders and 3.

Push down and in here and roll down and reach up and to push down and roll down and reach up and push down this time. Hold the arms down. Turn the palms face in and lift the left leg. Lower the body straight down, bend your arms, press up with your pelvis and straighten your elbows and bend and push. So it's a single leg neutral spine bridge and a tricep extension. Last two.

Try and keep good count here and up. One more and up, hold there, place the left foot down, reorganize, press down with the arms, lift the right leg, and we go down with the body bend and push up. And the pelvis goes down the elbows bend, and the arms straighten in the hips go We're doing 3 and up 2 and up 1 and up straight arms, both feet down, level out the pelvis if you've shifted and inhaled. And just let the arms stay as they are. So as you roll down, you can focus on your spine coming all the way all the way, all the way down. Take both weights in to one hand.

Come up. We're gonna just use one of the weights, and we're gonna go to 2 springs. So coming all the way down onto your side for a single leg press, backing the pelvis up towards the back end of the reformer and the foot go towards the front. We're gonna do a little combination. The bottom knee is bent.

We're going to push out and lift. Bend in, turn the palm forward, the knee up, and bend Oh, now I've made it confusing for myself and down. And the foot goes back, and we lift and lower. And rotate bend and push and rotate lift. And lower. Gotta think about what's going on.

There's no room for mistakes for the teacher. Bend. And push and rotate. I'm laughing because it's fun, up, and back, and rotate. Bend. And push and rotate up and down. I think about 3 more and rotate bend and push and rotate up and squeeze down. And rotate bend and push and rotate. We'll do one more in parallel. I'll just because it feels most organized to me coming all the way up.

You having fun? I'm having fun. Turning around to the other side, coming all the way down. Pelvis goes back, foot goes forward. Arm comes down, head is down on the arm.

I just have my arm on my headrest. And we go out with the leg up with thar and and rotate and bend. And push and parallel and up and down and rotation and bent. And push and everything turns up and down and bend So can you really feel the clean rotation in the hip joint, in the shoulder joint? Elbow and knee up bent and push.

Let's do five more at. And then if I'm incorrect with my counting, you'll just make yourself even if it's important to you. And theory at and down and rotate at. And in. And now I'm confused about my counting, but you'll, I think, forgive me. One more rotation push and back one more time in parallel out.

And all the way back in. We're gonna come up. Set the weight down. Okay. And come up And what we're gonna do is we're gonna take I like 1 spring. The my spring on this reformer particularly happens to be a green, and I'm putting it in the middle.

So a red also works in the middle or 2 springs, if you wish, we're heading into the semi circle. So you should, choose the spring that you like for that exercise coming all the way down onto our back. Done a lot of working of the legs now. We'll do a little stretch of the legs. We're gonna place the hands on the shoulder blocks, step the knees over the footbar, Lyft the pelvis as you stretch your arms out.

Once you have your arms straight, Step up onto the foot bar, toes apart, heels together, and hips up high. Oh, that feels good. And now we're gonna roll down through the spine. Keep active through the arms. Drop the hips back into the spring.

I like that center spring so I could feel it. Press along the spring. Maybe about three quarters of the way to straight, keep the carriage still as you articulate back up and bend in. Lifting the hips and roll down. Just had to make sure my microphone wasn't falling off or good. We're good.

We're good. Reach down. Push at. Hold the carriage saw as you roll through your spine. Keep pushing with your arms like you're doing a headstand. Lift up as you come in and hurl down.

Last time in this direction. Push at Hold the carrot still as you roll up, up, up, up, and then keeping the arms straight, we're reversing go out. Roll down all the way into the spring. Come in. And lift the hips.

Nice high hips and push out. And peel down. Here's where you really need active arms. Roll all the way down. And bending.

And last time, roll up. Rressing the hips up, push out, beautiful hip stretch, roll down, and bend in. Roll up one more time. Stay up when you get there. Take your hands carefully away from the shoulder blocks and reach down towards the frame.

And if you have healthy knees, start walking your hands in, closer and closer. If you can grab that footwork, you'll get a really good stretch. If you pull in with your arms and press up with your hips, If you can't grab the foot bar, just use the frame. Works just as well. And then step over the footbar.

Arms come back and then just pull that reformer in underneath you. Lying down on the reformer, crossing the left knee over the right knee. You can take your right arm Either to the handles or to the outside of the frame. I enjoy holding the frame. It's a bigger stretch.

We're just gonna take a spinal rotation. And a hip stretch, so breathing, sinking into that stretch. And center the body. So we cross the right leg over the left leg. The left arm comes around to hold the carriage and we take ourself over into that spinal stretch, hip stretch, taking a pause there.

It's important to work our muscles and equally important to give them a stretch And then coming back, we do one last thing to finish. So we'll just have the hands on the outside of this frame reach up as high as you can with your arms. Now you can keep your feet on the foot or although the legs will be moving or you of the the angle of the naval change is what I'm saying, or you can just float your knees, and we're just gonna bend the elbows and pull. Just nice and easy opening the chest and slow release. And bend the elbows and pull.

Getting that nice open chest, breathe into that chest. And slow release and the last time Ben the album pull and slow release, bringing the feet back down, Turning to the side, helping yourself up into a sitting position, and lower body blast. Hope you liked it. Have a good day.