Upper Body + Core

Hey. It's Andrea. We are moving through a targeted workout today for upper body, postural muscles, core, all the good stuff. I love these targeted workouts so much because they give us that extra minute of time and work to focus on building strength, endurance, muscle tone, all of those great things that then we carry into those full body practices and elevates everything we do together here in Pilates. So the things you'll need for this workout are a set of free weights, or dumbbells, I'm working with a set of £3. You could work with twos or ones. You could even do this with nothing if you wanna do that if that's better for your neck or shoulders.

If you wanna go heavier, I wouldn't go heavier than fives. Okay. So let's begin. Let's just warm it up. So Step your feet out nice and wide on your mat, face me first, and let's reach up and overhead. So just big stretch and stretch. As we start to move here, just let it be free.

This doesn't have to be super graceful. I just want you to move and take those breaths, start to oxygenate your muscles, connect your mind and body together 10 seconds like this, and shifting your weight side to side, 5 more seconds, then reaching across your body. Press and press. As you press here, find resistance like you're pushing through peanut butter. Keep your shoulders down and move from your core.

Wrap and wrap. 10 seconds. Getting that heart rate up just a bit. On this next one, anchor your feet, reach down and down. So you're shifting the direction you're reaching. Windmill those arms. One goes across and down.

One arm reaches back. Open up your lot and your trap here. 10 seconds. Give me deep, full breaths. 5 seconds. When you're even on both sides, oh, bring it up, bring it back to the end of your mat, facing in, anchor your feet, arms reach up Andrea overhead, big swan dive all the way down, walk out, meet me in a plank.

Start just by holding this. Shift your weight forward, pointing your toes, flex your feet, shift it back. You shift forward, You shift back. It's a subtle movement, but you should feel all that work in the shoulders, the arms. You're actively pushing the floor away lifting from your core.

10 seconds. 5 more seconds. Shoot. Meet me back in a plank. Hold it there. One hand goes across, tap your chest, bring it down. Other hand taps, bring it down. Tap Andrea tap.

There's a tiny bit of shifting side to side, but I want you to keep it minimal. Find that focused connection of abs scooping in 10 seconds. 5 seconds. When you're even hold your plank, hold it there pressing away, hold for 8 counts. 6 4, 3, 2, one knees down. Walk yourself into that quadruped position, hands under your shoulders, knees under your hips. Okay.

This is one of my favorite exercises. It's a version of a push up anchoring down with your knees, bend your elbows in towards your body Andrea bring your chin down toward the mat, press back up. So starting to flow through this at your own pace, You don't have to match mine. I call this bobbing for apples, a very dated reference. I don't think anyone does that anymore.

So as you lower, open your chest but keep your abdominals scooped in and up. Okay. We've got 10 seconds down Andrea up. Straight down. Andrea back up. 5 more seconds. And again, this is still the work up.

The warm up. Shoot. Everything down. Everything up. Hold. Tuck your toes under. Shift your weight back as you lift your arms up to the ceiling, open your arms around to the sides, hands come back down.

Lift your hips, press up into an elephant and Pilates are a downward facing dog and yoga. That's our combination. So we go, knees down, reach up, circle around, hands down, and you lift up. Knees come back down. Let's flow.

Touch the ceiling anchor to the floor, hips up, and down. So with this movement, we're getting that blood circulating through from the fingertips down to the toes, still lengthening, warming it up. Getting those postural muscles strongly connected Andrea then stretching them around. 10 seconds like this. 5 more seconds.

Let's do one more. Meet me in your elephant or down dog. All the way up, hold. Shift your weight forward. Just a few inches.

Gaze between your hands. Bend your elbows and towards your body lower halfway, little pulses down. And down, you're giving me a tricep push up in this down dog. Shoulders drawing down your back, 10 seconds, pulse, and pulse 5 more seconds. Whoo. Bring it out into a plank.

Hold your plank. We're lowering slowly down. Ready? Here we go. Bend your elbows lower in 5 counts, 4 counts, 3 counts, 2, and 1. Lying down there. Make sure you're all the way on your mat. You've got lots of space here.

Stack your hands, palm over palm, underneath your forehead. Let's go into a swan. Let your forehead rest. Shoulders down. Start to lengthen up from the top of your head, keeping your legs anchored, and slowly lengthen back down.

Again, flow at your own pace. Legs could be together for that midline connection or slightly apart if that feels better for your back today, which is the version I'm choosing for my body today. Shoulders are down. Lifting from your core. Put that little tack under your belly button.

Scoop away from it. Wherever you are, give me one more and bring everything down. Slide your hands down, put them under your armpits, roll your shoulders back, scoop your abs in, hover your hands and inch off the mat, lengthen your body up, up, up, get as high as you can. Hands come down, press up a little further. Hold pulling the mat in towards you, lengthen out from the top of your head and lower it down. Down. As soon as you can, hands come up. Head comes down.

Keep those hands up. Let's do it again. Lift up. Up. Hands come down lengthen up.

Elbows hugging Andrea towards your waist. Grow tall or lower. Hands Andrea up. Lower it down. Let's do one more. Starts a lift. Lift.

Hands down. And lengthen forward. Hands come up. Everything comes down. Walk your feet together if they weren't.

Arms reach out in front of you. One arm comes up. One leg comes up. Everything lowers down. Other side, other arm reaches, other leg lifts, lower down.

Flow at your own pace. This is like a version of swimming. We're using the stability of the floor of the mat, connecting from the core to build strength in the postural muscles, the lats, the traps, the back, keeping it open in the chest. Give me 10 more seconds. And just make sure you're breathing.

Give me one more on each side, even yourself off. Andrea when you're there, bring it down. Hands walk back one at a time to your armpits. Press down as you lift up sit back in an active rest pose or a child's pose. So we follow that extension with a nice moment of flexion here. Bring yourself back out. Okay.

So you're wondering when those are gonna come into play, it's now. Grab one of those. If you've done this workout before, you wanna bring it up with the intensity, grab both. Square your body off. Bend your elbow in.

Extend your arm all the way back. Bend in. Reach back Andrea. Now keep this going with this movement. While you're moving, I'm gonna show you an option.

If your wrist feels tight, take your mat, fold it in half, or fold it in thirds, put your hand down on top, and keep going. Okay. Let's do a couple more here together. Whew. After your next one, keep your arms straight. Lower that straight arm down toward the mat and lift it up, down. Up and down.

Whoo. Since this is endurance based, we're building that muscle, you wanna stick with it. Consistency is everything. Try to match my pace. Let's count out 4 more here.

4 lower. 3, lower, 2, lower, hold it up on 1, and circle for 10, circle 9, circle 87, 65, 4, and 3, and 2, and 1 reverse 10, 9, 8 lengthen from the top of your head, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, hold it up on 1, palm to the ceiling. Open your chest. Give me a little pulse up an inch, up and up and up. Let's do 87, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1. Bring your arm down.

Threat it under your body. Do a little bend of the stabilizing arm. Press up as you open outreach to the side. See that again. Thread under.

Open out to the side. These are challenging, but they also feel really good. You get that shoulder down your back. You feel that blood flow, that circulation while you build muscle tone and strength, and it's such a good combination. We're going for time.

Find your own pace. You got 10 more seconds. Down, and out. 5 more seconds. Shoot. Give me one more. Meet me out to the side. Hold it there. Look down towards your mat.

Lower your arm down. Big lift up for 10, lower. 9, lower. 87 scooping your abs in 6. 5, 4, and 3, and 2, and 1, woo, bring it down. Roll it out. Shake it out.

Grab both of your dumbbells. Turn and face me, you're kneeling. If your knees are sensitive, do this whole series, we're about to do standing. I'm gonna rotate slightly to the side just so you can see my angles. Take your dumbbells and stack them like an x, abs in hinge slightly forward pull your hips back.

Free hand at your waist, extend your arm forward, pull it back. Reach it forward, pull it back, So as that arm goes forward, shoulders stay squared off and open. If you can't go straight with that arm, that's good. I don't want you to go into a joint. I want you to stay in the front in the bicep. I have your hips hinged back slightly to balance out that weight pulling you forward.

I don't want you to pull into your low back. Keep your core connected. Either stick with this, or we add a kickback. Bend didn't kick it back. In reach.

Back in and reach. So this little bowling tricep kickback is gonna help get the back of the arm, the tricep to play in while we work the anterior, the front, the bicep. 10 seconds. Back. Reach.

5 more seconds. Let's do one more full set. Shoo. Bring yourself up. I'm gonna turn back to face you.

You keep facing me. Dumbbells say in the same hand, let's turn the palms to face each other. Big sweep up overhead, bring it all the way down, bicep curl into your body down. Big circle up Andrea overhead. Bring it down. Bicep curl.

Down. Just keep flowing. If this movement feels like it's a lot of weight in your shoulder, always modify your resistance. Do this with one dumbbell Do it with no dumbbells. 10 more seconds in and down and up. One more full set.

Andrea bring it down. Get sneaking a little bicep curl there. So your arm goes down to your side. Palms are facing in, lifting up from your core chest stays open. Lift up and over, dip those dumbbells down toward the mat Andrea then zipper up from your waist and your core.

So you lift up and over, down, down, down, and you zipper up Andrea up. Just flow this movement. Biggest things I want you to focus on are not rounding down to do this. It's a big arc, up and over, whatever that range looks like maintaining that form down Andrea, hold it down on your next one stay down there. Little pulsing reach down and down. You're accenting the drop. Down. Check that shoulder.

Make sure it's not pulling off your back. Use that ladder trap. Keep it connected. 5 more seconds. 3 more seconds.

Hold it down there. Now accent a little pulse up an inch. Up an inch. It's the same movement, but changing this accent, this directional connection of movement changes a lot. 5 seconds, 3 seconds back to full range. Bring it down, up, lower, and up.

And I know I keep saying zippering, but it really is the queue that helps me connect the most into this. So it's abs. Bring it up. 5 seconds. After your next one, bring it up. Roll it out. Okay.

Let's do the other side. I'm gonna turn and face the opposite direction so you can see my working side. Set down one dumbbell if you started just with 1. Fold your mat into thirds if your wrist liked that little bit of support and bring it down. Okay. Here we go. Bend your elbow in, extend it back, bend, reach, end in.

Shoulders are evenly squared off, lengthen out from the top of your head. Woo. As you go back, really think about that tricep activating, like you're lifting your elbow up toward your shoulder, 5 seconds, 3 seconds, Hold it back there. Lower your arm down to the mat and lift it up, down. Match my pace on these. Give me 10, lower, 9, lower, 87, 6, and 5 deep full breaths, 4, and 3, 2, hold it up on 1 with circle for 10, circle 9, circle 8, 7, 6, and 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 reverse, 10, 9, 8, and 7, keep your breath going.

5, 4, and 3, 2, hold it up on 1, palm to the ceiling. Open your chest little pulse up and up and up and up for 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Andrea. Keep it up. Threat it under. Do a little bend of the stable arm. Open out to the side.

Do that again. Threat it under. Open it out. Should or drawing down your back. Andrea just flow this movement, focus in on your own breath, focus in on those shoulder blades coming together when you got 10 seconds. 5 more seconds.

Meet me out to the side. Gay is down towards your mat. Lower your arm down. Match my pace. Lift 10. Lower.

9. Lower. 87. 6, five little soft bend of the elbow, 3, 2, 1. Whoo. Grab the other dumbbell if you doubled up for this next part. Turn and face me. Again, I'll rotate slightly so you can see my angles. Give me an x with a double stacked dumbbell set here.

Hinge back slightly abs in chest open. Here we go. Reach forward. Pull it back. Forward back. So not adding that tricep kickback yet.

This is the moment where we set our form so we can maintain it as we add on. Forward back. As you go forward, abdominals pull back in opposition. You're keeping a neutral Speir, nice, long natural line of the spine. After your next one, add your bowling.

Kick it back in reach. Back in and reach. Andrea, really, name of the game with Pilates, everything is coming from that powerhouse, that core. So as we change our movement distal away from the body, it doesn't matter because we're so connected in the core. 10 more seconds.

5 seconds. Shoo. After your next one, bring it up. I'm gonna turn back and face you. Keep those dumbbells in that same Andrea, lifting up. Remember, if the knees are getting tired, come standing.

Shoulders back, Big circle up and overhead, bring it down, bicep curl in, down, curl, down, and curl. Okay. Let's just flow this up and down. You're never giving me a locked arm. It's always that little soft bend functional movement here. One more time.

Up, down, sneaking that bicep curl, and down. Palm faces in, go back to your obliques, your core. Lifting up, hinge up Andrea over, dip down, and zipper back up. Lift and hinge down Andrea zipper back up. Keep it going. We're doing our full range, even pace down, even pace up, lifting up and over, and back. 1 of the Favorite ways for me and my map practice to get those obliques that's different than a Chris Cross or some of the movements that we more often do is this makes you really think about it. Think about that connection and hone in on it. Hold it down. Little pulses down to the floor.

Reach and reach and reach 10 seconds. 5 seconds. Now little pulses going up an inch, up an inch, when you'll see sometimes my hand travels to my core just to cue it in. Make sure I'm connected. It helps me, maybe try it, see if it helps you.

Back to full range, bring it down and up, lengthen down, and up 10 seconds. Shoot. 5 seconds. Bring it all the way up. Alright. Let's bring it down to the mat.

So we'll start with one dumbbell, but I want you to keep the other one nearby in case you wanna double up. Lie down on your back. Once you're down there, the dumbbell will be in one hand. The same leg from that side extends down low. Reach the dumbbell up to the ceiling. My other arm is straight and anchoring down.

Bring this arm back a few inches and bring it back up to the ceiling. That's all we're doing to begin as a few inches back and forward. It's such a subtle movement, but you're practicing keeping that shoulder down and connecting in from the core. As that arm comes up, now lift your leg up and lower the leg, extend the arm away from you. They both come together, and they both lengthen away.

Option on this to curl your head and chest up and keep it up the entire time. Option to go bigger with your range, passing your arm and leg. Shoot. 10 seconds of this. 5 seconds, gazing through your inner thighs if your head is up.

Hold everything up on this next one. Curl up if you weren't. Take the dumbbell and hold it with both hands behind that extended leg. Now extend that bottom leg out to hover, little pulsing reaches up an inch, up an inch, 10 seconds, shoulders are down, relaxing your jaw, 5 seconds, hold it up there, scissors, switch your legs, and pass foot weight through your legs. Arms stay straight throughout.

If you feel good with this coordination, pick up the pace. Switch, switch, switch, 10 seconds, 5 seconds, and then bend in, shake it off, reset, pass the dumbbell to the other hand Andrea extend that opposite leg down, the same leg from the arm that's got the dumbbell. Okay. Let's start the same way. So your arm goes back a few inches, and it connects back up to the ceiling. Length in a way, Andrea bring it back up.

As you go back, watch if your ribs are trying to flare out, scooping from the core. Keep the shoulder down. Let's add the leg. So your arm goes back a few inches. As it comes forward, the leg lifts, they both reach away.

Everything comes in, everything reaches away. Option to curl your head and chest up. If that feels good, option to make a bigger range, passing your arm and leg. Shoo. 10 seconds. 5 seconds. Shoo. Keep the leg up. Hold the dumbbell behind your leg.

Extend the opposite leg. Little pulses. Here we go. Little pulse Andrea pulse and pulse 10 seconds. 5 seconds. Hold scissor switch pass it through Andrea switch and switch.

Find your pace and flow it. 10 seconds. Shoot. 5 seconds. Whoo. Everything comes in. Shake it out. Okay. You're almost done with this.

Take the dumbbell in your hands and bring your hands behind your head. Elbows are wide. Legs come up. Chest curls up. Extend one leg out Now rotate your body in a twist toward that bent leg, little crunching pulses up 8, up 7, match my pace. 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, Andrea one switch legs twist the other direction, pulls up for 8, up 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and one switch again for 4, up, 3, 2, and 1, we switch for 4, 3, 2, and 1, you switch for 2, 1, switch 2, 1, and singles over, over over.

Keep those elbows wide. Keep your chest up. Start to pick up your pace now. Switch, switch, switch, switch, 10 seconds. Andrea then when you're even, hoo, rest, shake it out. Okay. So I want you to find that second dumbbell.

We're sneaking in one more thing, one of my favorites for your arms. Both those dumbbells in your Andrea, reach up. Now take your free hand, bring it right over your chest, slide it up so the back of your hand connects in to the back of the other arm. Bend your elbow over your head. Be really careful. Hold on tightly with those dumbbells and reach up. Do that again. So you bend.

Press it up. Bend, and it's just this nice controlled pace. I want you to move at your own pace on these just to make sure you've got a good grip. You're in a super connected position here. The reason we've got the other hand connected is I want that elbow exactly in the same spot So it's not the shoulder trying to do a whip of this.

On the next one, bring your arm down, hold it halfway down, little pulse down, and down. So we're returning to that same idea of what we did for your obliques. These pulses build endurance, they really carve out the muscle build great strength. After your next one, little pulses going up and up and up. Make sure you're lengthening out from the top of your head. After your next one, go all the way down, all the way up, down. I want you to match my pace now because the endurance is really a thing now.

We're feeling it. Give me 4 more. Bend. 3, bend, 2, 1, oh, bring it in. Take those dumbbells into opposite Andrea. Just kinda shake it out for a second, and then set them in the other hand carefully.

Get a good grip Reach up, free Andrea connects into the tricep square off, bending. Now, my palm is facing in. It's like a hammer curl over your head. Extend up and bend in. So we start full range even pace down, even pace up. Whoo. Your whole arm is this long straight line.

So watch you're not breaking the line of the wrist at all. Extend out. Do one more full range, bring it down halfway, hold, little pulse down to the floor, down Andrea down, and down ten seconds. 5 seconds, little pulses going up and up and up 10 more seconds, 5 more seconds, full range now, down, up, and down, up Andrea down. Using that breath as you extend. 4 more. Give me 4 and 3 and 2 Andrea one, Bendin, take the dumbbells into opposite hands and carefully rock and roll your body up comes seated.

Set the dumbbells out of the way, the best thing I've said today so far, turn and face me, stack your legs one on top of the other. Holding on to that top ankle with the nearest hand, opposite arm goes up if you feel better doing a pretzel with your legs for your knees or hips do it. Reach up, bending in over your body, give me a big stretch. We did so much work for the obliques, the lats, the arms should feel really good. Reach out to 2 straight arms, fingertips come down, do a little spider walk out, lower to your elbow and forearm, and just big stretch up and overhead.

Push your way back up, hands come back behind you, flip your legs around. Still facing me, hand holds on around that top ankle, reach up Andrea overhead, squaring off, lift up, and over your body should feel really nice. Push out to 2 straight arms, fingertips come down, do that little creep away, elbow down, reach up and over, and stretch. Push up to 2 straight arms lower everything down, just come to sit in a comfortable position, whatever that looks like for you today, facing me, roll your shoulders out, bring one arm up and overhead, reach up, grab the opposite elbow, and give it a little stretch down. So still face me.

I'll rotate so you see me drawing that down my back and then just switch. Other arm reaches down. Other hand wraps. Open your chest. Keep holding that stretch.

I'll turn back and face you. Let everything come down. Roll out your shoulders. Roll out your neck. And that is it. You made it through that one.

Great job. I hope you're feeling it. I'm sweating. I'm burning Andrea feeling all the right things, so I hope you are as well. I will see you for the next workout.