Bridge Flow

Hi. I'm Maria, and we're gonna be building a bridge flow. Your primary focus here is gonna be bringing some heat to the hamstrings and the glutes. We'll be moving the spine both neutral and articulated. Your foot bar is gonna be up where it was for footwork. And then two springs. Now remember here, the lighter you go, the more challenge it's gonna be to the gluten hamstrings.

So anywhere from, red and a yellow all the way up to 2 reds. Headrest is down. Come on to your back for me, please. Set yourself up on your heels with your feet hip distance and now take one foot down to the ledge into what I call a stagger stance. Start pressing the hips straight up and straight down, keeping the pelvis nice and neutral.

Lift up. Stay here. Now the bottom leg goes straight up to the ceiling flex that foot. Same action on the top leg. We neutral bridge straight down and straight up. I always like to feel like I'm pushing the ceiling away with that top foot. And then check-in with how much you're using your arms here.

Some of you might wanna try taking your arms completely away. It really changes the level of the exercise. About 2 more here. And now you're gonna stay at the top. The foot on the foot bar is gonna do a little opening and then squeeze right back in.

And I find it pretty surprising how much that inner thigh has to work to pull that knee back in line with the big toe and really honor that alignment, big toe to hip. Last time here, now you're welcome to keep that leg up, but I'm taking mine down. And from here, we're gonna push the carriage out any amount and then squeeze and lift the pubic bone up to come in. So if you're working with one leg off the bar, you are probably not gonna get out as far as I'm getting. Notice the further out you go, the closer the hips get to the carriage because we're maintaining everything in a neutral position right now.

Pause here, see if you can lift the pubic bone a little higher, and we're gonna roll down through the spine, bring your hands behind your thighs, take your legs up to the ceiling any amount, and flex and point the feet 3 times. Also, being conscious of your breath here using this as just a short recovery moment. The two heels go back down to the bar. And the other leg goes down preparing for our stagger stance. Pushing through the bottom heel, we go neutral straight up and right back down.

Notice that some of you, your brain might wanna try to use that top leg to help you. I always find that a little bit interesting. Stamp through that bottom heel. About two more here. And now we transfer the weight to the top leg.

We bring the bottom leg up. We flex it and we go straight down. Load is much bigger now. And then you know, if this is too much for you, put that top foot back down. Also consider working with heavier springs, inhaling down, exhaling up, being aware of that alignment, big toe to knee to center the hip socket.

Minimizing what you're doing with your arms to help. Last one here. Rockstar. Keep your leg up. Everyone else bring your foot down, and we push out and we pull in in a little pause here. Have control of your machine.

Remember, Joe called this controllogy. Show me that now in this moment. Pull in, lift the pubic bone up. Inhale. And exhale.

Last one inhale. Exhale. Pause here. Hold hold. Hold. Hold. Stay right here and pulsing up for 5 4, 3, 2, 1. Roll yourself down. Take the hands behind the legs. Extend those legs up and flex and point.

Really rolling through those feet. And now bring the feet wide on the bar, flex the feet, start by rotating the knees and notice the knees touch the toes turn in, and we rotate out right here from your hip socket. The knees pull in the toes point in, and we turn the legs out. Very important range of motion that we don't do a lot of in traditional Pilates. Last time.

Keep the knees together. Hands by your side. We're gonna go to articulated now. So tuck that tailbone under. Peel yourself up. Squeeze the inner size and peel right back down.

I would like your carriage to stay as still as possible. But that's remember, we're not robots, so we can we can allow a little bit of imperfection. But I do want you still aware of your glutes, your hamstrings, and now your inner thighs. There's a sense that the knees are reaching out and forward over the footbar check-in with those arms. Maybe you even take them off the carriage.

And now we're gonna stay at the top. Stay right here and take those little pulses up. So you're hugging the carriage in. You're hugging the knees together. And you're squeezing the inner thighs.

Roll yourself down. Bring your hands by your side. We're gonna put all of this together. The legs turn out. The legs go straight.

You lift up. As you come in, everything rotates in and together, carriage still peel yourself down. We turn the legs out. The legs go straight. We lift up.

As we come in, we fold the knees in. We peel down. Externally rotate from the hip. Push out. Lift.

Come in. Draw those knees together. Peel yourself slowly down. Hug the knees into your chest, taking 3 little circles here, and then reversing it the other way. And that's the end of our bridge series