Upper Body Stability

Hi. I'm Gia, and today we're gonna do a reformer class focusing on the upper body and abdominals. We're only using 1 red spring the entire time, but feel free to change your spring whenever you need to make adjustments. We're gonna start standing right on the side of the carriage or the reformer. You want your leg just right against the edge, and your footbar can be up or down, whatever you need. You're just gonna roll down 1 bone at a time, Hands are gonna reach the front of the carriage.

From here, you're gonna push the carriage out by flattening your back, think of articulating through the spine, almost going into a little bit of an arch, and then you're gonna bring your tailbone under to pull the carriage back in. Just gonna do that a few more times. So you're gonna push all the way out, lengthen the spine, going into nice arch, you'll should feel a nice hamstring stretch, round the spine, pull the carriage all the way in. 2 more. Rolling forward.

Arms are staying straight. Tail bone under to pull you all the way in. Last 1. Reaching through the spine, tailbone under. Pulling all the way in.

Stay forward. You're gonna bring 1 hand to the center of the carriage. You're gonna reach the other room up to the ceiling into a little bit of a rotation. You can look toward the arm that's up, if you'd like, or look straight ahead, whatever feels good. Bringing that hand down, you're gonna replace the other hand and then open up to your rotation. Bring that hand back down.

Bring your hands in front of your shoulders, and then just roll 1 bone at a time. Rule your shoulders back. And we're gonna get started with some cat and cow. So I have some little grips for my hands. Gia, I send a slip, but if you don't need them, you can do it without. You're gonna bring your hands on the, frame, knees are against the shoulder rest.

Your hands are right under your shoulders, knees are right under your hips. We're gonna start with cat and cow. So you're just gonna round your back. Just a little more spinal articulation, and then arch. Just breathe how it feels good to you. Round.

And then into an arch. We'll do 3 more. This mobilizing spine, getting ready for some movement. 1 more. Coming back to neutral spine, you can bring your hands forward just a little bit.

We're gonna keep your lower body where it is. We're gonna use your lats to pull the carriage forward. So you're gonna pull forward from your arms, think of pulling your lats down your sides, and then bring yourself back. So your knees stay under your hips the entire time. The only thing moving is your upper body.

Keeping that neutral spine, pulling the lats back, and do 3 more. Arms are nice and long. Try not to pull from your biceps. Think of using your back to move 1 more. Now I'm gonna bring my arms back just a little bit so they're a little more under my shoulders.

This time, I wanna keep my upper body still, and when I move the legs. So I'm gonna pull in just so my lats are engaged again, and then I'm gonna pull the knees to the chest this time. And then back out. I'm trying to keep that neutral spine again, so I'm not rounding the back. I want it to stay as long as I can.

Pull in and out. 2 more. And out. Last 1. Now we're gonna change it up. So you're gonna pull it Gia hold.

You're gonna try to keep the character it is and just stretch 1 leg back as far as you can. And then bring the knee back in and then bring the carriage home. So the knees come in, other leg will stretch back, and then pull it in, and then back home. So the leg, just keep going. The leg is gonna go as far as you can. You're feeling really strong, you can lift the leg up.

I'm gonna keep my leg on the carriage. Just drag it out and in 1 more each side. Trying to keep the shoulders away from the ears. So, again, you're not pulling from the arms. It's absolutely doing the work. Last 1.

And then all the way in, and then you're just gonna go into a child's pose. Take a nice breath and then roll up. We're gonna stay on your knees. You can get rid of the little grippies if you have them, and then we're gonna grab it straps. So you're gonna hold on to the tape part of the straps with the rope You're gonna push your hips forward.

So you have a nice flat line at the front of your hips. Your spine is long. Your abs are already active. You're gonna pull back and hold. Turn your head to the right.

Turn your head left. Look center. Arms can forward. Other side. Pull back hold. This time look left and right. Center. Arms forward. And pull back.

Look right. And left center arms forward. Inhale. Exhale. And forward 1 more each side. Pull back. Arms are reaching down and long, opening the chest, last 1, and look left, right, center, arms forward. Gonna hang up your straps, bring your headrest up if you'd like. I'm gonna keep mine up for side lying.

So this is where you may wanna change your springs. We're gonna do hip work and then single arm work. So if you wanna go down to a blue, you can. I'm gonna state my red. And then if your head rest is down, you can rest your hand on your head if you'd like. So you're gonna lie on your side.

You want your hips and shoulders stacked 1 on top of the other. We're gonna bring the strap over your knee onto your thigh, and then just make sure you have a little space underneath your waist so you have a long waist. So we're gonna start with the side leg lift. We're gonna keep the reformer still and just lift the leg up and down just a little higher than your hip and down and lift up and down. Try not to let the hip come in toward. You wanna keep reaching that top hip away from you.

1 more, and then go into circles. So front and around, not too big. You're only going a little higher than your hip each time. And then reversed, back and around, and 3. Last 1. Now we're gonna stay in your side.

We're gonna take the leg out of the strap. And you're keeping it in your hand. So your arm is gonna be straight in front of you about shoulder height, and you're just gonna bring your hand to your side and then reach it in front of you. So you bring it to your side and then back in front of you. Keeping it shoulder high at this whole time. I'm thinking of using my back to move my arm. So it's not my hand.

It's coming from my back. 1 more. Now you're gonna pull back and hold. Keep your hand by your side. Turn your palm to face you, and you're gonna bring your arm up to the ceiling and then back down.

So go where you can. It might not come all the way up, but that's okay. Just go where you can and think of using that lat to pull the arm down. Up and down 2 more. And then after this, we're gonna combine those 2 movements for a circle. So you're gonna go forward, up, and down.

Forward up and down 1 more in this direction, and then reversed. Up, front and back, up front, keeping the shoulder away from the ear. The whole time, arm is nice and long. Now keep your hand by your side. You're gonna bend and straighten that arm for a tricep press and bend and stretch. 3. 4, 5, 1 more, and then hang up that strap.

We're gonna do all of that to the other side. So again, your hips and shoulders are stacked, 1 on top of the other. You have a little space underneath you, and then you're gonna put the strap over your knee on your thigh. So you're gonna start with the side lift, leg lift, and you're gonna lift the leg up. And, again, keeping the reformer as still as you can. There's gonna be a little movement.

That's okay. You're just trying not to let that hip move around too much. You wanted to keep it pretty stationary. And 3, 2, And 1 circles around, forward up and back, trying to make it as smooth as you can, and then reverse back and around, And then we're gonna take the strap off your leg. Bring it into your hand. We'll start with that hand.

Shoulder height in front of you. Pulling into your back as you push your arm back to your hands by your side and then bringing the arm forward. Pushing back and forward. As you're moving this arm, still pay attention to your waist. Are you keeping it long? Try to keep that space underneath you.

2 more. Last 1. Now you're gonna pull back and hold. Turn your palm down to face you and then lift the arm up toward the ceiling and then push it back down. So again, you're using that lat to pull the arm down.

Lift and press. 2 more. And Perez last 1. And then we combine them for a circle. So we go forward, up, and down. 2.

1 more in this direction. Reverse. Up front and back. Up front and back. Last 1. Keep your hand by your side, elbow sage there, and then bend the arm and stretch.

Bend. Try to keep the shoulder on the back. She's not letting it round forward or creep up by the ear. You have 2 more. Last 1, and then hang up your strap. Nice. We're gonna go into some rollbacks.

So I'm gonna bring my head rest down again. I'm gonna scoot forward as far close as far forward as I can close to the shoulder rest and then grab onto the ropes. I like to hold on to the tape. I'm gonna keep my legs together, but if you need your legs, hit distance apart. That's always an option.

So nice and tall, inhale, exhale. You're gonna round back and roll down 1 bone at a time till you get to the tips of your shoulder blades, inhale the bottom, exhale roll up. Length in the spine at the top. Exhale as you roll back. Inhale. Exhale. Roll up. And lift. 3 more. Rolling back.

And roll up. Try not to lead with your chin. Try to keep your spine nice alignment and then roll up. So think of pulling into your gum. Most lift you up. 1 where you're gonna hold this 1 back.

Keeping that chest lift, we're gonna lift 1 leg up the tabletop, lower it back down, and lift the other leg and lower. So keep alternating for a little single leg, lift. 2 more each side. Last step. And then roll all the way up. And lift.

We're gonna do that again. So you're gonna roll back. Hold that little curl up. Other leg is gonna start first. So you're gonna lift up and down.

Lift and lower. Just keep alternating again. Pulling into your chest. 2 more sets. Lapse it, and then roll all the way up. And lift Gia. 1 more set.

You can go back to single leg, or I need double leg. Pulling into your abdominals, you're gonna lift both legs up and then lower them back down. And lift. Just go where you can. They hug those inner thighs together. Last 1.

Both feet down and then roll all the way up and lengthen the spine. Hang up your straps. I'm gonna go into scooter. So you're gonna stand 1 foot on the floor. The other foot's gonna come against the shoulder rest.

You can have your hands on the foot bar so that you want your legs in the same line. So you're standing legs about halfway back of the carriage, and then keeping your spine nice and flat, you're gonna push the leg all the way out and in on the carriage. Push all the way out and in. Think of using the glute and the hamstring to push out and in. Last 2.

Now we're gonna do another set. This time, we're gonna let go. You're gonna have your hands on your hips so you can bend that standing leg slightly. Still keep your spine at a bit of an angle, and then you're gonna push out. And then if this is challenging for your balance, you can always try with 1 hand on the footbar or both if you need it.

4 more, and 3, 2, and 1. Now stay on the side. You're gonna bring that knee down, and then the standing leg's gonna come all the way to the front. We're just gonna go into a lunge Just stretch out your hip flexor. This part should feel nice. Try to keep your hips as square as you can, and then come all the way in.

And then we're gonna switch to the other side. So you're standing legs about halfway back again. The other leg is or other foot's against the shoulder rest. The knee is up. Keeping your spine nice and long, you're gonna push out and Gia. You can get that leg as straight as you Calhoun.

And 3, 4. I'm still trying to keep the hips as square as I can. Last 2. Next set, we're gonna lift the hands up. Hands on your hips. Bend that standing leg just slightly and then push back. This time your leg won't get all the way straight or might not, and that's okay.

Just go where you can. 4 more. And 3 2. Last 1. Now bring that knee down. Bring the other foot all the way to the front of the carriage and then push back into your lunge.

Just make sure your shoulders are still down. Have nice posture while you're stretching. You don't wanna just hang over. It's just still work, even though it feels nice. And then come all the way up.

I wanna finish with a few seated exercises. So you're gonna sit crisscross applesauce right in the center of your carriage. You're gonna grab the strap that's in front, interlace your fingers, and bring both hands on that strap. So your goal is keep the strap in front of your sternum the entire time, so you're not using your arms, you're using your waist. You're just gonna twist the face of the foot bar and then come back. And then for me, because I like to use my legs, I think of pushing my legs down, that my legs aren't helping me twist.

It's coming from my center and twist and center 2 more. Last 1, Now we're gonna change this, positioning. So you're gonna bring this strap onto your elbow now. Hands are gonna go behind ahead. I like to interlace my fingers again, so I'm not just pulling with 1 arm. You're gonna lift up and over into a side bend, and then back up.

And sideband over. So make sure the side that the strap is on, make sure that sits bone isn't coming up. You wanna keep that anchored down as you work this oblique. 2 more. Last 1, and then hang up that strap. We're gonna change your legs.

So 1 leg is against the shoulder rest. The other leg is in front. I wanna go into a little mermaid. Just push all the way out and over. Add a rotation, push out with both hands, lengthen that spine as much as you can.

You can come into a little arch pull the carriage all the way in. It should feel good. And push back out, and then bring that hand back to the center, the foot bar, come back to your side bend, and all the way up. And then just because it feels nice, we're gonna grab that frontal arrest and reach toward it. And then back up. And we're gonna switch sides.

So we're gonna sit crisscross applesauce, sit so the leg that's not the natural 1 is front. So just so we have little bit of a change in our hips. Interlace your fingers and grab that front strap, keeping it in front of your sternum. You're gonna twist toward the footbar, and then come back to center. Twist toward the footbar, and center.

And twist and centered 2 more. Last 1. So now we're gonna change the strap so it's on your elbow. And release your hands behind your head. Lift up and over to the side, and then back up. As you're going into your side, Ben, try not to twist.

You wanna stay directly to the side, like you're in between 2 paints of glass. 2 more. And last 1. Hang up that strap. We'll switch your legs.

So 1 leg is in against the shoulder rest. The other leg is in front, and you're gonna push out on that foot bar into your mermaid nice long stretch. Add your rotation, 1 hand on each side of the foot bar. Push out a little further. Pull the carriage in as you lift up into your extension.

And then push back out. Bring your hand back to the center of the foot bar. Come back into your side bend, and then up. Grab the front shoulder rest, and then you're gonna side bend over toward it. And then all the way up.

Alright. That's it. It's a nice quick flow, but sometimes that's great when you don't have a lot of time to get everything in. We can get a lot of upper body abs and then a little bit of legs too Gia because I like to do a little full body. But I'll see you again next time, and thanks for taking class with me.