Delia's Go-To Reformer

Hi. I'm Delia, and welcome to my go to class. So if I'm pressed for time and I wanna jump on that reformer and get a quick workout in that feels good to me, I'm about to show you what that looks like. So get on the reformer with me. Let's put one blue spring on, which is a half spring load. I'm gonna get on top of the carriage on my knees. I like to start with a cat cow.

Hands underneath my shoulders, knees, underneath my hips. Quick little stretch, exhale breath, inhale breath. This moment also gives me time to think about what I wanna do next, what I want my workout to feel like, but I usually just go with the flow And these exercises just happen to me to be a lot of my go to exercises. So from here, nice, flat back. Take your hands slightly forward of your shoulders. Again, this is 1 blue spring, half spring load. Pull with your arms and keep the knees under your hips until your shoulders are right about over your wrists or your hearts between your thumbs and then bring the carriage back slowly in how breath.

What this does is it just gets my body moving in neutral. So I'm working the front and the back of my body at the same time. It's also introducing right away a lot of disassociation. So my lower half of my body has to stay stable as the upper half of my body moves. I'm gonna continue to move and flow, but this time, as I pull forward with the my arms, I'm gonna round my back and tuck and then release back to neutral and exhale breathe too.

So I'm going into this active cat cow. I started off with a little cat cow stretch, and now I'm making it nice and active. Just do two more with me. Exhale breath, flex, arms are long. Last one, exhale.

And then release that tension. Bring the hands underneath the shoulders now. I'm gonna work on the side body. So my outside hand, which would be my right hand, will come towards you. So I have my left hand here as well.

Feel a nice little stretch on the right side and then pull. It's not a ton of resistance. It's just more of me stretching one side and activating those obliques. So that internal oblique on that left side, external oblique on the right side. Be careful not to put tension into the shoulders when you're doing this exercise.

Let's just go over to the other side. How many repetitions you do depends on how much you want or how much time you have. So I'm gonna go for 5 on the side, 2 inhale, exhale, 3, and 4, 1 more, and 5, and then return back to this position. Shoulders over the wrist again. Take your right leg and bring it closer to your left leg. So I've shifted my body weight to the left, tailbone to head nice and long.

Send your right leg back into hip extension, and I could touch the bar, but it's totally fine. Here. Just pull in five times with your left leg 1. So if I don't have a lot of time, I try to intensify my exercises a bit and get all the muscles to work for me right away. One more and then return the carriage. And I'm gonna take my right knee to the right, block, shift my weight, bringing my left leg towards my right, sending my left leg back, and then pulling with my right knee.

So upper body nice and stable. I'm getting those glutes to activate. I've got 3 and 2. Just one more. Carriage returns knee comes down. A quick little seat to the heels to reach my arms up towards the ceiling and then back down for a little stretch onto the glutes, very much an exercise I do often.

I'm gonna take one of the straps into my foot. So from here, I'll place my left foot into the long strap on the left side. My right knee is gonna go about center, erring towards my left hand a bit because I want my hips to feel square. With your hands on the block, you're gonna do a one leg pulling strap with your sup with being on your knees. Now these can be done on top of the box as well as part of a series.

But here, it just feels nice and stable. My foot's on the floor. And then from here, just take the right forearm down to the headrest, and then you can give your hips a little circular motion. So inhale back and then exhale. And now I'm getting that mobility in my hip.

Just one more in that direction, and then I'm gonna reverse that. So lift and pull and bring it forward. And inhale and exhale. 2 more. 2 one more.

And then the knee comes down, and I take the foot out of the strap. From there, I'll move on to the other side. So I'll scooch over to the right, place the right foot on the floor, right strap, on the right foot, and you can start by putting the foot on the floor to to move that left leg into the right position, or you can have both knees on top. Whatever you feel like would be most stable for you. And then that right foot comes forward inflection now and back towards extension.

Allow the abs to pull that leg forward. And you see, I just took my hand off because all my weight isn't on my hands, and you need to be careful of that. My weight is distributed a little bit towards the center. Drop that left forearm down and go into some leg circles. And I'm dropping that forearm down for variation of muscle work on my upper part of my body.

And also to get a much bigger circle to open up the hip. One more and then reverse the circle back and around 1 and inhale and exhale too. And you will feel work on that supporting knee as well. So my left hip is working. Last one, and then the leg comes down. Foot comes down and just carefully remove the strap.

Alright. So onto my back, supine. I have a blue spring on now, but I'm switching to 2 red springs. Mid back series, one of the earliest exercises I ever learned, but I do it in almost every practice of my own because I find them to be really effective. The straps are I'm gonna hold the long straps because I did put 2 red on, which is actually quite heavy, but I'll have less tension holding on to the longer loops. So legs up to tabletop, press the arms down to the hips. K? So once you're here, your head stays down.

Legs are at tabletop, and I'm gonna go into mid back movement. So arms to shoulder blades and supporting my lumbar spine in the middle of my back on the carriage. One more, and then arm circles. So out to the side and down. Careful with this much resistance.

If it's not working for you, drop down the resistance so it's more comfortable, But the 2 reds are there, so I can go into the next series easy, okay, without having to get up. Let's reverse arms down to the hips and arms out. When I explain these to clients, I have them imagine those gymnastics rings So as you are pulling down, it'd be like pulling that body weight, your body weight with those gymnastics rings, which are hard. Arms stay down. A little tricep here. Bend extend 1.

And two We'll go for 3 more. 2 more elbows are covered. 1 more. Arms come up. Now just a 100 prep. So chin to chest stretch that back body and then lower down.

I don't need to go into the full hundred to make this exercise effective. I'm getting mobility in the upper part of my back, strengthen my arms, and my lats, And my abs are working hard, drawing those ribs to the hips just for 2 more, one more exhale, and rest. We're gonna come back to the hands and the straps, But I've got 2 straps or springs on, so I'm gonna put my feet in the straps. So one foot at a time. Okay? Once the feet are in the straps, legs nice and long, arms nice and long. Bend your knees to a tabletop position.

So knees over the hips, everyone's usually afraid of the ropes touching, but they're gonna touch, so just let them do so. Extend your legs out pushing through the arch of the foot, not the heel, and not the toe. This is just a nice bend and stretch. I have a little space between my lower back and the mat because I'm able to maintain that, but if you can't maintain that, soften the lower back into the mat and make this doable for you. I'm gonna go right into heels together toes apart, bend like a frog, and press. Bend like a frog, heels kissing, and press. Make sure those knees aren't too wide.

This is a baby bee. So as you press your heels together, the toes should not be wider than maybe your fist distance apart. 2 more. One more. Now I press away. I go to medial rotation.

So I'm getting all sides of those hips bend. And then press away. So toes are touching, and the knees are touching as the knees flex. But as the legs go out, the toes stay together and the knees come apart and make sure that that medial rotation came from your hip and you turned them in. 1 more, heels together toes apart, beat your heels three times.

Go 1, 2, 3, bend like a frog. Press it out. It's 1, 2, 3, and bend emphasis on those inner thighs. And 1, 2, 3, 2 more sets. It's 1, 2, 3, last set. 1, 2, 3, and bend now press the legs out and hold. On to frog. Bend your knees, whole tabletop. Your ladder turned out.

Place your hands onto your hip, hold the carrot steady, extend at the knees, and make a v at the ceiling. So you can see the letter v. Now circle the legs around and close the legs back together at the bottom like a circle. Bend your knees like a frog. Lyft. Keep the carrot steady.

Exhale. Just one more in this direction, and then we're gonna reverse directions. Inhale. And press now. Back to your hyvee. Bend your knees.

Keep the heel steady. Activate those lower abdominal muscles and glutes and press out inhale breath. Bend the knees. Press away. Last one.

Bend the knees. Press away and then go into a split flexing the ankles and pull the legs together to really finish off those inner thighs. Truth be known. I jump on my back for legs and straps for my inner thighs, actually. Because I really wanna feel those 2 more. Last one. And then the feet are gonna come out of the straps.

To safely get out, take one strap off holding tension with the other, and then find the foot bar and then the legs up. Back to the upper body, a little coordination series that kicks my rear end. Okay? Legs up to tabletop, elbows come down so that they're at a hover. Head and shoulders come up, exhale, extend out like you're in the hundred position, turn your heels together toes apart, open the legs, the width of your bar, close the legs, go to parallel, bend your knees, bend your elbows, and I actually rest of my head. I'm gonna do it again.

I'm gonna press out. Toes go out to the corners. They come back together. Mees bend. Elbows bend. Exhale.

Everything away. Inhale. Open. Close. Exhale, bend, and then lower back down one more time, reach it away, open, close, bend, and return. Now we're gonna stay out there. So elbows to 90 degrees, head and shoulders up, extend. Now just your legs open up and close for 4. 3. 21. Bend.

Now you can see why I modified that 100. Let's do this again. Everybody back up. Hold. Now arms and legs and pull 1. And 2 and 3 and 4 bend your knees.

One more time. Press it up into that hundred position. Now this is a challenge. Right arm, right leg to the side, pull it in. Left arm, left leg. One more set.

Inhale. Bend the knees, bend the elbows, and now feet go back into the strap. So I'm gonna place my right foot into the long loops, press back out to your feet and straps position. I always do the short spine no matter what when I get on the reformer. So here is my version of the short spine that feels good to me.

You're gonna put your, heels together, toes apart. Legs are gonna come towards you. You're gonna feel a nice little stretch. Find your stopper and then peel the spine off one vertebra at a time until you're on your shoulder blades. Your toes are already turned out, so bend your knees like a frog, knees are perpendicular to the hips.

Make the back nice and heavy, So when you roll down, there's energy from your heel to your tailbone, but the back is pressing into the carriage. Once your sacrum touches, extend those legs out. Keep them turned out. Let's do that again. Inhale. Get that stretch.

Exhale. Once you're at that stopper, heavy at the feet, light on the back. Then you bend your knees. Then you're heavy at the back and light on your feet. You'll find that ninety degree angle right here and then press away one more time. Inhale. Keep those eyes at your toes. Flex. Slowly.

Roll yourself down. You should feel good here. You should be able to lift those arms up if you needed to. Place the hands down. Press out. Let's reverse it, which is my favorite. Bend your knees.

You're in a frog position. Roll yourself up. Find your shoulder blades. Make those legs heavy, reach them up, then make the back heavy and press down. We have 2 more.

Angel knees, bend to frog. Keep the knees perpendicular to perpendicular to the hips. It's almost like someone slip that chair back. So now you're on your back. Extend your legs long. My legs are now parallel.

I'm getting a nice little stretch. As I press down, I got a couple of pops there. Feels really good. Bend. Roll, scoop those abs in. Extend those legs out, give your back one last massage, and then press the legs away.

Feet out of the straps, one foot on the bar for safety, and I'm just gonna flip onto my bottom so I can bring in the long box for a little extension. I'm bringing the long box on. We're gonna go to 1 red spring, and I'm gonna run right through some extension exercises. The bar is going to stay up. Lay on your belly.

Put your chest over the box and allow your shins to rest. If that bugs, you just put it down. Let's grab the straps. Can't forget about that back body if you're getting yourself a quick workout. Right? So drop your chin, drop your head. Let your arms rest on the outside of the frame. We're gonna go through 3 exercises.

Float the legs up by pressing the pubic bone down. Here we go. Lead with your pinky finger. Draw your shoulder blades together. Find extension from that flex position and then drop it down 6 of them. Inhale.

Extend, exhale. Can you imagine a big marble underneath your nose? So you're gonna push that big marble away, pull that marble in, 3 more, 2, Last one and lower. Now I'm gonna let my legs rest for a moment, and I'm gonna pull the arms under the hips or the, the, shoulders. Take your arms out to a t position.

Then drop the head and engage the back body of the legs. Pull the arms to the hips and lift the head and line it up with your shoulders when your arms to a t. Rest your neck. So the head lines up with the shoulders pull back. Arms come up. You should see them in your peripheral. As though the arms are floating up above water if you're on a paddleboard and your head and neck drop into the water.

3, 2 more. 2, one more, and we're gonna go right into tricep kickback. So bend. And if you like here, you can bend your knees and get your feet away from the bar. I'm gonna keep them nice and long. Shoulders wide.

2 more. One more, and rest. That back body was worked, which is those 3 sets of exercises. Long straps go on the l hooks, pop myself up for a quick little cat stretch, and then I'll step off. K? Box is gonna come off.

Alright. I happen to be one of those instructors that loves elephant. So I'm gonna put a blue spring on with the red. So I have one red, one blue, so one and a half springs. To get yourself, into the position for elephant, hands onto the bar, and feet up. Now if you bring your feet back to your blocks and the heels are just can't get there and you can't hold the bar, just bring your feet forward.

There's no rule that says you have to have your heels up against there. So just bring them towards the blocks, which I'll just do it with you here today so you can see. I'm gonna go with a flap back, okay? Co toes are curled up, and I'm only gonna be doing the flap back. So wrap your hands around the bar Toes curled up and get your bottom over your heels. Press the carriage back. Bring the carriage back in.

Now what's pressing back are the are the feet and the hips. Okay? Take one count to press the carriage back and then take 3 counts to pull it in so that you slow that down and the emphasis becomes on the in motion. The toes curled up towards you brings the energy up the front of the leg The back is nice and flat. The elbows are pointing down, and your head or your ears are a little bit above your arms so that your, the blood doesn't rush to your head. So just two more.

One more and pause, bring your hands down to your toes, roll yourself up for sake of blood rushing around the body. Okay? So now bring your hands back to the bar. Now this time, you do have to have the heels up. Because you're gonna lift your heels about halfway up and get your bottom over your ankles. These bars on the Allegra 2 do move in closer, but just remember the closer you bring the bar, the tighter that spring is going to feel. So you might have to adjust spring load. From here, you're gonna go into a little pike and pull. So same thing, but now I'm getting a bigger stretch at the back of my legs.

And, also, this prepares me for my next go to favorite exercise. So pull as though the toes are pulling towards your hands, 3 more back on 1 in on 1, 2, 3, 2 more, 2, 2, 3, 1 more, and pull now, lift those eyes, Lyft, lift start to drop those knees and skate back. This is part of your knee stretch exercise. I like to call it the bobsled sometimes, so I'm pressing back. Everything is working.

Quads are working. Lot of heat throughout my entire body. Make sure you're not pushing with those shoulders uphill. Pull those shoulders away. 3 more.

2 more. One more. Knees come down. And you rest. Okay? Last and final series that I like to get to, it's a dynamic lunge series.

I'm gonna put on a yellow spring and take off the blue. I like the yellow versus something heavier because I can have it focus on the center of my body. Okay. We're gonna start off 5 repetitions each of these. Okay? Hands onto the bar, Left foot back. First, just a regular old lines.

You ready? You just press back and forth 1. 2, regular old lines. I'm gonna try to stay on count. 2 more. One more. Now that's one.

Press the leg back, the carriage leg back, and get the knee off and really get that bottom down towards the floor. This time, you're gonna keep the right leg long, but you're going to jump it off the floor. Hands on the bar. Keep the leg under the hip. Wait over the shoulders.

Just pick up the foot. Like, you're doing a little suspended app curl, put the foot down, and then press back and do it again. I feel it reminds me of, like, an oil rig, you know, the foot up and down. So 3 more. Scoop those abs in. 2 more.

One more. Press it down hold. Now tuck the knee to your chest 5 times. 1. I'm breaking it down on this side, but when we get to the other side, I'm gonna move pretty quickly. 2 more One more.

Bring it down. Hold. Now we're gonna come up and go left, double, right elbow. Ready? Left, elbow, right, apple, down. Look towards your knees. Look up.

Make sure that head is consistent with your workout. 2 more. Boom. Boom. And down. Last one. And now leg extension, weight towards your shoulders.

Leg goes back 1. And lift it 2. And 3, last one, and hold, drop the knee, bring the carriage in. And other side. Okay? So we'll move a little quicker.

Lunch, foot lifts, knee tucks, obliques, hip extension. You guys ready? Hands onto the bar, foot onto the block, leg forward, 5 of them. 1. You can't see me. I am sweating. I think they turned the heat on in here. Here we go. 2 more. One more leg comes back. Hold.

Okay? Ready. Left leg stays straight. Weight to the arms. 1. And lift that foot too. Bring that head with you scoop those abs in 2 more.

One more knee to chest, ready, knee to chest 1. Look up. Look to the knee too. And 3 scoop. 2 more. Just breathe obliques, right elbow, right left, drop.

Right. Left drop. 2 more. Last one. Hip extension for 5 and 4. Two more, one more lower, bring it in, and rest, but before you turn me off, go ahead and do some stretches with me here at the end. Let's take one arm and hook it across the chest and grab it with the other. There was a lot of work in the shoulders today, and then take the other arm and let's hook that And then I'm gonna have you guys take your arms.

I'm gonna turn around. Let's grab a wrist, pull that wrist down, catching my breath, look over towards your right shoulder, And then take that chin over the other side and hold a stretch. These are gentle pulls and now take a hold of the other wrist, look towards that shoulder, take this chin over to the other side, come back to the center. Let's end with one roll down, inhale breath, and exhale. Let's fold forward. Drop it all. Drop the shoulders.

Soft in the knees. Roll yourself all the way up. And thank you for joining me for one of my go to workouts.