Class #1613

Beginner Systems Group Class

40 min - Class
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Niedra teaches a beginner system group class in this Reformer Workout. She gives wonderful and detailed explanations of Short Spine Stretch, Stomach Massage, Climb a Tree, and much more. This class is great for a beginner or anyone who wants to work on technique and control.
What You'll Need: Reformer w/Box

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Good evening. We are going to to beginner's system reform group class and I have a mixed level group here. So I would like all of you to go to your reformer first of all and set yourselves up with three red springs and then stand up and stand to the side of your reformer and just like we do so your back is to the reformer back is to the reformer. So you're sideways and bring your bottom close to the front. Um, you can decide, you can decide. Yes. Now all of you, lets have your hands one hand below just like we do for a math class.

You'll pull your stomach muscles in and up, bend the knees and sit down on the reformer. Bend the knees, that's it. Now Undo your hands so your hands are on the reformer. Swing around and lie down on your backs. And if your headrest is down, reach back with your hands. Find that little flat flat flap. Yeah, that's good.

So your head rest is up and place your feet on the bar for foot work. So all five toes have to be on and you want to be in a Pilati stance. So toes are apart, heels are together. Check that the knees are exactly in line with your shoulders. And again, double check that all five toes are on.

Lift your heels slightly and before we start, lift your head up and check your body. Check that you're lying in the middle of the apparatus. So you get used to looking for the cemetery yourself and not always relying on someone else. If you're nice and even had his doubt, stomach is in an up. Narrow your hips towards each other. And just for a moment, think of contracting from your calf to your hamstring. So the little grip in the back of your leg. Keep your heels with a arm.

Press all the way out to straight and pause all the way out to straight in pause, narrow the hips, hug the mid line by pressing your heels together and then bend the knees and come back in and pull your stomach up on the way down. Sandy, lift your head for a second. Put your head down, press out again. Press and bring the carriage back in and press out and in and out and in and out and in. And as you do this, keep those hips. Now keep going. Check that the back is long. Check that your stomach and waist is narrow and that the arms are reaching towards the fingers so the shoulders are gliding down, away from the ears. One more time. Press out and come back in. Now moving to bird on approach.

You want to move your feet together, wrap the toes around the bar. So let's get the bar right under the metatarsal. It's so just in the knuckles, just at the base of the knuckles I should say. And check that you feel your ankle bones together. And now press your heels down slightly, but keep toes curved over so you're kind of extending and stretching the toes. Keep your hips tight, knees together and press all the way out with your legs path.

Narrow the hips. Pull the stomach in, tighten the barracks and come in and press out and I'll come right back in and press out and come right back in and press out. And in and out and in and keep going. And try not to have that bang at the bottom. So you're controlling the machine in every stage of the movement. Two more times and in and last one, press out and in on your heels. Pull the toes up.

Flex your feet maximally. Keep the knees together, the hips tight the stomach, and then spread the toes. Can you get more flex? Pull the little toe up to the knee. And now keep that in. Press out and pause at the top. Flex your feet along, narrow the hips. Pull your knees up and check that the kneecaps are facing the ceiling. And then come back in and press again and come right back in and press and in empress and in and press and in and press and in empress and into more times press and in.

In last one press and in tended stretches. Next, so toes apart on the bar. Pilati stance. All five toes are on KC. You want your feet out, toes out, heels together, and press all the way out until your legs are straight in. Pause. Hug the hips and pull the stomach up. Lower your heels down and press all the way up on the balls of the feet and lower your heels down, stretching the calves. Then lift and press down, lengthening and lifting and press and lift. Now keep pulling the stomach up as you lower and lift so you're lengthening the front body up and your heels are pressing down.

So you want to feel this movement creating more length and space in your bath and stability in your hips and up. And we'll ask one bend you knees and up and bend your knees to come all the way back in. Next one will be hundreds. I'd like you all to sit up and release a spring. So if you swing your legs to one side, very nice, reach down and release a spring. Ideally the spring tension should be even so two outer springs or to inner springs. If you have that option, lie back down on your backs.

Reach back with your hands and hold the straps. You have little handles, they're good. Now bring your knees into your chest and reach the arms to the ceiling and pull the shoulders away from your ears and just press into the straps and pull the arms down towards the mat to feel the tension on the strap. Bring the arms back up again. Now keep the arms there, check that the shoulders are away from the ears. Lift your head and chest up. Look between your arms and pull down again, reach, and then the arms come up. The head goes back down onto the s, the headrest again, lift up your head and reach the arms long and then lower back down and lift the arms up. This time you will stretch your legs out the way you just, as you pull the arms down and go into the hundreds. So lift your head, pull down with the arm, stretch the legs out, and start pumping with the arms reading in. Exhale, three, four, five into three, four, five. Exhale, three, four, five. Lift the shoulders up.

If you can all that math to get the scoop in full. Five reach long with those arms into three, four, five. Exhale. Three, four, five in four, five, exhale. Three, four, five into three, four, five. Exhale, five. Last one, three, four, five. Exhale. Very good. Bend your knees in. Lift the arms to the ceiling and drop your head back to the math.

Now put your feet on the foot bar. Press out slightly with both legs. And then we take one foot off the foot bar and put the foot in a strap. So Debbie, that, yes, that's it. Now when you put your foot in the strap, make sure the strap is by the the heel at the bottom of the foot. Now push out with the foot in the strap and bring the other foot up.

Make sure the strap is wrapped right by the heel, right. And now bend both knees and bring your feet to your bottom and check that your arms along by your side for frog. So the heels are together, the toes are apart, and your knees are lined up with your shoulders. So you're in line with the box. Pull your stomach muscles in and feel your hips heavy and press out to a 45 degree angle with your legs. Keeping your back long and then slowly bring the knees back in, resisting the movement from your powerhouse. Press out again.

Press long reaching legs and let the knees breathe. Float back in and press out and flow to back in. As you press out, pull the stomach muscles up and float back in and then press out and pause. Check that your back is flat, your hips affirm, and you're even in the legs. Lift the legs up slightly for circles. Open the legs, the width of the reformer. Tighten your buttocks here. Pull down, pulling the stomach up. Bring the heels together. So lift, open, pull down and together. Lift open, pulled down and together. Lift open, pull down and together. Lift open, pull down and together. Lift the legs up in reverse. Nice from hips first, pull down, open out, up and together. So not too low, Casey, just in line, a little higher than the bar.

That's your maximum lowering down height so you don't let the feet go lower than 45 degrees. Open and up. And one more time. Press down. Open up in Denise, back in towards your chest. Knees open out to frogs to stretch the hamstrings out. Prius out with the legs, 45 degrees. So reaching out 45 degrees. Keep your bottom on the mat and bring the legs up over the hips if you can, without your hips moving, bend the knees and bring your feet to your bottom. Press out with your legs again and lift the legs up.

Everything stays in Pilati stance. As you bend the knees and these go towards your shoulders and open the knees, Casey and press out again. Long lates. Bring the legs up so you feel from the hips to the heels of the length. Then the knees to come in and one more time. Press out and bring the legs up and bend the knees to come in.

Now we're going into short spine massage, so reach back with your hands and put your headdress down. So have to pull the little flap reach on the side. Casey, there's a little wooden flap that you can pull and then it goes down. Paste your arms long by your sides. Press out with your legs. You will be rolling your bottom up in the air. Now. So you want to bring the legs up to a vertical position.

Tighten your buttocks and start aiming the legs on a long diagonal behind you. But feel the straps. Bend the knees down towards your shoulders, opening the knees, shoulder with. Keep your feet with ar and roll your bottom down away from your feet. Feet. Stay where they are and see if you can roll through your spine as low as you can. When you can't get any further, you push your bottom down. Press out with your legs. Again, nice long backs.

Start to bring the legs up, tighten your bottom and push your hips up in the air. You have to lift your bottom lifted, lifted, lifted like keeping the knees straight. Bend the knees down, open and these shoulder with if they're not, and now keep the tension on the strap as you rolled your bottom down. Don't, don't move your feet and when you can go no further, you push your bar, your bottom 50 about it. Press out with the legs again, bottom tight. As you start to roll up onto your shoulders rolling through the spine all the way up. Case. You get the bottom up, then the knees to your shoulders and feel the tension on the straps and then roll your hips down. Push your feet to your bottom to finish. No, no, no, no, no. Here. Open the knees. Press out the legs again. So like frogs. Now start lifting your bottom up. Lift your bottom up more, more, more, more. There we go.

Till the machine stops moving. Bend your knees towards your shoulders and they have to open the knees. Have to open. Feel the strap with your feet and roll your bottom away from your feet. So you stretch those hamstrings out. Then push your bottom down, down on or too hot. Stretch out. Do not stretch out. Pause every time here.

Last one heals together. Press out with the legs long, straight legs. Lift up, rolling up onto your shoulders nice and long all the way over. Bend the knees down towards your shoulders, opening the knees, shoulder width. Roll your bottom away from your feet. Stretch those legs out and push your bottom down. Push to your bottom. Casey, to your bottom with your feet. Think where your heels are and where your bottom is, and push them in. Pull, pull, pull, pull. Pull your feet in. Bend the knees more. Yes, exactly.

Okay, very good. Now we will stretch the inner thighs slightly, which back with your hands and lift the headrest again so the headdress comes up. Your arms are long by your sides. So in this nice little frog position, the first movement is just like you've been doing 45 degrees with the legs long. Now open the legs wide to the side, opening them, see if you can get your heels in line with your hips. And you may have a little traffic jam here. So you want to make sure the heels are, this is like you were sitting in a straddle position on the floor. Casey, I think you can get your legs very wide. Can't you open them? Open them.

You can go way under Debbie. Yes, I knew it. Yes. Okay. Now keeping your hips nice and steady. Bend the knees and bring your feet to gather into your frog position. Press out with the legs. 45 degrees. Sandy and Casey. Open your legs first. Open, open, open, open, open, open, open, and bend your knees in. And the other two ladies, open your legs open, open, open, open, open, open, open. Make sure your heels that are lined up, bend your knees in and press out with the legs again.

And then very good. Sandy and Casey. Open first and then Candace and Debbie. Open and bend your knees and come in. All Kay ladies, I would like you to bring your feet up over towards your face, bending the knees, reach up with your hands and grab the straps. So try to bring the carriage all the way in. Yes, get the feet out. Get Your straps off of your feet, put your feet here, hook the straps back behind you, and now your hands. And I see by your sides, your feet are off the foot bar. You will come up to sitting position.

See if you can keep your knees together all the way up to you. Sit. Your feet will come to the floor. You have to use your powerhouse, right? Make sure you're sitting on the carrot. Hold your elbows with your hands. Get your feet in front of your body and stand up. All right, good. Now you've done a lot of work with the legs lying on your back.

We're doing an exercise called stomach massage. Now you will be sitting and working with the leg. So check to see that you have three red springs on. Stand sideways. You're going to sit right back down again. Pull the stomach in and sit down. And now swing yourselves around.

So you're sitting facing front and your feet will be right on this wooden ledge here and hold the front of the carriage with your hands and then bring your bottom quite a bit forward. Yes. Now in this position, instead of sitting up on your bottom, we want your bottom slightly under you. So you are in a scoop to position like you would be if you were doing spine stretch forward. Bring one foot up onto the foot bar [inaudible] and then the other one. So if you're too far forward, you move your bottom back. You move your butt. So you find that place where your shoulders can be right over the hips and you are still holding the front of the carrier. Sandy, you will need to move your bottom back a little bit. Yes.

Now this is kind of like you're locked in here slightly. You want to check all five toes on knees or shoulder with, so open the knees, Casey, so Pilati stance heels together, toes apart, look toward your belly and pull your stomach in. But see if you can lift the waist up anyway so you're in a round shape like rolling like a ball, but you're lifted at the same time. Keep that and press out with the legs to straight, keeping the heels steady, then come back in. Now as you push, lift the heels slightly. Everybody lift the heels like high heeled shoes and push out without the heels moving and then come back in and press out again.

Keep those heels up and come back in. As you press out, pull the stomach in and up and back and press and back. The niche should be shoulder with every time you have a slight sense of a v working in the legs and press and back and press and back. Now we'll add to this, push out with the legs. Lower your heels in my direction with the leg straight. Lift up on your toes. Bend the knees and come back in. Knees a little bit wide. Push out again.

He'll say together, lower the heels, lift and come back in. Press out again. Lower the heels, lift and come back in and press and lower and lift and in press and lower and lift and come back in and put your feet on the little ledge. Reach down with one handed. Release the middle spring. So you're on two springs now and now reach back with your hands and put them on top of the shoulder rests with your hands there. You can have them. I think you would all prefer to have your hands this way so you can use it to lift your back. Way Up and open your shoulders out.

Now see if you can put your feet back up on the little bar. Make sure that you're again in a PyLadies v so the toes are apart maybe two inches between your big toes. All five toes are on and lift this just way, way up. So you get this part of your back working and the shoulders wide and the stomach lifted. Keep that beautiful lift and push out with the legs. Press and pause here. Lift even more. Push with the arms.

Open the chest out, Casey, that's gorgeous. Bend the knees and come back in and keep this height and pressing. Get even more lift in the body and come back in and press out and think of your neck. Lovely and long and back and press and back and press and back and press and back. Now we'll add the ankles to this push out. Again, lift, lower the heels towards me, lift the heels, come back in and get nice long trunk and Prius out again and lower the heels and lift. Nice long trunk and calm back until you resist desiring to fall down and lower and lift and come back in and last one, press and lower and lift and come back in.

Now we will do crazy stretch. Your knees will be wide. Bring one hand to the foot bar and then the other. So you grab and you ran and you hold on for dear life and see if you can press out with your legs as far as you can go. You may go far, you may go a few inches and then come back. But as you come back, let the knees go outside your arms. Press out again, pulling the stomach in and come back in. Nice wide knees and two more times. Use this to stretch the legs and stretch the back and come back in.

And one last time, pressing out, lengthening everything as you go and come all the way back in. Bring your feet down and then see if you can bring your feet to one side. And so you bring your feet to the floor. Make sure you're set evenly. Knees are in front of the hips. You place your hands one hand on top of the other. Just like this. Casey, nice firm, bottom firm's stomach shifts onto your feet and stand up.

Very bring the arms down. Very nice to go to the back of the, before my bring your box over for short box. So you will take the head rest and have it flipped down and then take the box and you slide it over the shoulder rest. Exactly. Yes. And let's have you all put the foot bar down and this is setting an example for all. And if you look down, you'll see a little strap, pull the strap up and sit on the box and get your feet in the strap.

Okay, so very important is first and foremost, to have a very strong flex of your feet. You do not want your feet resting on the foot bar. Sit as far back with your bottom on the box as you can. If you're super tall, you want to check that you always have at least one hands with hand width on the box that your bottom is that far in front. Now Sandy, we'll have a look at you. I want you flexing. Yes, much better. Okay. And you want your feet. There we go.

Let's have all of you place your hands like this. And first of all, lift way up with your spine just the way you did a minute ago. And then pull your stomach back and just round a little bit back, like someone's grabbing you at the waist and scooping you back. And then come back and sit up tall, lifting up through the crown of the head and then pull the stomach in and make it slightly round shape in the middle of your spine. Candace, get the floating ribs back, floating ribs back up here, and then come back up. Now this is the trick. This is your hype. When you're tall, when you pull the stomach back and round, you don't get shorter. So can you pull back? But keep lifted out. Oh, that's better. Even more there, Debbie, pull back. But don't lose height and then come back up.

So this should not make you get shorter. You don't want to go shorter. If you can say two more times, pull back and pull the ribs back, but lift out of your lower belly. That's much better. And sit up tall and last one rounding, but not losing heights. So there's this nice lean feeling in the belly and then come back up. Very good.

Now let's have our hands here start lifting just the way you did a minute ago and go into the same shape. Let the head drop forward and roll back feeling this round shape. So just like you rolling halfway back, that's it. Then use your stomach muscles to roll up again and sit up nice and tall and lifted and again scoop the naval, looked down slightly with your gaze and rolled back in this time. So you getting rolled back enough to get the sacrum on the box and then roll back up against. So you don't want to go into a back bend, you want to stay in a school. So it's like on the mat, you're doing roll up, roll down and again, round your back, pull the stomach in and roll back articulating your spine as you go back and then roll back and come back up to sit up. Nice and tall. Sandy, I think you're going too far back cause you're going to backbend.

And one more time round your back. Press that sacred in. Let yourself be rounded and then roll back. Sit Up nice and tall and lifted. Bend over, grabbed behind the knees with your hands and relax your body down. Just like your head. Relax for a minute. Let your shoulders relax. Pull your belly in and just allow yourself to feel like a ragdoll.

Then Roll back up to an upright position. Let's take one hand like this on top of the other place. The hands behind the back of the head or just just at the top of the neck and S. Sit up. Very, very tall. So same thing and literally think of lifting your neck up. Now keep the feet, flex the narrow, the hips get taller, and then he ends halfway back. So 45 degrees staying long and come back up.

Relax your muscles a little bit. Lift up again and get even longer in your back. Keep your sub flat and long and hinge back. Come back up. Lift a little bit more out of your waist and relax your muscles. One more time. Lift up even further hints out 45 degrees Max and come back up.

Now lift your arms to the ceiling even taller, and then bend over your legs. Relax your arms, relax your body. You can grab your calves or your knees and gently stretch down to let the body become long and loose and floppy. But you're getting a little stretch. Come back up. Place the hands behind your head again. Lift up in the waist, hinge a little bit forward.

Keep both hips on the mat and bend slightly to the right. So you're going to do a sideways bend. Come back up, lift again in that waist and bend slightly to the left so you're stretching the right ribs lightly. Come back up, lift out of your lower back and first side and come back. Lift again and other side and back. Keep the elbows wide. Lift and go to the first side and back. Lift way up and other side and back. And then again, bend forward.

Grab your knees and pull down. Nice stretch. Come back up and put your hands behind your head again. Big Lift up out of your lower back. Get that waist tiny and long, and just spiral to the right. So you're going to twist around without the hips shifting. Come back to the center and open the elbows.

Lift a little more and get that twist happening in the waist, in the ribs and back to the center and lift again and twist the rod to always lift first. And then you twist evenly. Come back to the center, lift and think of the spine running up the center and you spiral around your own spine and back and lift. One more time out of that lower back. Keep that high, the twists to the first side and back. And lastly, way, way, way up. Twist to the other side and back in bed. Forward and relax down. Rounding your back, rounding your spine, letting everything go soft. So roll back up. So up to now, we've been working all of the spine and the trunk.

Now we're going to work more into the hips and the hamstrings. So instead of sitting up nice and tall, let's have you all hold the front of the box slightly and just roll a little bit back so you feel your sacred tucking under and take your right foot and pull your knee in as deeply as you can. Holding underneath the knee, underneath the knee. And now if you really round back a lot, just check that the shoulders are over your hips so you're too far back, Sandy. But you want this neat pulled into your chest, just like single leg stretches, deep stretch. Now try and keep your leg that close to your chest and lift the leg up and down. So you're just gonna move the leg up and down to loosen the hip up.

So not slowly, floppy, loose news, that's it. Casey loose and keep going like this, but feel that the hips are steady, so you're just starting to warm up the hamstrings and the joints and letting the leg be less rigid and grippy and tight. Now pull the knee in towards you again. Casey, you're leaning too far back. Stay evenly on both hips. There we are, and he the leg pulled in and slowly stretch the leg out as far as you're able to. Then walk your hands up towards your ankle. The leg will be further away from you now and pull your belly and get a little bit of height and flex and point your feet a few times to loosen up the ankles and loosen up the calves. And now check that both hips, even Paul, the stomach.

And even though you're in a round shape and lean back and pull the leg with you just a little bit to stretch it and then rock back up using your stomach very even in the pelvis. Rock back and rock up the stomach in one more time. Rock back, rock up. Lift up your back now and pull the leg even more in how high can you get the leg, but lift your backup. So Casey up out of that low, that's it. Now bend the knee, place it on top of the other side.

Hold the sides of the box with your hands. Check that you feel even in the hips and bend over. Giving that hips, that extra little stretch and change your leg. So slip the right leg in the strap, check the both hips are even round back slightly, and bend your left knee in. So bend the left knee. And Casey, you jumped ahead of me. So we're doing the left leg first. Hold underneath knee. Pull the knee as close to your chest as you can and then lift and lower the leg.

Nice and loose and floppy. So you're just loosening up that like that's actually the way to do it, Sandy. Yes, I know you're very tight in the hamstrings. So this movement just starts to get the juice coming back in the fibers right now. Pull the side deeply into your chest, get a nice strong scooped belly, and then lift the leg up as far as it'll go. And walk your hands up. Now the leg will be further away from you and make sure your heel is lined up with the middle of your body and flexing. Point your foot a few times, loosening up the ankle, loosening up the calf, loosening up the foot and check that your hips are even on the box. Keep your stomach in and hinge back, pulling the leg with you and come up and rock back.

Very stable in your trunk and back. And one more time. Rock back and up. And now bend the knee on. Place the foot above the knee, hole the sides of the box and bend over. Nice stretch over the leg, getting a good stretch in the hip. Okay, let's have you all step off and take the box and put it behind you. And the next one will be elephant.

It's called elephant because elephants are supposed to have a saggy skin in the back of the size. And this is the story I heard that this is supposed to get rid of all those saggy back of the hamstrings. So historical notes here. So you can either work with two red springs or a red spring and a blue spring. I think for the lightweights among us, I think Casey for you, red and blue, and we'll see for the rest of you.

So let's have you all stand up on the carriage and put poll the foot bar with your hands and walk your feet back to the shoulder. Rest of this is like a nerdy sort of a down dog, but it's not. It's Pilati. So it's elephant. So the first thing I would like you to do is press into your outer foot, little toe to heel presses into the mat so that the inner arch is lifting. Lift all five toes up and press your heels down into the carriage. Keep pressing down with the carriage and round your back as much as you can.

Looking at your belly with your face so you, it's like someone grabbing you at the waist and lifting up. Now tighten your buttocks towards each other and check that the backs of the legs are long and pressing down. Keep this shape and push the heels away from you. 12 inches out. Hold it. Pull the stomach in and bring the carriage back in under your body. Using your stomach.

Push with your tail and pull with your stomach and push with your tail tail goes down and pull. Lifting the stomach and press with the tail and pull with the stomach. This hands. Don't move it up. Push and pull. I want this raw and push and pull. He'll stay down. Casey, don't let the legs get legs.

Go into far and in broadened here and pushed 12 inches out only to there. Bring the carrot in. One more time. Press and pull. Now hold the position. Keep the carriage in. Pull the belly in and Ben both knees all the way down to come to a kneeling position on the carriage all the way down. Very good. Walk your feet back and get your feet right against the shoulder rests.

You want all five toes curled under your so Casey, get the toes. That's it. Pointing towards the knees. Try to get as much bend in those toes as you can. And again, if possible, even the little toe should be bent under. Check that your knees are lined up with your feet. So Sandy, a little wider here and first movement, bring your bottom almost to your heels and now round your back deeply so you tuck your tail under. That's it Casey. And with both check that your shoulders are wide and your head is looking right under the feeling with your hands. It's like you're pushing but your hands, just a stable. Elbows along, Casey, elbows along, but shoulders away from your ears. Wide shoulders.

Now nothing moves in your upper body. Push the carriage away with your legs and bring the carriage under you scooping deeply and and scoop and press and school and press and scoop and press and scoop and press. Now pause here and I'd like all of you to lower your bottom. It's the same shape. Get your hips lower and cloak still. No, no, no change of shape. You all were having your bottom up in the air. I want you further down low and you're going to do another five much lower down. So the prints out with the legs and bring your bottom under to come back in your bottom should stay close to your heels and under and out and under and out.

This is better, Debbie and under. Now faster and under and under and under and under and under. Better keep your hips close to your heels and now lift your head and chest up and arch. Send it Candace. Your hips should be right by your heels so you don't want to lift the bottom up. You want to almost sit into the heels. So Sandy, you want to now lift your head and chest up in. Look forward, look forward.

Straighten your back that long, flat back almost on your heels but not quite and back and forth again in this shape. Push and pull and push and pull and push and pull and push and pull and push and pull and push and pull and push and pull and pull. Now round your back one more time. Very curved. Shoulders are gliding away till your back is wide. And see if you can lift your knees two or three inches off the character you've lifted up and hover and lower back down.

Scoop the tail, lift up again and scoop. Keep that pelvis under you and down. One more time. Scoop deeply and lift your knees up slightly and lower back down. Very, very nice. Step off the machine. Sit back down on your, on the machine again and put back three springs.

So three red springs. Make sure your headrest is lifted and lie back down on your back for running. So once you're lying on your back, you get both feet on parallel. Not turned out now, but parallel toes together. Heels together, knees together. Lift your head up and check your alignment on the reformer.

Are you lying in the middle or your feet in the middle or you're off to one side? Sandy, you're on a diagonal so you want your feet. You always want to check both sides. I just adjusted you. You were way off here and check that you're even distance. You see even sides on either side. Your right arm, left arm, very important habit to get into. Lift your heels very slightly. Pull your stomach in and push all the way out with your legs to straight, long, long hips and knees and feet. Now Bend your right knee, push your left heel down towards me and pause. Keep the hips steady.

Lift all the way back up so both legs are straight, reverse other heel goes down and then come back up first like down. So now that you've got the rhythm, start going a little faster, but do not let those hips flip flop. Casey, I don't want to see and that's it. You need don't no flopping here, no salsa dancing and press that. So you really have to press down in there and find out how to hinge in the socket versus higher. That's it. Oh no wonder you're doing this. You put way too many springs and come back in.

I'm going to feed you to three springs. You were on four so that'll your lightweight. You are too much pressure. Better. Yes. Press, press, press, press, press that. So much. That's better casing. Much better. Okay. Bend your knees and come back in. Pelvic lift, place your heels in the corners of the bar. So you want the heels out in the corners. Your knees line up with your features.

Slight flex with the feet. So really make sure your knee is lined up with your third toe. Yes, so you're not Donald ducking and little bit more out here, right on the corner. So it's like a v that's almost too much. Now everybody lift your bottom up and place your hands to the little fingers on the map and your thumb is touching your sacrum. So you make it.

You see how I have my hands? So the hand is like karate chop style. That's the height your bottom needs to be. Put your hands back on the mat. Stomach is in, paddocks are tight and you press out without your bottom going up or down. Press all the way out long legs and then come back in, keeping your hips at that level and press out again, nice and long with your stomach tight and come back in and press Oregon to try not to have your bottom boggling all over the place, but hold it nice and steady. So there's a lot of control needed in the powerhouse and in your bottom muscles and press and also controlled in the legs.

So you're really working from your knees to your ribs to keep that area nice and steady. And in two more times like this, press and in. And one more time. Press and enroll everything down. Let your back relax. Roll through the spine. Bring your knees to your chest, give your legs a good hug. Swing your legs to one side. You come up to a sitting position.

You need to learn how to control that to them uniquely placing your feet on the floor. Have one hand on top of the other. Stand up and you did your beginner reformer workout. Aren't they great? Yay.

Comments

3 people like this.
Love seeing real bodies in a "real time" class setting. Nice flow to the class. I loved that Niedra didn't just say all her lovely cueing, but would stop and put hands on and help correct form and alignment.
1 person likes this.
Loved this class Niedra...I don't have a live pilates teacher anymore as mine is very pregnant and I live in a smallish town in Australia...so no one else here that does reformer work. You are now my new teacher...your classes are so good to follow for those of us who have to do pilates from home....I would swear you are here in the room with me....your prompts are so great...I'm sure I'm doing the exercises correctly..Thank you so much for your amazing teaching style. More please!!
I always learn so much from your cueing! I also loved the real bodies/class setting. Thank you Niedra. More L2 in this setting type would be awesome!!
2 people like this.
For me, it would be better to see one person from the side. It isn't as helpful as it might be just seeing people's backs. Good prompts, but I'm better with visuals as well.
Thank you ladies for your comments.
I am glad you found the life group class helpful.
Emjay - we struggled with how to set up to group for filming so will try to work out a side angle as well next time.
Excellent! as always!

Great class, but it felt more like a level 1 than a 1/2. Regardless, even though it was a bit slower of a pace for me, I learned some new things like maintaining my height in short box.
Thank you for your post Stacey, it is always a challenge to set a level for the class so I suppose there will always be grey boarder lines. If you got value from this speed anyway - then great.
I also loved seeing a class with"real" participants. Although it is lovely to watch classes with perfect form we all know that this is not how it is in a studio setting. I noticed that there was no cueing on breathing. Just curious Niedra when do you start incorporating breathing into beginners sessions? I love your teaching style. Very clear and direct.
Hi Jenny, so glad you enjoyed this class. I don't focus a lot on breathing, especially not at the beginning as I consider the ribcage and spine too congested to allow for good breathing anyway and there is too much else to deal with . I know people strain but in my personal experience as the structure evolved breathing becomes easier to control and refine, so I include breath at the advanced level - straining is part of learning new material. Hope this answers your question.
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