Fundamental Pilates

Hi, I'm Kira Lamb and this class is dedicated to Pilates fundamentals and basic mat work. Starting with the basics is important because Pilates is an exercise method that will teach you how to move as efficiently as possible so that everything you do, from sitting at a desk all day in Zoom meetings to running marathons can be done with way more ease and far less pain, discomfort, or injury. Practicing the basics, in fact, is one of the best investments you can make if you wanna move and feel at your very best. So we're gonna start class on the mat. Go to the base of your mat.

You can start with your feet parallel in together. Your back is to the mat. Turn your feet into a small V that we call Pilates stance. There's a fist distance between your big toe joints. Make sure you feel equal pressure between the mound of your big toe, small toe, and the center of your heel.

And now we'll focus on centering. Place one hand on your lower back and stand as tall as you can. Take a big inhale and try to breathe all the way down to where your hand is. And as you exhale, feel like you're pulling your lower abdominals into your hand, like your hand is a vacuum. And again, inhale.

Breathe all the way down into your hand. As you exhale, pull your lower abdominals back even deeper you might feel your tailbone drop. One more, take an inhale all the way down into your hand. As you exhale, pull your lower abdominals back even further, and then release your arms. So we're gonna add to that.

Reach your arms up towards the ceiling, and stack your hands behind your head. Relax your shoulders and gently press your head back. Repeat that same breath. You take an inhale, breathe all the way down into your lower back. As you exhale, pull your lower abdominals back.

But can you lift your navel up towards your hands? Inhale, breathe all the way down into your lower back. As you exhale, pull your lower abdominals in deeper and lift them up to your hands behind your head. One more, inhale, breathe into your lower back. Exhale, pull your lower abdominals in, and then lift your navel up towards your hands.

Relax your arms. And remember that internal lift you just created? We're gonna add knee bends. Reach your arms forward and stack your forearms one on top of the other. Press them into one another and lift your collarbone above your arms.

Make sure you still feel the three corners of your feet. As you inhale, bend your knees and pause. Do you still feel the three corners of your feet? The ball of your big toe, small toe, and the center of your heel. Now, as you exhale, pull your lower abdominals into your lower back, lift your navel up so you recreate that same internal lift.

We'll do two more. Inhale, breathe into your lower back as you bend your knees. Exhale, pull your lower abdominals in and up. One more, bend your knees and grow taller. I'm pressing my head through the ceiling.

And then exhale, pull your lower abdominals in, lift your navel up. Switch so your other arm is on top. Now, you have the option to join me in deep knee bends if you have healthy hips, knees, and ankles. If not, repeat the knees bends that you just did. As you inhale, bend your knees, send your chin, chest, and elbows forward.

Try to send your hips as far back as you can. See if you can keep your heels on the floor. Dig your heels into the floor. Find that internal lift to come all the way up to standing. Two more, find your internal lift.

And as you bend your knees, try to sit on your heels. Your elbows, chin, and chest go forward, almost like you want your elbows, knees, and hips on the same plane. Push through your heels. Find that internal lift. Come all the way up to standing.

You have one more. Bend your knees, send your elbows, chin, and chest forward, and try to lower as low as you can. Keeping your heels on the mat, press your heels down, find that internal lift and come up to standing. We're gonna take that same deep knee bend all the way down to the mat, or you can always just take a seat and meet me there. So I'm gonna switch the cross of my arms, find that internal lift.

Keeping my heels grounded, I'm gonna start to sit down like I wanna sit on my heels. I'm trying to get my elbows, knees, and hips on the same plane. Now, I lift my abdominals and take a seat with control. Of course, you can use your hands if you need to. And then place your hands behind you, scoop back, hold onto the backs of your thighs, and roll down one bone at a time.

Rest your arms long by your side and just try to find that same internal lift. Take a big inhale all the way down into your lower back. Exhale, pull your lower abdominals in and slide them up to the base of your skull. All right, so before we continue, make sure you still feel the three corners of your feet and that your legs and knees are hip distance apart. You'll feel the back of your hips heavy, the weight of your ribcage, your shoulder blades and the back of your head.

And then reach your arm straight up towards the ceiling so that your wrists are right over your shoulders. As you inhale, reach your arms through the ceiling, so my shoulder blades are peeling off the mat. And then I exhale, pull my shoulder blades back down. We'll do two more. See if you can initiate from the bottom tips of your shoulder blades as you reach up.

And then you exhale, pull the bottom tips of your shoulder blades towards one another. Now, add the internal lift. Inhale, breathe all the way down into your lower back as you reach up. Exhale, pull your abs in and up as you lower your shoulder blades down. We're gonna add rib cage arms.

So lift your arms up and keep your shoulder blades off the mat. Inhale, breathe into your lower back and reach your arms back. But try not to let your ribs peel off the mat at all. Keep your lowest rib on the floor. Exhale, reach your arms up and forward.

Stop when your arms are parallel to your size. In a reach up, scrape the ceiling, breathe all the way into your lower back. Exhale, reach up, scrape the ceiling, and reach forward so your arms are parallel to your legs. One more, inhale, reach up as you go back. And then exhale, pull your lower abdominals in and up and reach forward.

We're gonna add on. Inhale, reach your arms up and back. Now, as you exhale, pause with your arms straight up towards the ceiling. Notice my shoulder blades are still off the mat. It's like my chest bone is pressing or sinking into the mat.

Cervical nod. I nod my chin downwards and look down the bridge of my nose. As you exhale, curl your head and shoulder blades up off the mat. You stop when you feel the bottom tips of your shoulder blades on the mat, and then lower all the way down. Reach your arms up and back.

And again, reach your arms up towards the ceiling, feel your chest bone, sink. Cervical nod, exhale, curl your head and shoulder blades up so you feel the bottom tips of your shoulder blades. You're reaching your arms forward and then lower all the way down. Arms go up and back, you have one more. As your arms go up, remember, your chest bone sinks.

Do your cervical nod. Exhale, find your internal lift as you curl up. And can you hold here? Inhale, breathe into your lower back. Exhale, pull your lower abdominals all the way in into the base of your skull.

And then rest your head and shoulder blades all the way down, and then lower your arms by your side. And now, let's work our lower body. We'll start off with pelvic tilts. Your arms are pressed down by your side. On your next exhale, rock your pelvis back.

So now your lower back is flat on the mat. And then release. Take a big inhale all the way into your lower back. As you exhale, press your lower back into the mat and then go right back into neutral. One more exhale, you pelvic tilt.

I'm pulling my navel down to the mat, sliding it all the way to the back edge of the mat. And then go back into what we call neutral pelvis. You're gonna hold the neutral pelvis for the next series of exercises. To help you find and maintain that, make a triangle shape with your hands like this. The heels of your hands go on these bony landmarks right in the front of your hips and make that triangle shape.

If you look up, that triangle shape should be parallel to the mat. Your finger should not be higher than your thumbs. That means you're in a pelvic tilt. So find your neutral pelvis. Take a big inhale here, breathe into your lower back.

As you exhale, can you pull your lower abdominals away from your hand like we did earlier? Adding movement. Take a big inhale all the way into your lower back. As you exhale, pull your lower abs down in order to float your right foot, just like two to three inches off the mat. And then then lower it all the way down.

And again, exhale. I pull my lower abdominals away from my hands and barely lift my foot up and then lower it all the way down. Two more. Take an exhale, my lower abdominals pulled down into the mat. I slide my navel all the way to the back edge of the mat, and then lower it all the way down so you feel how the work comes from here.

Last one, exhale, pull your abs down to barely lift your foot up off the floor and then lower it down. Same thing on the other side. You take an exhale, abs go down, your foot barely leaves the floor, and then lower it all the way down. Remember, you're trying to move your leg independently of your pelvis, so you don't wanna lift it by tilting, and then lower it all the way down. Two more, exhale.

Pull your lower abdominals down into the mat like there's a suction, pulling your abs down. And then lower. Final one, you empty your lungs and barely lift your foot off the mat and then lower that foot down. And then hug your right knee in to your chest. Grab the back of your thigh and give yourself a stretch.

New exercise. Your arms pressed into the mat. Your leg can go into a tabletop, so your knee is right over your hip socket. Take a big inhale all the way into your lower back. As you exhale, find that internal lift and press your thigh away from you while pulling your navel in the opposite direction.

And then bend your knee. We'll do three more. You exhale, find that internal lift. Your leg goes forward, navel goes back. And then inhale and bend.

Exhale, pull your lower abdominals back. Keep your lowest rib on the mat still. And then bend, you have one more. Exhale, pull your lower abdominals in and up. Reach your thigh away from you.

Bend your knee in and then lower it down onto the mat. Other side. Hug your left knee into your chest for a stretch. Your leg goes forward into tabletop. Arms are anchored into the mat.

Breathe all the way into your lower back. Exhale, pull your abs in and up, and press your thigh away from you. And then inhale and return. Exhale, pull your lower abdominals in and up, and then inhale and return. You have two more.

Exhale, pull your lower abdominals back as your leg goes forward and return. Last one, pull your lower abdominals in and up. It's that same internal lift. And then bend your knee and then lower your foot down. Last fundamental.

Bring your legs and feet all the way together and slide your right leg straight. You can press the three corners of your left foot into the floor. This leg though is dead weight. You're gonna lift it from the strength of your center. So take a big inhale, pressing your arms into the floor.

Exhale, pull your lower abdominals in and up, and lift your right thigh halfway up your left leg. And then inhale and lower. Exhale, pull your lower abdominals in. You can push your left foot and both arms into the mat and then lower it all the way down. Two more, this is dead weight.

Exhale, reach your leg forward in order to go up, and then lower. Make sure you still feel your waistline anchored on the mat. Exhale, pull your lower abdominals in and up to lift your leg, and then lower that foot down. Bend your knee, other side. Left leg is dead weight.

Your anchors are your right foot and your arms. Take a big inhale all the way into your lower back. Find that internal lift to reach your left leg forward and up. And then inhale and lower. Exhale, reach your leg forward and up.

Pull your navel off the back edge of your mat and then lower. Two more. Exhale, pull your lower abdominals all the way to the back edge of the mat to lift your leg, and then lower. You have one more. Exhale, pull your lower abdominals in and up to lift your leg up.

And then lower your leg all the way down. Bend your knees. And now, we're ready to do basic Pilates mat. Bend your knees into your chest one at a time. And you're gonna go into that same Pilates stance.

My heels are together, toes are apart. And press your heels together. Your knees are as wide as your armpits. To hold your legs here, pull your lower abdominals in and up. Reach your arms up like we did in the beginning, but really reach up and feel your chest bone sink into the floor.

Take a big inhale. As you exhale, pull your lower abdominals back. Reach your arms forward like you're reaching your wrist past your hips. Legs go up towards the ceiling and stay here to breathe. Take an inhale all the way into your lower back.

Exhale, pull your lower abdominals in and up, find that internal lift. Inhale, breathe into your lower back. Exhale, I'm at the bottom tips of my shoulder blade. Head points up. One more like this.

Inhale, breathe into your lower back, and then exhale. Now, we're gonna add the pumping for the hundred. You inhale, two, three, four, five. And exhale, two, three, four, five. Inhale, two, three, four, five.

And exhale, two, three, four, five. One long inhale all the way into your lower back. Exhale all the air out. Inhale all the way into your lower back. Exhale, two, three, four, five.

Hug your knees into your chest, rest your head. That was half of it. I'm gonna do the other half. So now, make sure your heels are pressed together. Knees are the distance of your armpits.

Reach your arms up towards the ceiling, but really reach up and feel your chest bone sink. Take a big inhale into your lower back. Exhale, curl up, reach forward, legs up, and you pump. Inhale, two, three, four, five. And exhale, two, three, four, five.

Inhale into your lower back. And exhale, two, three, four, five. Inhale, two, three, four, five. And exhale, two, three, four, five. Two more sets, two, three, four, five.

An exhale, two, three, four, five. Empty your lungs, two, three, four, five. Hug your knees into your chest, rest your head. Rock up to seater for the half, roll back. You ground your feet so you feel the three corners of your feet.

Press your hands firmly at the backs of your thighs and then grow taller. Find your internal lift, and we'll start off with the pelvic tilt. Grow even taller as you take an inhale into your lower back. Exhale, pelvic tilt. Roll over your sitting bones and round back.

Try to make your front body as concave as you can. Tailbone reaches forward, navel back. On your next exhale, bend your elbows and round forward. Tailbone still curled under, forehead stops right over your knees. Lift your spine and grow even taller.

Take an inhale into your lower back. Find that internal lift and then exhale. Curl your tailbone under. Pull your lower abdominals all the way to the back edge of the mat, tailbone forward. Take an inhale, exhale, round forward with relaxed shoulders.

Pull your waist back and then lift your lower abdominals. Sit up nice and tall. You have one more. Inhale, and then curl your tailbone under and round back. Keep pulling your navel to the back edge of the mat, tailbone to the front edge of the mat.

Now, keep your hips where they are. Bend your elbows round forward. Forehead over your knees, reach your arms forward. Press the three corners of your feet down. Breathe into your lower back and start to roll down.

Backs of your hips touch, then your waist, bottom tips of your shoulder blades, and then your head. We're gonna do a modified roll up. Keep reaching your arms up. Sink your chest bone into the mat. Do your cervical nod.

And as you exhale, pull your lower abs back and curl up to the bottom tips of your shoulder blades. Stay here for an inhale. As you exhale, can you press down in order to curl up maybe one or two more bones? Grab the backs of your thighs. Bend your elbows and try to press your waist deeper into the floor.

Keep pushing your waist down as leverage to roll all the way up. Round forward, reach your arms in front of you. Inhale. Find that internal lift and start to roll down one bone at a time. Backs of your hips, your waist, bottom tips of your shoulder blades and your head.

You have two more. Inhale, curl your head and shoulder blades up. Now, you can curl up a little bit higher. Either grab the backs of your thighs or try with no arms. Pull your lower abdominals backwards.

Round forward reaching for the wall in front of you. Inhale, find that internal lift, and roll down one bone at a time. Backs of your hips, waist bottom, tips of your shoulder blades and the head. One more. Cervical nod, curl your head and shoulder blades up off the mat.

My arms and head are reaching forward. My lower abdominals are pulling towards the wall behind me to round forward. Inhale, roll to the backs of your hips. Exhale, roll all the way down and then rest your head. Arms go by your side.

We're gonna go back to a fundamental. Slide your legs and feet together. Bring them a little bit closer to you. Straighten your left leg. This is your standing leg or your anchor.

Press the back of your thigh and heel into the mat. Make sure you're in your neutral pelvis. The goal of this exercise is to not let your hips or shoulders move at all. So press your arms down and your left thigh down. Inhale, breathe into your lower back, and open your right knee out to the side.

Exhale, pull your lower abdominals in and up to bring your leg back up. Inhale, breathe into your lower back as you open your leg. Exhale, pull your lower abdominals in and up to left. You have three more. Are you still pressing the back of your left thigh and both arms into the floor?

And then exhale and lift. As you open your right knee, make sure your left rib stay grounded on your mat. Exhale, pull your lower abdominals in. Final one, inhale, press your left heel, left hamstring into the floor. Exhale, bring your leg up.

All right, so let's do the same thing on the other side. Straighten your right leg, bend your left knee. Your right leg is anchored into the floor from your heel all the way up to your sitting bone, and press both arms into the mat. As you inhale, breathe into your lower back. Remember, the goal is not to rotate.

And then exhale, pull your lower abdominals in. That's what draws your knee back. Inhale, breathe into your lower back, and then exhale. Remember that vacuum feeling? Pull your lower abdominals into your lower back and lift your navel to the base of your skull.

Inhale, open, pull your lower abdominals in. Exhale, pull your lower abdominals all the way up to the base of your skull. Last two, maybe you can open your knee a little bit more without rotating your hips. And then exhale, empty your lungs to return. Now, in this last one, make sure your right ribs stay grounded.

I open this side of my rib, stays anchored into the mat, and then exhale, bring it all the way back up. All right, hug your knees into your chest one at a time. Grab the backs of your thigh. Rock up to seated for an exercise called rolling back or rolling like a ball. Place your feet in that same Pilates stance that we started with, heels together, toes apart.

Hold onto the backs of your thighs like the half rollback. Lift your spine and then find that internal lift. And then curl your tailbone under. Keep finding that internal lift and see if you can lift your feet up off the mat and find your balance. Notice I'm in a cervical nod.

Stay here for an inhale. And as you exhale, can you curl your tailbone under and roll back just a little bit more? And again, stay here for an inhale. Exhale, curl your tailbone under, and roll back a little bit more. You should feel your lower abdominals a lot.

One more, take an inhale and then exhale. Now have an option just to balance or you roll. You'll keep your chin downwards. Roll to the bottom tips of your shoulder blade and back up. Inhale, find your internal lift.

Exhale, come up and find your balance. And again, inhale, roll back. Exhale, come up and find your balance. Inhale, you're trying to maintain your shape as you roll back and forth. Just two more.

Find your internal lift to roll back, your internal lift to help you balance. Final one, inhale, roll back. Roll up, find your balance, and then place your feet flat on the mat, turn into parallel, reach your arms forward and round your spine. Take an inhale into your lower back. And as you push your feet into the floor, roll down one bone at a time and you'll set up for single leg stretch.

Bring your legs in your feet together. I brought mine a little bit closer. Bring your right knee into your chest and stack your hands one on top of the other. My big toe is against my left knee. Take a big inhale.

As I exhale, I do my cervical nod and curl my chest up off the mat. Stay here for an inhale. And then exhale. Lift your left leg up. This is the shape.

Stay here for an inhale. Breathe into your lower back. Exhale, abs pull into the floor, and find the shape on the opposite side. Take an inhale into your lower back. Exhale, abs down, and that's what moves your legs.

Inhale into your lower back. Exhale and switch. Keep going. You have to often to do it with your head down or maintain your chest lift and your breath. And pull, and pull, abs in and up.

And pull, and pull. You have one more set. Pull your knee in, pull it in, pause. Hug both knees into your chest. Rest your head and shoulder blades all the way down.

Double leg stretch. Find that frog position. Heels together, toes apart. My knees are only as wide as my arm pit, just like we said for the hundred. Take an inhale.

Breathe into your lower back, cervical nod, and then curl your head and shoulder blades up. I'm looking at my heels. Inhale, your arms and legs go straight up towards the ceiling. Exhale, bend your knees and give them a hug. Inhale, arms and legs go straight up, pull your lower abs down and exhale bend.

One more, inhale, breathe into your lower back. We're gonna add on exhale bend. Inhale, reach your arms and legs up. Open your arms into a T. Exhale, bend your knees.

Two more. Inhale, arms and legs go up. Open your arms into a T. Exhale, bend. One more.

Inhale. Looking forward at your thighs, hug your knees in, rest your head. We rock up to seated for the spine stretch. Once you rock up to seated, you separate your legs a little bit wider than your hips. The goal is straight legs, lifted spine.

If you feel stuck in this position, take a yoga block or a book and place it behind you. And then take a seat on it. So you can sit up as tall as you can. Find that same internal lift. So you can place one hand on your lower back.

Take an inhale into your lower back. Exhale, pull your abs in, and lift your spine up. One more. Take an inhale into your lower back. Exhale, pull your abs in.

Press your head through the ceiling. Reach your arms in front of you. Notice my feet are flexed. Inhale, curl your chin into your chest as that same cervical nod. Peel away from an imaginary wall.

As you round forward, feel like your lower back is sliding up the wall behind you. Inhale, lift your lower abdominals, and roll all the way up. At the top, you exhale. Inhale, curl your chin downwards. Exhale, feel like you're peeling one bone at a time away from the wall.

Slide your lower back up the wall. Can you go even deeper? And now, inhale, find that internal lift as you push your heels down and forward. And at the top, you exhale. Inhale, curl your chin downwards.

Exhale, round forward. Now, as I round forward, I feel like I'm lifting my navel in the front of my ribs to the top of the wall behind me. And then I inhale, roll all the way up. And at the top, I exhale. One more.

Inhale, curl your chin downwards. Exhale, round forward. Lift your front ribs and your navel to the top of the wall behind you. Slide your lower back up the wall. Now, find your internal lift to roll all the way up and exhale.

That's the end of basic mat. But let's finish with a standing exercise called chest expansion. So try to keep that same internal lift as you come up to standing with control. And then stand at the base of your mat, just like we started. Find your Pilates stance.

If you look down at your feet, there should be a fist distance between the ball of your big toes. Now, root down through the mound of your big toes, small toe and the center of your heel. And then feel like you're pressing your legs together and you have one leg. Find the length in your spine. You're pressing your head through the ceiling.

Place one hand on your lower back again. Take an inhale, breathe all the way down into your lower back, exhale, pull your lower abdominals into your hand and lift your navel up to the base of your skull. Keep that internal lift. And now, reach your arms forward. Keep breathing into your lower back.

Chest expansion. As you inhale, reach your fingers towards the floor and then reach for the back edge of your mat to open up your chest. You look over your right shoulder, look over your left shoulder, look center, and return. Let's add the breath work. Inhale, breathe into your lower back.

As you reach back, hold your breath. Look left, look right, look center. Exhale, pull your abs back, reach your arms forward. Two more. Inhale, breathe into your lower back.

Hold your breath. As you look right, can you pull your lower abdominals towards your fingertips center? Exhale, pull your abs back. Final one. Take an inhale all the way down into your lower back.

As you reach back, hold your breath. Look left, look right, look center. Exhale, pull your abs in and up to reach forward. Find that internal lift and then lower your arms all the way by your side. Thank you so much for joining me today.