Class #5143

Pilates with Hand Weights

35 min - Class
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This is an Intermediate Mat class with light hand weights with Kira Lamb. You will focus on building your upper body strength, as well as, experience some of the Pilates exercises in a new way with the addition of the weights. Feel free to use 1-2lb weights or even 2 small water bottles. And if any exercises don't feel right for your body, do it without weights or eliminate them and join me in the next exercise.
What You'll Need: Mat, Hand Weights (2)

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Hi, I'm Kira Lamb and this is an intermediate mat class with light weights. Feel free to use one to two pound weights or even two small water bottles. If any exercise doesn't feel right for your body though, do it without the weights or eliminate it and join me in the next exercise. We'll start this class at the base of our mat. So go to the bottom of your mat, holding onto your one to two pound weights and find your Pilate stance.

Root down to the mound of your big toe, small toe in the center of your heel. And just take a second to let the weight of the dumbbells relax the tops of your shoulders and then just grow taller through your spine. Start to find your internal lift by pulling your lowest abdominals right above your pubic bone, away from your pants. And as you pull your lower abdominals away from your pants, you'll feel your tailbone just naturally drop down. Keep that internal lift by pulling your lower abdominals up the backs of your ribs and all the way to the base of your head.

Press your head through the ceiling and as you inhale, lift your shoulders up towards your ears as high as you can. As you exhale, find the internal lift and push your fists down towards your ankles. Inhale, elevate your shoulders up towards your ears. As you exhale, find your internal lift and reach your fists down towards your ankles. One more inhale, breathe into your lower back.

Exhale, push your fists down. Find your internal lift and keep it here. New movement. Take an inhale and reach your arms forward right across from your shoulders. Exhale, lower your arms back down.

Inhale, you lift your arms from your lowest abdominals as your arms go forward, exhale and lower. As your arms go up, make sure you don't counterbalance by sending your shoulders back. The counterbalance is the scooping of your lower abdominals. Two more inhale, breathe into your lower back. Exhale, lower your arms and grow taller.

One more. Pull your lower abdominals in and up to reach your arms forward. Hold them there. Stack your forearms one on top of the other. Let the weight of the dumbbells rest in your arms and grow taller.

We're gonna do our traditional descend to the mat. Bend your knees. Feel like you're gonna sit on your heels. Send your elbows, chin and chest forward. Keep lifting your ribs away from your thighs and take a seat with control onto the mat. Hands go behind you, turn to parallel.

Scoop back and then lie down one bone at a time. Reach your arms forward towards your ankles, up towards the ceiling. And once again, let the weight of the dumbbell sink your shoulder blades into the mat. Root down through the three corners of your feet. Find your internal lift.

As you inhale, push the dumbbells up towards the ceiling. Exhale the weight the dumbbell sinks your arms back inside their joints. Two more. Feel like you initiate the movement from the bottom tips of your shoulder blades. So your shoulders stay away from your ears and then lower them back down.

One more. Find your internal lift as you push your fist up towards the ceiling, lower them all the way down. You're gonna rotate your palms to face the wall behind you so much that now your triceps, the backs of your arms, face your thighs and then go back into your start position. Start to rotate your wrist to face the wall behind you. Your triceps or the backs of your arms face your thighs.

You'll start to feel an arm back connection right here at the base of your armpit. Try one more. Rotate your palms so they face the wall behind you and your triceps face forward. Keep that arm back connection and turn your palms to face one another for ribcage arms. The weight of the dumbbells pulls your arms back, but your lowest rib stays grounded on the floor.

As you exhale, empty your lungs, your front ribs slide towards your hips, you press your triceps towards your thighs as far as you can keep your shoulder blades down. Four more, inhale. Breathe all the way into your lower back as your arms go back. Exhale, feel your lungs deflate. Press the backs of your arms towards your thighs to reach forward.

Three more, inhale. Remember, it's the weight of the dumbbells that move you and your goal is to stabilize your hole back on the mat. Exhale, press your triceps forward towards your thighs. Last two, keep anchoring your feet. Pull your lower abdominals into your lower back.

And then exhale, pull your lower abdominals up towards the back edge of your mat. Final one, as your arms go back, your lowest rib stays on the mat. And then exhale, feel your front ribs, slide towards your hips, pulling your arms forward, and then lift your arms up towards the ceiling. Scissors, reach your arms back. Keep your lowest rib on the mat.

Left arm stays where it is. As you exhale, reach your right arm forward. Both arms meet at the top on an inhale. Exhale, feel your lowest ribs on the mat. Inhale, reach up towards the ceiling.

Exhale and switch. Inhale, pull your lower abdominals in. Exhale and switch. Inhale, reach up. Exhale and switch.

You have one more set. Inhale. Feel your lowest rib on the mat. Exhale switch. Final one, reach up. Exhale, switch both arms meet at the top.

Once again, feel the weight of the dumbbell sink your shoulder blades onto the mat. Now rotate your palms to face the wall behind you. Triceps face your thighs and put a micro bend in your elbows. We're gonna do arm circles. The weight of the dumbbells pulls your arms back into your peripheral vision.

Spin your arms. So now your triceps face away from you. Circle your arms wide to the side. Feel like you're reaching for your ankles before your arms go up, slide your triceps forward down the mat like you're scooping up a heavy blanket. Arms go up and back. My triceps face the ceiling.

I rotate my arms. My triceps face away from my ears. And then I circle my arms wide to the side. I reach the dumbbells forward and up my thigh. We'll do three more with a little more flow.

Inhale, reach back, rotate your arms and then circle your arms around and back up. Two more. Inhale, breathe into your lower back. Rotate. Circle your arms around, reach your arms forward to go up.

Final one, reach back. Your lowest rib is on the floor. I rotate my arms and then I circle around and back up. Reverse, reach the backs of your arms forward, like you're gonna slide them past your hips. Circle your arms around, my triceps point away from my ears, and then I lift them and circle forward.

And again, circle your arms around and then rotate your triceps to face the ceiling, backs of your arms press away from you. Three more with a little bit more flow, circle. Press the backs of your arms forward. Final two. Your lowest ribs stays on the mat. Find your arm back connection. Last one.

Rotate your triceps up. Reach them up and forward. Turn your palms down, palms or dumbbells go on the mat, reach your arms forward and feel like you're trying to roll the dumbbells away from you. So notice how my shoulders move away from my ears. Bend your knees into your chest one at a time. Press your heels together, knees apart.

You're ready for the hundred. Take a big inhale, no weights, curl up. Reach as far forward as you can. Pull your lower abdominals back, reach your legs forward, and then you pump. Inhale 2, 3, 4, 5.

And exhale, 2, 3, 4, 5. Inhale into your lower back. Exhale, pressure your upper abs down, head up. Inhale 2, 3, 4, 5. And exhale, 2, 3, 4, 5.

Inhale, one long exhale to empty your lungs. Inhale into your lower back. Exhale, pull your lower abdominals in, halfway done. Keep finding your internal lift the whole time. Inhale into your lower back.

Pull your lower abdominals back. Legs forward. Two more sets. Exhale, 2, 3, 4, 5. Final one. Exhale, 2, 3, 4, 5.

Pause, press your hands into the dumbbells. Bend your knees, lower your feet down one at a time. Set up for the roll up. We are going to do three. Press your legs together. Reach your arms up towards the ceiling, and then reach your arms up a little bit higher.

So your shoulder blades come off the mat and then float your arms back. My chest bone is sinking into the floor. Reach your arms up like you're trying to scrape the dumbbells on the ceiling. And then curl your head and shoulder blades up. Push the dumbbells forward, round forward.

Inhale, push the dumbbells forward. Pull your lower abdominals back. Keep dragging your legs together, reaching your heels forward. Shoulder blades don't touch the mat, they go up and back. Arms go up, scrape the ceiling with your dumbbells.

Curl your head and shoulder blades up. Now push the dumbbells forward. Press your waist into the mat, round forward. Inhale, breathe into your lower back. Exhale, push your fist forward.

Pull your lower abdominals back. Roll up and back. You have one more like this. Arms go up, scrape the ceiling, curl your head and shoulder blades up. Now push the dumbbells forward.

Press your waist into the floor. Roll up and then roll all the way up to a tall seated position. Bend your knees, feet flat. Rest your forearms on your knees. We're gonna do the half rollback with bicep curls.

So turn your palms to face one another. Press your triceps down, find your internal lift. Take a big inhale and exhale. Lift your arms up, curl your tailbone under and round back. Keep pulling your lower abdominals back.

Push your dumbbells forward. Turn your palms up, deepen your pelvic tilt and bend your elbows and pull your ribs back as you reach your fist forward. Two more. Exhale, curl your pinky finger to your shoulders and then reach your arms forward. One more.

Pull your pinky finger fingers to your shoulders. Reach forward. Turn your palms to face one another. Push your fist forward. Round forward. Sit up nice and tall. Rest your forearms on your knees. Press your triceps, your arms down.

Find your internal lift. Anchor the three corners of your feet. Take a big inhale from your powerhouse, from your center. Reach your arms forward, internal lift. Curl your table and under.

As you push your fist forward. Roll back as far as you can. And then turn your palms to face up. Exhale, start with a pelvic tilt. So I'm moving my arms just to challenge my powerhouse and then reach my arms forward.

Two more. Curl your tailbone and under and pull your fist towards you and reach. You have one more, curl your tailbone under and then reach. Turn your palms forward or towards one another. Roll all the way down one bone at a time.

Lower your arms. Straighten your legs for single leg circle. Push the dumbbells as far forward as you can and push the heads of the dumbbells into the mat and open up your chest. Keep pushing the dumbbells down, your left side down, right leg goes up. Five circles in each direction.

Inhale. Exhale around and lift. Inhale, pull your lower abdominals in and up. Three more. Keep pressing down evenly across the heads of the dumbbells. Final one.

And then reverse. As you open, can you press that left head of the dumbbell deeper into the mat. Press the left dumbbell in more. Three more. Keep pulling your lower abdominals in and up.

Final one, flex your foot. Lower your leg all the way down. Press down to the dumbbells. Make sure you're opening up your chest. Press your fists down, leg up, cross.

Exhale around and lift. Cross. Keep pressing down with the heads of the dumbbells ,cross. Exhale around and lift. Two more. Make sure you're standing on that right foot. Last one, that direction.

And now reverse. Open. Pull your lower abdominals underneath your ribs, open. Pull your lower abdominals back. Three more. Keep your lowest ribs on the mat. After the last one, you'll lower your leg down.

Prepare for another roll up. Flex or point your feet. Reach your arms up. Push the dumbbells up so your chest bone six. Curl your head and shoulder blades up.

As your dumbbells go forward, your chest bone goes back. And now push the dumbbells forward. Roll all the way up. Round forward. Sit up nice and tall. Rolling back. Bend your knees lift, curl your tailbone under.

And then press the dumbbells against your shins. Find that internal lift. Lift your feet up and squeeze your heels together. You have five rolls. Inhale, roll back. Push your hands into your shins to come up.

Two more, I mean three more. Roll back. Exhale. Now three more. Ready and roll back. Exhale, squeeze your heels. Two more. Roll back. Squeeze your heels and press the dumbbells into your legs.

Final one. Exhale. Come up, find your balance. Place your feet down, hands behind you. Slide back and straighten your legs. Reach your dumbbells forward.

Round your spine and pushing my thigh down. Find that internal lift. Reach the dumbbells forward and pull your waist back. Lower all the way down. Arms go up. Let your shoulders relax. Single leg stretch.

Bend your knees into your chest. Find your internal lift here. My lower abdominals, pull away from my pants. Slide backwards. Push the dumbbells up towards the ceiling.

Feel your chest bones sink. Now, keep pushing the dumbbells up. Curl your head and shoulder blades up like you want your ears between your arms. Straighten your right leg through the wall in front of you. And then switch. Pull your knee back and switch.

And three, try to keep your arms still. And four, reach your leg forward and your waist back. One more set. Bend both knees into your chest. Rest your head dumbbell. Stay up. Double leg stretch.

Press your heels together, knees apart. Push the dumbbells up towards the ceiling and curl your head and shoulder blades up. Squeeze your heels. Reach your legs through the wall. As you bend your knees, reach the dumbbells past your hips.

Inhale, pull your lower abdominals back. Exhale, push the dumbbells past your hips. Inhale, reach forward to go up. Exhale, forward to go down. Inhale, reach forward to go up.

Now press your triceps forward. You have two more, reach your arms up, legs through the wall. And then exhale. One more. Inhale, reach. Exhale, rest your head.

Lower your legs down one at a time. Slide your legs straight. Reach your arms up towards the ceiling. Flex your feet. Hug your midline and push the dumbbells up. One more roll up.

Curl your head and shoulder blades up. Keep squeezing your legs together. Roll all the way up round forward. And then roll all the way up, the spine stretch. Separate your legs a little bit wider than your hips.

Reach your arms forward the heads of the dumbbells are resting on their sides. Feel like you're squeezing your sit bones, inner thighs, and inner ankles together. Find your internal lift. Pull your lower abdominals back and lift them up the back of your ribs. As you exhale, reach your arms forward.

Inhale, curl your chin downwards. As you round forward, reach for the bottom edge of the mat, the dumbbells land on your mat. Keep reaching your arms forward. Can you pull your lowest ribs up to the top of the wall behind you? Now use your abdominals to roll up, dragging the dumbbells with you until you are upright.

Take an inhale, find your internal lift. Exhale, reach your arms forward and up. Inhale curl your chin downwards. Exhale, feel like you're peeling away from a wall. Notice my arms are going forward and down.

My waist is going up and back. Reach your arms forward more. Lift your lowest rib more and then pull your lower abdominals up. Stack your spine. You have one more. Squeeze your legs together. Pull your lower abdominals in.

Curl your chin into your chest. Exhale, feel like you're sliding away from a wall. One bone at a time. Reach your arms forward. Pull your waist back. Now push your heels into the floor. Roll all the way up.

And at the top you exhale. We're gonna go right into saw. You'll only need one dumbbell. Reach your right arm right in front of you, your left palm presses into your fist. Lift your chest, squeeze your legs together.

As you exhale, rotate to the right, think of a bow and arrow. Pull your right elbow behind you and keep reaching your left fingers forward. Round forward and extend your back arm and reach. And then as you roll up, bend your elbow next to your waist. Reach forward and return, two more that direction.

Press your hands into one another. Lift your chest, empty your lungs as you twist, twist even more. Think of your pulling a bow and arrow to rotate your ribs as you round forward, extend your back arm. Push that dumbbell back. Now reach the dumbbell back to come all the way up.

Bend your elbow into your ribs. Reach your arm forward and twist. Final one, twist and then twist even more. Forehead goes to your knee. Reach back. Now, reach back to come all the way up.

Bend your elbow and return. Switch hands. Press your palm into your fist. Grow taller. Now rotate as much as you can. Deepen that rotation by pulling your elbow to the back right corner of your mat. As you round forward, extend your elbow, forehead goes to your knee.

As you roll up, bend at your elbow, reach your arm forward. And twist and again twist. Increase the rotation. So reach with your right arm and your left elbow, chin to your chest. As you round forward, extend your elbow. Reach back to roll up.

Bending your elbow, reach your arm forward. And twist. Final one. Rotate. Rotate even more. And extend your elbow round forward. And then reach back to roll all the way up.

Reach your arm forward and return center. Grab both weight. We're gonna lie down on our stomach for single leg kick. Once you lie down on your stomach, make fists right above your head, tip of your nose points to the floor. Press the heads of the dumbbells into the mat.

Shoulder blades down your back. Find that internal lift. So your sit bones go back, lower abdominals forward. And then find your swan. Lift up while pushing the dumbbells down.

Kick your right heel to your right sit bone. Kick, kick, switch, kick, kick. Keep pulling your chest towards your fists and your triceps towards the wall behind you. Your sit bones also reach towards your heels. You have one more set.

Pull, pull and pull, pull. Reach your legs and your sit bones back. As you lower down. Reach your arms back by your side. Allow your shoulders to collapse for a second. And find that internal lift.

Reach your sitting bones towards your heels. Pull your lower abdominals forward. Now rotate your triceps up towards the ceiling and let your shoulders collapse again and again. Rotate your triceps up front of your shoulders or off the mat. And then return.

One more. Hold this position. Now, keep reaching your arms back. Keep your spine long and just lift your hands up off the mat and then lower them back down. And again from the bottom tips of your shoulder blades, lift your arms up, pull your lower abdominals forward, and then lower, one more. We're gonna add on.

Pull your lower abdominal abdominals forward and lift. And then lower, the double kick. So keep reaching back. Press your heels together, pubic bone down. Pull your heels to your seat three times.

Your legs reach back. Pull your lower abdominals back. Push the dumbbells towards your knees and then lower. And again, kick 3, 2, 1. Reach your tailbone and legs back.

Push your fist towards your ankles, chest forward. And then lower. One more. 3, 2, 1. Tailbone and heels go back and then reach back with your fist, forward with your chest, lower all the way down. Hands under your shoulders. Sit back round your spine. All right, shoulder bridge.

Lie down on your back. Once you lie down, make sure your ankles are underneath your knees. Reach your arms forward. Press the heads of the dumbbells into the mat. Make sure your wrists don't jump down onto the mat.

So I'm pushing them away from me. And then start off with my pelvic tilt. As I roll up, I press my pinky fingers into the dumbbells, push my feet into the floor and roll up. Keep pushing the three corners of your feet down. Reach your fist further forward.

And then keep reaching your arms forward as you articulate down one bone at a time. You have two more. Reach your fist past your hips as you pelvic tilt. And then press your waist into the floor before it reluctantly peels off the mat. Once you're up in a bridge, can you pull your upper inner thighs, your sit bones closer together?

Reach the dumbbells away from you and then pull your chest bone down. Then your ribs, lower back and tailbone. One more. Don't forget about the reach. Keep your wrist strong. Push the three corners of your feet down and then roll up.

Feel your sit bones, chase your knee creases and pull your lower abdominals underneath your ribs. Make your arms even longer. Gaze up. And now start with your chest bone melting between your shoulder blades. And then your ribs, your waist, lower back and tailbone.

Feel your hips heavy. Let's turn onto our right size for sidekick series. You can place one dumbbell down, line your body up with the back edge of the mat. Place your hand behind your head. The dumbbell goes right in front of your waist.

Push the dumbbell into the mat and open up your chest. Make your leg six inches longer. Squeeze them together like their one leg. Angle them forward, lower them down. Turn your legs out.

And then lift your top leg to hip height. Pull your lower abdominals into your back hand as your leg goes to the back. Six kicks front and back. Push your fist into the mat as your leg goes behind you. And again, front.

Push your fist down and reach. And again, front exhale, reach front. Feel that internal lift. You have two more, internal lift. Final one. After this one, stack your legs.

Go into parallel. Take your fist and it goes on top of your outer thigh. Find your internal lift and lengthen your neck. Push the dumbbell all the way to your ankle as you lift your leg up. And then lower it down.

And again, pull your lower abdominals up into the hand behind your head. Reach this fist towards your ankles and lower. Three more. Lengthen to lift. And then lower it down.

Lengthen to lift, press your bottom leg into the floor. That's part of your stability. Final one, lengthen to lift. Lower it all the way down. And then bend your knees. And let's do the same thing on the other side. Line your whole back body up with the back edge of the mat.

The dumbbell handles right in front of your waist. And you pull your neck with your left hand. Open up your chest. Lift your legs, angle them forward. Turn your legs out. As I push my fist down, I lift my leg up.

Find your internal lift as your leg goes to the back, six kicks to the front. Exhale, push down with your fist and widen your collarbone. Push down with your fist. Inhale to the front, exhale to the back. Two more, front.

Exhale back. After this one, you stack your legs. One on top of the other. Go parallel. This hand goes on my outer thigh. Keep reaching your heels away from you.

Now pull your lower abdominals up into your left hand as you reach through your right heel and then lower. And again, abs go up into your left hand. Reach the dumbbell towards your heel and lower. You have three more. Find that internal lift so all the movement starts from your core.

And again, pull your lower abdominals in. And then lower. Final one, reach. Lower it all the way down. Bend your knees, push yourself up to seated. We're gonna do some teasers.

So start with your knees bent, feet flat. You'll need both dumbbells for this. Once you lie down, make sure your heels aren't too close to your hips. Scoot them away from you as far away as you can keep your feet flat. Anchor to the three corners of your feet.

And then squeeze your legs together from your sit bones, inner knees to inner ankles. Reach your arms up towards the ceiling. And then push the dumbbells up and feel your chest bone sink into the mat. Curl your head and shoulder blade forward and up. Push the dumbbells forward and up.

And press your waist into the mat to roll up into your modified teaser into the left. Squeeze your legs together. Roll down one bone at a time. Arms go up towards the ceiling. We'll do a one-legged variation.

Extend your right leg, turn it out. And keep squeezing your sit bones and your inner knees together. Push your fists up, curl up. And I'll press evenly along your back to roll up into your modified teaser. Pull your lower abdominals in and up. Now hold here.

Switch legs. Roll all the way down one bone at a time. Arms go up towards the ceiling. Push your fist up. Press your legs together and then curl up and reach forward. So your arms are parallel to your legs the whole time.

Now push through both sides of your back. Roll all the way up. Find that lifted C curve. Now hold here. Lift your other leg up. And then pull your lower abdominals back. Start to roll down and reach your legs forward.

Just for fun. Let do teaser three. Reach your arms up and back. Feel the weight of the dumbbells. Pull your arms back. But your upper abs sink into the floor. Reach your arms up and try to scrape your knuckles on the ceiling.

Curl your head and shoulder blades up. Push the dumbbells towards your knees. Now pull your lower abdominals back. See if you can float up into your teaser. Keep pulling your lower abdominals in and up.

And then bend your knees. Lower your feet, lower the dumbbells. Let's do a seat. Get a little bit closer to your feet. Thread your arms through your legs. Hold onto your feet. Squeeze your feet, your inner thigh and your sit bones together.

And round your spine. Roll back and come back up into the shape. Roll back. Exhale up. Clap twice. Clap, clap. Lift your lower abdominals to roll back. Roll up.

Keep squeezing your sit bones in your inner thigh, even as you clap. So always feel tension in your lower body. Two more. Roll back. Exhale, come up. Clap. Clap.

Last one. And then try to come up as smoothly as you can with control. And we'll do standing bicep work. So grab your dumbbells. And once you have your dumbbells, you're gonna bring your feet back into a Pilate stance. Really root down to the mound of your big toe, small toe in the center of your heel.

I'm gonna turn sideways so you can watch the angle in which we're gonna do this exercise. Keep reaching through your inner heels and then lean forward your ankles like you're leaning into the wind. Instantly you'll feel like you wanna grip into your toes. Instead, press your inner heels down and feel your lower abdominals lift up, shift your weight back. We'll do one more like that. Press your inner heels down.

Find your internal lift to shift forward. Hold that forward shift. Now pull your lower abdominals in deeper and reach your arms forward. Parallel to the floor. Palms up. Five bicep curls.

Pull your pinky fingers to the tops of your shoulders. Reach forward and pull your abs back. Your upper arm bones stay parallel to the mat. That's important. Now pull your lower abdominals in and up and reach.

And again, pull. Reach your tailbone towards your heels. Heels into the mat and reach. Last two. Relax the tops of your shoulders right here. Keep them relaxed as you reach the dumbbells away from you.

Final one. Pull the dumbbells towards you like you're pulling something heavy. But relax the tops of your shoulders. And then reach your arms forward. Turn them and then lower them all the way down. Biceps two.

I'm gonna face you for this same angle of your body though. So root down to the three corners of your feet. And then feel that internal lift. As you shift your weight forward. Pull your lower abdominals in and up.

Open your arms out into your peripheral vision. And turn your palms up. Relax your shoulders. Take a big inhale into your lower back. Exhale, pull like your underwater. And then push your fist against the resistance of water as you open.

And again, find your internal lift as you pull your fist towards you. And then pull your lower abdominals in and reach. You have three more. Pull your lower abdominal back, reach your inner heels down, and then lengthen your spine and reach. Last two, upper arm bones are staying at the same exact level the whole time.

Final one. After this one, turn your palms to face forward. Lower your arms, shift your weight back. We will finish today's class with a traditional wall ending that you probably remember from Pilates for posture. So stand with your entire body up against the wall from your heels all the way up to your shoulders.

And then reach down through the three corners of your feet. Pull your lower abdominals in and feel like your lower abdominals are sliding up the wall. Keep that internal lift as you step one foot in front of the other and go into your Pilate stance. Keep your knees soft. Push down through the three corners of your feet.

Find your internal lift for arms circles. Inhale, keeping your lowest rib on the wall. How far can you float your arms up? Exhale, circle them into your peripheral vision. And lower. Two more. Breathe into your lower back.

Reach your arms forward. Lower rib on the wall. And then exhale. Lower them down with control. One more. Breathe into your lower back. Remember, you're pulling your lower abdominals away from your pants. And as you circle your arm, slide your lower abdominals up to the top of a wall.

Reverse your circles. Inhale, breathe all the way down into your lower back. And then exhale, pull your lower abdominals up to the top of the wall. Two more. Inhale. Breathe into your lower back as your arms go up.

Exhale, you still planted through the three corners of your feet with your knees soft. Last one, breathe into your lower back. Tops of your shoulders are relaxed. Exhale, reach forward. Let your arms relax. Feel the weight of the dumbbells. Relax your shoulders. We're gonna do the roll down.

Curl your chin into your chest. The weight of your head peels your spine away from the wall. Feel like you are pushing the wall away with each bone, roll down until the dumbbells are just below your kneecaps. Let your arms and your head hang. But pull your lower abdominals towards the wall, tailbone towards your heels.

Make heavy floppy circles with your arms. Your arms get heavier with each circle. And so does your head. Reverse the circles. Pull your waist up to the top of the wall while grounding down to the three corners of your feet.

Now let your arms just dangle and feel the weight of them. Root down to the three corners of your feet. Soft knees. Pull your lower abdominals up, reach your tailbone towards your heels, and roll up articulating through your spine. Come all the way up to standing, sliding down the wall. Turn your legs to parallel.

You'll slide down the wall as you step one foot in front of the other. My feet are hip distance apart. Make sure you don't lock into your knees like I am. Soften them. Press the three corners of your feet. Start with your internal lift.

Slide down the wall until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Arms are parallel to your thighs. Push to your feet. Now pull your lower abdominals up so much. You can come all the way up to standing. Two more.

As you bend, press your head through the ceiling. Slide your lower abdominals up the wall. Hold here for 3, 2, 1. Push to your feet. Pull with your powerhouse. With that inner lift, come up to standing.

One more. Grow taller, even as you descend, make sure your thighs are parallel to one another. You're not bowing out or in. And then push to the three corners of your feet. Lift your powerhouse. Come up to standing.

Rotate your palms to face the wall. And then walk your feet back. Bring your feet parallel and underneath your hips. Pull your lower abdominals towards the wall. Press your dumbbells into the wall, and then walk away.

Comments

1 person likes this.
Thank you so much for this class Kira. This is the first time I have done one of your classes, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I absolutely love how you integrated the light weights, and feel so balanced throughout my body after too many hours at the computer. I will be saving this one to my favourites, and doing more of your classes.
Julie L Thank you so much!
1 person likes this.
Great class!  Thank you.
1 person likes this.
LOVE! Excellent cueing and pace.  This will be a weekly go-to. 👏👏👏
1 person likes this.
Thank you Kira- I’ve enjoyed this whole series so much - you present a whole new perspective on the mat work- fantastic work- thanks again
1 person likes this.
Thanks Kira, so glad to see you back at PA!  I really appreciate  your  cues as they are so clear and so well targeted.  You make me work harder :)
Patti S You are so welcome. 
Ruby I'm always happy to be back at PA & I'm so glad you enjoy my  classes. Thank you. 

1 person likes this.
I like this class. There is a nice progression of the exercises. I've really enjoyed the creative use of the dumbbells in the saw (bow and arrow), the double leg stretch as well as the double leg kick exercises. Can't wait to attend the next class
Lina S Thank you, Lina. I really liked that Saw variation too!
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