Booty Band Circuit

Hi, I am back with my friend and fellow instructor, Rachel. And we're using her amazing products again: we've got her Reformer Loops booty Bands, these are the medium weight, coral color; and we're also using the Reformer Loops Sliders, these are so awesome. If you don't have a pair, pick up a pair. If you don't have them during this class, you can do most of the movements that we're doing without anything at all, or use a towel if that works. Let's get started.

So, we're gonna start our flow with one green spring on your foot bar in your footwork setting, that's for later. We're gonna do a standing floor series first, and we'll repeat the same series three times. So, place those discs down onto the ground, and we're gonna stand on both of them, come down into a low squat. You're gonna take one leg, slide it back, whatever you wanna do with the arms is fine, bring it back underneath you and rise up to standing. Then come back into that same low squat, and now take that leg off to the side and bring it in and come to standing, and then you could choose any tempo that you wanna do.

So we're going down, press in and up. Down, we're staying on that same leg, and up. Down, push back, in, rise up. Down, press back, in. Two to go.

Deep squat slide, pull using the core. Down, slide in, one more. Lower, press, pull and lift. Last time. Now stay low.

We've got five circles to do out and around. It doesn't matter which direction you choose to go first, three, two, one. Reverse those circles. Five, four, ooh, it's harder going backwards, three, two, one, and rise to come up. Definitely feeling that burn.

You're gonna do the other side so make sure you have room to slide your leg to the side. Low squat. Step it back. Bring it in. Rise up.

Down, slide, in, up. Squat, slide, pull and lift. Low, send it out and rise again. Down, press, and up. Low, press.

Two to go. Down, back. Power up. Down, side. Last set like this.

Take it down. Slide, pull it in, and rise. Squat, slide, hold. Here's your circles, around. Five, four, try to keep those hips level three, two, one.

Reverse, stay low, five, four, three, two, and one. Rise all the way up. Yeah, yes, it's working. Okay, just slide yourself on over to your machine. So you're facing towards the carriage.

Reach up, get a big stretch, place your hands onto the carriage, right towards the center is fine. Press yourself or slide yourself out into a plank position. We're gonna do right leg off to the side, pull it back into the plank. Left leg, plank, right leg, plank, left leg, plank. Keep going.

If you wanna do this on the floor instead, it'll be even harder with your hands on the floor, and slide, good, and open. She's so good at keeping those hips square, chest lifted. Last time. And now mountain climbers. Draw one in, then the other, in, in, in, we've got eight, seven, spread your fingers, six, soften the elbows five, four, three, two, and one, rise up.

What a warm-up, I love these things. Okay, so, we need the sliders to be a bit out of the way, so that we can go into our reformer flow. So, as I mentioned, this is a medium resistance band, step into it so it's above your knees. Cool. Loving the colors.

We're on one green in case you didn't get that in the beginning, put one foot down on the ground and then one foot up against that shoulder block. We're gonna press out with the machine, we're gonna press out with the band. Coming into our low lunge position and up, kick it and up, and kick it and up. Keep going, kick it and up, press out and up. You've got five, four, so you gotta work that band, three, lean into it, two, stay out for one, you can have hands onto the bar, just slightly bending the knees and kicking back, pulling the abdominals in and up.

Stay bent in that front knee five, four, three, two, one, hold onto that foot bar, wrap your thumbs over, step up. Take your long stretch position, feet against the shoulder blocks. I love this because it brings awareness into the hips and glutes, which are supposed to be working during long stretch. Press back as far as you think you can go, and then bring your chest right over the bar. Do it again, press back, and in that green spring is giving you a little extra support.

If you wanna add more support, please do. If you wanna take some away, that's also an option. Press, press, press two more, press, press, press, knees could be up or down for this flow, and then stay out. We've got knee tucks to do, keep that band taught, knees, come in and under, press back, and press, and press, this helps me track my knees right over my feet keeping those glutes working, especially, as I press back. Four, nice, Rach, three, two, and one.

Send the hips up and come to flat feet onto the carriage. You're gonna wanna step back until you feel like your feet are underneath your hips, soften down into your knees, and then we're gonna do right heel to booty and kick straight back, kick and in, kick and in, kick and in, four to go, and then we're gonna add the opposite arm, kick and in, spine is long, three, barely any weight on those hands, two and then opposite, elbow to knee, send it long, bring it in, out and in, stay low in that standing leg, out and in. We've got five and four, three, that's two, and one, bring it on home. Ooh, that's burning. We're gonna reverse the order of the flow, which means you're going right back into that same burn.

So right foot stays down, shift your weight back over your legs, left heel to booty, relax through those arms guys, don't overuse them, kick it back, kick and in, kick and in, kick, nice, and in, shoulders down, neck is long, five, four, go for that full leg extension, three, two, and one. Time to add the opposite elbow, in, send it long, in and out, naval up and in (exhales) lean back over that right heel, five, four, three, two, one, and hands go down. So in true fashion of reversing the flow, we're first gonna go into our knee stretches then long stretch. So walk the feet back, get into that plank position, press back, stay back here, bring the knees low, kick it, kick it. think of this exercise as a combo, two movements in one, keep going reach.

Every time you kick back, find that plank, find those glutes, four, nice, three, good, two, hover in, extend it long, on the next one, hold, perfect. And then long stretch, she presses back and pulls in, keep going. So, 50% of this exercise is meant to be in your lower body, this band will remind you of that, it'll make you feel stronger, you're working the glutes, pressing to the outer sides of the legs. Nice. Three to go.

Chest is up. You got this babe. Three, good. Two, nice. And that's one.

Go ahead and walk your hands and your feet towards the left, placing your left foot on the floor. We're ready to do our lunges, okay, so here we go. Low lunge, kick it back and up, kick it back and up, kick it back and up, the further you are from the bar, the heavier it's gonna be, fully extend that back leg, five, driving that left heel down, driving that right heel back, three, two, hold it out for one, you can hold on if you want. And you're going back, and back, lean back not forward. Try to get that back leg all the way straight, kneecap up, we got five, four, three, two, one, and come all the way in and step out of the band.

That was so much work. Yes, I love it! Okay, don't say goodbye to this band, this band staying with us the entire class outside of those sliders, come around to them, let's do that flow again. Oh, just when we needed more legs, perfect. So, you've got both of those discs available. Toes are on, finding your low swap position, right leg goes back, comes in, you come up and down, left leg goes back and in, come up and down.

So you go back and in, rise into the side, out and in and rise, staying on that same side, push and pull, lift, push, after a knee stretch it does feel like a bit of a recovery, push, and pull, and lift, push, and pull, two to go, knees over toes, slide and rise, push and up, last set here guys, back, and rise, and side, hold it here. Five circles, five, four, three, two, one, reverse five, four, three, two, one rise. Yikes! Other leg, get low, make sure you have room to slide to that left. Go back first, come in, come up, go back, and side, in, and up again, down, easy gliding. Down, out, in, up.

Keep going, down. If you didn't have the discs, you could just step to the side and rise and then step to the back, and rise. Two to go, down, back, in. Down, side, did I mess it up? Oh, oh, down, back, in, last time, down, side, stay low for your circles, out and around one, two, three, I love circles.

Stability challenge, stability in that core, reverse five, four, three, two, one, and up. And you could step over but it's so much more fun to slide your way over. Reach your arms up to the sky, get real big in your shape. Place your hands onto the carriage, slide yourself out, open, in, open, in, open, in, open, keep going. I think we should call these pendulum planks: so one leg meets the other it pushes it out of the way; all the while those hip bones are pointing straight down.

See if you can push your chest up even more Rach, there you go. Push more than you think you need to in that protraction and that rounded direction. Last time, finish with that left side so you're even. Mountain climbers in, in, remember you get to pick the tempo, slow or fast, spread those fingers, we've got five, good, four, keep your weight shifted back over your legs, there it is, three, nice, two, and one, bring it in and rise up. Perfect! Okay, so we're gonna save these for later 'cause you know we're using them again, we're gonna grab our band and change our springs, choose a yellow, take off your green, take the band and place it over the shoulder blocks.

Rachel noted that we rarely use that yellow and green on its own, so it's kind of interesting in today's class to use those springs that rarely get used. So the band is ready for you, you're gonna sit on your box with your legs into the well, so come on in, in any way that feels comfortable and doable for you, cool. And then after several opportunities of R&D we've realized the easiest way to get into this exercise is grab your lower ropes, not the ones that are clipped onto your loops and pull that carriage towards you, well, that could be an exercise right there, but we're going into core. So, you're gonna take your feet through the band, so, I'm going through that first loop, yeah, good, and make sure you feel real secure in your tush before you let go. We're gonna stay in this V or teaser shape and just stretch and extend the legs, stretch and pull, try to pull those knees as close to you as you can, scoop, stretch, scoop.

Remember that the left and right sides of your abdominals are coming in and together as you exhale and pull, five, four, three, two, and one. Now, these are called V-ups. So when your legs go long, your body goes down, how low you wanna go? That's up to you. Pull yourself up and your knees in, out and pull, stretch and pull.

Good and pull. Five more. five, (exhales) four, (exhales) three, (exhales) two, (exhales) one. (exhales) Let's take a break. Grab those lower ropes, give 'em a pull. Step out of the band, return it all the way in, we're gonna rise to standing in the well, take a straddle position, let's do a pilaton do to open up those hips a bit.

Sit the hips down, rise up, point to toe, rise up, point to toe. Pilaton do, pilaton do, down and up, down and up. Keep your chest lifted. five, four, three, two, and one, come down into that second position. Pilate just heals, up and down, up and down.

Close the ribs, heart rate getting up, we've got more core to do in a second, five, four, three, two, hold the heels, pulse the body, get low, get low, get low, get low. We've got five, four, nice, Rach, three, two, one, rise, and step it in, and take a seat again. Come on down. So, grab those lower ropes, pull it towards you. Take your feet under.

Get a good position. We've got double leg stretch and oblique twist. So start with the knees close to you, flex your spine, get close to those thighs, you're gonna extend those legs, reach back, circle scoop, stretch, circle scoop, stretch, circle scoop, five (exhales), four (exhales), three (exhales), two (exhales), one, hold it. Take one leg out and stretch it long. You're gonna turn to whatever knee is bent.

Eight, seven, six, ooh, we're working hard, five, four, three, two, one switch legs. Turn to whichever knee is bent, and twist, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Yikes! Grab those ropes, ease it home, or just let it crash in, it's on a yellow, who cares? Come on up to standing, pilaton do, find your straddle, just feels good to open it up after that V for a while. So, sit low tendon means to point, it's a weight shift, side to side, inhale down, exhale up, inhale down, exhale up, five, four, three, two, one, stay low.

Lift your heels up and down. Heels come up and down. Even weight to the big toe, get lower if you can, up. Every time you lift your heels, remind yourself to pull up through the abdominals, four, and three, and two, holding the heels up, pulsing the body, get low, get low, get low. Five to go.

five, four, three, two, one rise. Step on in. Ooh, so much lower body. Okay, so for this exercise, you'll wanna stand as close to your risers as you can. You're in turnout, you're in that same second position, and you're gonna take your foot through the center of the band so your toes pop out the other side.

Looks like that. And so you see how my toes kinda hooked a little bit, I can definitely feel the shoulder block assisting me, not just the booty band. Good, all right, we're gonna go down into a squat. We're gonna hold our squat, and pull the knee in, nothing with the hands yet, five, drive that heel down into the carriage, four, three, two, and one, send it long and rise up. We're going back down again, we're adding the arms, stay low, bring your arms to cactus, Rach, palms forward, yes, as your leg goes long so do your arms, send the arms and legs long, pull it in, five, four, three, two, one rise all the way up.

There's a third set of five. Get low, reach your arms forward, when you pull that carriage in, Rach, open your arms like a T, open, overhead reach, five, pull, four, three, two, one, and rise. I'm feeling the quad burn for sure. The inner thighs and the quad. Now, all we have to do is keep our foot hooked and pivot so we're facing towards the box, you still have your foot hooked behind the band, you're gonna reach those arms up, get a big stretchy stretch, and then place your hands down on the box.

Take both feet back so they're both behind the band. You're not doing knee tucks yet. The first thing I want you to do is your elbow taps, down, down, up, up, go, down, down, up, up, nice, four, good, three, stay in it! Two, and choose to be on your hands or elbows, gimme five knee tucks, one and two, that's three, that's four, that's five, and step down on the floor. Reset, take a moment and take a breath. Amazing.

We're gonna do the same thing facing the other direction. So, what we need to do is stand as close to the risers as we can, remember the foot goes through the center of the band and pops out the other side, and then from here, we're going down into a low squat, definitely, more weight shifted over that standing leg, five pulls, four, drive that heel down, three, chest is leaning forward, two, and one, rise to come up. Now we're ready to add those arms. So down into your low position, cactusing the arms, pull the leg in, everything stretches long, everything pulls in, five, four, three, two, one rise up. But wait, there's more, we're going right back down into it, we're gonna reach those arms forward, open them out to a T, everything reaching, here we go, five, four, three, strong back, Move those arms with purpose.

Two, one, rise to come up, nice. Pivot, the foot is still in position, spread the fingers wide, hands to the box, pull up, step back, same thing, elbows down, down, up, up, down, down, up, up, five, four, decide if you're gonna do those knee tucks on your hands or on your elbows, two, and here we go, she's doing the hands, one, five knee tucks, two, good, three, you got it, four and five, take a second step down and reset. You can hold off those risers and lean back if that feels good. Nicely done, who knew a yellow could be so mighty, we knew, we knew, careful when you step out. We will use the bands later, but for now, you can take it off those shoulder blocks and just let it do its thing.

So, we're back to our floor series, we're just breezing through. Grab those sliders. Let's get that heart rate up, I don't think it's really dropped too much, but here we go again. So find that low squat position, you're going into that back press and then rise, into that side press and then rise. Pick up the tempo if you can (exhales), side up, back up, side, nice Rach, back up, side, the whole time you've got a lot more weight into your standing leg than you do that one that's doing that sliding.

So you know, it's gonna get a little tired. And up, side, one more round each way. Take it to the back, good. And take it to the side. Now stay low, we got our circles, five, four, three, try to circle from the abdominals, two, and reverse, five, four, lean forward, stay long, two, and one.

Rise up, reset. Right into the other side, down, slide it back, pull it in, rise. Down, slide it side, pull it in, rise. Down, back, in, up. Down, side, and up, yes, low, back in.

Its coordination, good. It's balance, it's endurance, it's all the things. Awesome, love these discs, so much you can do with them. And up, down, one more full round, get real low back in, up and side, stay low, Rach. Ready for those circles, five, four, I love the circles, I can't not do the circles, good.

And reverse, down and around, five, four, three, two, one, and rise to come up, turn to face your machine, you've got those pendulum planks. Reach up, get long, place your hands down onto the carriage, spread your fingers wide, find a plank position. Open one leg, pull it back in. So, I think I mentioned it earlier, you could do this with your hands on the floor if you're looking for more intensity. You could add a push-up in between every variation if you're looking for more intensity.

You've got five, nice, four, good, three, awesome, two, and one. Here's your mountain climbers, one knee, the other, one knee, the other, slide, and slide, one knee, the other, you got it. Five, pull, four, nice, three, two, and one. Come all the way in and slide the discs out of the way. So sad, we did our three floor flows.

Okay, grab that booty band, we're gonna step through it. Speaking of pushups, take the band just above your knees, cool. Turn to face the machine, shake it out if your wrists are tired, shake it out. Reach up to the sky. Place your hands onto the mat.

Step back, three pushups, one, two, three. You're gonna flip it for tricep dips. Nice, Rach. Down and up we go. One, two, three.

Come up to standing. Might as well jump, and then step out to the side three times big steps, one, two, three, step it back. One, two, three, big jump, let's go, do it again. One, two, three, step arise. And one, two, three, big jump.

One more time, one, two, three. You could jump here if you wanted to, one, Rach is like, "Nope." Two, three, jump. Turn around, the whole thing starts again. Hands down, step it back, three pushups, one, two, three, turn it around. You were worried it was gonna be all legs, it's arms too, one, two, three.

Come on up. Jump if you want. Three steps out, one, this is repeated three times so pace yourself. two, three, (exhales) one, two, three, and one, two, three. Again, one, two, three, you could rise here if you wanted.

One, two, three step or jump. Turn around, reach up. We got this. Hands-on, step back, three pushups, one, two, three, flip it, (whoops) dips, one, two, three. Okay, last one (exhales).

Big step out, little step in. Keep that tension, go. One, ooh, you're doing the jump at the end. Jump, one, two, three (exhales). one, two, three.

One more round, step, step, step, rise. Step, step, step, yes. Step outta that band. Ooh, that was a little burst of cardiovascular conditioning. Move your way back over to the box.

We're gonna grab it and place it on in long box position. Awesome. One yellow spring. Leave that football up, you might want it up for the next one. Go ahead and step through that band again.

Alrighty, remember when you're coming onto the box, you wanna take a hand and a hip, a hand and a hip, face back, hand hip, hand hip, cool. The more of your chest that hangs off the box, the more you're gonna work through those spinal extensors. Let's grab our left loop and because we're on a yellow, we can hold up nice and high. So, you remember how in long stretch and knee stretch the band helped to bring awareness to that glued and lateral line of leg, same here. We're going right into, Rach, one arm reaches forward, one arm reaches back, slow swim.

Keep the legs up and keep the band taught, you got 'em. And up and reach. If you wanna choke up on that rope, make it heavier or harder, you do you. I'm working really hard to stay in one long line in my spine, but the band is helping me because my glutes are a really important group to help stabilize my spine. (exhales) Two to go, one more.

Now, hold the left arm back, the strap arm back, perfect. Grab the riser. Don't let go of that strap. You're gonna lift and separate your legs every time you do a pull-up, (exhales) and release, (exhales) try to keep those legs super straight. Neck is long. (exhales) Four to go.

Four, (exhales) three, (exhales) pelvis anchored, two, one, good. You can release the riser and then just ride that rope all the way back in. Before you come up, we have a swimming exercise, make sure there's enough of your trunk on the box to feel stable. You could hold onto something or float your fingertips to your forehead, legs go through for a swim, we love this one with the band, it's so awesome. Press the hips down, keep the spine long ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, and then press up to your hands and knees.

Just take your time. You're on that yellow spring, might feel a little bit wobbly, but that's part of the challenge. So you're using the box in a quadruped kneeling position, nice. We're gonna be using our left leg when you're ready, it's gonna extend straight out over that bar, bent it in, and then open like a clam out to the side, that's it, straight out, in, and clam, in, straight back, in, and clam, nice. And back, in, and clam, keep those hips down.

Back, in, clam, back, in, clam. Two to go. Back, in, clam, one more, back, in, clam. Now keep the shape of the leg lifted, heel to booty, flex the foot. We're going up, up, up, abs are in ten, nine, eight, seven, burning, six, five, four, three, two, hold it up, extend the leg.

You can keep your hands here on the box or walk them down onto those shoulder blocks, whatever feels more stable for you. You're lifting the leg as you drop the chest and then pressing your chest up, keep tension that band, you're going down and up, down, one shape, up, five, (exhales) four, (exhales) three, (exhales) two, one. Take the knee down. Awesome. (whoops) Booty band does not disappoint. Come back down onto your tongue when you're ready.

Remember that the more of your chest that hangs off the harder you're gonna work because the more of the body you have to support. Grab your right rope, nice and high. And then right away you go into that reciprocal swing, one arm up, one arm down, nice. One arm up, one arm down, yep, cool. So, the challenge is in the deep stabilizers of the spine, it's not a heavy resistance, but it is a lot of work.

She's keeping her legs up apart and alive the whole time. There's three points of pressure on the hips which need to be pushing down into the box. You got your hip bones, your pubic bone, one, two, three, good. Chest is staying lifted. And the sensation is almost like you're allergic to the box, you're trying to pull the front up, the next time you send your left arm forward, Rach, hold it, grab the riser, don't lose that rope.

Every time she does a pull-up, legs are gonna stretch and separate. Let's go. Eight of 'em, yes. Try to keep the pubic bone down on the box. Keeping the pubic bone down is gonna help your low back stay long the entire time.

Pull and stretch. The challenge in this exercise is not actually the pull-up, it's extending the arm without the shoulder coming up by the ear, two to go, awesome, last one. And then, because you're still holding the rope, you can let go of the riser without crashing in, hook up your rope, scooch back maybe just a little bit. An exercise so good for you we're gonna do it twice, swimming round two. So, yeah, she's like, "Oh, man." No, she loves swimming.

Take your fingertips to your forehead, lift your legs, stay long, stay strong, start to swim those legs. If you wanted to, just throwing it out there, you could extend the arms. If you wanted to incorporate the arms into the swim, you can. I always say to my clients in the studio, that if there's an exercise you wanna do at home and you don't have a reformer, this is the one to do. We get strong in our glutes, strong in our back, strong in our core, it builds coordination.

Can you add those reciprocal arms, opposite arm to leg? Yeah, there's the coordination, four, three, two, and one. Take a moment, relax, and then press yourself up nice and slow, 'cause you are on that yellow. This is why we said keep that foot bar up, it's kind of a nice position to just rest your ankle on. So adjust your machine so you feel good in this quadruped kneeling position.

You ready to rock? Right leg extends back, press for the heel, bend it in, and then you go into that clam. Yeah, good. Press back and then clam. And so we know in this position gravity's pushing down on our spine.

So the sensation is to always pull up against gravity in this four-point kneeling or even in a plank position, the head, the shoulders, the ribs stay in that up, that scooped position, four to go. I'm here with you in spirit. (Rachel laughs out loud) I have to do my other side later. I gotta even it out. Good.

Two to go. Awesome. One more. Hold it back, bend the knee, flex the foot, you're going up. See if you can reach to my hand, yeah, reach, reach.

So she's got that isometric hamstring curl, try to get your heel closer to your booty, good. And go up and up, yes. Do you see how she's correcting herself? Pushing her chest bone up, pulling her ribs up, imagine a broomstick on your spine, you wanna pull your middle up to it, three and two, hold it up, extend the leg. You've got your pushups.

Do you wanna use the box or the shoulder blocks? Up to you. As you bend your elbows, the back leg is coming up, and then push-up against it, good. Keep going, Rach. The key is to keep tension in that band the entire time.

Inhale and exhale, good. Resist the temptation to drop the head and lead with the chin. It's the chest that drops and the chest that presses up. You've got four, I know you're feeling it in that right loop, three, nice, two, one more time, and take a break. If you wanna sit down, relax, recover, nicely done.

Take your time as you come off the box. Awesome. We're gonna place our boxes back to where they were in the very beginning. Look at, you're such a pro, you just keep your band on the entire time. And since we didn't repeat it, let's finish class with a zesty little flow of our pushups, our tricep dips, and our booty walks, you ready for that cardio burn?

She's not even waiting for me. She's like, "I got places to be." Reach up, dive down, step it back, three pushups, one, two, three. Flip it around (whoops) into those dips, one, two, three, come on up, might as well hop. Step it out. one, two, three rise.

one, two, three hop. Pushups. Oh, three times, oh, she's got me, one, two, three, up, one, two, three, up, one, two, three, up, last time, that's definitely three, and up. Here we go. Reach, dive.

You don't have to take the stretch, I just try to take breaks in between whenever possible, two, and three, flip it around, one, two, three. Come on up. Let's go, Rach, three times. The trick when you do these is take a big step out, but a small step in, that way, the band stays tight the entire time, a big step out, a small step in. She's got one more round to do.

Now, I'm gonna really be on the counting, and big, big, big, rise. Turn around, reach up. Spread your fingers when you do pushups. Walk it back, three, down and up, one, two, three. (whoops) It's kind of fun to get into that tricep down and up.

one, two, three, rise, let's go, three, I need to get a hair tie that holds my hair in a bun, two, if you know of any, just let the mains go. I'm like, oh, I'm done the workout. And up here we go, one, two, three, hop up, go one, two, three, hop up. Wow, that was awesome. (whoops) It was such a hard workout my hair tight couldn't even keep up.

I'm shaking. Thank you. You're welcome. So good. I love what she's designed.

These bands are awesome, they don't slide, they're the perfect amount of resistance. As you can see, there's a million gazillion things you can do with them. Definitely invest in a pair of the sliders, it's really, really fun to incorporate into your reformer repertoire, or if you don't have a reformer, boom, easy investment to do a lot of cool exercises. Thank you for joining us. We'll see you guys again soon.