Class #4935

Find Your Rhythm

50 min - Class
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Challenge your strength, fluidity, and range of motion in this Advanced Reformer class with Monica Wilson. Following Monica's rhythmic cueing, you will find the rhythm and power within each exercise and transition. You will increase your blood flow and uplift your energy!
What You'll Need: Reformer w/Box

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Hi, I'm Monica Wilson, and I'm here with Lindsay. And we're gonna be doing a rhythm and dynamics class on the reformer. Lindsay did a few classes with me on the mat and with the magic circle, and now we're gonna take it, and challenge her on the reformer. She is well versed in all of these, but maybe doesn't practice these exercises all the time. And maybe you don't either.

So we're just gonna let our mind be more controlled by our will, and we're just gonna go for it. And play around with the rhythm and the dynamics of the exercise to give us that energy and blood flow that we need. Alright, let's get started. Let's go ahead and lie down. You're gonna be on three or four springs.

I'm not gonna be going over super technical things all the time 'cause we're moving. Alright. Pilates stance. And we're gonna drop that hip a little bit. Awesome and pulling in and out and in. Good, so she's on toes.

Toes

We're gonna be doing 10, getting a really good rhythm, getting that blood flow going. I love it. Using that powerhouse. Four more for me, Lindsay, and stretch. And pull, and stretch. Hold it in arches. We're gonna do one more. Okay.

And arches and out. There you go. Good, alright. Use those feet like hands as you stretch out. Pull and stretch out, pull and good. Like a piece of taffy stretching out, and pull back in with control.

Arches

That's it. Gimme two more Lindsay. One more, and now right up to heels, and right out. And good, and stretch and pull, and stretch. Good. Using the body evenly. Don't lose your rhythm. Keep it flowing.

Heels

Keep that energy up all the way out the crown of your head. And four and pull in, and stretch and pull in, and stretch and pull in. One more. And let's go for a little waltz here on tendon stretch. Out and down, two, three, lift.

Tendon Stretch

Two, three, down, down, down, up, up, up. Stretch. Good. Keep your powerhouse like it is. Stretch those thighs out of your hips. Stretch the quads out of those hip flexors, lengthen the top of your thighs, especially that left one.

It's gripping a little. And stretch, and two more. Reach two, three, last one. And we'll prepare for the hundred. Come on in, lower your bar, grab your handles.

Hundred

Give yourself a little space to inhale. Lift your head up, and exhaling out. And we're gonna catch your breath 'cause we're breathing in the hundred. We're inhale, two, three, four, five. Exhale. Feel your center.

In two, three, four, five. Exhale. This is your time to really warm up. And exhale two, three, four, five. Good. Feel those legs lengthening. Let go of any gripping.

That 60, exhaling 70. Feel that scoop. It's pulling in and up against your handle. Maybe try to go a little quicker. And that's 80. Now go real slow, and feel that scoop.

Feel the upward stretch of your back, and think about the overhead that's coming next. And bend, drop two springs, one spring for you. Lower your head piece. So you should be on two springs for overhead now. Good. Arms are straight up.

Overhead

On the count of one, I want your hips, and then two. And then coming down. Nice job. And arms lift, and over on one, up two. Beautiful, coming down. Yes, two more. It's over and up.

Really important, this energy that she's giving. And one more. It's over and up. Very nice. Keep using those arms, keep pulling in, and take your time to lengthen. And get into coordination. Still on two.

In with your out, quick open, close. Exhale in, exhale. And so it's four counts. One and two, three and four. Inhale out, and two. Exhale three.

Coordination

Let's go for crosses. Eight and one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. And in. Don't rock your boat. Go out. Keep your boat steady. Quicker, powerhouse, and in.

Coordination Variation

Let's catch our breath with rowing. Go ahead and sit up, spin around, dropping one spring for rowing. Alright. Another really great breathing exercise. Really good for asthmatics. So, let's have the arms straight out in front.

Back - One

There we go. And we're gonna pull back as we inhale. One, and open, two, and press back. And then come forward. The arms are back and they lift up as we come all the way home.

Sitting up, pull back one from our powerhouse, open two, press back, and scoop in. And lifting up, and enjoy that as you exhale completely. One more into the chest. Open up, and press, and pull, and lift, and good. This time, I want you to do this right angle, and have tension consistently, no shape vibrating.

Back - Two

Lifting in and up. Keep the tension lifting in and up. Go forward. Stretch back to your tailbone. Keep the tension, lifting long and wide. Much nicer, Lindsay. Right angle.

Powerhouse lifts, in and up to go back, and go forward. Hands go back to the tailbone and lift, keeping a nice lift in your back. One more time. Nice and tall. Sliding up an imaginary wall. Exhale forward, inhale to your tail bone, and lift up those arms and exhale all the way home.

Did you exhale the whole way home? Handles by your side, spin around, and we're gonna do from the chest. There we go. And in with the air, exhale, exhale, grow tall. In with the air, all the way up, keep inhaling.

Front - One

Keep inhaling, keep inhaling, exhale here. And in with the air, exhaling. Good. In with the air, and keep inhaling as that powerhouse lifts and lifts, and exhale. One more. In with the air, exhaling tall. In with the air, and keep lifting up through the spine, through the spine. Good.

Hands by your side, and inhale. Stretch to your heels. Exhale, roll up with your hands shoulder height. Inhale, lifting up higher, and same ending. You're really filling your lungs up with air. Two more. Inhale, exhale.

Front - Two

Taking your time to roll up. Inhale, and keep filling your lungs with air, filling and filling and filling and exhale. One more time. Inhale to your heels. Exhale, rolling up. Inhaling up, and filling your lungs, and exhale.

Nice job. Cross your legs. Circle the arm simultaneously and make a diamond. And bend, and stretch, and bend, and stretch. Lovely. Keeping that spring moving. Three more. You're doing a beautiful job. Just continuously moving.

Shaving

Last one, pull that belly in all the way up to your hands, and open the arms as you switch. Three, inhale, exhale, slow it down. In with the air. Exhale, relax the shoulders. In with the air. Exhale, hold. In with the air. Exhale to squeeze now.

Hug A Tree

In with the air, open. Exhale, feel the belly in your back, and inhale. One more. And in with the air, and relax your arms down. Beautiful. Hang up your handles, and grab your lawn box and your bar as you go back.

We're gonna set up for swan here. Are you okay doing swan here? Good. Alright, so we'll put this here. Alright. And go ahead and get on.

So if you have a ladder barrel at your studio or at home, it's much nicer. Sometimes. Some people really like it here though. Maybe teeter totter just a teeny bit back more. Good, heels together. And again, allow like just the freedom of the movement.

Swan

Alright, we're gonna inhale and exhale. In with the air down, exhale up bigger. And now shoot out. We're lifting and bend. Great job. So just a little change, right? And in with the air, and exhale.

And in with the air, go ahead and exhale big. And inhale, reach out, lifting, levitating and exhale. Good job Lindsay. One more. In with the air, exhale. In with the air, exhale. Nice.

And use those hips, hips, hips. Inhale, reaching out and hold, and exhale. Beautiful. Lift up, drop a spring. Put the pad down by your side. And get ready for your pole straps. Nice.

So we're on one spring now for pole straps. Legs are long. Learn to use your hips when you use your arms. Pressing down into the box of the belly, lifts to your sternum, and the same energy down. The same energy up. That was a flyaway.

Pulling Straps

And down. Smooth up. Smooth, pushing your chest bone to me, smooth down. Better. T. Slide down, or pull straps too straight out, and press those hips down, little lifting up, up, up. And reach, reach, reach, and pull, pull, pull.

Pulling Straps - T Position

So, you don't wanna stop. So, we're gonna pull back to your hips. Good, and then reaching out. And as soon as you're home, you're pulling back and reaching out. Gimme one more. Pulling back.

Lifting the chest, and reaching back. Backstroke. Both handles in one hand. Add a spring. Both handle one in each hand, and always hand, foot, hand, foot. Front edge a little more. Good, and exhale to curl into a ball.

In with the air, up, exhale, open, in with the air. Beautiful, and bending. Lift, open, exhaling. And keep using that powers to go, go, go and bend. Two more. Up, open.

Backstroke

Pulling into your powerhouse, using the seat to go down, and bend one more time. Lift, open, stretch, and bend. Now do the reverse, bending in just one. Go for it. Forward two, three. Open up together. Great.

Drop the spring for your teaser. So you're gonna keep using that powerhouse. Showing the control. Keeping the transitions moving allows you to keep your powerhouse working the entire time. In with the air. The head comes up.

Teaser

Exhale, smooth arms. They come up, they go down. No change in the tension because the rhythm is continuous, and we unfold as you roll down. Beautiful Lindsay. In with the air. You'll come up with the arms only to open them on the way down.

And over, keep the tension in front of you. Don't let it go behind you. One more, open. Reaching for your toes, and unfolding. Beautiful. The reverse. See if you can open on the way up, but keep 'em in front of you. Beautiful.

In with the air, exhaling. In with the air, exhaling. One more. Exhaling. Good, scoop it in. And now unfold, and take both handles in one hand. And we're gonna step off to the side for breaststroke.

Good, I'm gonna put a pad on the back edge, and you're gonna lie on your tummy with your knees off the back edge. Take one handle in each hand. Good. Pull forward to the front edge, and lie down. Let's get those hips working to support our back extension. Alright.

So no space between your hips and the box. Thank you, and you're gonna do three beats. One, two, three, shoot out, and lift. Pushing into those straps, open those arms as you come down and bend. Nice job, Lindsay.

Breaststroke

Press the hips down, and it's one, two, three. And shoot out, pushing in, and lift, and open, open, open, and bend. One more time. And one, two, three, and shoot forward, and lift up, up, up. Open up. Beautiful extension. Great job, Lindsay. Alright, stepping off to this side.

I'll grab one more pad for you for the reversal of that. You just did a phenomenal back bend. Now your body wants to do the horse back. I promise you it does. It just is dying to do the horse back.

Good, so we just did a big back bend. Let's reverse that curve, flex the feet to start, and ripple effect. You're gonna scoop in inner thighs and hold. Find those hips, hold. Inner thighs, hold. Beautiful. Now circle the arms with, yes.

Horseback

And two, use that left hip. And three, moving. Keep moving it. Keep moving it, ending with the arms, and sit. Doing good. Alright. We're gonna do it one more time.

Pressing with those hips and inner thighs, stable pelvis. That's it. And circle one. Keep the spring moving. Keep your carriage moving, ending with the arms forward, and sit. Hey, that was much better that second time.

Good, with that rhythm and movement. Alright. Let's step off. Good. I'll take these. And we're gonna get into our short box so you can hang those off the back edge. Your bar's already underneath your bar.

I'll add a spring for stability, and I'll help you with your straps. Let's add a pad to sit on. Yeah, alright. So we're gonna make sure your first one, the round back, goes like the roll up, and with your breath. We're gonna lift up into a big C curve. Just show me your horse back again.

Round Back

Ally up. Head forward two. Right. Lifting. Not so forward. Just right here. And rolling out. In with the air, exhale all the way up.

In with the air, exhale. Lifting up into a big C curve. A little break. Lift up, in with the air, rolling out, exhale. In with the air, exhaling up, up, up, up, and a little break. Just one more. In with the air, rolling back, exhale.

In with the air, up, and exhale, exhale, exhale. Good. Have this strap a little close, higher up. There we go. Nice. Grab your bar, and here we go. And in with the air, and exhale back.

Flat Back

A little break with the seat. In with the air, exhale it back, a little break. Lifting long and tall, and exhale, rest your arms. Nice. Lifting the arms up, and lean forward. In with the air, and exhale center. Beautiful.

Side to Side

One more set. Stable bottom, and do one more set, Lindsay. Push out on those straps to find that seat and center. Don't let that hip rise. Push out on those straps, using those outer thighs, and center, rest your arms. Good.

Alright, we'll do one regular twist. Lifting up. Twist that by twist more of the belly, twist more of the right hip, and lead with the right hip out. And exhaling up. Good. Twist. Rotate more, and that's it. Good. Now we're gonna go fishing.

Twist

Twist, reach out, pick up a big fish, and pull back up. Good. And twist, reach out, pick up a big fish and up. And now a little around the world. Twist, rotate. Take your belly with you. Twist to the center, twist to the other side, and exhale center.

Fishing

And lift off that seat to rotate, twist, twist to the center, twist to the other side, and up. And stretch forward. Bend forward. Good. Leave the bar underneath your legs. Tree with the right leg up. We're gonna bring this hip forward, sitting up a little taller, and stretch it.

Around the World

And bend, and stretch, and bend. Catch your breath. Stretch over that leg outta your lower back. Rocking back, inhale to start. Exhale, release. In with the air, exhaling all the way up. Good.

Forward Fold

In with the air, exhaling all the way down. Take your arms back and grab under. And you're gonna do three circles. It's one and two, on your own. Three, reverse, one and two and three.

Tree

And lift the head as you inhale. Empty the long stretching all the way up. Pick the apple off your tree. Lift, lift, lift this, lift this. A little more forward. There.

Switch legs, nice work. Pulling out the left leg, and it's stretch, and bend, and loose, and bend, and easy peasy. And up. And now stretch over that leg. Relax, exhale. Use that breath. And rolling back. Leave the leg.

And one regular, exhale. In with the air, good. Stretching over it, head down. And strong base, and grabbing, and one, and two. On your own. Three and reverse. One, sweep it around.

And two and three. And in with the air, empty your lungs, and then grab the apple off your tree. Pick it, lift, lift, lift. Great job. Go ahead and bring down your box and your bar. I'll keep your pad, and set up for the long stretch series.

Before we get on, I want you to think of the long stretch series, visualize it, put it all in your head, and we're just gonna have them flow one into the next as if the spring doesn't stop. Okay? Alright, so we're gonna get on hand, foot, hand, foot. And let's do three, pushing out. Beautiful work with your hips, and push, and pull. One more, and we'll bring the hips forward for the down stretch.

Long Stretch

Kneeling down, open those feet, keep squeezing. And in with the air, and exhaling. And in with the air, and exhaling. One more, crawling onto your fingertips. Up, up up, lift those arms.

Down Stretch

Let's stretch those thighs, go, go, go. Ah, beautiful. Up, stretch. We're gonna keep that spring moving. Push out, squeeze down, pull in. One more, like an inchworm going through.

Up Stretch

Good, now we'll do a combo. Push out, squeeze down, back bend, coming out in a back bend, and scoop in. Let's try that again. Push out, squeeze down, back bend, lifting to the sternum, and scoop in and lower the heels. And give me a lot more lift in here, and let's breathe in and exhale. Good.

Combination

And exhale. One more elephant. Step off to the side and you have long back stretch. Hands, foot, hand, foot, and let's dip down. Push out, pull up, come in, down. Push out, lift up, come in.

Elephant

One more, working those hips. Up, reverse. We always think things are arm exercise, but they're really hip exercises. Give me one more lift in that bottom. Down, up, up, and you get a little breather. We get to do stomach massage.

Long Back Stretch

So bring that forward. Add one or two springs so that you're on three or four, according to what you're working on right now. And let's do one smooth. Out, press down, lift. Now double time that tempo. This is a time for you to just let your muscles really relax.

Round

And your powerhouse just can remember that it's in control, but everything else doesn't have to tighten. You get to just stretch that back out. Stretch those Achilles tendons, stretch those ankles, pulling in your center. Gimme one more. And drop a spring, and hands simultaneously back if you can. Good, and out, down, lift. Gimme one more.

Flat Back

Strong bottom. Right? Good, now nope. Keep your hands there. And gimme five double time that tempo, and double time. Come on. Really move it. Don't get less dependent on your hands.

The last three. Yes, just keep moving. Keep it moving, one more. You got it. Touch those shoulder pads. Beautiful. Bring your arms forward. In with the air, exhale until you touch my hands.

Flat Back Reach

Keep going, keep back exhaling, keep exhaling. Keep exhaling, in with the air, exhaling. When breathing exercise happen, they're here to catch your breath. One more, exhaling, exhaling. Now twist, and exhale in.

Twist

Fill your lungs up. Exhaling in. Twist, exhaling in. In with the air, exhaling. One more set. In with the air, exhaling in.

Last one and pulling in. Nice job. Go ahead and step off. We'll do tendon stretch now. And you're gonna step on. Good, standing up. We're gonna do three regular and then one right back, and back front. And then the opposite side.

Tendon Stretch

Lifting your left side a little more, squeezing, and let's work those hips. Down, lift up, go all the way down into the well. Uh huh, and pull up in front of it. One more, all the way down, and lift up in front. Right hand between those legs. Good.

Tendon Stretch Sequence

Lift the right leg out the window. Yes. And out, and back, and keep it back, and out, and go forward. Beautiful job. Lift up tall, lift, lift, lift. And left arm between. Good, right leg stays, and lift up and back.

Kick back and up, and down. I think you did that fabulously. You thought it was gonna be a little harder. Huh? Really important to keep that spring going and the rhythm. We're gonna keep the bar up and enjoy semi-circle.

I always think of calling it spine because it's such a delicious stretch for your spine. If you can't do it with your bar up, we're gonna be doing it with the bar down in a moment. So just adjust how you want. I think I want this left foot a little more center, and the right foot a little wider. That's enough. Good.

Alright. Another catch your breath. Take a breath, and exhale. Rolling down. Press out with the hips. Lift up, and come in. Stretch, stretch, stretch. Roll down, stretch out, lift up.

Semi Circle

Very even, reverse. This exercise really agrees with you, Lindsay. It lets your whole body work together. One more rolling down, good. Coming in, great. Slide back a little bit.

Good, hug in those knees. I will lower down the bar, and now feet right there. Good, lifting up. Stretch. Take your shoulders a tiny bit this way to the window. Good, and lifting up, up, up. Alright.

Semi Circle - Bar Down

Wrap that upper back around. So two more this way with the bar down. Push out with those hips, lift up the hips, and stretch those thighs out of the pelvis. And one more, down that way. Down and out, and lift, and in.

Stretch up. Get the bottom up, get that bottom up. Reverse from the hips. Now don't lower the bottom. Wrap that upper body. Exhale. Are you breathing? Are you breathing? And coming in.

And lift forward, one more. Get this up, up, up, and power in those hips. And in and up, up, up. Good job. Bring those hands forward. Grab your ankles. I want a lot of this more up.

Quad Stretch

Come on, stretch those out. Yes. Do you feel those? Yeah. Yeah, this is your time to stretch 'em out. Good. Alright. In fact, we're gonna do that.

And right now we're gonna reach back, slide back, and you're gonna get your handles to prepare for. Go ahead and step off for me, Lindsay. Okay. Now we're gonna challenge our hips while we're kneeling. So you're gonna do chest expansion. Let's get some safety pads in place, and kneel down facing the head piece.

Chest Expansion

The toes grip at the back edge. You can either do it hip width apart, or legs together is a little more challenging. Grabbing up. Good. Now let me see a Greek column, almost bringing your bottom forward in front of the knee. Thank you. Good, again.

Any arm exercise first comes from the hips, and it's a breathing in with the air. Hold the breath, look forward, and exhale. In with the breath. Hold your breath. Look forward, and exhale. So notice we're alternating. In with the air.

You look right, left, forward, exhale. And the other way. In with the air, and now look left, right, forward, and exhale, great job. Go ahead and scoot forward. I'll add a spring.

Thigh Stretch

So we do three springs for our thigh stretch. I want you to do one regular and two into a full back bend. Where are those hips? They're forward. There we go. Looking down. There we go. Go back.

Lift your arms and come up as one solid piece. Inhale to start. Keep your hips here. Unfolding as you exhale, uh uh. Head back, exhale. In with the air, lift and come up as one solid piece.

Thigh Stretch w/ Backbend

Nicely done. One more. Hips forward, in with the air, exhale. In with the air, lift in one solid piece. Fantastic. Step off to the side. We'll drop to one spring.

Arm Circles

Take off two. So we do our arm circles. Again, more hips, press those hips forward. Even more. Come on. Ah, there we go. And they go forward as we lift up and open.

Easy peasy, one more. Hips forward 'cause we're gonna do sneak and twist reverse. And if you don't have your hips, you're not gonna be able to move that carriage. Up, one more, and where there's a will, there's a way, right? And that's enough of those. Good.

Now we're gonna hang up our handles, and we're gonna get ready for the snake and twist. Come on over to my side. We'll do this side first. Alright. Might be your stronger side. Might be your weaker. We will find out. Okay.

So right hand first. Hand, and then your foot. Good, and then the other hand, and lift. Remember what I said about your hips? They're everything. And alignment. Here we go. We're gonna breathe.

Snake Twist

It's snake. So we're gonna inhale, push with the hips. Exhale. In with the air and exhale up. Try not to push the carriage out away from you. Keep your shoulders over your wrist. In with the air, hold it right there, and get the shoulder forward over the wrist, and up.

That was better with alignment. Good. Now strong hips. Let's twist as you go out. Twist, twist, twist, and up. That's nice. Try to lock your shoulder in place. It'll be a work in progress, but you're doing great.

One more. Twist, twist, twist, and up. Beautiful. Take your right foot down. Hold the carriage in with your powerhouse. Keep your head down. That's it. So everything's encouraging, and left foot down.

Your carriage to stay in instead of anything going out. Go to the other side. I'm gonna switch this. Alright, hang on one second. Let's make sure you do hand first. Holding the carriage in, then the other foot. Good.

And good. Alright, scoop in head is where? Tucked in, encouraging the carriage to stay in. And let's take a breath as we start to push out, and exhale the hips down. In with the air and up. Good. And it's like a snake, right?

You're gonna (hisses) all that air out. And up, up, up, up. Okay. Let's squeeze those hips, and twist them under, over your shoulder. Beautiful. You even got a little smile, and one more. Squeezing out, exhale all that air, twist.

Don't hold your breaths on those. And then holding eyes here, holding the carriage in to bring that foot down. Nice job. Other foot, and rounding up. Good. I'm gonna take this head piece down and remove the handles.

You can move that underneath 'cause we're getting ready now for our corkscrew. It's a lovely sequence. Let's add one spring. Good, and line down for corkscrew. You wanna think of these in your head so you can keep up your rhythm, tick tock. And then a little balance control.

Step off the head pieces down. These are here to really stabilize, not to flare up. Let's draw the knees into your chest, extend the legs up, and let's go over with the hips, and lift up to the ceiling. Good. Alright. Let's twist to the right as you go down. And circle low over to the left and up with energy.

Corkscrew

Beautiful, and twist to the left. Around, low, and up with energy. One more set. Twisting, the stomach stays scooped in around, and up, and twist around to the right. Then lift up, and come down with control, with control, with control. Tick tock, let the legs fall over as you look this way, and right up with the powerhouse.

Tick Tock

Look over away from me, and back up. Beautiful. And over this way, and up, and look at the camera. Don't forget to smile, and up. There we go. Let's get ready for balance control. Step off. That feels wonderful on your waist and your hips.

And if you do it slow, you'll never get up. Draw the knees in, lifting all the way. And this we're just gonna do a little check with the right, left leg and up. And right and up. Good. And now going into your step off. Good.

Balance Control

Beautiful. Little plie, or bend the knee. Okay. Can we rise up onto the ball of our foot? Nice. Very good. And you're gonna regain into your jackknife position, lifting up. Beautiful. Energy's up right? And right foot.

And lengthening. Very nice, holding in your powerhouse. Bend that left knee. That's it. Rise up using that left hip. Beautiful. Come down.

Always time to think about our hips and scoop, and up, up, up, and controlling down. Beautiful. Hug in those knees. Hug them in. Good. And we're gonna grab our second long box. Joy. Let's come on over here.

Grab your long box. If you haven't done second long box in a while, it's time. We're not gonna do the- bar down. Sorry. We're not gonna be doing the foot straps on the feet, but we will do grasshopper rocking and swimming. Again, mentally putting them in.

Stand up with control. Then we're gonna maybe use a towel as your forehead will be going onto the frame of the reformer. Good. Alright. Lying down with your ribs. Allow for freedom in motion in the upper body. Your hands can either be where Lindsey's are, or they can be lower on the legs of the frame.

Grasshopper

Does that feel pretty good? Yeah. Alright. So we're gonna push out as we lift those legs up to the ceiling. Good. Extend them out. And eight taps down.

Six, seven, eight. So a big lift up. That's it, pull 'em in first. Let's bend them in, and then extend, and eight counts long up. We're gonna do one more. Keep those legs straight as you push out. Shall we? And pull up, and then bend in. There we go.

Extend, and then clap your way down. Good work, Lindsay. Do you feel good where you are for rocking, or do you need to slide back a tiny bit? Slide back, I think. Okay, good.

Rocking

Love, love, love your work here. Bend the knees. Grab on, and let's push our hips into the box, and lift up. You push your feet into your hands for a beautiful extension. And then you can rock, keeping your head lifted so your energy's always up. Always. One more, up.

And your energy's so up that you get to stretch out for swimming, giving me your arms, and you're gonna swim up two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Up two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. One more with those legs getting closer and stronger. And relax. Step off. You wanna step down with the hands to the floor. Good.

Swimming

Second lawn box is not easy. It's not fun. But the more you do it, and the more you just do it with gusto, the easier and more correct it'll get scooping in. So even if you can't get it perfect, you wanna always try it, and keep it in your system. Let's bring that box down, and we're gonna do long spine massage. So if you don't mind looping your leather through.

Forward Fold

You can also do it without straps. Sometimes that's a superstar level. Sometimes I think that's also a little cheating. I can do it almost better with my upper body doing all the work. So we're gonna do it with our straps here. Good job.

And then we're gonna head piece down because we will be rolling up onto our neck again, and lie on down. You feel good? You feel ready? Good. I got it. I have it. Here we go. Good. Love how you bring both legs over.

That's it, and a little closer. Great. More lifting of your bottom. Notice every time you lift your bottom up, you have to do it with a lot of gusto, a lot of dynamics. Arms down, and a lot of will. Here we go. We're gonna push forward, and right on up.

Long Spine

Push into that strap, open those legs, and reach those feet in front of your bottom as you roll down, down, down. Squeeze together, and lift up, and open. And then keep pushing your feet in front. Keep going, keep pushing, keep pushing, and together. One more up, up, up, up, open, and push the feet in front of your seat.

Keep pushing the feet in front of your seat. Beautiful, reverse. Open and up. Squeeze together, and reaching long. Stretch that spine, stretch, stretch, stretch. Open, really open, and lift. There we go.

Squeeze together, and feet in front of the seat. Feet in front of the seat. One more, open and up, and squeeze together, and feet in front of those seat. Keep going, keep going, and enough. Bring those legs forward to you, and pull 'em towards you.

Hamstring and Inner Thigh Stretches

My hands were on the straps. Mentally, it gave Lindsay a little lift there. I wasn't helping her at all. And open those legs and go ahead and give yourself an inner thigh stretch too. Careful not to pull anything.

But enjoy that. Nice job. Good. Alright. Legs together. We'll go ahead and press your arms down by your side. And use your powerhouse to bring your legs.

Good, flex your feet. And those straps will just slide off, and enjoy a stretch. Good. Alright. Go ahead and step off. And we're gonna lift your bar up, and lift your head piece up, and we're gonna get ready for running and pelvic tilt.

We get to catch our breath. Go ahead and lie down. You can do it on two springs, which is what I have Lindsay on right now, or how you started your footwork, whether it was three or four springs. And stretch long, and run, and run. We're running. We're running.

Running

We're lift, and lift, and lift, and lift. You equally push down with your seat as much as you lift with your tummy, and catching your breath. And last set, and hold all your energy up. Beautiful sculpted body. Come in with that beautiful sculpted body.

Arches on the corners. We're not doing in this for nothing, and lift your seat up. Good. And stretch, and pull in, and stretch, and pull it in. This area gets dead a lot. Let's make sure we're working it right now.

Pelvic Lift

We're pulling in with it, stretch and pull. Still have a few hard exercises left, but we're catching our breath. Some nice fun ones. Two. Pulling in one more time. How long can you get your pelvis away from your ribs, and then melting down.

Slide your feet together, hug your knees in, and we're gonna do the control push ups, front and back. So we put it in second gear, still on two springs. So I'll slide it out. Put a little safety lock in. Second gear, two springs.

This is like the traditional pushups. And then the other one will be like a traditional tricep. Hands on the shoulder pads, right here with that foot. Good, squaring off the body. Always have to use those hips, right?

Control Push Up Front

So where are they in space? Five, four, three, two, beautiful. Push out the carriage, pull it in. One more. Push out, hold. Lift the right leg from that right hip.

Push out, pull it in. Gimme one more. Push out, pull it in. Right foot down. Left hip up. Good. Push out, pull it in. Push out, pull it in.

Hold left foot down, and three pushups. Head up, lengthen out the crown of the head. One more for me. Don't lower that head. Good, now pike up to keep the carriage home, and carefully step off to the side. Good. Standing there, you on your own.

Control Push Up Back

You're gonna be switching it back to first gear. Woo. And we're gonna put it back on two springs for our triceps, control pushups. There we go. Scooping in. Lift up, up those hips. Good. As you push out, kick the right leg up, and the left.

And now fan kick right. Fan kick left. We're gonna go the other way. Good, other way, and hold with control. Dip three, two, use that seat. Last one, and hold up those hips as you elegantly step off. Nice job.

We're ready to enjoy some good stretches. Come on this side with our side splits. You did fabulous with those. There was definitely a will, and there was a way. So we're gonna stand up. Good.

Side Splits

And I'm just make sure she's staying nice and safe here scooping in. Good. Lower those elbows, a little lower than the shoulders. Good. Everything's lifting. The arch, inner thigh, pelvic floor, lower belly all the way to your sternum, and slide out, out, out, out, and scoop up, up, up. Use this hip just as much.

You're gonna push out with this guy, and up, up, up. One more, pushing out, staying even in your box. Good. Hold. Stretch forward, and pick up a dozen roses for your fabulous performance today. Lifting up a little, break, a little upper back bend.

Upper back bend, so you're gonna look up to the ceiling. There we go, and center. And lift everything home. Aww. And now reach down and give your roses away to your favorite friend, and roll up. Hips forward as you lift your chest up. Nice.

And it's nice and tall and controlled. We're holding it home, and heel toe the right foot in. Good, keep going for me. That's it. Left foot. Now carefully turn towards the springs. Nice.

Staying there. Good. Heel toe, no banging, hold it in. Good. Alright. Now it's time to work this hip. We're gonna push out with the right hip, and lifting up.

How far can you go out? Stretch, stretch, stretch. That's nice, and up. One more. Stretch, stretch, stretch, stay here. And it's like saw. Good. Left hand, and lifting up.

Hips under you. There you go. Don't forget about those hips. Hips under you, and now lift up, up, up. And one more time. Those inner thighs should be on fire.

Hips, hip, hips, and lifting up, up, up. And heel toe the left foot in. Heel toe. Heel. Right foot onto the mat, carefully step forward. Good. And we'll finish our grand conclusion today with our Russians. Two springs.

Bar up. I'll use this one. And you're gonna face this way. Stepping hands onto, uh huh. Good. So she put her left foot back on the bar, right foot. Now we're gonna go out into a deep knee bend.

Bend that front knee. Good, good. Alright. Now still give me some dynamics. Push out, pull in Push, pull, push, pull, hold. Find your tummy. Lift up with your tummy, not your hips, and hands right there.

Russian Splits

Push, pull, push, pull, push, pull. Reach out through the arms, lift your heel forward to the front, to that little bend. Uh huh. And stretch out. Lift with straight legs. Lift in the hips. Maybe square 'em off a little bit.

Pull it all the way home though. There we go. And go on out. Enjoy it. Enjoy breathing, and up. Delicious. All the way, and bring that right foot back. Bring the left foot down.

Right foot back, and left foot into place. There we go. A little further back actually with the ball of the foot. There we go. Nice. Let's push out into a deep knee bend. We're gonna work that there. There we go.

And push, and pull, and push, and pull, and push, and pull. Nice, now find your tummy, hands up behind your head, and push, and pull, and push, and pull. One more. Yes. And reach those arms forward, and lift your heel up. Now, keep going, and straight legs.

And go ahead and enjoy. What I was gonna say is you might not be able to tell, and lift up both legs, how hard Lindsay's working there on that left leg when she's doing the Russians. Enjoy, enjoy and up. Let's just do one more for that left side, that worked so hard. But it took everything she could to just stay determined in that hip and that stomach to keep filling up her left side, her weaker side.

And she had all the energy and the will. Bring your left foot under you, the right foot. And come on off to this side. And let's give Lindsay a round of applause for a good rhythm and motion. (both clapping) Thank you for joining us.

Rhythm and Dynamics - Playlist 6: Advanced Reformer Workouts

Comments

Too hard to follow. Not enough time to change springs. Not clear always what sorings to be on
1 person likes this.
I was waiting for a new class from Monica! That was great thank you 😊 
Incredible work both of you! Thank you!
Very happy to see Monica back!  Great class!
no clear spring change instructions. not fun
Monica!! This was an amazing class!! I loved the flow, the challenge and sweat that came down my brow. Can’t wait to do it again. 
Hi Heidi, Love hearing you got your sweat on! So glad you enjoyed the rhythm and flow! Monica :)

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