Tower Challenge

Hi. My name is Brett Howard, and I'm going to do a tower class. And my bodies today are Niedra, Amy, and Meredith. So we're going to start with the rollback bar. And you guys are going to start with your feet against the metal poles.

You're going to grab ahold of the bar. And yes, I want you to have slightly bent knees to start with today. Great. And then, head directly over shoulders, shoulders directly over hips, I want you to initiate with your tailbone. You're going to round down one vertebrae at a time, articulating through your spine bone by bone.

Very good. Once you're down there, you're going to draw your chin to your chest. And then you're going to roll up one vertebrae at a time, articulating through your spine. Bend the knees. Lift your spine to a nice tall vertical spine.

As you're lifted there, wrap through the front of the ribcage, fill into the middle part of the back. And again, start with the tailbone, curling down one vertebrae at a time, articulating down through your spine, giving every vertebrate its moment as you go down. Imagine you're peeling into wet sand behind you. And now draw your chin to your chest. You're going to roll up.

As you roll up, you're still rolling out of that wet sand, so you want to really make a nice deep imprint as you roll up. So each time you roll down and up, you're making that imprint even more and more deep. Once again, start with the tailbone and curl down one vertebrae at a time, deepening through the lower back, making a nice imprint into that wet sand behind you. Excellent, guys. And now draw your chin to your chest, rolling up.

Try and not to skip any vertebra as you roll up. Very good. And as we're doing this, we're also trying to make sure that bar stays nice and even. Now our right hand is going to go right into the middle of the bar. The left arm is going to go right around the waist.

And so as we're doing the roll down here, we're also going to focus on making sure that bar stays nice and even. And now start with the tail curled down one vertebrae at a time, articulating down, opening up the lower back. And then draw your chin back to your chest, rolling up one vertebrae at a time, focusing on that nice square bar, nice square shoulders. And now let's exchange arms, left arm in the middle, right arm around the waist. And then start with the tailbone, curling down one vertebrae at a time, rippling downward like a wave in this nice successive or sequential sequencing of the spine.

And then bring your chin to your chest, rolling up, keeping a nice even bar as you roll up. Make sure it's not twisting or lifting. And now exchange arms again, right hand in the middle, left arm around the waist. And start with the tailbone curling down, deepening. This time, when you get down you're going to take the left arm, circle it around, and you're going to reach for the back opposite side of the corner.

Now as you're reaching there, you're going to turn the head and look up towards that hand. Excellent, guys. As you're reaching there, I want you to really reach through the hand, and that same foot is going to push into the pole. And now bring the arm back around the waist. Good.

And then rolling up one vertebrae at a time, articulating through your spine. And then exchange arms, left hand in the middle, right arm around the waist. And start with the tailbone. Curl down, deepening, opening up the lower back, nice square bar. And then once you're down there, right arm circles around and reaches for the back left corner of the mat.

As you reach, the right hand reaches outward, right foot pushes into the pole to get a nice oppositional stretch there. Pull in through the left side of the ribcage, and then bring the arm back around the waist, swooping around, centering the body, centering the bar, and rolling up one vertebrae at a time to a nice tall straight, lifted vertical spine. And we're going to do one more of those, right hand in the middle, left arm around the waist. Start with the tailbone, curling down, nice sequential sequencing of the spine, rippling downward like a wave. Now the left arm is going to circle around, and you're going to reach the back opposite corner of the mat.

Great. Looking up towards that hand, now cross the left leg over the right leg, and then you can take a nice long lateral stretch here. It feels good, right? Mm hmm. And then the leg is going to cross, uncross, and then you're going to bring the arm back around the waist, and then rolling up one vertebrae at a time.

And then exchange arms, left hand in the middle, right arm around the waist. Round down. This is our warmup, so get ready. No, I'm kidding. Circle the arm around.

And then you're going to reach. Imagine I'm giving you a handshake here, and then cross your right leg over the left. And then you're going to reach. As I pull here, someone's pulling that foot there. Excellent.

Now uncross the foot, and then bring the arm around the waist. And then chin to chest, curling up one vertebrae at a time. So grab with both hands again. And then you're going to round down one vertebrae at a time, articulating down. This time, once we're down there, instead of rolling up you're going to soften the knees, let the tailbone go down, head goes back, and you're going to arch your back and come up.

Yes, going for a nice ride there, letting the springs do a little bit of the work. And now start with the tailbone. That was beautiful, guys. Round down one vertebrae at a time, shoulders nice and relaxed, and exhale down. Soften the knees, extend the back, arching, let the springs pull you up.

We never get a chance to stick our ribs out, so here's our chance, right? And again, rounding down, one vertebrae at a time, articulating down through the spine. Nice. And then last time. Extend the back.

Let the springs take you for a ride. Excellent, guys. And now, rolling down, articulating down, this time when you get down there you're going to hold there. And then what you're going to do is you're going to retract your shoulder blades, pulling the shoulder blades back, and then protract the shoulders. Retract the shoulders back, protract front.

And again, retract back and protract front. Now, broad elbows, you're going to bend the elbows and bring the bar into the sternum. Nice. And extend the arms. And again, broadening, bending into the sternum, and extend the arms.

Last time, pulling into the sternum, and extend the arms. Now with extended arms, you're going to press down, bringing the bar to the thighs, and then lift the bar back up. And again, pressing the bar down, making sure the wrists stay nice and long. Nice, guys. And then lift the bar back up.

Last time, press the bar down, wrapping through the front of the ribs, and lift the bar back up. Now bring your chin to your chest. We're rolling up one vertebrae at a time up to a nice tall straight back. Bring your legs together, and you're going to have nice straight legs there. Flex the feet, and then you're going to roll down one vertebrae at a time.

And actually, I kind of like having this bar here because I can tell what's going on with your feet there. Now roll down one vertebrae at a time, articulating down. There we go. Normally I would put a board there, and I've have you push your heels into the board. But since we have that bar, I can say, don't move that bar.

And now bring your chin to your chest, rolling up one vertebrae at a time, articulating up. Nice. Now once you're up, I want you to actually lead with the crown of the head. Do an upper back extension but making sure that you're not going to break in the back of the neck. And go halfway down and hold.

Then bend the elbows in, extend the arms, let the spring pull you back up, and center the head. Nice. And then roll all the way down again, massaging your back. Good. And then, bringing your chin to your chest, rolling up one vertebrae at a time.

Lead with the crown of the head. Extend the heart up to the ceiling as you go halfway back. Imagine there's a light beam coming out of your heart to the ceiling. And then bend your elbows in and extend the arms. Beautiful, guys.

And let that light beam pull you back up through the heart. And then start with the tailbone. Round down one vertebrae at a time, articulating down. Nice. And then bring your chin your chest, curling up.

Last time, extend up through the crown of the head, bringing the heart to the ceiling. And then arching halfway back. And then bend the elbows in, extend the arms, let that bar bring you up, and this is our very last time to come down, rolling down one vertebrate at a time. Good. Now bring your chin to your chest.

Roll up to your shoulder blades. Roll head, neck, and shoulders up and hold. Press the bar down. We're going to do a 50, pumping. Inhale, three, four, five.

Exhale, three, four, five. In with the air, four five. Exhale, three, four, five. Three. [INHALES AUDIBLY] And out, two, three, four, five.

Two more sets, four five. Exhale, three, four, five. Last set, three, four, five. Exhale, three, four, five. Continue a roll up all the way up.

Good. Now turn around. You're going to lie down on your back, one hand's width distance away from the back edge with your head. You're going to have soles of the feet flat onto the mat. You're going to have the legs parallel, hip width, feet in line with knees in line with your hips.

Good. And then you're going to reach up and grab ahold of your bar. Good. And I like how you guys just did that in a cannon. All right.

Now open those leg parallel, hip width. And now what you're going to do-- sometimes I might put a ball in between the knees here-- is you're going to start with the tailbone. You're going to curl up one vertebrae at a time up to a nice bridge. Now press the bar down to the thighs. Then let the bar go back.

Now ripple downward, bringing chest away from chin, rolling down one vertebrae at a time. Imagine someone's walking down the front of your body. And again, you're going to start with the tailbone. You're going to curl up one vertebrae at a time. Nice.

And once you're up there, I'd like you to get a little thing, what I call a ballet dimple. So little indentations, I call that ballet dimples. And now press the bar down onto the thighs, keeping your ballet dimple. And then let the bar go back. Now walk down the front of the body, making sure that the pelvis is the very last thing to come down, tailbone last thing to come weighted onto the mat.

Hamstrings, right? Yeah. And again-- you OK? Yeah. All right.

Start with the tailbone, curling up one vertebrae at a time. This time, once you're up there you're going to press the bar down, and we're going to do our other 50. Pumping, inhale, three, four, five. Exhale. Snuck that one in, didn't I?

In with the air, and exhale, three, four, five. Inhale, three, four, five. Press that bar down more ladies, inhale, and exhale, three, four, five. Last set, three, four, five. Exhale, three, four, five.

Let the bar come back with control. Nice. And then roll down, walking down the body one vertebrae at a time. Good. You're going to let go of that bar, and you're going to bring your legs out onto the mat, legs together.

Arms are going to come straight up to the ceiling. Draw those inner thighs together, take a five-count roll up. Role up for five, four, three, two, one. Beautiful, guys. So I'm going to have you guys stand up.

Take your rollback bar off, and you're going to place it to the left side of your mat. Once the rollback bar is off, you're going to assemble your push through bar. Great. You're going to lie down onto your back. And as you lie down, you're going to grab ahold of the bar, and then take a test to make sure that the bar can clear your head, probably about an inch distance.

So if the bar doesn't clear your head, then you have to move a little bit forward or backwards, depending. OK? Once you have your measurement, you guys can bring soles of the feet flat onto the mat, parallel hip-width distance, feet tracking in line with knees in line with your hips. We're going to do a couple shoulder openers first. So you're going to broaden your elbows and bring the elbows down onto the mat.

Now keep the elbows on the mat as long as you can as you extend the arms back. Eventually they're going to come up off the Mat. Mm hmm. Good. And now you're going to come back through, bringing your elbows onto the mat.

And then extend the arms straight up to the ceiling. Good. And again, broaden the elbows. Bring the elbows onto the mat, and you're going to bend and push through. Good.

Mm hmm. That one's noisy for some reason. And come back through and extend the arms up. Very good. Yes, let's do one more.

You're going to broaden the elbows, and you're going to push through and stretch. I can't hear you. That's OK. I'm watching. And now come back through.

Extend the arms straight up to the ceiling. This time, when the arms are there, start with the tailbone. Roll up one vertebrae at a time. Cara Reeser talks a lot about rolling numbers for spine, so think about that here. Now roll down through your spine, head, 1, 2, and 3 on the mat.

Roll down 4, roll down 5, roll down 6, roll down 7, roll down 8, roll down 9, tailbone 10. Now tailbone goes into the mat more. Let your head go back, push the bar up, and arch. Good. Now as you push the bar up, you're going to come all the way up, and I'm going to give you a little stretch here.

Then bring your chin to your chest. Roll down, and as you roll down I'm just going to pull upward on this bar a little bit so you get a nice opening of your back. Nice. And then you're going to broaden the elbows, push back and through-- and Amy's going to make a little noise with her spring-- and come back through. And then you're going to extend the arms up to the ceiling, initiate from the tailbone, and you're going to roll-- actually, that's not your tailbone, Niedra.

[STUDENT TALKING] That's OK. [STUDENT TALKING] So you're going to initiate with your tailbone. You're going to roll up, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 7, 5, 4, balance on 1, 2, and 3. Then you're going to roll down. That's OK.

I do that all the time. And I don't know my left from my right. And rolling down, articulating down, tailbone's going to go even more into the mat, and then you're going to arch and extend that back and push that bar up. And I'm going to give you a little stretch there. Good.

And then, chin to chest, roll down. And I'm just going to pull up on this bar as you roll down to give you a little stretch and opening of the back. Thank you. You're welcome. And now, one more time.

Broaden the elbows, and you're going to push broad and through. Good. And now come back through it. [STUDENT TALKING] Oh my god. Oh.

And then extend the arms. Spoke too soon. Chin to chest, you're going to roll up. Not chin to chest, sorry. Tailbone.

I blame that on Niedra. No, I'm kidding. I'll take all the blame. I'm kidding. And now we're walking down through your spine one vertebrae at a time.

And then tailbone's going to go even more into the mat, and you're going to roll up one vertebrae at a time. I'm going to give you a little stretch there. Is that OK? Oh, I love it. Good.

All right. Chin to chest, and roll down. I'm going to pull up on this bar as you roll down to give you a little bit of traction to help open up that back. Feels good, right? Oh, wonderful.

All right. So what you guys are going to do is you're going to sit up underneath the bar. You're going to sit one hand's width distance away from the back edge with your pelvis. Then you're going to crisscross applesauce your legs. All right?

And you're going to reach and grab on the outside of the bar, and then the line of the elbow is actually going to pull inward towards this way. So you don't want to go back, but pull in. OK? Beautiful. Now you're going to pull in to the center like the elbows are daggers going into the ribs, and then extend up.

And again, pulling inward and going up. Excellent. Pulling inward and extend. Let's do one more, pulling in. And now you're going to pulse down, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and release.

All right. Let's switch the crisscross. Sometimes I might add a second spring here, but for time let's actually just keep the one. Pull in. And as you pull in, try not to go forward/back with your spine, just up and down, head up, tailbone down, and release.

Excellent, guys. Pulling in, two, three, and gently release. Twice more, pulling in, two, three, and gently release. Let's do one more, pulling in, two, three. Now the pulses.

Pulse down 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and release. Excellent. Standing up, let's all face that direction, and we're going to do a standing mermaid. So you're going to grab a hold of the bar, and you're going to bring the right arm straight up to the ceiling. And then scoot out a little bit until the arms is to a full extension.

Great. And then what you're going to do is you're going to side bend over to the right. Mm hmm. There we go. Is that OK?

Oh, it's wonderful. And come back up. You even got a little chiropractic adjustment there. I know. You owe me $50 more.

All right. Now going over, there we go. Yes, and come back up. Let's do one more, and pressing over. This time, on the last one, bend your elbow, wrapping your arm over your head, and then extend the arm and stretch and reach out and touch someone.

And then lifting up, all the way up. Good. Let's change sides, turning around. Great. And then arm up, and you're going to go over and stretch.

You OK here? Yes. OK, good. And come back up. And again, going over.

Good. And come back up. And let's do one more. Going over, there we go. Now bend your elbow, extend the arm, and reach out and touch someone, and then come all the way up.

Good. Nice. All right, guys. So let's disassemble the push through bar, and then what you're going to do is you're going to put your leg springs on. Amy, you know where we're going to do this.

[STUDENT TALKING] There we go. [STUDENT TALKING] We can leave it. It's OK. Yeah. So what you're going to do is you're going to lie down on your back, and you guys are going to be one hand's width distance from the tower unit here.

And then you guys are going to place the leg springs onto your feet. Then, from there, you're going to reach back, grab a hold of the metal poles. You're going to walk up a little bit so you have two right angles. Mm hmm. Maybe up a little bit more here, yup.

Then from there, you're going to pull your elbows into the center of the body. Nice. Good. Let's take our frog position with our legs, and you're going to extend the legs out to 45 degrees. And bend the knees and come in.

And again, extending out. That's a glass red wine. Don't spill that. And come back in. And again, that's a glass of champagne.

Don't spill that. And come back in. And three more and out. [STUDENT TALKING] Sweet white wine. And coming in.

And let's do one more, extending out. This time hold there, zippering up through the core. Open the legs for leg circles, lower, together, and lift. And open and down, together and lift. Three and down.

Don't let the ball roll. And four and down, together and lift. Keep your alcoholic beverage on your stomach. Reverse, down, open, up and together. Two, open, up and together.

Tailbone is nice and weighted on the mat. Twice more, open, up and together. One more, open up together. The scissor, right leg is going to come down onto the mat towards the mat. And then, oh my god, I'm in Wimbledon here, and I'm the ball boy.

And change-- [STUDENT TALKING] --two. And change, two. Right? She's making me work hard for my money. Change, three.

And change, three. Change, four. Change, four. One more time, change five. Excellent, guys.

Change, five. Legs together, we're going to do a walk. On the eighth count, we're going to assemble together, all right? So you're going to walk down, two, three, four, five, six, seven, assemble on eight. And up, two, three, four, five, six, seven, assemble on eight.

Down, two, three, four, five, six, seven, assemble. And up, two, three, four, five, six, seven, together eight. One more, two, three, four, five, six, seven, assemble. And up, two, three, four, five, six, seven, together on eight. Bicycle, reach out, and reach out, and reach out, two, and two.

Imagine you have a tightrope bar that you're holding on your pelvis. You have to keep that bar very even. You're not allowed to let the pelvis rotate. Let's do one more, five, and five. Reverse the bicycle, one, and one, and two, and two.

Elbows pulling into the middle of that body, three. Woah. Uh-oh. Four. She has quick reflexes over there.

Four, one more time, and five, and five. Legs together, 45 degrees, beats. Beat 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Squeeze, lower a little bit more and beat 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and squeeze. Lower to where you can control.

And last time, beat 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. 9, 10. Squeeze, bend the knees into the chest. Bring the arms down by the sides to let them rest for three. You can shake them out if you want to, one.

Let's take those hands back again, and we're going to do the four-count frog. So you're going to bring the inner border of your feet together, actually like this. So that makes those knees naturally come in line with your shoulders. Then you're going to bring the soles of the feet flat onto the mat. Good.

Yes, excellent. Now slide the feet out. And as you slide out, they naturally will rotate to Pilates stance. You're going to go to a full extension, and you can either keep them on the mat or they can lift. Either one is fine.

You go to your control. And then lift the legs to 45 degrees and bend the knees into the chest. Excellent. So feet flat onto the mat, one. Slide the legs out on two.

Lift the legs up, three, to 45. Bend the knees into the chest on four. One more time. Feet flat on the mat, one. Slide out, two.

Lift up, three. Bend the knees into the chest on four. Reversing, going out, one. Lower down, two. Slide the feet in three.

Pull the knees into the chest as the tailbone goes down on four. Nice. And go out, one. And now-- thank you-- lower down, two. Slide the feet in, three.

Bend the knees into the chest on four. One more time, legs out and lower. Slide the feet in as you zipper up. Bend the knees into the chest, four. Reversing, six counts.

Feet flat onto the mat, one. Slide the legs out, two. But this time, open the legs, three. Lift the legs up, four. Legs together, five.

Bend the knees into the chest on six. Feet flat onto the mat, one. Slide the legs out, two. This time, hold there. Lift your head up and look at your feet.

It's one leg closer to the side of the mat than the other leg, just to give yourself a check, if you extend the legs out-- I know you guys are holding that-- if you're square or not. That was two. Now open, three. Lift up, four. Together, five.

Knees into the chest on six. Let's do one more. Feet down, one. Slide out right into the middle of the mat, two. And then open the legs, three.

Lift the legs up to 45 degrees, four. Legs together, five. Bend the knees into the chest on six. Reversing, out on one. Open, two.

Down, three. Together, four. Slide the feet in, five. Knees into the chest on six. again, out, one.

Open, two. Down on three. Together, four. Slide the feet in, five. Knees into the chest on six.

Last time, out on one. Open, two. Down on three. Together, four. Slide the feet in, five.

Knees into the chest on six. Rond de jambes, legs out 45 degrees. Now I want you to imagine you're going to trace two golf-ball sized circles, and you're going to brush your heel with each circle. You're going to circle 1, circle 2, circle 3, circle 4, and 5 and 6 and 7 and 8 and 9 and 10. Hold there.

Now those golf balls looked a little bit more like basketballs to me, ladies. So we're going to make it a little smaller. Now reverse. Small 1 and 2 and 3, as small as you can. Circle 6 and 7 and 8 and 9 and 10.

So small fast movement is very hard to control. Now bend your knees. Bring the soles of the feet flat together. Romana called this one diamond legs. You're going to hinge at your hip joint.

You're not going to hinge at the knee joints. You're going to lower from the thigh, lower the leg-- good-- and you're going to lift from the thigh. Lower the leg-- it can also be called double attitude-- and lift the leg up. Lower, three. Lift the leg up.

Lower, four. And legs lift up. One more time, lower five, lifting up, knees into the chest. Find that frog position. This time, Amy will start since she's in the middle.

You're going to extend the legs out to 45 degrees. This is another thing we never get to do. You're going to open the legs wide. Close the legs. Bend the knees into the chest.

Now my bookends, out and open, together, and bend in. You're the cold because you have the blue on. Open, together, and in. Now the hots, open together and in. Now the cold, out, open, legs together, bend in.

Now the hot girls, open. Well, you guys are all hot. And together and in. That's good. Knees into the chest.

And now you're going to take the ball and place it to the right side of your mat now, and you're going to take the straps off your feet. Good. Let's set our arm springs up. So you can put it on either the bottom, second to bottom, or third to bottom, depending on what you like. Arm springs?

Mm hmm. Yep, arm springs. Sorry. Then you can scoot out as far as you like. The further you go out, the more tension there's going to be.

Great. You're going to lie down on the back. And now let's have soles of the feet flat on the mat, feet together, knees together. All right. So arms straight up to the ceiling.

Good. And with straight arms, you're going to press the arms down and then lift the arms up. And press down, two. And lift the arms up, two. And again, pressing down, three.

And lift the arms, three. Two more. Pressing down, four. Lift the arms up, four. Last time, press down, five.

And lift the arms up, five. We're going to do a circle. Amy, you're going to initiate. You're going to open, and then you guys are going to follow. Open, down, together.

And again, open, down, together, and up. And open, down, together, and up. Twice more, open, down, together, and up. Last time, open, down, together, and up. Reverse the circle.

Go down, open, up, together. Down, two, open, up. Thrice more, down, open, up, together. Twice more, open, up, and together. Last time, open, up, and together.

Arms come straight down and hold. Good. Now the upper arm's going to stay planted on that mat. Don't let it come off as you bend your elbows. And as you extend the arms, don't let the elbow or upper arm come off the mat.

And stretch and push down, two, three. And again, bend and press down and hold, two, three. And bend. The bend always has to be slower than the pressing down, two, three. So you control the bending.

You still control the press down, but the bending has to be slower. Nice. One more time. And bend and stretch down and hold, two. Now hold there.

Reach out and get something you want and then lift those arms straight up to the ceiling. Good. And now we can take those off. You're going to set your rollback bar up to the setting it was initially, and you can take your arms springs off as well. How are you guys doing, OK?

Good. Good. We're going to do the kneeling chest expansion. So you're going to knee down one arm length distance away from the tower unit. And today, let's do feet parallel, hip-width distance.

Good. Head over shoulders over hips over knees. Wrap through the front of your ribs, and our goal is to not go forward or back. You're going to press the bar down to the thighs. Hold the breath, look to the right, look to the left, look center, exhale, and release.

And again, inhale, press the bar down. Hold the breath, look to the left, look to the right, look center, and exhale and release. And again, inhale, press down. This time, hold the breath, look right, look center, look left, look center, and exhale and release. And again, inhale, pull.

Hold the breath, look left, look center, look right, look center, and exhale, release. We're going to do one more. But there is an electric wall behind you, also one in front of you, so you cannot touch either one of those walls. They're an inch in front and in back. Inhale, pull down.

This time, a long exhalation. Look to the right, exhale, exhale, exhale, exhale. Inhale, look center. Exhale, look left. Inhale, look center.

Simon didn't say to exhale yet. Now exhale and release. And again, inhale, pull down. They're like, technically, your name's not Simon. Exhale, look to the left.

Inhale, look center. Exhale, look to the right. Inhale, look center, and exhale and release. Right hand right in the middle of the bar, left hand behind the base of the head. Our goal is to not let our body rotate on this one.

You're going to press the bar down, making sure the bar stays even, and keep your body body from rotating, two, three, and release. And again, pressing down and hold, hold, hold, and release. One more time, pressing down, and hold, hold, hold, and release. Keep your right hand on, kneel facing me. Left arm is going to come down by the side, and then you're going to press down, down, down.

And it's not going to go far. Don't worry. And release. And press down, down, down, and release. Press down, three, two, three, release.

Bring the right hand to the front part, and then turn, face this direction. Bring both hands on. [STUDENT TALKING] Yep. Yep. Good.

Now, once again, there's that electrical wall here, the electric well here. We're not going to let that move. We're also not going to do the funky chicken with the ribs, guys. OK? So wrap through the ribs.

You're going to press down and lengthen, lengthen, lengthen, release. Press down and lengthen, lengthen, lengthen, release. Now inhale, press down, look to the right, look center, look left, look center, and exhale and release. And again, inhale, pull, and look left, look center, look right, look center, exhale, release. Now the long breath.

Inhale, press down. Big exhalation, look to the right. Inhale, look center. Big exhalation, look to the left. Inhale, center.

And exhale, release. And again, inhale, pull. Big exhalation, look left. Big inhalation, center. Big exhalation, look right.

Big inhalation, center. Big exhalation and release the long back, stretch arms. I shouldn't say this, but I always say it's like Chinese food, like shrimp fried rice, long back, stretch arms. And you're going to bend in one. Shave down, two.

Back, three-- it's food-- and bending in and shaving down and back. One more time, bending in, shaving down, and back. Reversing, down, shaving up, and back. And again, pull down. Wrap through the front of those ribs, shaving up and back.

One more time, pulling down, shaving up, and back. Good. Now what you're going to do is you're going to face that direction, and you're going to bring your left hand in the middle. All right. Good, right?

Yeah. Press down and hold, hold, hold, and release. And press down and hold, hold, hold, and release. Last time, press down and hold, hold, hold, and release. Now keep that hand there.

Turn facing into the bar, right hand right in the middle. Good. Yep, there we go. Perfect. Press down and hold, hold, hold, and release.

And again, press down and hold as you wrap through the front of those ribs and release. Last time, press down and hold, hold, hold, and release. Grab with both hands again. And then what you're going to do is you're going to hinge back. Actually, first let's bring the bar into the chest, into the sternum.

Chin to chest, hinging backwards. Excellent. Come back up with bent elbows, and then extend the arm straight. And again, bending in and hinging back and coming forward, and extend the arms. And now one more time, bending in, hinging back in your thigh stretch.

But this time, don't let the ribs go. Do an upper back extension. Then bring your chin back to the chest, and then come back up and release the bar. Now let's keep the arms extended. And then what you're going to do is you're going to drop your chin to your chest and hinge back with straight arms.

Now lift the bar a half inch and come up. So by lifting that bar that half inch, it makes you work actually a little bit more of your own powerhouse, and you rely a little less on the springs. And again, chin to your chest. Nice long relaxed toes hinging at the knee joint. Lift the arms up a half inch and zipper up as you come all the way up to a nice vertical alignment.

Last time. You OK? Mm hmm. Bring your chin to your chest, hinging back. This time, upper back extension like your pull strap extension.

Then bring your chin to your chest, and then let the bar lift and come up. Now scoot inward just a little bit. This one's going to be a nice thigh stretch. You're going to press the bar down onto your thighs. Chin to chest, keep the bar connected to your thighs as you hinge backwards.

Then come back up and release. And you can see how that gives you a deeper stretch of your quadricep. And then pull the bar down, chin to your chest, hinging back. Very nice. Come back up and then release the bar.

And again, pull the bar down. And chin to chest, hinge back. It's like holy quads. And now come back up and release the bar. Excellent, ladies.

So what you're going to do is you're going to take that off, and let's assemble our leg springs once again. Now what you're going to do is you're going to lie down on your back. You're going to take your left leg spring and place it onto your right foot. Great. Then what you're going to do is you're going to take your pink ball, place it onto your belly button.

Oh, goody. And now bring the sole of the left foot flat onto the mat, and you're going to bend your knee. Great. Now reach back, grab a hold of those poles, pull inward. Now we're going to actually keep this leg parallel, the right one.

And then our goal is to have no movement in the pelvis, drawing a straight line forward and backwards. So if we're tracing something with our foot, we're just going to keep drawing one line that gets more and more bold with each trace. So you're going to extend the leg out and bend the knee and come back in. And again, extend the leg out, and making sure there's no rotation in your pelvis, and come back in. And again, extending out.

And all three of you maybe might want to pull your left hip forward more towards the front of the room, and come back in. Good. Now adding on, extending out, hold there. What you're going to do is you're going to lower the leg down, you're going to lift the leg up, and you're going to bend the knee and come back again. And again, you're going to extend the leg out, lower the leg down, lift the leg up, and bend the knee and come back in.

One more time, extending out, lower the leg, lift the leg, and bend the knee and come back in, contracting this side of the ribs more. Excellent. Now what you're going to do is you're going to bring the sole of the foot flat onto the mat, one. Oops. Slide the leg out on the mat, two.

Lift the leg up knee-to-knee, three. Lower the leg down, four. Slide the foot back in, five. Bend the knee into the chest on six. Oh, I know.

Let's bring this hip a little bit more-- there we go. That'll help. And again, foot down, one. Slide out, two. Lift up, three.

It tells you a lot where your rotation is, right? Yeah. And then lower down, four. Slide the foot back in, five, knee into the chest on six. And again, foot down on one.

Notice what happens when I'm really holding this part. Yep. And now slide out, two. Lift the leg up, three. Good.

Lower the leg, four. Slide the foot in, five. Bend the knee in on six. Good. Now what you're going to do is you're going to take your ball for a second.

Then you're going to bring your hands to the very bottom of the poles and push yourself all the way to a full extension. Now the knees that's bent, sole of the foot flat, you're going to extend that leg out on the mat. Then, of course, you're going to put that ball back on your stomach. Good. Of course.

Of course. Now what you're going to do is you're going to extend that right leg straight up to the ceiling. Good. And then what we're going to do is you're going to lower the leg straight down and lift the leg up. Everybody put more weight on the right side of your pelvis as you lower.

Anchor that side. Contract through the right side of the obliques, and lift back up. Nice. One more time, lower. Wrap through the right side of the ribcage.

Yes, guys. And release up. Then a nice rotation in the leg, the single-leg circle. Go across the body, circle down, but don't go open. Just go straight up.

So we're going to draw a letter D. And across the body, circle down, and come up. One more time, across the body, circle down, and come up. And let's reverse that. Go straight down, across the body, and come up. And down, two, across the body, and come up.

Down, three, across the body, and come up. And then bend the knee in. Excellent, guys. So let's move back so we're about one hand's width distance away, and let's exchange legs. So we're going to have the right leg spring go onto the left foot.

And I really like this exercise because it really gives you a lot of feedback about your rotation. Yeah. OK. So pink ball on your stomach. Reach back, grab a hold.

And then you're going to walk the hands up a little bit, elbows pull in. And now stretch the leg straight out, and bend the knee and come back in. And again, extend the leg out, two, and come back again. And again, extending out, three, and come back in. All right.

Adding on, extend the leg out, lower the leg, lift the leg, and bend the knee and come back in. And again, extending out, two, lower the leg, lift the leg, and bend back in. Last time, extending out three, lower the leg, lift the leg, and bend back in. Adding on, foot comes down, one. Slide the leg out, two.

Lift the leg up knee-to-knee, three. Lower the leg down, four. Slide the foot in, five. Knee into the chest on six. And again, foot down, one.

That's good. Slide out, two. Lift the leg up, three. Lower the leg down on four. Slide the foot in, five.

Knee into the chest on six. One more time. Foot down, one. Slide out, two. Lift up, knee-to-knee, three.

Lower the leg, four. Slide the foot in, five. Knee into the chest on six. Good. So what we're going to do is we're going to bring the hands down, you're going to come all the way forward, and then extend the arms down to full extension.

Good? And then the bottom leg will go nice and straight. And then you're going to extend the left leg up to the ceiling. And then you're going to bring the leg straight down-- nice-- and lift the leg up. And again, leg is going to go straight down, making sure that there's no hyperextension of that knee.

And then come straight back up. And one more time, leg goes straight down, and leg comes up again. Good. Rotate the leg. And now bring the leg across the body, circle down, and come up.

And again, across, down, and up. One more time, inhale across, and exhale up. And let's reverse that. Go straight down, across to the right, and come up. Twice more, straight down, across to the right, and come up.

Last time, straight down, across to the right, and come up and bend the knee in. Nice, guys. And did you notice one side might have been a little bit easier than the other side? Actually, definitely for you, Niedra. That ball didn't roll one time that time.

No, not to point out-- sorry. But it's just to say. And if you notice, the ball always rolls to the one side, and it usually always rolls that way. So it just shows you where you like to rotate. But you did good.

All right. So what we're going to do is you're going to take your arms springs and place them on the very top setting. I think that's the setting we had for the rollback bar, right? Mm hmm. Yes, so let's place it there.

Yep. Don't think I'm getting rid of these, because I'm not. All right? What you're going to do is you're going to sit down, and then you're going to bring your feet against the metal poles. Then from there, you're going to grab a hold of your handles, yep.

You're going to bring your legs together. Then roll down to your spine one vertebrae at a time, articulating down. Once you're down there, you're going to hold there. Now Meredith, you're going to start to roll up, and I'll tell you when to stop. So you're going to roll up.

Stop there. Come down a little bit. There we go. And then Amy, start to roll up and come down a little. There we go.

One more time, Niedra, rolling up. Come down a little bit and stop there. Now you guys are going to touch the ball. You're always going to maintain contact with the ball, but you're not going to come off the ball, and you're not going to press into the ball. So if it was a squishy ball, that ball should always maintain its form.

Slide the feet in. Bring your knees into the chest. Now you're going to maintain your contact with the ball. Don't squash it, though. Right knee in, left leg out 45 degrees.

And change, one. Change, two. Change, two. Change, three. Change, three.

Change, four, four, five. I'll be nice. We'll just do six today, six and six. Both knees into the chest, both legs extend out for the double-leg stretch. Both knees pull back in.

And again, extending out as you zipper up, and come back in. And again, extending out, three, and coming in. And extending out, four. So this is a great example of you controlling the springs, not allowing the springs to control you. Twice more, and come back in.

And one more, extending out. Come back in. The single straight-leg stretch. Right leg up, left leg out, 45. And one, one, change, one, one.

Excellent. Two, two, two, two. Don't let that upper body come off that ball. And four, four and five, five and five, five. One more set, six, six.

Both legs up to the ceiling, lower the heels for three, two, one. Lift up to 90 degrees. And again, lower, two, three. Lift to 90. Imagine you have another ball on your stomach.

Lower, two, three, 90. Lower four, two, three, 90. Lower five, two, three, 90. Lower six, two, three, 90. Bend the right knee in.

Open the right elbow very broad. Twist and look back behind you. Change, twist. Change, twist, two, three. Change, twist, twist, twist.

Change three, two, three. Change three, a little quicker. Change one, one, two, two, three, three. Both knees in, both legs out on the mat. Stretch your legs out.

Roll up through your spine one vertebrae at a time. Wow. That's a rush. Did you guys feel that? Yes.

No. [LAUGHING] [STUDENTS TALKING] It's really good for upper abdominals, right? And it makes you work. And it's about having that partnership but not allowing the springs to control you. Romana always said, you control the springs.

The springs never control you. All right? Yeah. But you guys did really good with that. So take the ball.

Place it to the left side of your mat. And then, just to go further with that, this exercise I actually learned from Kathy Corey, and I really love it. Take your rollback bar and place it on the top spring setting. So we can take the arm springs off. Sit down and bring the feet against the metal poles, and then grab a hold of the bar.

And then we're going to do actually the same positioning we did. So let's start with you, Meredith. You're going to start to roll down one vertebrae at a time. Mm hmm. There we go.

And then you guys are going to do the same. You guys are like, I got it. [STUDENT TALKING] Well, let's see. I'll help you out. There we go.

Now what you're going to do is you're going to bring your legs into a diamond shape. Good. Big toe, pinky toe, they have to touch each other. Now your goal is to not come up off that ball. Your goal is to simultaneously lift both feet up.

You might not be able to do it. It's OK if you can't. And now lower down. Now Niedra, that was a little bit of a cheater, cheater, pumpkin-eater. All right?

But that's OK. [STUDENT TALKING] Nope. [STUDENT TALKING] Yeah. So you guys are not allowed to slide them in. You have to just lift it up.

OK? So lift them up-- and it's OK if you can't lift it up today-- and lower down. So imaginary, lift them up. Eventually they will float up, though. And lower.

Twice more. Lift. You can feel your abdominals working. And lower. That's getting there.

And again, lift. Yes. And release. Now stretch your legs out-- it's kind of humbling, isn't it? --and rolling up through your spine.

But when I first did that, I couldn't do it either. Then I just started doing it every day, and then one day they came up. So it's one of those things, you know, practice makes perfect. So let's take this off. Let's take the leg springs off.

And then let's assemble for push through. We're on our home stretch. Once again, let's take that test to make sure that that bar can clear the head. Great. About an inch, yes.

There we go. All right. So extend the arms to the ceiling. Yep, that's fine. Legs are going to extend out onto the mat, nice straight legs.

All right. So we're going to do a couple preps. You're going to broaden your elbows, bring your elbows onto the mat, and keep them there as long as you can as you extend the arms straight. Good. And now come back through and then extend the arms straight up to the ceiling.

And again, broaden the elbows, and you're going to push through and stretch. Good. Then come back through, and then extend the arms straight up to the ceiling. Draw those inner thighs together a little bit more, Meredith, in Pilates stance as well. Yep.

For today. And now broaden, and now zipper up. Wrap through the ribs as you push through. And then bring the bar back forward, extend the arms straight up to the ceiling, and, you guessed it, we're going to start to roll up through the spine one vertebrae at a time. Now once you're up, I want everyone to hold there.

No one move until I tell you. Niedra, start to roll down one vertebrate at a time. As you roll down, push the bar up, though. So roll down, hold there. Now, Amy, start to roll down, but push the bar up as you roll down.

One more inch, there we go. And then, Meredith, start to roll down, but push that bar up, bar up more, bar up, hold there. Do you guys feel a little bit of a difference here? A little bit more into your powerhouse. Nice.

So remember this position, because this is where we're going to come up next time. Roll down through your spine, one vertebrae at a time. Good. And then broaden the elbows, and then you're going to push back and through. Excellent.

Come back through, and then I want you to roll up. Find that position again. Yes. Beautiful, guys. Good.

Now hold there. Stay in that position. And then what you're going to do is you're going to bend your elbows behind the head possibly and extend the arms. And again, bend without that body moving and extend. Beautiful, everybody.

And bend and extend. And then imprint into wet sand as you roll down through your spine one vertebrate at a time. And as you roll down, push that bar up. Good. And then broaden the elbows, push, and stretch.

And then come back through and extend the arms. Now what you're going to do is you're going to lift just your head up. Now I want you to pull through the abdominals and lift your feet up to eye level. Now head and feet come up simultaneously, and the eyes and the feet are always going to be at the same level. Hold there.

Go down just a little bit here. There we go. That same place-- Same place we were before. Now without your bar moving lower, just the legs to where you can control without the bar moving, lift the legs up. The bar stays completely still as you lower the legs.

Beautiful, guys. One more time, lower the legs. Excellent. You guys are going to be so strong. You're going to roll down-- not that you already are not-- and then broaden the elbows, push, and stretch through.

Good. It's going to make some noise. Come back through. Extend the arms up. This time, head and feet will come up simultaneously.

Good. Find that same position. Now, one time, bend the elbows. Extend the arms. Now, one time, legs lower.

Legs lift. Now, three times, combine it. Bend and lower, stretch and lift. Bend and lower, stretch and lift. One more time, bend and lower, stretch and lift.

Hold there without your upper body coming forward. Don't worry if the bar comes up. Right arm comes off. The bar will come up by its own now. Left arm off and hold there.

Now right leg on top of left leg. Elbows come back. This is more of an advanced ending. And extend the arms back as you lift your legs to face. Arms up, legs up, arms up, legs up, arms up, legs up.

Float over, circle the arms around, and stretch. Good. Now roll up through your spine, cross the other leg on top, round over, and stretch. You guys get a little bit of a desert, because you guys earned it. All right.

So a little bit more of an advanced ending. Otherwise I would have just rolled down from that teaser. OK. So let's do a couple more. Let's set up for tower.

And today we're not going to do the full tower. We're just going to do the bend and stretch portion of it. So let's set our safety chain up. Mm hmm. Yep.

I think we're going to do our third loop today. Yes. And then let's take one of the bottom springs. Let's use the red one first. There we go.

Perfect. You're going to line the bar up right above your collar bone. Push the bar up. One foot comes on. Then the other foot comes on.

And then let's start with the arms down by the sides and legs are going to be parallel, hip-width distance today. And bend the knees. Bend the knees as much as you can without your tailbone coming up off the mat. So it might not be a full bend. And now extend the legs straight, and now flex the feet.

Point the feet, bend the knees, and flex the feet. And now extend and point. Flex the feet, point the feet, and bend and flex. One more, extend and point, and flex the feet, point the feet, and bend and flex. Keep your right foot on.

Take your left leg off. Bring the sole of the foot flat on the mat, and now extend the leg straight and point. Flex the foot, point the foot, and bend the knee and flex. Now, since you guys are a little bit more flexible, you can extend your bottom leg out. Good.

Now what you're going to do is you're going to extend the leg as you point. Flex the foot, point the foot, and flex and bend. Good. And again, extend and point. Feels good, right?

And now flex and point, and flex and bend. And now bend the knee in. I'll get you on the other side. Now both feet on, other foot comes down, and then extend the leg and point. Flex the foot, point the foot, flex and bend.

Now extend the leg out. Good. And then what you're going to do is you're going extend the leg up-- you OK?-- and then flex the foot, point the foot, and flex and bend. Let's do one more. Extend the leg and point.

Flex the foot, point the foot, and flex and bend. All right. And now reach up, grab a hold with both hands. Take that leg off. Ease that down.

And then what you guys are going to do is you're going to unhook the spring first. Then from there you're going to lower the bar down, and so we're on the very bottom loop there. We have two more exercises to go. We're going to do a reverse push-up. You're going to assemble both springs, both bottoms springs, yep.

Now what you're going to do is you're going to bring your head-- it's going to be a little bit different for everyone, actually. I, myself, when I do it, I'm pretty much in line with those poles, but I have very long arms. So you might need to go a little bit more forward. Yep. It's up to you.

Great. Now you're going to bring your elbows in, and now extend the legs straight out onto the mat. Mm hmm. Now what you're going to do is you're going to extend the arms up. Good.

Now bend the elbows very close to your ribcage. And again, extending up, two. And bend close into the ribcage. Nice, guys. Extending up, three.

And bend close into the ribcage. And let's do two more, extending up. Usually I'll do 10. I'll give you guys 5 today, because I have a nice treat to end with. And bend.

All right, guys. So come from underneath that. Disassemble your springs. Then from there, let's set up for push through. We're going to end with one more exercise.

So you guys are going to stand up, and you're going to bring your hands onto the push through bar, and you're going to start to walk back until your arms come to a full extension. Great. Now what you're going to do is you're going to have your legs parallel, hip-width distance. And now you're going to sit down in a chair. But when you sit down, if I asked you to take your hands off you would probably be able to.

So think about that as you bend your knees, upright spine. Sit in a chair and hold for five-- you can come up a little higher. Yep, there we go-- three, two, one, and stand up. Good. The arms stay straight?

Yep. Mm hmm. And again, extending. Good. Great.

Come down a little bit more, everybody. It's a 90-degree chair. Hold for five, four, three, two, one. Standing up. Three more.

Bend and lower down. Hold for 8, 7-- --6, 5-- it's like, I'm on to you-- 4, 3, 2, 1. Standing up. Twice more, bending the knees. Sit in that chair.

Wrap through the ribs, and then hold for 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Standing up, last time. Make it the best. And sitting down, hold for 10, 9-- [STUDENT TALKING] --8, 7, 6, 5, 4-- [STUDENT TALKING] --3, 2-- how are you guys doing, OK? Mm hmm.

Yeah? Yeah. We'd like to stand up. Really? One, standing up.

And you guys are done for today. Thank you guys so much. Thank you. Thank you.