Lower & Lift Pilates Reformer Exercise

Video Transcript

"Hi! My name is April Plank with Yoga Etc. Studios on behalf of Expert Village. In this clip we will be working with the lower lift on the pilates reformer. Helen is going to be helping me out with this today, so I am going to have her bring her foot to a neutral position. So she will put the balls of her feet on the bar and she will make sure that her pelvis is in neutral so she has a nice flat plain in the stomach, her arms are resting beside here, the back of her neck is nice and long and shoulders are relaxed. Perfect. On this exercise, we are going to inhale and take the carriage all the way out. Now keeping the legs straight, Helen is going to exhale and drive the heels down and then inhale and lift the heels back up. Now if she exhales, she will really engage her abdominals so exhale and drive the heels down and inhale and lift the heels up. Just continue that motion. It is really important here that she doesn't hyper extend the knees so you want to keep engaging those quadriceps so that those knees stay in a nice neutral position engaging in her thighs. Really getting that nice stretch. So she goes down, those calves are lengthening. As she comes up, the calves are working. We will do that four more times reaching through, perfect. Full extension exhaling and pressing through, perfect. We will do that two more times. Great. She is maintaining this nice stability through the pelvis, through the abdominals as she works on those legs. This will be our last full one. Exhaling the heels in. She will take one more in hale to lift the heels and then bend the knees, exhale and bring yourself all the way home. Thanks and that was lower and lift on the pilates reformer. "