Pilates Exercises: Mid-Back Thera-Band Series

Video Transcript

"This exercise is a series designed to work the mid back. We are going to do it with the theraband although it is usually done with the reformer. We are going to take the theraband and bring it around our shoulders. It is nice if you can keep it wide but it usually doesn't work that way. Grip the theraband so that you have got some tension so for this one I might need a little more tension. Go ahead and come down, curl down into a flat on the back position, bring your legs up into table top. There are several modifications for this mid back series and that is that you can leave your legs in table top, you can straighten them or you can bicycle them in and out and I will demonstrate all of them. Go ahead and straighten your arms, take a nice inhale, tuck the chin and exhale flex the torso up. Inhale, bring the arms up, extend the legs, exhale, inhale, and exhale. Now we can also come out to 45 degrees and also out wide, inhale, and exhale. What is important whenever you are lifting the legs out like this is that you don't let that arch come into your back, that your back is always flat on the mat. So as you are bicycling make sure that your back stays flat or bring your legs up a little higher to do the bicycle."