Hi, I'm Nicole from Pilates Studio City, and today we're going to talk about the benefits of using bands with Pilates exercises. So, you always want to have two types of bands, a lighter type of band. This blue band is a lot lighter for arm exercises and then you want to have a little bit firmer stronger band for things such as stretching. Today, we're going to demo stretching. So, I'm going to have Laura lie down on her back and she's going to extend her legs nice and long. She's going to bring her right leg up to tabletop position and we're going to take the Thera-Band around her foot. She's going to hold it so that she creates tension and she's going to pull her elbows down to the mat, lengthening through her shoulders, keeping her elbows nice and stable. There's going to be opposition reaching out through this leg and this leg as she is pushing into the band, there's energy out the heel but we also want to think of the leg plugging into the socket of the pelvis so the hip is really anchored. So, we're going to start with some simple stretches. The first thing we're going to do is just a little circle, little tiny circle, supported by the band. She inhales and exhales finding the breath. So she really wants to stay focused on keeping her pelvis nice and stable, energy reaching out her sits bone so there is length between her rib cage and her pelvis and then she's going to go the other direction. This is excellent before running. After a long plane ride, I always throw one of these bands into my suitcase. And then she's going to take this band across her body, keeping her pelvis nice and anchored, lengthening through the side body and stretching here. This is an awesome stretch for the IT band. She can cycle her foot kind of like she's looking at gum on the bottom of her shoe to deepen that stretch. Again, focusing on the breath, continuing to lengthen through the crown of the head and really keeping those shoulders nice and open. Now, she's going to flex her foot, bringing her leg back to center. I'm going to have her bend this knee for support and for pelvic stability. She's going to open both legs out to the side. So, you're keeping your two pelvic bones on the same plane and she's stretching here, getting a really nice deep inner thigh stretch. Make sure you don't collapse into the stretch but that you keep energy reaching out your heel and stay active in your stretch. Stretching is really an active movement. It's not just collapsing. So, now she's going to inhale and exhale squeezing the inner thighs together. She's going to cross into a figure 4 stretch. So, she's going to cross her ankle over and she's going to bend this knee in and stretch, holding it there. Inhaling and exhaling. Thanks. I'm Nichole from Pilates Studio City.
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