Pilates Cadillac or Trapeze Table

It’s very important to keep the hips in a neutral position while performing this sequence. There should be a continuos flow to keep the engagement of the hips on the lower portion of the trunk. The arms should be holding on to the parallel bars of the trapeze to help compensate the body weight and the resistance coming on to the upper trunk from springs and body motion. This exercise is wonderful to do and very exhausting too!

Splits on the Pilates Reformer

This is an advance version of frontal splits. I find this combination challenging and quite unique. Coordination, balance and extension are key to this exercise. I work on a medium tension spring not to overdue my hip flexors. There is lots of inner thigh stretch in this movement. Adding up arms and rotation of the trunk enhances the challenge of the combination but it makes it also more fun!

The last sequence on this video is a powerful hamstring stretch.

Arabesque / Elephant on the Pilates Reformer

An arabesque panche (definition):  in which the raised leg is at an angle much greater than 90 degrees. The body bends forward to counterbalance the back leg. This ballet pose requires tremendous balance as well as flexibility. 

When putting these two exercises together on the reformer focus is on coordination, balance and strength. At the top of the extension on the arabesque panche I bend my knee to enhance the stretch on the hamstring  of the supporting leg as well as to increase the  flexibility on the hip flexor of the opposite leg.

I love doing this variation on the reformer. Combining the contraction of the elephant exercise with the extension of an arabesque panche helps to enhance the work  on your core and hamstrings. And you get that extra bonus for combining them both!!!

Pilates Push Through and Thai Massage release

We increase the rotation of the shoulders by stretching with the push through bar. We focus our work on lower back muscles , spinal flexion, hamstring stretch and we relax the trapeze muscles. We finish up with two nice gentle thai massage stretches to enhance the feeling of opening on these areas described above.

Thai massage stretches on the trapeze are an adaptation of the traditional Thai massage technique performed on a mat. I find that these modifications help my clients to leave the session with a feeling of elasticity, lightness, freedom and energy.

In this section I am working with my client Katie. in this video we show you the last two exercises before the end of the class. 

Katie is an advance student who has been working with me for over eight years