Hi I'm Mari Windsor and welcome to my 20 minute Pilates workout. In only 20
minutes we're going to target every single area of your entire body. To get
the best results from this workout let's review some key principles of Pilates.
The powerhouse, that band of energy, that band of strength and control running
across your middle, your center, pulling the belly button into the spine activates
that area and supports your lower back. Next is the frame of the body, shoulder
to shoulder, hip to hip. Wherever that is on you that's where your legs should be
inside the frame of the body to work the smaller muscles so they can support the
larger muscles. Last but certainly not least is breathing. Breathing is a key
point for Pilates exercise. Breathing in through the nose and out through the
nose. We all have a natural filtration system inside our nose that purifies the
air, sending that air to the muscles to oxygenate the muscles and increase your
flexibility. Joining me from my Hollywood studio, Susanna, Deena, Brenda Lee, Roger
and Dagny. Please keep your eye on Dagny if you have any delicate areas of the
body and you find something too difficult. The first exercise in the Pilates workout
is always the 100. So everyone find the center of your mat and sit. Knees are
bent, feet are flat on the floor. Place your hands behind your knees and walk
your hands down and uncurl your back. Your back should be flat on the mat, your
head is down, your shoulders are relaxed. Breathing is a key issue. Inhale through
the nose and exhale through the nose. When you exhale, make sure you press your
belly button to the spine for support. Bring your knees into your chest. Stretch
your legs up. Lift the arms six inches off the floor. Reach with your fingertips.
Pull your ribcage together and lift up the head. Excellent. There's your position.
It's perfect. Now inhale through the nose and exhale through the nose. Add the
pumping of the arms. Inhale through the nose and exhale through the nose.
Beautiful. Always connecting into that powerhouse. When you exhale, imagine my
hand on your stomach and you're pushing your belly button away from my hand as
you exhale. If your lower back feels strong, lower the legs down and give
yourself a little challenge. Nice. Inhale through the nose and exhale through the
nose. If you have a delicate neck, simply put your head down or use a pillow for
support. If you have a delicate back, please bend your knees. She's still
pushing into that powerhouse, I can tell. Inhale through the nose, increase that
circulation. Very beautiful, everyone. Bring your knees into your chest. Great.
Lower your head down. Take your hands and place them on your ankles. Take a deep
breath in through the nose and out through the nose. Beautiful. Release your
hands. Place your feet on the floor and let's get ready to do the roll-up. This
exercise really challenges your powerhouse. Make sure that you're pulling
the belly button into the spine as you execute this exercise. It really does
help. Let's test that concept. Keep your belly button pulled into your lower
spine as you stretch the legs out. Try not to change that. There's your support.
Very nice. Bring your arms back over your head. Try not to take your arms too far
back because I don't want you to arch your upper back and stick your ribs out.
So close your ribs, only go as far as you can go and still be in control. Bring
your arms up. Nice. Fingertips reaching the ceiling. Then lift up your head.
Continue rolling over until you're reaching past your feet. Roll down. Belly
button to the spine. Nice. Vertebrae by vertebrae and bring the arms back. Five
more times. Inhale to come up. Good. Exhale to reach over. Imagine I'm pulling
your hands a little bit further this time. Roll down. Inhaling and exhale. Roll
the rest of the way. Inhaling up and exhale over. Lengthen the legs as you go.
Try not to let the legs come up. Roll down. Vertebrae by vertebrae. Control that
with your powerhouse. If you have delicate issues in your back and you
find this difficult to do, you can build strength in the powerhouse by taking
your hands behind your knees, pulling the powerhouse in and rolling back as far as
your arms will go. And then use the powerhouse and not the arms to bring
yourself back up. And lift up and reach over. Nice everybody. Longer, longer, longer
and roll down using the powerhouse. Go vertebrae by vertebrae. Last one. Here we
go. And inhale to come up. Belly button in. Use that powerhouse. Stretch over.
Stretch the back and the hamstrings as you reach a little bit further and roll
down. Inhaling through the nose and exhaling. Bring the arms down by your
side. That's a very nice relaxing exercise. It's great for flexibility. Now
we're gonna get ready for the single leg circles. Bring one knee into your chest
and stretch it straight up. The leg is like an arrow coming out of your hip
socket. We're gonna cross the leg over the body. Swing it down and up. Ready and
cross down and up. Use your powerhouse for control. Don't let the hips wiggle.
No hula dancing. Make sure your arms are supporting you as well as your
powerhouse. Nice. Reverse and don't forget to breathe in through the nose and out
through the nose. Breathe with the movement. If your hips are tight, your
hamstrings are tight, simply bend both knees and make your circles a little
smaller. Bend one knee in. Put the foot on the floor. Bring the other knee into
your chest. Stretch the legs straight up. Lengthen that leg. Lengthen the muscles.
Nice. Long, loose legs. Here we go. And cross down and up. Five times. Pull that
powerhouse in. And when the leg crosses the body, don't allow the hip to lift off
your mat. Keep both hips down and reverse. Down, cross and up. Stay inside the frame
of the body. Inhale through the nose and exhale through the nose. Right. Beautiful
work, everyone. Bring the knee into the chest. Place the foot on the floor and
stretch the leg out. Rolling like a ball. Six times. This is a great exercise to
massage your spine. Lift up your head. Let's roll up to a sitting position using
your hands if you need to. Sit up tall. Place your hands by your hips. Push with
your hands so your hips elevate off the mat. Bend your knees and scoot yourself
so that your buttocks is touching your heels as closely as possible. Take one
hand over the other. Wrap them around your ankles. Keep yourself in a nice,
tiny little ball, making a C-curve in the back. The head is down. Are you guys
ready? Let's lean back a little bit and balance. Right. See if you can find your
balance. Pull your powerhouse in and roll back and come up. Use that powerhouse.
And again, roll back and up. Balance and control. Roll back and come up. Breathing
as you go. And again, roll back and pull yourself up with your powerhouse. Again,
two more. Roll back and up. Last one. Watch Dagny for modifications and up.
Very nice. Place your feet on the floor. Take your hands by your side. Push
yourself back to the center of the mat. Pull your powerhouse in. Roll down the
spine. And we're ready for the single leg stretch. Bring one knee into your chest.
Take the same hand as leg. Lift it up and place it on the outside of the ankle. Take
the opposite arm. Lift it up and place it on the inside of the knee. Lift up the
bottom leg so it's in a 45 degree angle. Pull the rib cage in and lift up the
head. Now you can see your legs. Make sure you keep your legs as you're changing
inside the frame of the body. Tug the leg gently towards you. One, two. Switch. Taking
the same arm to the ankle outside. And change. One, two. Beautiful. Don't forget
to breathe. You're still going to get some great benefits in the modified
version. Pulling the stomach in and connecting the breath to the powerhouse
is very important in this exercise. And one, two. Please breathe. Inhale. And as
you exhale, connect the breath into the belly button. Bring both knees in.
Beautiful job, everyone. Lower the head down. And now we're ready to do the
double leg stretch six times. Everyone, please lift your head off the mat. Yes,
you're in a folding position. Now we're going to unfold the body, stretching the
arms by the ears and the legs out to a 45 degree. Ready and stretch long.
Everything pulls away from the center. And exhale through the nose as you reach
around and hug your ankles. Again. Inhale. Reach long. Feel like you're
stretching first thing in the morning. And reach around and hold your ankles.
Again. Inhaling through the nose. Take all the air in and reach your arms
around and pull. Very nice. And inhale. This is very nice modification. She's
still going to get some great benefits. She's stretching the arms and legs and
using the powerhouse to motivate the body coming back. Nice. And inhale one
last time. Reach the arms around. Pull the belly button to the spine and hold.
Beautiful, everyone. Put your feet on the floor. Release your arms down by your
side and lower your head. Single straight leg follows ten times. This is a great
exercise to engage your powerhouse and to get some flexibility in your
hamstrings. Bring one knee into your chest. Stretch the legs straight up. Nice.
Long leg. Bring the other knee into the chest and stretch it out to a 45 degree
angle. Beautiful. Take your hands behind your ankle, calf or thigh, whichever you
can get. Lift your head off the mat and breathe as you gently tug the leg
towards you twice. Switch legs like scissors cutting through the air.
Beautiful. One, two. Dagny over here is getting still some great benefits by
stretching the hamstring and engaging her powerhouse. Don't forget you can put
a pillow under your head if you need some extra support. And again, one, two.
Bring both knees into your chest. Take a hold of your ankles and lower your head
down. And let's get ready for the double straight leg, six times. Release your
arms from your ankles and reach around and take your hands behind your head,
one on top of the other. Don't lace your fingers. Stretch your legs up. This is
great for your powerhouse and control. Close your ribs. Lift up your head. Be
supported. Lower the legs down between a 90 and a 45 degree angle. Squeeze your
buttocks. Pull your powerhouse in and bring the legs back up. Lower down.
Squeeze your tushy. Pull the powerhouse in. And again, keep the elbows open and
the ribcage in. Dagny's doing a great job over here. She's using her
powerhouse and getting stronger each time she does it. Squeeze the buttocks.
Yes. Down and squeeze the tushy. Pull the powerhouse in. Make sure the lower back
never comes off the floor. Bend your knees. Take your ankles and lower your
head down. Nice job, everybody. And now we're ready for the crisscross. Stretch
one leg to a 45 degree angle, keeping the other knee bent. Pull the ribs in.
Pull the powerhouse in. Lift off the upper body. Take the opposite elbow to
the knee and hold that position, feeling a diagonal line between the hip and the
elbow. Switch to the other side, keeping the torso up. Keep the legs in the frame
of the body as well. And twist 10 times slow. Nice. Dagny is still working out
her powerhouse. Her legs are up just a little bit higher and she's not doing
such a big twist. And twist. Nice. Feel the powerhouse working. Glue the seat to
the mat. Don't let your seat come off. And more importantly, keep the legs inside
the frame of the body. Let's pick up the tempo for a nice challenge. Here we go.
And 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Beautiful. Bring both these into the
chest. Bring the body to the front and roll down. Very good. Put your feet on
the floor. Spine stretch forward three times. Great for the posture. Everyone
release your arms from your head and bring them down by your side. Stretch
your legs out, keeping the belly button pressed into the spine. Lift up your head.
Walk your hands up to your knees till you're sitting up tall. Yes. Reach your
arms out in front like you're sleepwalking. Flex the feet and open the
legs hip-width apart. No wider. Lift up. Feel the powerhouse supporting the
posture. Chest is up. Shoulders are down. You're going to exhale as you pull the
belly button back and reach the upper body forward to stretch and get a nice
C-curve in the spine. And sit up as you inhale. Imagine my hands around your
waist pulling you back as you exhale and reach your arms forward. You get a nice
stretch in your back that way. And inhale as you stretch up. Think about that
posture one last time. Exhale as you pull the belly button to the spine and curve
the body forward. Reach with those arms. Nice. Beautiful, Dagny. And sit up tall
and very, very good. The next exercise called the saw was designed to ring air
out of the lungs. Twist from the waist and take the little finger towards the
little toe rounding the back. Breathe out the air and reach a little further
as you breathe out. And last one. Sit up tall. Beautiful. Let's try the other side.
Twist from the waist. Work that waistline. Keep those buns down and reach one.
Stomach in. Breathe out. Two. Last one. Three. And sit up tall. Once more on each
side. Twist from the waist. Very nice. If you have a delicate shoulder, please keep
your shoulder down as Dagny is demonstrating. It takes a lot less
pressure. Twist and reach. Last one. Saw one. Saw two. Reach a little bit further
this time and sit up tall. Work that waistline. Nice. Take your arms down by
your side and breathe. Side kick series is next. This is my favorite group of
exercises to tone and firm the buttocks, inner thighs, and outer thighs. You're
gonna love it when you see the results. Everyone bring your legs together. Use
your hands to help you roll down vertebrae by vertebrae until you're flat
on your back. Nice. With this exercise, you're gonna roll on your side and place
your whole body against the edge of the mat. Feel a nice long line between your
head and your tippy toes. Beautiful. Take your hand. Place your head in your hand.
That's a great support. Now put your other hand in front. I don't want your
torso to move back and forth during this exercise and that hand will help you. Use
your powerhouse. Tweez your buttocks. Squeeze your legs together. Lift them up
and take the legs together to the edge of the mat. Beautiful. Now you're in a
pike position and we're ready to go. Lift up the top leg no higher than the hip.
We're gonna do ten kicks back and forward. Ten sets. Here we go. Double kick
to the front. One, two, and back two. Use your powerhouse so that your upper body
doesn't move. The reason why this is so good for this area is you're isolating
the leg in the hip socket. Great for balance and control and flexibility as
well. Keep that torso still. It's very common when you first try this exercise
to move back and forth as you're trying to isolate the leg. Just keep working on
it and you'll get it. You can try making a little bit smaller range of motion and
then you'll have a little bit more control and then you can make it bigger
as you go. Bicycle. Three times to the front and three times to the back.
Everyone lift the leg hip level no higher. Bring the leg straight to the
front. Bend the knee. Take the heel to the buttocks. Shift it to the back and
lengthen the leg out. Again bring the leg to the front. Bend the knee. Heel to the
buttocks. Shift and lengthen. Again the closer you get your heel to your buttocks
the more you'll feel your buttocks and stay. Yes. Now reverse. Bend the knee. Heel
to the buttocks and elongate that leg. Again bend the knee. Heel to the buttocks
and stretch the leg. Use your powerhouse for control. Bend the knee. Last one and
stretch. Beautiful. Bring the legs together. Leg lifts are next. Great for
flexibility and again that tushy. Turn the leg out as much as you can without
losing the placement of the hips. Kneecap is facing the ceiling. Ready? On my count.
Kick the leg up and bring it down. Again kick it up and bring it down. Up and
bring it down. Kick that leg up and down. Yes. Nice work. Kick it up and down. Yes.
Pull the powerhouse in. Don't wiggle around. And last one and down. Big
scissors. Ten times. Ready? And one two three. Move those legs. Seven eight nine
ten. Beautiful legs together. Bring your knees into your chest. Push yourself up
with your hands and let's switch around and do the other side. Gotta make both
cheeks even. Rest your head on your hand and your other hand is in front. Ready
for your side kicks on the other side. Lift the leg. Two B's to the front. Ten
sets. Here we go. Kick it front. One two and back. And two and back. Nice. And three
and back. Good. And four. Keep it going. And five. Keep your belly button tight.
Six and seven. Don't move your torsos. And eight and nine. Last one and ten. Nice.
Bring the legs together and we're ready for the bicycle. Three each way. Bring
the legs straight front. Bend the knee. Heel to the buttocks. Shift it to the
back and lengthen the leg. Again. Bend the knee. Shift it to the back and lengthen
down. Up. Bend the knee. Shift it to the back and stretch. Now reverse. Bend the
knee. Heel to the buttocks and bring it front and stretch. Great for the butt.
Bend the knee. Bring it front and stretch. One more. Back. Bring it front and stretch
the leg. Legs together. Leg lifts ten times. Turn the top leg out a little bit.
Use your powerhouse. Kick it up and one and two and three and four and five and
six. Seven and eight. Nine. Last time and ten. Beautiful. Remember those big
scissors slicing through the air? Here we go. Ten times and one, two, three, four,
five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Everybody roll onto your back and find
the center of your mat. We're gonna roll up to a sitting position so use your
hands to help you if you need. Ready and up. Nice. Sit up tall. Place your hands by
your hips. You should be feeling a little taller at this point. Pick your hips up
and scoot yourself to the front of the mat. Open the knees. Shoulder width apart.
Take your hands. Place them inside the legs and curl your hands around to hug
the ankles. This exercise is called the seal and we're gonna do this six times.
Balance and control. Powerhouse. They all work together. Lift up your legs and let's
balance. Head is down. Beat three times. One, two, three. Roll back and beat the
heels. One, two, three. And come up. One, two, three. Roll back. Use that powerhouse
and come up. Beat the heels. One, two, three. Roll back and one, two, three. And
again. Up. One, two, three. Make sure you keep your head down and roll back. One, two,
three. And come up. One, two, three. And roll back. One, two, three. And come up.
Balance and great. Put your feet on the floor. Hands down by your side. Come to a
sitting position. You've just finished my 20-minute Pilates workout. You should
feel taller, stronger, and more sculpted. Keep this workout up on a regular basis
and you'll reap all the benefits Pilates has to offer. Good job.