Rie Langdon Pilates

Day 5. Omg so painful... first time on the reformer in maybe, what... three months? I'm so glad none of you have to see that in person. Behold here is the only good moment of the entire thing I haven't lost my tendon stretch :) I can certify that this is the only good thing about having a really short-waisted body lol... Tendon stretch is not super hard. #withme

Every time I do the seal, I wonder why I don't do the seal every single time I work out! It feels good just because it feels good :) but also because you know you're almost at the end! And even though this picture looks like I'm all relaxed, on the inside, I'm screaming in my head "Don't collapse! Don't collapse! Make your spine loooonger! #withme

A long time ago, I had a teacher (@pilatesgeek) who said he used to hate extension, but now he loves it. At the time, I was likewhaaat? Really?? So later on, the first time I was strong enough to do swan and actually *extend* my upper spine (instead of just shrugging my shoulders)... "Ohhh... That's what he's talking about! It *does* feel amazing!" And on days when my SI joint agrees with me, swan is my absolute favorite. This pic is like a swan lie detector. @lesley.logan has a killer-awesome-so-smart variation on swan, basically #s on your belly, and her tricky variation in this week's workout showed me how to engage evenly across my back. That's gold! #withme

Hundreds! Íf it's my first of the day, I start with feet flat, making sure I get up into my very highest-strongest upper back curve. I think of it as an upper back curl instead of an upper ab curl, as if the upper abs are the passenger in the car. I press my feet down so my heel-glutes are engaged and pulling down to the mat. Only then does the arm-pumping start. Then, I lift my heels up and squeeze them together to get the inner-thigh-glute connection going, and once that'...s strong, I extend my legs. Did I mention the breathing? Big deep breaths keep that upper back curl invigorated. If I'm having one of those days where extending the legs goes straight to my low back, guess what... I pull those legs right back in, Do Not Pass Go. Straight legs are not worth the misalignment that will surely follow! Once I know where my back is for the day, all the rest of the s I do while I teach start one peel-back from that position. #withme