Hi everyone.
In the classical Pilates system we have about 500 exercises and yes most of them are done on equipment.
However,
There are some exercises we do here in the studio which can be easily done at home and one of them I'm going to show you today.
The exercise you see here is called two by four.
And I'm doing it here on the high chair,
Which is very practical because you have the handles and the exact.
.
.
Right height to hold on to.
It's called two by four because usually it's done on a wooden board,
Two by four.
Without having handles to hold onto,
Which is,
Of course,
Way much more challenging.
However,
You don't need a high chair and not even a wooden board to do this exercise.
It can be easily done either on stairs or even just on the floor.
So let's break it down and let's do it together.
To start with,
We simply lower and lift the heels.
So find some stairs where you have the chance to hold on to something.
If you can hold on with both hands at the same time,
That would be perfect.
But even just with one hand,
It's perfectly fine just to keep balance.
It's more important that you put equal weight on all 10 toes and that you lower and lift the heels in a straight line.
Too much it's all about alignment you want to keep the feet in that straight line parallel and every time you lift the heels try to find the lengthening in the body and as you lower the heels try to find that feeling of the top of your head reaching up while the heels are going down to make it even harder let's do this now with one leg only five repetitions on each side bend one knee and then lower and lift the other here with the same quality.
And that's already very challenging.
So if you can't do five repetitions,
That's totally fine.
Try to hold more that straight line after five repetitions or less.
Switch legs and lower and lift the other legs.
And usually we notice a difference between the left and the right side.
And that's totally fine.
To observe and to notice how our body works,
That's already the first step to find more balance.
Now we come back again onto both feet,
But this time heels together,
Toes apart.
And again,
We lower lift the heels five times to prepare for the two by four.
So you want to keep the heels together,
The inner thighs together.
Still work with both legs equally.
And now we are ready for the two by four.
So keep the heels up first.
Find your center line.
Then bend your knees.
Then lower the heels down,
Straightening the legs and then lift the heels again.
So bend your knees.
As you lower the heels,
You only want to extend the legs,
Nothing else is changing and lift the heels again.
Bending the knees.
As you lower the heels,
You want to maintain the rest of the body without movement and then lift the heels up again.
Bend the knees.
Lower the heels.
And lift.
Let's go for two more repetitions.
And as you bend your knees,
Imagine a wall behind you as if you slide your back against the wall down.
So we have usually the tendency that we want to lean forward.
Try to avoid leaning bending forward.
Then after this last repetition,
We go reverse.
That means first lower the heels down,
Then bend the knees,
Lift the heels,
Straighten the legs,
Heels bend the knees lift the heels and go up So now it's really a deep stretch in the back of your leg.
And then finding that same stability in your hips.
That's usually the hardest part that we want to tilt the pelvis.
But try to maintain the hips,
The chest,
The shoulder,
Your head very stable in that straight line.
And only from the ankles and your knees the movement is happening.
Last two repetitions.
Find extra lengthening and stretch in the back of your legs.
Last one.
And that's it.
Thanks for joining me.
