Hey guys, Cassey here.
And guess what time it is?
It is time for Pilates Bootcamp on Livestrong Woman.
Today, we are going to work on your favorite body part: The abs.
I'm going to show you how to get a six-pack in some simple Pilates moves.
I'm gonna try really hard to not really kill you, because this is a beginner video.
This is going to be a task for me, but I think we'll get through it, and we're gonna have
a lot of fun.
Ready to get started?
I am.
Let's do this.
Alright, let's go ahead and get started by rolling onto your back.
Legs forward for me, hands forward.
Tuck that chin in towards your chest, staring at the naval.
Slowly roll down with control, as we always do.
And lengthen the arms, lengthen the legs here.
We'll start out with the Pilates Roll-Up, just to really warm-up those abs.
Inhale through your nose.
On that exhale, roll that vertebrae up one by one.
Sit super tall, tuck it in, and slowly roll down with control.
If you're having any trouble getting up, what you wanna do is hold onto your thighs, actually.
Allow yourself to pull that.
But even bend your knees, if that helps you a little bit, okay.
And then come all the way down.
Good job.
Inhale.
Exhale through the mouth, lift up, lengthen those fingers towards the sky or the ceiling
or wherever you are.
And coming down.
Good.
Two more times for me.
Really engaging your whole set of abdominals here.
Sitting super, super tall.
And come down.
Good.
Last one, let's make it good.
Reach up, exhale.
Crown of the head towards the ceiling.
And roll down with control.
Beautiful.
Now go ahead and center yourself on the mat again.
Bring those knees into your chest and give them a big hug.
Legs in tabletop position, hands right by your sides.
You're gonna lift up your head, neck and shoulders into Pilates stance -- really engaging that
core here.
Now what I want you to do is to go ahead and extend one leg out and in.
Alright, let's take it to the beat.
Here we go: And you're gonna exhale.
Reach and in.
Good.
Alright, I want you to hold the next one out here.
Hold it for a second.
Ooh, let it shake.
Oh my goodness, I can feel my abs.
Good.
Now back to where we started.
Reach and reach.
Good.
Exhale.
Make sure you're lengthening that leg out, pointing your toes and your feet.
Press, press.
If your head is tired, go ahead and lay it down for me, and place your hands underneath
your tailbone.
But if you really wanna workout the upper abs too, keep that head lifted.
Reach, reach.
Okay, two more.
Out and out.
Again, reach those legs long, hold it -- 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Bring it in and down.
Very nice.
Let's go into Rolling Like a Ball, for the back and your core.
Go ahead and grab onto your legs, and roll yourself up to sitting -- okay, this one's
really fun.
Want you to go ahead and wrap those ankles around each other, hand right on the wrist,
just like so.
You're gonna stare at your naval, inhale through your nose, come back and exhale, lift.
You see that stabilization that we have to work for as we come up?
That is going to work your core, okay.
Down and lift and hold.
Lower and lift.
Now this should be a really good spinal massage for you.
If it hurts, go ahead and place in another mat on the ground to protect your back.
And one more.
Okay, we're gonna make this a little bit harder: Instead of grabbing right on your wrist, what
I want you to do is grab onto the sides of your calves.
The closer you keep it together the harder it's gonna be to stabilize, okay.
So again: Head tucked in, inhale and exhale -- roll back.
Good.
See how that was a little bit harder?
We're going to roll and reach.
Very nice.
Keep those hands right on your calves.
But if it's getting a little bit difficult, go ahead and bring it to that first position
-- two more times.
One more.
And reach, and come all the way down for me.
All the way.
Very good.
Lengthen those legs.
Okay, we are going to go into the Windmill: Hands all the way out to the sides.
Make sure that bellybutton is tucked in super tight, low back pressed into the mat.
Shoulders pasted into the mat.
Knees in tabletop position.
I want you to drop the knees down onto the mat.
We’re going to inhale down.
Exhale, lift all the way up.
Other side, down.
And lift.
Relax that head.
Very good.
This is really working all that core around your waist -- really whittling down that waist,
and doing your obliques a little favor.
Those muffin tops, those love handles.
Good.
And down for two, and lift for two.
Inhale, down.
And reach one more.
And we’re gonna take it up a notch.
Go ahead and lengthen those legs, we’re going down.
And reach, so good.
Lower and up -- two more times now.
Down, exhale, lift -- one more.
And up.
Knees in, give them a big hug.
Good job.
Rock those knees side to side.
Allow that low back to release.
Okay, we’re gonna go into 1, 2, 3 Pulses.
So kinda like what we started with, but we’re gonna add a little bit of an upper ab element.
Hands by your sides, inhale through your nose.
On the exhale, reach up right here, as if we’re about to do The Hundred, okay.
You’re gonna go: 1, 2, 3 -- mini crunch.
1, 2, 3 -- crunch.
There it is.
1, 2, 3 -- reach.
Very nice.
Out, 2, 3 -- exhale, lift.
Good.
1, 2, 3 -- beautiful.
Okay, three more: 3, 2, 1 -- come on, reach that chest towards the ceiling.
Last one: 1, 2, 3 -- hold it right there.
Oh, feel that in your abs.
Uh, I’m shaking.
Five seconds, let’s go -- 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1.
Bring it in and down.
Oh, that was so good.
Okay, so we got your sides, we got your upper abs, we got some of the core.
Let’s go ahead and work those transverse abdominals.
You know, like that Victoria Secret-looking type of abs with those lines right here -- we’re
going to attack that right now with the Pilates Criss Cross.
So both hands are behind the nape of your neck, elbows wide.
Inhale through your nose.
On the exhale, lift.
Again, up into that tabletop position.
You’re gonna lift up.
You’re gonna bring your opposite shoulder towards your opposite knee.
Notice that I said shoulder and not elbow, because I really want you to pronate that
body.
Here we go: You’re going to reach, hold, reach, hold.
There it is.
Exhale.
Hold.
Beautiful.
Now beginners, you can go ahead and raise your leg a little bit higher, just like that.
If you’re more advanced, take it almost to parallel.
Good.
In, in.
So good.
Reach.
Nice work.
Out.
Oh man, I feel these.
Do you -- how you doing?
Five more -- let’s go, come on.
Reach, elbows out, shoulders up.
One more on the other side.
And hold it right there.
Knees into your chest, give them a big hug.
Rest that head.
Oh, that was so good.
Okay, let’s go back down to those lower abs.
I want your hands behind your tailbone, okay.
Press that lower back into the mat.
Relax your chest, relax your shoulders.
Inhale through your nose.
Exhale, bring those legs up to the sky.
We’ll start out for a flat abs series with a Single Leg Drop.
We’re gonna drop one leg, just like so.
And lift right back up.
Beginners, feel free to bend the knee, just like that, okay.
You don’t have to take it down too low.
But I want you to work to your hardest and fullest potential.
Here we go: Down for two, and lift for two.
Inhale, down.
Exhale, up.
So good.
Lower and reach.
Nice.
Feeling those lower abs really fired up.
And one more.
Hold it right there.
Okay, let’s take it into Double Leg Lift: Heels together, toes pointed.
Here we go: Goin’ down for two, and lift for two.
No break in between.
How’s it feelin’?
Good.
And reach.
Down.
And lift -- two more.
Down for two, lift for two -- one more.
And hold it there.
Okay, if you need a break, go ahead and bring the knees in, but I’m challenging you to
keep your legs straight.
Keeping them there?
Okay, good.
Bring those legs down all the way.
Okay, Single Leg Lift: You’re going to go up, down.
Reach and lower.
Up.
Whew, this one is the hardest of them all.
Up.
Good.
Because you gotta end down here, reach.
You’re gonna give me five more.
Let’s do this -- 5 and 4.
Come on -- 3, 2.
One more -- 1, hold it there.
And bring those knees in.
Am I killing you?
Is this still beginner level?
I think it is.
But I think you are really working to your potential.
You’re doing such a good job.
Now we’re gonna dig those feet.
Go ahead and lay all the way down.
Again, relaxing the shoulder, pressing the bellybutton into the spine.
Inhale through your nose.
On the exhale, I want you to go ahead and drag your toes against the mat, reach out
into a circle, and come back into that tabletop position, okay -- reach.
And in, circle.
Reach for two, and knees in for two.
Reach and in.
Again, working those lower abs.
You know, you’re favorite.
You’re always asking me about: “How do I get rid of that pooch?”
Well, this is how.
That, plus clean eating and some cardio.
Good.
Reach.
And in.
So nice.
Out.
How about two more, okay?
Reach and in.
Last one, let’s take it super slow -- 4, 3, 2, 1.
And 4, 3, 2, 1.
Rest those legs down.
Excellent job.
Hands over head, inhale through your nose.
And exhale, release through the mouth.
One more.
And reach out.
Okay, I think I’m gonna kill your lower abs one more time, before we get into the
whole core.
Well, we’ve been working the whole core the whole time.
I want your hands by your sides.
We’re going to simply kick our knees over our forehead, okay.
So crossing the ankles here, really gonna push up using our lower abs, okay.
Hands by your side.
And reach and lower.
Really taking your time here.
Reach and down.
Woo, I feel that little shake.
Up and down.
Few more here -- 3, and lower.
You feel those abs?
Because I do.
Reach and down.
One more, and then I want you to strain those legs when we come up.
Here we go: Reach and down.
Good.
Get some height.
And lower.
Two more times, okay.
Reach and down.
One more.
Lets go up, strain those legs.
Come all the way down.
Woo, those are fun.
I really like those.
Hands long behind you, inhale through your nose.
Exhale, your gonna give me one roll-up here: And roll.
All the way up towards sitting, crown of the head going nice and tall, and hands by your
side.
Okay, we’re gonna end with the Earthquake.
Why is it called the Earthquake?
Because you can’t stop shaking.
I love this move so much.
So what you wanna do is bring your hands forward.
And if this is your first time doing it, which it very well could be, I want you to bring
your knees up.
I wanna round out the small of your back, right here, to really protect the hip flexors
and the back.
Now if you’ve done this before, if you’ve done my other videos, I want you to go crazy.
I want you to bring those hands forward, inhale.
And on the exhale, keeping the back straight, you’re just gonna hinge, hinge at the hips.
And you’re just going to hold.
This is the Earthquake.
Now, if you don’t start shaking like crazy in the next two seconds, I need you to go
down another inch.
So go down another inch, even if you are shaking.
Hold it right there.
Alright, now pretend there is a string pulling from the center of your sports bra, if you’re
wearing one, and allow it to open you up.
Good.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Coming down.
Let it shake.
Good.
One more inch, come on.
A couple more.
Give me -- 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Reach it up.
Whoa, how do your abs feel?
Stretch out real quick into Butterfly Position, and I want you to round that back, and lift
up.
Okay, I’m gonna kick it up another notch here -- you’ll be fine.
Don’t worry.
Legs forward, hands forward.
Inhale.
And exhale, press it back.
So here, we’re just gonna play with the placement of your arms, so that you can get
more of shake through it.
As if that wasn’t enough, right?
Hold it right here.
Lift up one of your arms right by your ears.
Good.
Now the reason why this is harder is because you’re having more weight behind you -- it’s
pulling you back.
But I also want you to lean back another inch.
Hold it right there.
Now switch.
Good.
Inhale.
Exhale, reach up and forward.
Last one.
We are going to bring both arms up here.
Inhale, exhale.
Reach back, extend and lean.
Hinge.
Let it shake.
I’m so shaky right now, this is amazing.
But think about yourself as a bulldozer: The more you do this the less bumps there will
be in the road, okay.
So we just gotta shake it all out, work hard.
Let’s bring it down one more inch.
Last five seconds of this workout, here we go: Give me -- 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1.
Bend it forward.
And good job, guys.
How did that feel?
I think I’m gonna be sore, like, for the next few days.
That was an amazing ab workout, and I’m sure you worked really hard.
Let me know in the comments below which of those was your favorite exercise.
And be sure to subscribe to Livestrong Woman, and check back next week for another awesome
workout.
Until then: Work really, really hard for me, and live passionately.
I love you so much, and I’ll see you later.
Bye.