Hello there!
Thank you so much for weighing in last month on your interest in digging deep into the Up Stretch on the Reformer.
(insert ominous music here)
I received an OVERWHELMING response from you.
And I agree this one’s a toughie.
I love digging into these exercises we teach all day long. They can be straightforward, but that doesn’t mean they are easy to do, or teach.
Here’s an old post to whet your appetite, and stay tuned for more on this *infamous* exercise here, on my YouTube channel and via a mini On-Demand Workshop.
Become a subscriber here, and you’ll be the first to know when it all shakes down.
Return to Life Before The Up Stretch
Remember that time oh-so-long-ago when all you knew about was the Elephant?
I’m such a basic bitch…
The Elephant.
So Basic. So Simple.
So hard to do with proficiency and control.
There it begins.
The Elephant
It’s safe to say the Elephant is no one’s favorite.
The position is disadvantageous. It’s anyone’s guess what’s going on up there on your back.
You’re supposed to be round, right?
A uniform curve?
And isolate the hip?
Is that something I should have control over?
Oh boy.
A wish and a prayer are all I’ve got for this one.
But maybe we gotta go wayyyyyyyyy back.
Like Pre-Pilates, back.
Hmmm… use the link in the line above to read a recent post of mine. I think the elephant could fit neatly in this family of exercises.
See what you think.
When Do We Ever Do That?
This is a genius question I use whenever I feel like a Pilates exercise I hate comes out of nowhere.
But I have to give credit to the brilliant Karen Frischmann for asking this question.
It’s such a good one.
Well before we ever lay eyes on the Elephant, there’s another equally lovable (NOT) exercise that can give clarity to what’s going on up there on your back.
You’re not going to like it.
The Hundred
Think of your Hundred as the ultimate in feedback and training wheels for its upside-down relative, the Elephant.
Surely this can’t be a coincidence…
And maybe sweating it out in your Hundred will help you show more love to your Elephant.
There’s a lot of shade on the street about the Hundred.
Persevere.
The Hundred is a (potentially) long exercise.
Be positive.
The Hundred gives you ample time to Get. Your House. In Order.
And at least you’ve got the Reformer.
Other helpful places that are not the Hundred
If you can’t quite face the Hundred you can get more of the same feels from everyone’s favorite 2-way stretchy exercise, the Double Leg Pull.
You see where this going.
Dare I say Double Leg Pull?
And now the most important question of all:
Why do we care?
So, what’s all the fuss about this basic exercise, the Elephant?
What has it done for us lately?
The Elephant is your first big chance to connect the lower body to your center and learn to use it as a big powerful unit.
The Hundred gives you this connection with the support and assistance of the Mat behind you.
The Elephant sets the stage for the full body in motion in complex Pilates exercises that fly through the air: Overhead, Corkscrew, Up Stretch, Airplane, Snake/Twist, Flying Squirrel.
(Even the Short Box Series!)
Enjoy this short tutorial On the Road to the Up Stretch: What Makes a Better Elephant?
Next Stop: The Long Stretch.
4 Responses
Nice lengthy tutorial A!
Question about doing Elephant with “hips over heels”…almost more of a down dog. I have been instructed to do this and I have seen it a few times in other demonstrative situations. You slightly demonstrated this option when the box was in front of the SR’s (your feets were closer to your stomach). The thing I always struggle with in the E is…are we moving the carriage with our guts? with our feet? with our back (pushing the foot bar away)? Obvs, we are trying to move it with everything “connected” (esp shoulders into back) but in reality, that rarely happens (lol). Every time I do it I can’t figure this out even within 8-10 reps. I find “pushing’ the carriage out and leaving it there for 3-5 seconds while slowly dragging it in sorta helps get the work into the right place.
Agree with not always having the toes up; I feel the foot should be down and fully engaged because we move our bodies in daily life with our full feets (but I can see how toes up can get you into the back line/butt more when first trying it).
OMG now, I’m overly thinking about it and can’t even do it.
Hi Corrie –
Thanks so much for reading and sharing your thoughtful reply. OMG, I could talk about the elephant forever LOL.
And yes, the danger is overthinking haha. Guilty.
So if you think about other exercises in the system – let’s think of one where you actually get to stand – like the Tendon Stretch on the 2×4. As you stand upright on your feet and do the movement of the exercise – “lowering the heels” – your task is to lift up the buttocks/base of the trunk/whole trunk upward in opposition. That’s how I like to think about the Elephant as well. You get to stand on your feet, but now the trunk/upper body is essentially doing Spine Stretch Forward as it lifts in opposition to the footbar.
Does that make sense?
And to answer your question about what is moving the carriage…
keep thinking that your feet actually start at the top of your back. So I like to think that the upper back and upper stomach are “standing” on my feet and thus enabling my whole body to move the carriage not just what is touching the carriage. I know, right?
I realize this is a lot to think about – and maybe the opposition thought will help all of these things.
But I do love finding more and more clarity in these fundamentals… it all makes sense about why the complex ones are hard to do right? Keep thinking about how amazing your Snake twist will be as you work on your new Elephant proficiency.
Love these thoughts and observations you are finding.
Super exciting!!
xox
I’m 4’11” I use a box or I put the footrest up. Is that an issue? Sometimes even with footrest up, I have to move feet forward for elephant.
Hi Terry – Thanks for reading and for sharing your thoughts here. Help me to understand: The footrest or Footbar is up when you do the Elephant, correct? And yes, for your height the shoulder rests are very far away – a box or simply moving the feet forward is perfect. Wherever you need them to feel like you are standing on your feet and able to use your stomach. I like to have my feet forward a bit as well sometimes – and I am 5’2″ a stiff in my back. I hope this helps to clarify, if not, let’s keep chatting 🙂 xox