Pilates Projects: Up Stretch on the Reformer

Hello Pilates Project Fans!

Today’s post is a sneak peek of my deep dive into all things Up Stretch.

Check out previous posts you may have missed in this series on the Elephant, The Long Stretch, and The Down Stretch.

The Up Stretch

In the Long Stretch Series, the Up Stretch now puts the body in more than one position within the exercise.

This exercise foreshadows the Long Back Stretch, coming up soon. Negotiating multiple body positions requires the control and precision you’ve built in your previous exercises, Long Stretch, Down Stretch, and Elephant.

Here in the Up Stretch, it’s challenging to close the carriage with control.

First Things First

I’m not one to give the Up Stretch too quickly. The proficiency and transitions of Long Stretch, Down Stretch, and Elephant have to be controlled and reliable for success in the Up Stretch.

The lower body has been learning how to do the Up Stretch while the student progresses in all of the Long Stretch Series.

The exercises currently in the student’s workout are helpful references to tackle this new one.

The student must also be focused to do the Up Stretch.

It’s a lot to remember.

I find this one tends to leave peoples’ brains.

I sure wish it would leave mine LOL

What’s New?

The Up Stretch fits nicely into the Long Stretch Series family.

It’s got a somewhat familiar starting position, except now less of the foot touches the carriage.

The foot position is also slightly more forward than for the Long Stretch, so closing the carriage may feel different at first.

Oh yeah, and the Up Stretch goes on for a while…it’s kind of a long exercise.

But wait a moment!

Hello Stomach Massage Series…

Ok, had to go there…

That’s the Pilates equivalent of “Squirrel!”

The Case of the Naked Footbar

When I started my Pilates lessons and classes all those years ago, the footbar on the Reformer had a big thick pad on it. Perhaps this is familiar to you.

I was a long-time Pilates client, I did my first teacher training, studied with Romana’s Pilates, and taught for a few years all with a padded footbar.

That’s just how it was. I didn’t know any different.

However, when I started taking lessons with Jay Grimes in 2005 and later at Vintage Pilates in the programs The Work and Teaching the Work, the footbar got naked.

So I’d use the naked footbar with Jay, Sandy Shimoda, and Karen Frischmann, and then I’d go home to my studio and have the padded bar.

I did this for a little while.

Finally, I got so annoyed with the pad on the footbar that I took it off. It was pretty easy to remove, thank you Goo Gone for cleaning up LOTS of glue residue, and on I went.

I still have a naked footbar, but for those few that need it, I also have a pad nearby.

I’m not without mercy.

Meanwhile back to my Pilates Project…

photo courtesy Jack Coble and Pilatesology

The Long Stretch Series is where all this nakedness is gonna pay off.

Ok, that came out wrong…

The ability to use your grip on the footbar to connect to the muscles of the trunk will save your wrists from taking the brunt of this series.

There are pads for those with sweaty hands and feet of course, but mainly for traction and less for padding.

I don’t wish Pilates to be painful, but there is something to be said for hands and feet that work harder than your center.

And something that’s firm and solid is more supportive and helpful than a soft, sinky environment.

See what you think. There are lots of opinions on this subject, so if you’re inclined to give it a go, see how it works for you.

I remember being worried about my 85-year-old client at the time and I had my pads ready. She wasn’t concerned in the least and looked at me like “What would I need that pad for?” and on she went.

My 40-yr-old cyclist was the only one who missed that padded footbar.

He soon found his stomach.

Check out the video at the end of this post for more (ranting) on this topic.

The Art of Closing the Carriage

Pilates works best as a system.

In general, the main purpose of all your Reformer exercises is to close the carriage with control.

And on the Reformer, this carriage closing happens in a horizontal plane.

A nice way to strengthen those “close-the-carriage” muscles awaits you on the Wunda Chair.

I like to think of the Up Stretch and the Pull Up on the Wunda Chair as sisters from different misters.

Here on the Wunda, you’ll work the art of closing the carriage in a vertical plane.

Armed and Dangerous

In the Long Stretch Series, Jay Grimes is quick to say that “the arms are for balance.”

But if you’re someone that gets the footbar in your hands and likes to push with your upper body (guilty), it’s hard to figure out what the hell he’s even talking about.

In your order of the Reformer exercises, the Long Stretch Series – including the Up Stretch – is the first series that finds you minimally attached to the carriage. Feet, balls of the feet, kneeling for one exercise only, balls of the feet, and finally feet fully on the (!) shoulder blocks are your only connection to control the moving platform.

So in some ways, the hands may have a stronger connection to the solid Reformer than the lower body and the (part of) the feet.

Prior to the Long Stretch Series, the trunk of the body has a direct connection to the carriage with more support for the trunk of the body. So for now, friends, you’re in the air!

If you trust yourself, work your Up Stretch on 1 spring to feel the full body spring to life (pun intended).

1 spring often facilitates less push from the arms and an authentic Pull Up on the Wunda feeling as you drag that carriage home.

See what you think.

Enjoy this new Chatty Rant on the perils and pitfalls of an unpadded footbar. Thanks to YT sub Kate White for the request. It’s been a while since I had a chatty rant LOL

See this blog post come to life in September!

Thanks for reading and for your devotion to all things Up Stretch on the Reformer. The Pilates System is not easy but it brings great rewards.

Join me to further explore this taste of the method in a new workshop, Pilates Projects: The Up Stretch.

In this 4-hour workshop, you’ll get to practice all the suggestions from this post and more options on the Cadillac, Chairs, and small apparatus. See the same exercises on different bodies and learn how to approach teaching these complex exercises to new students.

Bring your questions and be prepared to workout.

Sunday, September 10, 2023 at 10am pacific.

Join in person or participate online (recording available for 30 days).

Or come for the whole September Pilates Party Weekend!

See you soon 🙂