A warm welcome to new subscribers!
Thank you so much for reading and sharing your love for our beloved Pilates Method and your positive Pilates vibes.
Another big thank you goes out to you, dear readers for making On the Order of the Pilates Reformer Exercises, my most-viewed and most popular post ever!
In this week’s post I return to another dear Pilates friend on the Reformer. I am sure you can guess:
The Short Box
I find the Short Box to be indispensable to finding the posture of lift that is so crucial for all of the Pilates exercises and for life itself.
I’ve found some tools along the way to help perfect the Short Box. You can find these goodies in the posts below.
But let’s take a lay of the land for a moment:
You are essentially left on your own atop that box, bereft of springs and with only the straps to assist you. It is the lower body that connects to the apparatus by placing the feet in the straps.
This is significant.
We now have valuable information about the exercises to be done on the Short Box.
The apparatus’ job is provide support and assistance. Check!
Sitting on the box supports the weight of the lower body and the only assistance – again – is from the straps.
In order for the straps to truly provide assistance, they must stay taut. Any slack in the straps and you’ll hear noise from the clips and straps: a clear message to work a bit harder if you indeed long for the straps to assist you.
There’s another bit of intel: the support here is not terribly stable.
The straps are not a footbar. Nor are they a comfy carriage. Nope, you’ve gotta work hard for the money here.
Most significant: the strap is attached to the lower body.
This location tells us that in the Short Box exercises it is the lower body that will be doing the lion’s share of the work. Yes, you need lift and length in the back, but you’ll get more of that with your strong sturdy tree trunk of a lower body set on full-power!
Are the italics working yet?
Also, the carriage is not moving for really the 1st time in our sequence. So you’re sitting there and working to keep anchored and still, while the upper body lifts and stretches away. Not an easy feat. Pun intended.
Still love the Short Box?
Use these 3 posts to whip your Short Box into shape. Oh, and keep a smile on your face!
Video Blog: A Brief Pilates Tutorial on the Roll Up:
Get some help from the Mat and Cadillac in this post on the Roll Up. Become a master of the Round shape and then take to the Short Box.
The Use of the Straps in the Short Box Series:
Master the assist of the straps. Work your connection to the lower body fiercely to keep those straps quiet. A nice little help from Joe Pilates: if you hear any noise from the straps, you could probably work a little harder.
The Entire Mat is in the Short Box:
Use the 5 exercises on the Short Box to perfect all of your Mat exercises! What could be more perfect?
