One of my all time favourite exercises on the reformer is the short spine.
Not because I’m good at it (I’m not!) but because of the amazing stretch it gives my low back and hamstrings. It’s hard but afterward I feel ‘unwound’. I am a physiotherapists and this is such a great release for the lower back.
Watch this short video of these amazing ladies with their teacher Heidi. They have been doing short spine for years now in the pilates studio attached to our physiotherapy clinic. They won’t mind me saying that there are some septuagenarians in this class. These ladies could whip my ass any day on the reformer! I aspire to be like these ladies in my seventies!
This is the full list of what this exercise can do for you –
- Increase flexibility in the hamstrings and lower back.
- Develop whole body coordination.
- Improve strength and control in the abdominals.
- Develop spinal articulation.
- Strengthen the gluteal and hamstring muscles.
- Improve spinal alignment by cultivating balance in the back muscles.
I just know I love it!
Caitlin Gardiner is a chartered physiotherapist with a keen interest in chronic low back pain. For more information contact 045-866075 or https://physiotherapyworks.ie/our-team/caitlin-gardiner/