Push through legs

Push Through Legs: Reach, Just a Little Longer

Every time I watch a video of push through legs, I can hear the cue in my head: reach, just a bit longer, a bit more. It's one of those exercises that feels exquisite once it clicks, because you can actually feel the connection running from your legs all the way up into your spine. Nothing is working in isolation. Your whole body gets longer together.

This is a great exercise for anyone who has been told their psoas is tight. The psoas major is a deep muscle that attaches along the lower spine and runs through the pelvis to the top of the thigh bone, so when it's short or overworked, you can feel it in your hips, your lower back and even the way you stand. In push through legs, you press the bar away and lengthen from your spine right down to your toes. As you do, your ribs soften and drop, your back opens up so the back of your diaphragm has room to breathe, and your legs roll smoothly in the hip joints while your torso stays calm and steady. It's mobility and stability happening at the same time. Honestly, who could ask for anything more?

Tower Trivia

The Tower comes from the Trapeze Table, also known as the Cadillac. It's a large padded table with a frame overhead covered in springs, bars and, yes, an actual trapeze. Most people seeing it for the first time assume it's some combination of hospital bed and torture device. They're not entirely wrong about the first part. During World War I, Joseph Pilates is said to have attached springs to hospital beds so that patients who couldn't get up could still exercise against resistance. Those early experiments helped shape the equipment we use in the studio today. The Tower takes the best of the Cadillac and fits it into a more compact unit, so we can bring that same spring-supported work into a group setting.

Equipment Classes are here

We offer Tower classes at both 17 Goodwin studios. If you've been curious about push through legs or anything else on the Tower, this is your chance to try it with us. Watch for the schedule and save your spot early.