What is "Footwork?"
​Basically, Footwork is synonymous to performing the exercise of squats in the gym. Except, on the Universal Reformer, you move in the anti-gravity plane of motion. That is it, period. There is no mystery to footwork. However, footwork provides a much more comprehensive view of my clients while moving. Jospeh's idea of performing Footwork had some significant reasons of why a student should begin a session with it and several critical constructs apply:
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📌 He believed it was a foundation, for the body, and a fundamental exercise. It helps to establish proper alignment from the ground up and it is an opportunity to focus on the foot and ankle mobility and stability by engaging in exercising the entire foot, warming up and strengthening the feet, the legs, the hips and pelvis, creating a "Mind-Body" connection.
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📌 The "Mind-Body" connection helps to emphasize the focus on and control of the entire body. The feet and their connection to proper alignment and coordination become the anchor to the entire session. It serves to help my client to "slow down" and focus on their breathing and creating a relaxed mindset.
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📌 Footwork provides a warm-up, for the entire body, and helps to prevent injury to joints, muscle, and bone. It also helps to observe a client's body in the anti-gravity plane whereby allowing me to view how the movement patterns are consecutive and how my patient moves while standing and moving in the up right position. It assists me to discern how best to guide my client in correcting dysfunctional patterns of movement and enhance better alignment throughout their entire body.
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📌 It also serves to connect our trunk and pelvic floor muscles by engaging the deeper abdominal, the transverse abdominals, thereby enhancing and preparing for greater and more difficult exercises as the workout session moves on. This in turn creates more efficient movement but biomechanically sound.
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"Footwork" is universal to all of his equipment pieces. They are just named differently while the body is also in a varied position, relative to gravity. Footwork can be performed on:
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The Chair known as "Seated Footwork"
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The Trapeze Table (Cadillac) known as "Bend and Stretch:
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The Mat series (performed in supine, hips and knees flexed while moving in and out of the formalized foot positions)