A 2-Week Pilates Hiatus?

Never! Here is a great way to keep up your workouts- some exercises you can do even without rings, balls, Xercizers, or Jim bouncing around to the music. Hint: read it all first so you know what’s coming before you try it! As a hard-working IM=X Pilates Blue Bell client, you should understand and recognize most of what you read here. If you don’t, skip it. We’d rather you didn’t injure yourself.

Step 1: Do you have a yoga or pilates mat, a ring, a stretch band, a balance ball, or ankle or wrist weights? Go get them. If you don’t, go get a hand towel.

Step 2: Lie on your back, on your mat if you have one or on the floor. Carpet may be more comfortable! Knees in for a hug and a low back stretch. Legs out, stretch through the ribs and hips on one side, then the other, then both to get a neutral spine. KEEP THIS NEUTRAL SPINE!!!

Step 3a: Feet flat on the floor with something between your knees- a ring, a ball, a yoga block, a towel folded a few times. Walk the feet out from your butt to open up the front of your hips. Maintain your neutral spine.  Hold the thing between your knees with your Pelvic Floor (Don’t Pee Muscle), NOT your inner thighs!

Step 3b: This is where you can add the wrist weights, if you want more upper body work. The trick is to keep your lats engaged, by keeping your shoulders down away from your ears. You want the weights to work your back, not annihilate your shoulders or neck.

Step 3c: Arms up overhead. They don’t need to touch the floor; raise them up to ear height. Start your forced exhale, start moving your arms forward, THEN curl up as you press your hands past your hips to the floor. Maintain your neutral spine. Pull your shoulders down out of your ears- we saw you shrugging up! Do this by engaging your lats and floating your head, even and especially in the curl. Stay long through your whole spine the whole time. Do 6-10 of these.

Step 3d: Finish your last curl and lay back. Now do oblique curls. Move your arms to a diagonal- right arm high, left arm low. Exhale, start the arm on the diagonal, then curl and reach on the diagonal over the left knee. Maintain your neutral spine. Are you shifting or rolling onto your hip? Don’t! Lift through your chest and focus on the waist contracting, not how far over the arm can go. Are you pulling up with your face? Don’t! Float your head and lengthen through your spine. Do 6-10 on this side, then switch your arms and do 6-10 on the other side.

Step 4a: Remove the thing from between your knees, and straighten out your legs. Feet are straight or flexed, and they stay on the floor. Maintain your neutral spine. This will be like step 3, but with straight legs. Arms up over your head, exhale, begin moving your arms, then curl as you press your arms down to the floor. Do 6-10 of these. They

Step 4b: Now oblique curls- one arm up on a diagonal and the other down, exhale, move arm over on a diagonal and curl up. Reach through arm, lats engaged and shoulders down away from ears. Do 6-10 on one side, then the other.

Middle step: Knees in for a low back stretch when you need it. But do your best to keep going!

Step 5: Now get your thing again, and put it between your ankles. You know what’s coming! Arms overhead, legs up to the sky, exhale, start the arms, curl and press your hands down to the floor. Maintain your neutral spine. Do 6-10 of these.

Step 6: Hold your curl and arm press on the last one. Lower your legs and bring them back up- reverse curl your legs. Maintain your neutral spine. Don’t lift your butt, or lower so low your back arches. Use your exhale when you need it the most- up or down.

Step 7a-b-c: Legs in tabletop, hands to the waist like you’re holding handles. Press your hands past your hips, and don’t shrug up your shoulders on the return. Maintain your neutral spine.  Do 3-5. Now add your curl. Do 3-5. Remove the thing from between your ankles. Now press out your legs with your arms. Do 3-5.

Step 8a-b-c: Arms to a T, legs to the sky. Maintain your neutral spine. Draw your pinkies to your hips; return to a T. Do 3-5. Now add your curl. Do 3-5. Open the arms, the legs into a V, squeeze together as the arms draw in. Do 3-5.

Step 9a: Knee changes- legs in tabletop, hands to the waist OR to the shins, curl up and extend the right leg. Switch the legs, using your forced exhale, and maintain your neutral spine. Press the arms past the hips OR tap the shin as it draws in.

Step 9b: Obliques! Fingertips behind your ears- NOT pulling on your head. As your knees change, curl the bottom rib to the opposite knee. Think rib to knee, not elbow to knee, and keep those hips evenly on the floor. Maintain your neutral spine.

Step 10a: Leg changes- arms to a T, legs to the sky, curl up and lower one leg. Switch the legs, using your forced exhale, and maintain your neutral spine. Draw the pinkies to the hips as the legs change, OR tap the back of the leg (not pulling on the leg), opening the arms back up in between.

This entry was posted on December 23 2008 at 15:01 and is filed under Fitness, Pilates, Article. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

| Print