..:: balancepilatesandyoga ::..

The MVe Chair, and Wunda Chair, are excellent pieces of Pilates equipment to help isolate certain areas of the body and challenge balance and strength. This month, we highlight a wonderful Chair exercise called the BASIC SWAN. Since our Chair classes at Balance have become so popular, and students are praising this equipment for it’s challenging workout, we’ll be highlighting more Chair exercises in the months to come!

The Basic Swan

This exercise is valuable for teaching the crucial role of the abdominal muscles in back extension work, and how to recruit them correctly. Unfortunately, most people who overuse their back activate their back extensor muscles prior to certain activity. On the contrary, the abdominal muscles should be activated prior to the trunk moving at all! In the Basic Swan, this rule is emphasized since the abdominal muscles are cued to engage first (hopefully your instructor will elaborate on that!), then the trunk is drawn into flexion. As the trunk is lifting and the extension in the lumbar region occurs – the abdominals should be doing most of the work supporting the spine and creating a long torso. The objective of this exercise is to strengthen the back extensors while training the body to engage the abdominal muscles first before activating the spine.

Step 1: Exhale and line prone on the chair with the legs straight and together forming one long line with the trunk as it is parallel to the floor. Place the hands on the foot pedal, aligning them directly under the shoulders, keeping them straight.

Step 2: Pull the abs in, then lift the forehead and chin up to lift the crown of the head toward the ceiling. Think about engaging the abdominals to lift the pedal from the floor, lengthening through the torso.

Step 3: Inhale while extending the back, lifting the pedal, and keeping the abdominals pulled in tightly. Squeeze the legs together, tightening the gluteus muscles, and reaching the torso and head long. This will create a gentle arc in the back, utilizing the back extensor muscles and abdominals.

Step 4: Exhale and gently lower back to the starting point. The abs stay engaged throughout the entire exercise, working to help lift - and then lower - the torso.

The SWAN can also be done on the reformer (in Long Box), as well as on the mat and other pieces of equipment. Refer to the photos below!

July, 2009: Abdominal Series of Five

Pilates is all about core strength. The benefits of core strength go way beyond flat abdominals, but it is the flat abdominals which come from doing Pilates exercises that help make Pilates as popular as it is. The secret to getting flat abs is to do the Pilates exercises correctly. That means the abdominals have to be pulled in – all the time – with every exercise. They cannot be allowed to bunch up and “pooch” forward. When that happens, the rectus abdominis, the outermost muscle of the abdominal muscles, is getting shorter and bunching up. This might make that muscle stronger, but it will not result in balanced development, core strength, or a flat stomach (crunchers take note!). Flat abs come from the deep scoop of the abdominals, balanced by the length and breadth of the spine. Your Pilates Instructor will cue you to pull your lower spine into the mat, and lengthen your torso as you “scoop” your abs in.

One of the most powerful exercise series in the standard Pilates Mat repertoire is referred to as the “Abdominal Series of 5” which focuses on strengthening the abs and warming the body up for the work to come. If you have just embarked on your Pilates journey and are working to build your ab strength, or are a veteran Pilates enthusiast working to maintain the flat abs you have already achieved, then the “Abdominal Series of 5” is a great workout you can continue with at home or on the road. All you need is a little space and time!

#1: Single Leg Stretch: Single Leg Stretch is all about learning to move from your center. It trains the abdominals to initiate movement, and to support and stabilize the trunk as the arms and legs are in motion.
1) Lie on your back with your knees bent and your shins parallel to the floor. This is tabletop position for the legs. Take a few moments to breathe deeply into the back and lower abs.
2) Inhale, then Exhale while pulling your abs in, taking your bellybutton down toward your spine, and curl your head and shoulders up to the tips of the shoulder blades. As you curl up, your left leg extends at a 45-degree angle. The right leg remains in tabletop position with the right hand grasping the right ankle and the left hand pulling the right knee into your center line. You will maintain your upper-body curve throughout the exercise. Be sure to keep your shoulders relaxed and your abdominals deeply scooped. If your head and neck get tired, relax the head and neck back down to the mat.
4) Inhale: Switch legs on a two-part inhale. Bring air in as the left knee comes in, and bring more air in as you gently pulse that knee toward you. Now the left hand is at the left ankle and the right hand at the left knee.
5) Exhale: Switch legs. Bring the right leg in with a two-part exhale/pulse and extend the left leg. The hand to leg coordination continues with the outside hand of the bent leg going to the ankle and the opposite hand moving to the inside of the knee.
6) Repeat: Switch legs up to 10 times each. Place the head and neck down if you are finding tension in your shoulders and neck - or if your lower back is taking the strain.

#2: Double Leg Stretch: Double Leg Stretch is a great ab workout. It literally radiates from the core powerhouse, demanding both strength and endurance from the abdominals. You can modify this exercise by leaving your head down and/or working with your legs raised to the ceiling.
1) Curl Up and lie on your back with your shins pulled in to your chest, pulling your legs in tight with your arms.
2) Inhale and lift your arms up to the ceiling at a 45 degree angle behind your head, and your legs out in the opposite direction to 45 degrees.
3) Exhale: Sweep your arms out and around to pull your legs back in to center bending at the knees. Scoop your abdominal muscles in to curve your upper body up off the floor, lifting your shoulder blades from the mat. Deepen the abs, bringing your forehead toward your knees. Grasp your shins or ankles. Your lower back is on the floor, not in neutral spine.
4) Repeat the motion of reaching out to 45 degrees and pulling back in, inhaling as you reach out, and exhaling as you pull back in. Do this 10 times.
Leave your head and neck down if you begin to get tired. There should not be any strain placed on the cervical spine. Your abs should do all the work!

#3: Single Straight Leg Stretch: Single Straight Leg Stretch is a challenging Pilates mat exercise that works abdominal endurance and stretches the backs of the legs.
1) Begin lying on the mat with legs extended toward the ceiling. Legs and heels are together in Pilates stance, rotated slightly outward from the hips.
2) Extend your spine, pull in your abdominals, and curl your upper body up off the mat making sure to keep your eyes on your abs.. The tips of the shoulder blades touch the mat.
3) Grasp an ankle, or the knee if you have tight hamstrings, and stretch the other leg out at a 45 degree angle. Adjust the angle of the outstretched leg to make the exercise more or less difficult – making sure to keep your torso stabilized using the abs and not the lower back. The lower the leg, the harder the abdominals have to work.
4) Inhale and pull your leg toward you, pulsing it toward you twice, increasing your stretch each time. Exhale, and switch legs and repeat the motion on the other leg.
5) Inhale as you pull your leg toward you, then exhale as you switch legs and pull the opposite leg forward. Repeat each set 6 to 10 times.

#4: Double Straight Leg Stretch: Double Straight Leg Stretch is a challenging ab exercise, and performing it after the first 3 ab exercises makes it even more challenging! But keep up the good work, because you will soon appreciate the stronger core you’re developing with this series!
1) Lie on your back and extend your legs straight up toward the ceiling. Rotate the legs out slightly with feet in Pilates stance, keeping the heels together and inner legs pulled in to the center line. Place your hands behind your head, keeping the elbows and wide and chest open.
2) Inhale and lower the feet away from you about 3 inches.
3) On the exhale, pull your feet back towards the ceiling, pressing you abdominals down to the floor and scoping your abs inward. Allow that motion to press your lower back into the floor as your curl your upper torso up off the floor lifting your shoulder blades.
4) Keep the chest open, and repeat this lower and lifting motion of the legs 10 times. Inhale as you reach the legs out, and exhale as you pull them back up to the ceiling. Place the head and neck down if you are finding tension in your shoulders and neck - or if your lower back is taking the strain.

#5: Criss Cross: Criss Cross focuses on the abdominals with a special emphasis on the obliques. The obliques aid in posture stabilization to some degree, but they are more involved in flexion and rotation of the spine. One benefit of working the obliques is that they help define the waistline.
1) Lie on your back in neutral spine. Bend your knees and bring your shins in tightly to the chest. Place your hands behind your head, supporting the base of the skull. Keep the elbows wide.
2) Use an inhale to pull your Left elbow to your Right knee paying special attention to reach the elbow towards the knee – and not necessarily the knee towards the elbow.
3) Use an exhale to switch and pull your Right elbow to your Left knee. Repeat this 10 time on each side.
Tip: Keep a lot of length between your shoulders and your ears. Imagine that your back is very wide and that your shoulder blades are sliding down your back as you are raising up off the mat.

Balance Pilates and Yoga Centers suggests that you try to perform these exercises 2 or 3 times a week. If possible, abdominal work could be performed every day, as long as care is taken not to stress the head, neck, and shoulders.

For beginners, start with 5 reps (each side) with head and neck down, at least 3-4 times a week. Place special attention to scooping the abs tightly inward, and pressing the lower spine into the mat.

For intermediate students (those with better abdominal strength than beginners), perform 10 reps (each side) where 5 reps are performed with the head and neck lifted (keep eyes on the stomach) and 5 reps with the head and neck down at least 3-4 times a week. Place special attention to scooping the abs tightly inward, and pressing the lower spine into the mat. If the head and neck get tired at all, lower the neck back down.

For advanced students (those with good abdominal strength) perform 10 reps (each side) with head and neck lifted (eyes on the stomach) with attention placed on lifting the shoulders from the floor, scooping the abs tightly inward, and pressing the lower spine into the mat. Do this at least 5 times a week.

January, 2009: One Leg Circles – A Great Hip Stabilizer for Golfers!

As the temperatures in northern states decrease, and the bright blue skies of our winter months lead to sunny, warm days along Florida’s Gulf Coast, our area is visited by many golf enthusiasts longing to keep their golf game honed through spring time. Golf and tennis become desirable forms of exercise as the temperate temperatures of “our Winter” bring daily averages in the low seventies (rather than scorching nineties!). Therefore, the Exercise of the Month in January is about Golf Conditioning.

Many consider golf to be a sport of choice for non-athletes. That just isn’t true! Golf requires a great deal of athleticism requiring both mental and physical strength. A golfer must be well coordinated and strong, as well as flexible in many bodily areas in order to achieve a good, consistent swing. A key physical factor in the golf swing is the ability to rotate the upper body around a stable lower body and vice versa. The ability to do this well will enhance power production by increasing elastic energy, as well as help keep the golf club on the proper swing plane thus eliminating many swing faults.

So how do you know if you can separate your upper body from your lower body? Test your ability to rotate the upper body around the lower body by setting yourself up in your golf posture (standing tall with your arms across your chest, hands on opposite shoulders). Try to hold your hips perfectly still while you rotate your torso. The hips should not move. If you can rotate further on one side or the other, you are not evenly flexible. If you cannot rotate without moving your hips, you may need to focus on building stability in your hips and increasing core strength. The Pilates Mat “One Leg Circle” exercise will help you achieve this, and more!

February, 2009: Footwork – A Healthy Way to Begin Your Workout!

Footwork is a fundamental section in the Pilates workout that can be done on the Reformer, Cadillac, and Mve Chair. The objectives of the Footwork Series is to warm up the larger muscle groups of the hamstrings and gluteals, as well as help develop pelvic-lumbar stabilization. At Balance Pilates and Yoga Centers, we follow the classical progression of a Pilates workout incorporating a variety of footwork exercises including;

toes – During the “toes” section of the footwork series, the toes are on the footbar and the foot should remain active, pivoting at the ankle joint, and maintaining a constant degree of plantarflexion. Pressure should be evenly distributed throughout the front of foot when pushing off the ball of the foot and toes. The toes wrap gently over the bar. The toe position is more challenging than the heel position because of the added height of the foot.

arches – This position (called the “prehensile position”) is one of the classic Pilates positions. The prehensile position places pressure on the points of the foot that correlate with reflexology pressure points. The objectives of this position are to strengthen the hip exte4nsors and knee extensors, to stretch the calf muscles, and to stretch the intrinsic muscles of the foot.

heels – The heel position has two major benefits. The first is that it allows you to alllign and use the legs while initially taking the complex alignment of the foot partially out of the picture. Although the foot si the foundation, it remains still; the movement occurs primarily in the ankle, knee, and hip joints. The second benefit of bearing weight on the heel is that you can more readily connect with the hamstrings when extending the hip and knee.

tendons – This is an exceptional exercise for increasing functional range of motion and strength of the foot, including the many joints involved in its movement. It also allows you to focus on correcting foot alignment, which is so important in walking and other everyday movements and athletic pursuits. The objectives are to strengthen th plantarflexors, to develop foot control, to correct alignment, and to warm up the muscles of the lower leg.

March, 2009: The Pilates Reformer - A Versatile Workout System!

The Pilates Reformer is an incredibly versatile machine designed to facilitate hundreds of exercises either targeting specific body areas, or integrating the entire body into a comprehensive workout. Studios around the world boast about the Reformer because it is a machine that welcomes all levels of students - from Beginners to Experts. The Reformer accomodates the Beginner student because it allows a student to progress at their own pace, and tempo - enabling beginners to proceed slowly through the Pilates session as they learn the exercises and develop body awareness. However, it can also challenge the advanced student with multi-step exercises that increase in difficulty, and incorporate more challenging body positions such as Lateral Flexion and Rotation.

The Pilates Reformer is the most recognizable and popular piece of equipment in the Pilates menagerie! It's versatile beyond all imagination, and can be adaptable to meet all fitness levels from beginners to experts! The movements performed on the Reformer range from fundamental to extremely advanced, and can be used to target an area for rehabilitative needs, or engage the entire body for a complete fitness workout!

The Reformer is perhaps the most user-friendly apparatus included in the Pilates equipment series. It places the body in a comfortable, non weight-bearing supine position, and recruits the muscles in a balanced fashion. Students have praised its ability to re-balance the body, building strength and flexibility evenly on both the right and left sides, and easing tight joint areas to increase range of motion.

Stretches performed on the Reformer for areas such as the Hip Flexors, Hamstrings, and Adductor muscles cannot be duplicated as effectively on any other apparatus! You can use the Pilates Reformer to exercise almost every muscle group in your body, but some of the main benefits of using it include:

Alignment Correction: If you find yourself slouching a lot and/or have back problems, the Reformer helps correct alignment issues, which may be causing pain. What makes Pilates so important with respect to posture is that Pilates trains us to develop and use core strength, rather than holding our position with superficial musculature. Using the deep core muscles of the powerhouse - the abdominals, back, and pelvic floor - to support our posture allows the shoulders to relax, the neck and head to move freely, and relieves stress on the hips, legs, and feet.

Increases Range of Motion: Doing exercises on the Pilates Reformer helps increase range of motion for peripheral limbs, including knees, hips, and shoulders - a necessity for golf and tennis lovers, and semi-pro and professional athletes.

Increase Flexibility: Not exercising can make you feel stiff and puts you at risk for injury if you fall. Using the Pilates reformer increases flexibility so you can do more, much more safely. Pilates is known for helping people develop both strength and flexibility. A great stretch for the back and hamstrings is spine stretch forward, which also provides a moment to center oneself before moving on to more challenging exercises. Do spine stretch gently at the beginning of a routine, or use it for a more intense stretch later in your workout. Those with tight hamstrings may be more comfortable seated on a small pillow, or a folded blanket or towel.

Build Core Strength: This machine can build core strength like no other! The abs, hips, buttocks and lower back work together as the body's "powerhouse", and all other movements are generated from this area outward. Whereas the conventional crunch works the Rectus Abdominis (the large "six-pack" muscle in the center of the abdomen), Pilates movements challenge the deeper, often neglected abdominal muscles, creating an amazingly strong core.

Promotes Cardiovascular Health: You can also get a good cardio workout, which helps fight cardiovascular disease. To build stamina and good cardiovascular fitness - increase your Reformer session tempo and flow gracefully from one exercise into another with little resting period.

May, 2009: Short Spine Massage

In our last email, we highlighted the versatility of the amazing Pilates Reformer! This month, we have chosen to highlight an incredible full-body exercise performed on the reformer called Short Spine Massage!

Exercise Description: Performed on the Reformer with the Footbar down. Use 2 springs and place the headrest down. This helps protect the cervical spine from over-extension. Feet are placed in the short loops/straps. Begin in FROG position. Press feet out 45 degrees - inhaling. Exhale to lift the feet and hips over the head, rising the body up as if performing a shoulder stand. Breathing normally, the student brings the carriage back to the gear bar ("home position"). Once the carriage "clicks" home - lower the knees to the shoulder blocks leaving the feet above the head with heels pressed firmly together. Tuck the abdominals in while rolling the spine down to the mat one bone at a time. Make sure tension is in the straps at all times, and that the heels stay together. After rolling the spine down to the mat, pull your heels back into the seat (in FROG) and begin again!

Get the Whole Body Moving! Here's a great way to stretch your spine, and strengthen the abs! In our last email, we highlighted a wonderful exercise performed on the Pilates Reformer called the Short Spine Massage! This month, we have chosen to highlight a simple, yet incredible exercise that can be performed almost ANYWHERE called the Roll Down/Up!

June, 2009: Roll Down/Up

Pilates lengthens and strengthens muscles while building a uniformly developed balanced body, focusing on core strength----abs, gluteals, lower back, pelvic muscles, inner thighs, and intrinsic, deep stabilizers throughout all joints of the body. This is why it’s such a wonderful form of exercise for golfers, and any other athlete! This month, we’re highlighting a simple yet effective Pilates Mat exercise called the Roll Down. The Roll Down/Up exercise really challenges the deep abdominal muscles and shoulder (scapular) stabilizers, helps build core strength, and improves flexibility in the spine. These are all quite beneficial for professional athletes as well as the weekend warrior!

The Roll Down/Up exercise seems to be a simple and easy exercise at first glance, but don't let it fool you! The benefits of this exercise are numerous and quite beneficial for golfers, and any other athlete! The two phases of the exercise, the up motion and the down motion challenge the body in different ways.

• Lay on your back with arms extended over your head, legs extended with heels resting on the mat, feet flexed. Make sure the shoulder blades are pressed down with the top of shoulders moving away from the ears.

• Inhale and lift the arms toward the ceiling, wrists in line with the shoulders, feel the spine lengthen

• Exhale and nod the head forward bringing the chin to the chest, slowing begin to peel the spine off the mat one vertebra at a time (sequentially rolling up) first lifting the shoulder blades, then each subsequent vertebra until sitting in an upright position.

• Hinging at the hips, reach the hands toward the feet flexing the spine forward, keeping the arms parallel to the floor.

• Inhale and stack the spine back up, initiating from the tailbone, lift the crown of the head toward the ceiling.

• Exhale and pull the hip bones back (pelvic tuck) and slowly place one bone at a time back to the mat (sequentially rolling down). Once the head is back down, reach the arms overhead and inhale again. Repeat approximately 6 times.

Featured Exercises of the Month

March 2010: