FitSugar

Let Pilates Move You: The Twist

FitSugar — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 09:15:00 -0800

The Pilates Twist is a great antidote to any weight gain you might be experiencing in your middle, post holiday season. The Twist will definitely whittle your waist since it targets the abdominals, especially your internal and external obliques.

Watch it, then try it.

You should do The Twist 8 - 10 times on each side.

Let Pilates move you: Balance Point

FitSugar — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 10:14:39 -0800

I am always looking for balance in my life and if you are too, here is an exercise for you. It is known as Balance Point.

MOVE 1:
Sit on the ground with your knees bent with your hands behind your knees. Use your abs to roll behind your sits bones (yep, those bones you sit on). Keep your low back rounded as you lift your legs off the floor one at a time. You are now in Balance Point.

But wait there is more...

MOVE 2:
Keeping your hands behind your knees straighten one leg. That simple move will make your abs work more to keep you in place. Bend that knee back to the starting position and try the other leg.

To see the next move and learn some variations read more

MOVE 3:
Now, straighten both legs - keep your abs engaged and your lower back round, making sure to not "pop" back onto your sits bones.

For more of a challenge take your hands out from behind your knees. Don't let your legs drop when you do this. For even more of a challenge lift your arms up over your head.

Let Pilates Move You: Reverse Plank

FitSugar — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 10:15:00 -0800

Since it is Thanksgiving week and everything is a little topsy turvy (a 3 day work week, lots of food, Black Friday) I thought I would show you a plank flipped over and reversed.

Sit with your legs out straight in front of you and place your hands behind you with finger tips toward your bum. Your shoulders will no longer be over your pelvis. Inhale to prepare and...

Exhale squeezing your inner thighs together and engaging your booty, pull your deep abs toward your spine and press your hands (all the way to the tips of your fingers) into the ground and lift your pelvis UP. Allow your neck to lengthen back.

Hold the plank for 2 rounds of breath, then slowly lower your pelvis to the ground. Repeat 3 more times.

Fit's tip: Make sure to circle the wrists to warm up the joints before bearing weight on your hands. It's also a good idea to release your wrists after this exercise by pulling your fingers back toward your inner wrist.

Let Pilates Move You: Bridge with a Kick

FitSugar — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 13:30:00 -0800

This Pilates move will work your backside, toning your hamstrings and glutes. Lie on your back with your arms resting by your sides and your knees bent and heels in line with your sits bones (yep, those bones that you feel on your bottom when you're sitting). Using your legs press your pelvis up into a bridge. But go only as far as you can so you still see your knees - so not as far up as the bridge pose in yoga (see photo of "wrong move" below).

Engage your core, feeling the abdominals and the back muscles sandwich the spine. Use these muscles to keep your pelvis as steady as possible while doing the following exercise. No rocking and rolling. I always say - it's not really Pilates if you are not working your deep abs.

Press your right heel into the floor to feel your right hamstrings and right booty working. Reach your left leg toward the ceiling and flex your foot (pull your toe toward your head). To continue this exercise read more

On an exhale slowly lower your left leg until it is even with your right knee. Really reach through your heel. Taking about 4 slow counts to lower the leg.

Inhale and point the toes of your left foot and quickly bring the left leg up. Repeat 3 - 5 more times then switch legs.

If this seems a bit daunting, just practice the bridge part of the exercise - pressing the pelvis up and lowering the pelvis with control. If your hamstrings are cramping, give them a gentle stretch and focus on your glutes working to spread the work out.

View 3 Photos ›

To see how not to do this exercise

Let Pilates move you: Control Front

FitSugar — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 10:15:00 -0800

Here's a whole body exercise for you to try: Leg Pull Down (nobody said that Pilates moves had poetic or lovely names). I love this move because it works your arms, abs, glutes and hamstrings all at the same time. Before you start be sure to circle your wrists a couple of times in each direction to warm up the joints.

Start in a plank position. Place your hands under your shoulders with feet hip distance apart.
Spread and press your fingers into the floor to help take pressure off of your wrists.
Scoop your deep abs up toward your spine. Reach long through your heels to activate the back of your legs.
Reach equally through the top of your head to create stability from these opposing energies as your feet and skull reach in different directions.
Inhale to prepare...

Exhale and lift your right leg. Actively squeeze your bum to make the glute work.

Inhale lower the leg with control. No plopping the leg down.

Repeat switching legs so you lift the leg. Repeat each side 3 - 4 more times.

Do relax your back after this in a child's pose or downward dog.

Let Pilates Move You: Twisted Obliques

FitSugar — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 11:32:00 -0800

If your abdominal strengthening routine is feeling stale, why not put a twist on it?

This variation on the basic "sit-up" targets the obliques. Try it at home or the gym soon and let us know what you think of it.

Move 1) Lie on your back with bent knees and twist both legs to the left until your legs are on the floor. Bend elbows and interlace fingers behind your head. Really cradle and support your head.

Move 2) Exhale pulling your deep abs in to your spine, lift your head and upper back off the floor using your abdominals. Keep your shoulders square to the ceiling because it's so easy to cheat. Really focus on your left shoulder coming off the floor as much as the right one by actively reaching it towards your right hip.

Inhale and slowly lower your head. Repeat 9 more times before switching sides.

Fit’s tip: It is good to stretch your spine and obliques before doing the sit ups. To stretch, lie in the twisted position from "Move 1", but reach your arms straight out to the side and rest them on the floor. Hold the stretch for about 30 seconds on each side.

To see how not to do this exercise read more

View 1 Photos ›

Do You Gyrotonic?

FitSugar — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 03:00:00 -0700

The name might sound like some sort of sexual healing tincture, but Gyrotonic is actually an amazing form of exercise.

Even categorizing this movement philosophy simply as exercise sells Gyrotonic short, and if you can't tell by that statement let me be a little more explicit: I love Gyrotonic. It is similar to Pilates, but more multi-dimensional. Pilates tends to work mostly in two planes where Gyrotonic moves you through three planes of motions, often simultaneously. It is very circular where Pilates can be very square. Gyrotonic emphasizes mobility and Pilates tends to focus more on stability. You can think of Gyrotonic as yoga with resistance and continual motion.

Learn more about Gyrotonic.

Want Toned Abs? Don't Use Momentum

FitSugar — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 13:00:05 -0700

Many of the women in my Pilates and yoga classes ask how they can get a trim and toned middle. Aside from doing cardio to reduce overall body fat, exercises that target the core muscles are key. Crunches on an exercise ball, Pilates 100s, the always challenging Bicycle Crunches, and Reverse Curls are all essential exercises when it comes to strengthening your abs.

One tip to keep in mind when doing these strength training moves is to move with control. You want to use your muscles, not momentum, to ensure that your abs are doing all the work. You can even pause slightly between reps to make sure you're not just rocking from one rep to another. Keep your abs contracted throughout the entire range of motion, and you'll feel the burn instantly that lets you know your hard work is paying off.

You Asked: How Do Yoga and Pilates Differ?

FitSugar — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 03:00:00 -0700

You're asking and I'm answering . . .

"Hey Fit,
I see that you teach both Pilates and yoga. People ask me what the difference is between the two and I don't really have a good answer. The only thing I do know is that you use machines in Pilates. Can you help me understand the differences and why people practice either?"
– TransformerYoga

Great question. People ask me the differences between these two practices all the time and to see my answer read more.

First let's review what yoga and Pilates have in common. Both are great forms of strength training, often strengthening muscles while they're lengthened in stretched position. Both practices will increase your flexibility, but yoga more so than Pilates. Breath and breathing patterns are central to both practices. Both are considered mind / body exercises since they both focus on that connection. However, yogic philosophy includes a strong spiritual aspect that is not present in the Pilates method at all.

Exercise wise, yoga is considerably more static than Pilates. In yoga, poses are generally held for a number of breaths, except the flowing vinyasa used to connect poses in Ashtanga as well as other forms of yoga too. Pilates focuses on torso stability, using the deep abs and pelvic floor – similar to the uddiyana and mula bandhas of yoga, while the limbs move three dimensionally in space. Pilates mat work requires no props or machinery, but a large repertory of exercises have been created for the Pilates machines, which are vastly more intricate than the props used in yoga. The machines use heavy springs to create resistance and are incredibly versatile; the machines take the mat work to different levels – providing support to make exercises easier or adding resistance to challenge the muscles more.

Yoga classes tend to be 90 minutes and Pilates mat classes are generally an hour and both are roughly the same price. I have found the two practices enrich each other greatly and the more anatomically specific elements taught in Pilates enhance the more abstract images used in yoga.

I sure do hope this helps. I think you should try a Pilates mat class to see what it is like and spring for a private Pilates session so you can check out the machines.

Source

Find Your Chi and Run With It at ChiRunning Workshop

FitSugar — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 12:00:00 -0700

Dealing with some troubling knee pain, I decided to focus on my running gait. I had the pleasure of taking an all day workshop with the running master Danny Dreyer, the founder of ChiRunning.

I'd like to say my running was transformed during the hours I spent with about 30 other runners from all walks of life, but I must admit I have a lot to work on. The workshop was slow going at the beginning, since the first rule of Chi Running is good posture. We practiced standing for well over an hour, which I know sounds odd for a running workshop, but if your body isn't organized when it is still, it definitely won't be efficient in motion. Being a Pilates posture geek, I loved this attention to detail.

Details on the rest of the workshop when you read more.

After adjusting our posture and learning how to find it on one foot, we headed outside to play with gravity in the parking lot. Overlooking Golden Gate Bridge, all 30 runners learned how to run leaning forward. The lean comes from the ankles not the hips or shoulders. But before you can run, you need to learn how to walk. Slowly we peeled our feet off the pavement and leaned forward feeling our low abs engaged, trying to relax everything else. We looked like zombies marching to an inaudible drummer.

Walking was followed with a review of arm swings. You bend your elbow at a 90-degree angle and move your elbow behind your body, with arm swing ending when the elbow returns inline with the torso. The hands angle in, since the shoulder joint is directed slightly forward rather than directly to the side. However, your hands shouldn't cross your center line; imagine holding a volleyball to find the appropriate hand positioning. Then came the moment of truth - we got to run, albeit slowly at first, but we were running. It felt different and very self-conscious. There is a lot of unnecessary tension to let go of, in order to move forward with ease. Like Pilates, you take the tension and direct it to your core to keep your limbs relaxed and your spine long.

An all day Chi Running workshop is broken into two parts. The first half, all taught before lunch, is what I have described. The second half involves learning warm ups and cool down, how to deal with hills, and how to pick up your speed - more on all this later. All and all, I think this technique will help my knee tremendously.

Danny said that he hoped we would all think of running as a practice like meditation, not like a sport. In light of that he suggested that we all pick the runs where we planned to practice Chi Running and keep those separate from the runs where we listen to our iPods or chat with friends. This technique is a mind body practice so you have to "listen to your body."

I highly recommend these workshops, for folks dealing with injuries or newbies trying to learn how to love running. Check here for upcoming workshops in your area. The price for a workshop with Danny is $225, which may seems steep. I would say if you can learn to run injury free, well that's simply priceless.

Source