311/365 Pilates: a Core Exercise

Friends and Fitness Enthusiasts,

Once upon a day in November I wrote about Pilates. Here is a core exercise from Pilates you can mix into your abdominals routine.

1. Start by laying down on your back. Press your lower back into the floor by tucking your tailbone under you. Extend your legs and arms straight up. Lift your shoulders off the floor.
2. Lower your legs down to about 45 degrees while making a circle with your arms. Start with arms straight out, over your head, and around to your sides.
3. Finish the move by tucking your knees in and touching your hands to your ankles.

In health,

Lauren

108/365 Pilates

Friends and Fitness Enthusiasts,

Pilates is a method of exercising whose aim is to strengthen your "powerhouse" and improve your posture by lengthening out your spine.

Your powerhouse, as termed by the founder Joseph H. Pilates, is the region between your scapula and your pubis bones. This is commonly known as your core or trunk today. He believed that the power of this region will determine your power in your extremeties. I think he has a point. Think about UFC fighters or anyone else who uses their upper body, they have a supremely strong core.

Exercises in Pilates focus on the abdominals, lower back, hip extensors, and hip flexors. These muscles support the spine and the pelvic girdle. Your spine naturally wants to curve. However, if the muscles that flex and extend your spine are unbalanced then you are more prone to injury in the future. Your pelvic girdle also needs to have balanced muscles otherwise you will have an anterior or pelvic tilt. This tilt, as opposed to a neutral pelvis, will cause your spine to compensate to maintain a happy base for your skull.

So, give Pilates a try and be forewarned that your core and hip muscles will be sore the next day. However you will also benefit from increased flexibility in your legs. Pilates also focuses a lot on breathing which is always nice and something we all can use more of.

In health,

Lauren