Exercises | Pilates with Priya

How to change your exercise habits for the better.

19 July, 2015 Priya Tew

I often describe Pilates to people as a “back to front type of exercise”. Usually in exercise working as hard as you can means as fast and hard as you can, as many times as you can. The opposite is almost true in Pilates. This is one of the reasons I love it.

Coming from a fitness instructor background I was used to teaching aerobics, spin and step classes. If you weren’t creating a sweat pool, you weren’t getting the most benefits. You know those classes, and DVDs where they say things like “your legs should be crying right now” and “push, push, go faster” or “you should be feeling like you want to collapse right now”, well that wasn’t quite my teaching style but I loved all of that. In fact I still do.

Pilates has taught me so much about my body and how it functions, how I can get the best out of all forms of exercise, how to breath correctly, the mental clarity of exercise and how to slow things down to get maximal gains. All of this I carry over into any other exercise I do. In short, Pilates has completely changed my view on exercise and improved my technique all round.

FOR EXAMPLE….

Let’s take a crunch. Often you see people aiming to do 50 crunches in one go. Pilates has taught me that if you do a sit up/curl up/crunch correctly you only need to do 8-12 repetitions to get the benefits. It is the technique and speed that changes things.

With simple arm movements if you focus on your posture and using your body in a functional way then you will actually strengthen the right muscles AND work the core.

A side lying leg lift is someone often put into a LBT style class. Performed whilst keeping your core engaged and your waist lengthened it turns into a completely different exercise.

How to change your exercise habits for the better:

1. Be mindful. Slow down and connect with what you are doing. What muscles are you meant to be working? Is your core switched on? You very much still need your brain in gear when you exercise.

2. Posture check. You can injure yourself or at best not get the most out of a movement by ignoring your posture. You can do a great squat but have your back arched, so pull your lower back. Think about your starting, ending, and your posture during the movement. Video yourself, watch in a mirror or get a PT/fitness instructor to check.

3. Slow it down. Now I don’t necessarily mean running here! However slowing down large compound movements can make you work harder. Try a fast and a slow press up for example.

4. Breath. The breathing really is key. By breathing out on the hardest part of the exercise you recruit those core muscles that little bit more.

5. Use your core in all your cardio and lifting movements too. Core work is not something you leave behind at the end of a Pilates class, but should be something that you take into other movements. Hopefully it will also become a natural reflex so that when you lift something you engage your core.

Is it too hot to exercise?

5 July, 2015 Priya Tew

This is something I often hear said “I didn’t make class or do my workout as it was just too hot”. On the one hand I completely get this. There are times when I honestly don’t feel like being active and would prefer to curl up on the sofa or sit in the garden with a glass of wine. However once I get going and commit to doing the exercise it feels SO good.

Yes, sometimes it is hot. Yes, exercise can make you “sweat/perspire/glow/warm” insert whichever word you prefer. Yes, it can feel like the last thing you want to do. So should you do it?

I would always say GO DO IT. But then I am that person who has been running on the beach whilst on holiday in Sri-Lanka. It was 7am and it was awesome. So why exercise in the heat?

If you get out of routine it is harder to get back into it.

After you have gotten all hot and bothered you get the fun of cooling down and feeling smug that you’ve been and conquered.

It will get those endorphins pumping and you will feel energised, happier and healthier. Often the hotter weather can make you feel lethargic and sluggish, here is where exercise can help.

Think about changing your exercise routine to include activites that are more suited for hot times. Pilates and Swimming for example. Or schedule it into the cooler times of the day.

© Fotograf77 | Dreamstime.com - Girl Running Photo — © Fotograf77 | Dreamstime.com – Girl Running Photo

Make it happen and you will meet your goals.

Pelvic Floor: It’s not all about the lift.

14 June, 2015 Priya Tew

I’m slowly turning into a pelvic floor geek. Someone save me! Seriously I have learnt so much more about the pelvic floor in the past year and know I have more to learn. It’s pretty sad that so much of the information that is given out is so out of date.

Gone are the days when strengthening your pelvic floor was just about trying to mimic the actio of stopping the flow of urine. This is such a simplistic view on a working a complex muscle.

In this brief video below I talk about the pelvic floor being like a trampoline, how we need to strengthen it all the way round thinking about all the attachments and the danger of over tightening. No-one wants an over-tight muscle. Think about having a tight calf muscle. No fun. It can lead to that muscle actually being weak, which is the whole issue you were trying to avoid. Whoops. So focusing on all the muscle attachments and strengthening PLUS relaxing it is the way to go.

(This video was recorded live on Periscope some I respond to the live viewers in parts).

Perfecting your press ups

28 May, 2015 Priya Tew

Press ups. I mention them in class and people groan. I hear you. In fact I used to groan too. That was until I learnt how to do one correctly and felt the benefit of being able to do them. Using your bodyweight as resistance is an awesome way of gaining strength and challenging yourself. I’ll admit it, press ups are not easy. If you can’t do a full on press up then there are lots of options that will help you work your way up. So let’s break them down and work out how to do them properly.

Press Up Positives:

A great upper body workout . Strengthens pectorals major, anterior deltoids and triceps. That’s chest, shoulders and upper arms. So if you want to tone up your “bingo wings” and sculpt your chest and shoulders these are the bee knees.

Builds bone density. The weight goes through your wrists and forearms helping to build stronger bones. This has huge benefits for later in life. When you fall, you put out a hand to stop yourself, so a strong wrist is essential.

Gets your heart rate up. Some people aren’t a fan as you feel a bit out of breath and flushed after press ups. But that’s one of the benefits, you are increasing your metabolic rate and burning more calories.

Core strength. When done correctly with the spine in neutral a press up works your core, if it doesn’t you are doing it wrong, see my tips below.

Press Ups Problems:

Some of the top issues I see are:

1. Saggy back. Your spine needs to remain in neutral. No saggy lower back is allowed, it can be damaging and is not using the core properly. Keep your range smaller and go down a level to build your strength first.

2. Arm position. When doing a tricep press up your arms need to be narrow, shoulder distance apart and your weight right forward over your wrists. This will lead to your elbows bending under you and not out to the side. Often people do not have their weight far enough forward, it needs to be as far forward as you can take it.

3. Neck dipping. Your spine and body need to move in one unit. In an effort to get down lower some people dip their head and neck down. I totally understand why but you are straining the neck flexors and will just end up with neck pain, so make it smaller 😉

4. Breathe. The sheer effort of these can mean you forget to breathe. I wouldn’t advise that 😉 You should breath out as you push up from the floor, the hardest part of the press up.

5. Bums ahoy. The bum in the air look is not an attractive one 😉 It means your weight is not shifted far enough forward. Check it out.

Building up to a Press Up:

You don’t have to go right in and do a full press up… perfect the technique and work up to it.

1. Wall Narrow Press Ups – stand facing a wall, arms shoulder height and shoulder width. Take a large step backwards and stay on your toes, weight over your shoulders and wrists. Think about your alignment, slide the shoulders down in the back, find your neutral and engage the core. Inhale as you bend the elbows and lower yourself towards the wall, keeping in neutral and not letting the neck or lower back dip. Exhale as you press up.

2. Half Press Ups on your Knees – come down to the mat and progress to half press ups. Start in hands and knees to find neutral spine and engage your core. Then walk your hands out about 1 hands distance further forward, still shoulder width apart. Shift your weight forward so you feel the weight through your wrists. Now try out that press up just going half way down.

3. Full Press Ups – when you feel confident with a half press up and can do 8 well, then move up to the next level. Keep your full press ups small to start with and keep checking your technique. Use a mirror to check your alignment, no lower back sagging, no bum in the air and no neck dipping. Ensure you are working through your triceps, going too far too soon can mean you end up collapsing and using every other muscle possible to get back up! Less is often more.

Pilates can work wonders for Pelvic Girdle Pain (SPD) – a testimonial.

28 April, 2015 Priya Tew

Here is an amazing testimonial from a lady who is now not just a client but also I now consider a friend. When Louise first came to me I really wasn’t too sure if I was going to be able to be of much help. I had to think creatively to come up with solutions for exercises she was able to do and over time I watched her get stronger, more confident and have less pain. This shows me how if you trust the science, assess the body in front of you and adapt accordingly it really can work wonders!

When I came to Priya, I was in already in a bad way and suffering with a lot of pelvis & hip pain and unable to do very much activities at all. I was also on crutches.

However, Priya was amazing, she assessed me and tailored a plan that was completely individual to me and my limitations with SPD. To my amazement, even after just a few sessions with Pirya, I noticed an improvement in my pain levels and had improved mobility. I continued to attend pilates sessions with Priya and used the moves learnt in my sessions everyday at home. I was unable to do very long but even just 10-15 minutes a day really helped. I was able to attend classes up until 7 months, & continued at home until almost the end of my pregnancy. This was a vast improvement on my first pregnancy, & although I was still in pain, this time I could keep moving and was able to reduce the amount of pain relief I needed to take.

Post pregnancy i found that the pilates i had done pre birth had made a massive difference to how quickly I recovered from the spd post pregnancy. In my first pregnancy it took me almost two years to fully recover from the spd. However, this time I asked Priya to recommend some pilates exercises I could do from day 1 post pregnancy. She gave me three simple exercises which I did everyday for the first 12 weeks & they made an enormous difference to my recovery post pregnancy.

At 12 weeks I went back to pilates and was amazed by how much I had already improved from when i was pregnant. I have continued to attend pilates twice a week with Pirya, and I contine to me amazed by what my body can do considering how much pain I was in a mere 7 months ago when my daughter was born.

For me attending pilates with Priya whilst I was pregnant and had spd was by far the best thing I did. It helped enormously with my pain and mobility and Priya was and continues to be amazing in understanding my body and individual needs. My SPD was extremely severe and I was previously told it was too bad to be able to attend a normal antenatal class, therefore, I was really worried that doing any pilates would really hurt and make the SPD worse. However, Priya introduced me to very simple and gentle moves, which at first I thought were so basic they couldn’t help. However, I couldn’t believe how much they did help and i would really recommend to anyone suffering with the SPD to try doing pilates.

I came to Priya for Pilates back in January 2014, 3 months pregnant and already really suffering with pain from SPD. In my first pregnancy the SPD became so bad that I ended up having to use a wheelchair as I couldn’t walk without pain. Therefore, I was determined to try and prevent the same thing happening in my second pregnancy and a friend had told me how good Priya was, specifically in using pilates to help alleviate pain associated with spd.

The Top 5 Exercises for a Saggy Bum!

26 April, 2015 Priya Tew

I’ve fast becoming a bit of a glut fan. If you don’t what I’m talking about then you probably are not in one of my classes, as I talk about these a lot. The gluts are the bum muscles, pretty big global muscles which if they are not functioning properly can lead to a lot of problems. There are 3 gluteal muscle: Gluteus Maximum, Gluteus Medius and Gluteus Minimus. Pretty good names 😉

As you can probably guess, Gluteus Maximum is the biggest of the 3 and it’s one of the strongest muscles in the body, well it is meant to be. When you think of the bum muscles, it is usually this one you have in mind. It works to extend the hip, so you can move your leg backwards and out to the side. It also rotates the hip and extends the trunk.

Gluteus Maximus Muscle. © Sasham | Dreamstime.com - Exercising. Foot Moves Back To The Lower Block Photo — Gluteus Maximus Muscle.
© Sasham | Dreamstime.com – Exercising. Foot Moves Back To The Lower Block Photo

Gluteus Medius runs higher up towards the pelvis and out towards the side of the thigh. It helps extend the leg sideways and rotates it in and out. Glutus Minimus is the smallest of the 3 and it works with Gluteus Medius.

Glut Minimus Muscle © Sasham | Dreamstime.com – Exercising. Foot Moves Back To The Lower Block Photo

If these muscles are weak you may:

1. Have a saggy bum.

2. Have an abnormal walking gait and not optimal balance.

3. Struggle getting up from seated or from a squatting position.

4. Have lower back pain.

How can these muscles become weak? It’s often from postural issues and day to day activites. Sitting is a primary problem. You are not using your gluts when seated and your hip flexors become tight which stops the gluts from working. Other reasons can be having too strong quads from training and lordosis – a curve in the lower back which can lead to the bum sticking out. Common in pregnancy.

Top Exercises to help:

1. Squats done correctly. Try using a ball between your back and the wall.

2. Shoulder Bridge, add a knee fold in if you are strong enough. Make sure you tilt the pelvis and then squeeze the gluts so you are not just using your lower back.

3. Oyster/Clam. This works Gluteus Medius. Add a leg extension in if you are ready for the next level.

4. Plies. Squeeze in your bum and thighs as you come up to the top of the move.

5. Lying glut extension. Lie on your tummy, engage the core, let the pelvis drop into the mat and you should feel the gluts engage. Lengthen the legs and lift them off the ground, one at a time. You should be squeezing in the gluts as you lift and not feeling a pull in the lower back.

There are so many variations on all of these exercises, make sure you can master the technique and feel the gluts working properly before adding in too much fancy stuff 😉

Keep It Simple, Simples.

Pilates with Balls! A free workout Video.

19 April, 2015 Priya Tew

Using Pilates small equipment can add variety and an extra challenge to your workouts. Here I use the Pilates soft ball and some weighted balls. However you can do the whole thing with no equipment, or use hand weights to replace the weighted balls.

The soft Pilates ball is only half inflated and you place it under your sacrum/SI joint (big bony part at the base of your spine). You could use a foam roller in it’s place or just come to the mat.

If you want to buy any of the equipment featured we sell it all through the studio 🙂

Please like the video on You tube and subscribe to the channel to get more!

Rotator Cuff Injuries

15 April, 2015 Priya Tew

Do you get pain when you lift your arm to the side? Or pain when rotating the arm so the palm faces to the ceiling? How about pain when taking the arm behind your back. If so you may have a rotator cuff issue. The great news is Pilates can help 🙂

The rotator cuff comprises of 4 muscles that go from the scapula to the humerus. These 4 muscles are the subscapularis, the supraspinatus, the infraspinatus and the teres minor.

The muscles work to lift the arm out to the side (abduct) and to stabilise the humeral head when the arm is abducted. They also have a role in keeping the head of the humerus in the correct position so prevent your shoulders from rounding. So if you have rounded shoulders your rotator cuff probably needs strengthening!

Movements that involve the rotator cuff muscles are brushing the back of your hair, back handed racket sports, overarm throwing and reaching behind ie, into your back pocket, or in my case I’m often reaching behind into a child’s car seat to pass something, or pick something off the car floor!

How to help rotator cuff issues:

Work in a pain free range – make your movements smaller so it does not hurt! Pain is a signal from the body that you need to stop and continuing can make it worse.

Quality of movement – think about how your shoulder blade is working. How does it feel, sound and look. Get it checked out by your GP, physio or Pilates instructor if you are not sure.

Slow down the speed of exercises to get the movements right and stay connected so you are thinking about the movement the whole time.

Exercises to strengthen:

Dumb waiter:

Floating arms to side:

Pilates with Priya: Floating Arm Start — Start in a neutral alignment, shoulder blades down in the back, core engaged, palms face in.

Pilates with Priya: Floating Arm Middle — As you breath out lift the arm with it passing out to the side of your body, coming in an arc to the ceiling. Keep the shoulder blade in position the whole time.

Pilates with Priya: Floating Arm End — Your end position. Now breath in and lower the arm back down.

Single chicken wing:

Pilates with Priya: Chicken Wing from Back — Start with the arm lifted to ceiling, shoulder blade down in the back. As you breath out bend the elbow letting the shoulder blade slide down in your back. Breath in to return to the start.

Core Blast Video

6 April, 2015 Priya Tew

Doing Pilates once a week is awesome. But you know what is even better? Doing Pilates inbetween your weekly classes 😉 You could take up an extra class or you could do some at home. If you already have my amazing DVD (I’m that modest) but find you can remember the moves from class later in the week then have no fear. I am working on bringing you regular videos using the moves we have worked on in classes.

Here is the first one…

We recently used a series of moves that originated from a double knee fold. It went down well in class and people fed back that they were feeling it a few days later. So I’ve filmed part of that class.

If you like it:

1. PLEASE let me know – you can like the video on Youtube or write a comment on this post or on the Youtube Video. If I know you like it I will do more!

2. PLEASE share it around. Share the Pilates love people 🙂

3. SUBSCRIBE to my YouTube Channel so you get to see all the videos.

Now go do it.

Top 5 Pilates Books.

3 April, 2015 Priya Tew

I’ll be honest. If someone tesll me that they have been learning Pilates from a book I inwardly cringe. Personally I feel that you can only get a proper understanding of Pilates from attending a class with a good teacher. One who will correct your technique, be hands on with you if needed and who takes the time to understand you and your body. Where books can be useful if for home practice or for learning more about how and why exercises work. It’s still not as a good as a class where a teacher can eyeball you… but it’s definitely a good idea to try and do some Pilates practice between classes if you can. So here are my top 5 Pilates books: 1. A Pilates Primer: Return to life through Contrology and your health by Joseph Pilates – this has the original exercises in that Joseph Pilates designed as a home workout. However please do not use this as your home workout, we modify these exercises now! It is a good read to learn how Pilates started, for those interested in Mr Pilates himself. For home workouts, I find The Body Control Books are all pretty good options, with clear instructions and good tips on technique. 2. The Complete Classic Pilates Method by Lynne Robinson. A good starter book to have. 3. The Pilates Bible: The Most Comprehensive and Accessible Guide to Pilates Ever by Lynne Robinson. This has so many exercises in it that you are bound to find ones you recognise. Pick the ones you know help your body and that you need to work on. 4. Pilates: Simple Routines for Home, Work and Travel by Alan Herdman This has some nice stretches you can use in the morning and a good section with exercises you can do at work which I like. 5. Pilates for Life by Darcey Bussell. Split into sections making it easy to follow. You probably won’t end up looking like Darcey but you can imagine 😉

Category: Exercises