Category: Exercises

The Pilates time test

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It’s fair to say that I know most of my Monday night class quite well because they have been coming to my classes for some time. So that means I’m always on the lookout for new class ideas to stretch and enthuse them and am also able to try new things out with them, be a bit more experimental. This week at a request from a class participant we did a time test. I designed a class where the majority of the exercises could be measured in some way, so we looked things like the number of press ups that could be done and how long the plank could safely be held for. We worked though all the main muscle groups in the body rather than concentrating on the core alone including resistance bands to work the arms and deltoids. I’m hoping that when we repeat this in a few weeks we’ll see improvements.

The initial feedback from the class was how hard it was to time exercises and have an aim to hold things for a 60 seconds, it seemed to make people work harder. However I was also aware that people may push themselves a bit too hard and compromise on the quality of the move. In Pilates we like quality rather than quantity. At the very least this made a fun, different way to teach a class but hopefully it challenged the class and will encourage them in a few weeks when we redo some of the exercises and see improvements.

Fitting in Exercise

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It’s been a busy week and fitting in my own exercise around babies, household jobs, dietitian work and Pilates classes can be difficult, but not impossible! Today I managed a 30 minute circuit whilst the babe slept in the hallway (before you wonder….in her car-seat). I love trying out new things and this circuit was something I’d found on another blog. It involved lots of weights split up with intervals of skipping and running. Certainly a good way to get a quick but good workout sorted. Plus the baby stayed asleep long enough for me to plan out some Pilates classes and get some practise in on my Teaser, Jack knife and Rollover, my 3 fav exercises at the moment!

 

Back to Basics

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So the new classes have started off really well. 7 new people have come along to try out Pilates along with some old faces who have done it before. It’s always a bit nerve wracking teaching new people, wondering if they will like it, what their style is and what their capabilities are. Wanting to push them not too hard but just hard enough. Hopefully I will get to know the new people over the next few weeks and help them fall in love with Pilates.

 

Teaching new people has made me go all the way back to the basics of Pilates  and its been a good reminder on how much there is to remember and do for each exercise – the breathing, the posture, the movement, the muscles to tense, the muscle to relax, the muscles to notice working. Somehow after a while this all becomes second nature but there is also always improvement to make. I’m finding that with my teaching technique, the longer I teach for the more aware I become of how people’s bodies move, what needs correcting and how to talk through exercises. It also makes me go back to doing some of the basic exercises in preparation for the class, I like to remind myself of how the exercises feel by doing them. Some things like simple knee folds and the star are basic exercises but still challenging if done correctly, the joy of a good Pilates class, everyone can join in at their own level.

As for me, I’m working on my Teaser at present….it’s flipping hard work!

Pelvic Floor Exercises….are they needed?

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Now this is an interesting one…some people seemed just obsessed with the idea of strengthening their pelvic floor, others don’t even know what that means. In Pilates its often one of the things we go on about as is part of our “core” muscles. The pelvic diaphragm, the floor of the pelvis, is the lower support of the abdominal cavity and assists in respiration as well as spine support. These muscles connect to the pubic bone in front and attach to the tailbone in back so they are extremely important for lower back health. Contraction of the deep pelvic floor muscles will also help to fire the transversus abdominis or T.A, this is the stomach muscle that runs round your middle a bit like a corset  (I call it the belt in our classes), which is an extremely important stabilizer for the lower back and spine.

But can you over-strengthen it? Well you can overwork other muscles so I don’t see why not! Over working a muscle leads to it becoming too tight and short which can be as much of a problem as having a weak and long muscle. One of the biggest misnomers is that tight muscles are “strong” and loose muscles are “weak.” In actuality, the strongest muscle is one that is the perfect length. The pelvic floor has to support the weight of the organs above it, it needs to be strong enough to do this but not too strong…a balance is needed.

So should we stop activating our pelvic floor in Pilates? My answer would be that we only activate it as much as we need to based on which exercise we are doing.  Some exercises could damage the lower spine unless the pelvic floor is activated, others won’t work if the pelvic floor is held too tight. At the end of the day 1 class of Pilates is not going to overstrengthen the pelvic floor, its what you do the rest of the time too! My other thought it that really we need to be strengthening the gluts as these muscles pull the pelvic floor taunt, if they are weak your pelvic floor will overtighten. Its about having the body in balance, which is what Pilates sets out to achieve. So squats and glut strengthening exercises are a definate yes. I did these all the way through pregnancy as I was teaching classes (and I LOVE squats!) and they certainly helped me.

So those are my thoughts today, you may see a few more squats in classes, not just in the warm up.

The Diamond Press.

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One of our new exercises from last night! This works the upper back and helps with shoulder stabilisation. Imagine you are pushing a marble along the floor with your nose as you do it.
The Diamond Press:- Start Position
  1. Lie on your stomach with your feet hip width apart, toes together and heels apart.
  2. Make a diamond shape with your arms by touching your finger tips and thumbs together just under your forehead, elbows out to the side.
  3. Anchor the scapulaes, stabilise the shoulders.
The Diamond Press:- Action
  1. Engage the core muscles.
  2. Breathing out:  Lift your head about 3 cm off the floor. Keep the back of the neck long – Really make and effort to lengthen your head away from your shoulders but remember to keep the neck in line with the rest of the spine, you are not looking up. You should feel a pinching feeling between your shoulder blades and be drawing them down as you lift.
  3. Breathing In: Lower down.
The Diamond Press:
Start PositionDiamondPressStrt
Action
DiamondPressFin

The Saw….exercise of the week!

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The Saw

The Saw

Saw is an intricate back and hamstring stretch and also works your inner thigh as well as your core (of course!). Its my favourite exercise this week, but can be hard to master. My top tip- ask someone to hold your hips down as you do it so you can feel how it feel when your hips and bum don’t lift off the floor.

Saw is an important lesson in pelvic stability as well. While there is a lot of activity in the upper body, the abdominals must keep the hips still and even throughout the exercise.
Saw Preparation:

  • Sit up straight on your sit bones.
  • Your legs are extended in front of you, about shoulder width apart. If you have tight hamstrings you may need to prop your hips up on small lift, like a folded towel.
  • Arms are stretched out wide to the side, even with your shoulders.
  • Inhale to prepare, then exhale and rotate opposite hand to opposite foot, twisting the torso. Exhale further and make a sawing motion with your hand towards your toe 3 times.
  • Keep your hips level, bum on the floor, pelvis stable, abs drawn in.
  • Inhale and rotate back to centre and repeat on the other side.

Have a go and come and get some advice at our next class….

Priya