The first thing you will learn doing Pilates is that the position and movement of every part of your body is interrelated and important. Appropriate exercise for the spine is unique to each individual, so a properly developed center can mean less fatigue and a lowered incidence of back pain and injury. Pilates training will help you to enhance your body awareness by helping you to focus on your posture and alignment while performing exercises to strengthen the core.
So much of the time when we perform a routine of exercises, we “go through the motions” instead of thinking about our body position, breath, and the dynamics of the exercise. In some cases numerous repetitions and/or free weights are added to one’s exercise routine without assessment of flexibility, spinal curvature, and/or weakness of the lower back. Pilates exercises focus on the flexibility of the spine in all planes of motion and encourage the individual to pay close attention to their posture and range of motion limitations. The intense and constant focus on activation of the low back and pelvic stabilizers (core muscles) during each exercise helps to strengthen the muscles that help to support the spine and protect it from injury. At the barre, most of the exercises require flexibility and balance, which help to lengthen and strengthen the core simultaneously. The JUST BREATHE Pilates barre is unique because it helps the individual to meet these challenging body positions from an apparatus (the ballet barre) that provides an” in the box” environment while building strength and agility. As an example, one of the signature exercises is the single leg stretch where the exerciser is facing the barre with one foot on the floor with toes facing front and aligned with the sit-bone of that leg, and the other leg is extended at the barre with the ball of the foot on the ballet barre toes facing front. The strength and the stability of the exercise come from balancing on one leg while you move your pelvis in and away from the barre. Leg flexion at the knee and the hip enhances the flexibility of the hamstrings, the hip extensors and flexors, as well as the spine, since you are shortening the distance of the angle between the spine and the leg as you move forward and back in the sagittal plane.
There are many elements that have to come together at once to perform the exercises correctly: breathing, head/neck placement, spinal position, stabilization of the spine, shoulder blade placement, and coordination. The JUST BREATHE pilates mat class offers an alternative class of exercises performed in an “out of the box” environment, in which the individual works against gravity with their body weight. One of the staple exercises is the hundred where an exerciser lies supine in an imprinted position with legs parallel and adducted in the air at a 45degree angle with pointed toes. Arms are extended beside the body with the palms facing the floor. To begin, the exerciser lengthens the back of the neck as they flex their thoracic spine (lifts their head) into a cervical nod, which is a position of the head where there is a space of a fist between the chin and the chest, the shoulder girdle is stabilized and the abdominals are active in flexion. The key aspect is the strength and stability one needs to attain alignment of the spine with scapular and rib cage stabilization along with breath for 100 counts.
In each of these classes the exercises are initiated from the core (lumbar-pelvic region) with the breath leading the way. Spinal stabilization and abdominal contraction are instructed so that the individual can keep their spine protected while strengthening it at the same time.
Life is a process of constant change, however, one of the most familiar exercises is the ordinary sit-up. Most people are unaware of the positioning and breath during a sequence of stomach exercises. Usually they will use momentum to lift and they will overuse their hip flexor muscles instead of their abdominals. Because of the motion involved, and the way the exercises are described, the exerciser is encouraged to stick their stomach out v/s pulling them in while performing the exercise.
JUST BREATHE Pilates helps to train you to contract and then hold these muscles in a flat or pulled-in position while breathing with the movement of the exercise from the diaphragm.
So much of the time when we perform a routine of exercises, we “go through the motions” instead of thinking about our body position, breath, and the dynamics of the exercise. In some cases numerous repetitions and/or free weights are added to one’s exercise routine without assessment of flexibility, spinal curvature, and/or weakness of the lower back. Pilates exercises focus on the flexibility of the spine in all planes of motion and encourage the individual to pay close attention to their posture and range of motion limitations. The intense and constant focus on activation of the low back and pelvic stabilizers (core muscles) during each exercise helps to strengthen the muscles that help to support the spine and protect it from injury. At the barre, most of the exercises require flexibility and balance, which help to lengthen and strengthen the core simultaneously. The JUST BREATHE Pilates barre is unique because it helps the individual to meet these challenging body positions from an apparatus (the ballet barre) that provides an” in the box” environment while building strength and agility. As an example, one of the signature exercises is the single leg stretch where the exerciser is facing the barre with one foot on the floor with toes facing front and aligned with the sit-bone of that leg, and the other leg is extended at the barre with the ball of the foot on the ballet barre toes facing front. The strength and the stability of the exercise come from balancing on one leg while you move your pelvis in and away from the barre. Leg flexion at the knee and the hip enhances the flexibility of the hamstrings, the hip extensors and flexors, as well as the spine, since you are shortening the distance of the angle between the spine and the leg as you move forward and back in the sagittal plane.
There are many elements that have to come together at once to perform the exercises correctly: breathing, head/neck placement, spinal position, stabilization of the spine, shoulder blade placement, and coordination. The JUST BREATHE pilates mat class offers an alternative class of exercises performed in an “out of the box” environment, in which the individual works against gravity with their body weight. One of the staple exercises is the hundred where an exerciser lies supine in an imprinted position with legs parallel and adducted in the air at a 45degree angle with pointed toes. Arms are extended beside the body with the palms facing the floor. To begin, the exerciser lengthens the back of the neck as they flex their thoracic spine (lifts their head) into a cervical nod, which is a position of the head where there is a space of a fist between the chin and the chest, the shoulder girdle is stabilized and the abdominals are active in flexion. The key aspect is the strength and stability one needs to attain alignment of the spine with scapular and rib cage stabilization along with breath for 100 counts.
In each of these classes the exercises are initiated from the core (lumbar-pelvic region) with the breath leading the way. Spinal stabilization and abdominal contraction are instructed so that the individual can keep their spine protected while strengthening it at the same time.
Life is a process of constant change, however, one of the most familiar exercises is the ordinary sit-up. Most people are unaware of the positioning and breath during a sequence of stomach exercises. Usually they will use momentum to lift and they will overuse their hip flexor muscles instead of their abdominals. Because of the motion involved, and the way the exercises are described, the exerciser is encouraged to stick their stomach out v/s pulling them in while performing the exercise.
JUST BREATHE Pilates helps to train you to contract and then hold these muscles in a flat or pulled-in position while breathing with the movement of the exercise from the diaphragm.
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