How to Fit Pilates Exercises into your Daily Routine.
From that essential morning cup of coffee, to brushing your teeth, to driving to work, to working all day, and being busy all night - it seems that are not enough hours in the day for all the things you have to do, let alone all the things you want to do.
Pilates Instructor, and Director, Rose, has come up with different methods of incorporating Pilates into your usual routine, meaning you are guaranteed to have the time to squeeze these exercises in!
Morning Coffee Muscle Wake Up
Most of us enjoy a quick cuppa in the morning and most kettles take around 2 minutes to boil. After lying in bed all night you back, neck and legs need a bit of TLC so spend these precious 2 minutes doing the Pilates Roll Down.
Tip your chin to your chest and slowly uncurl your spine so you are about ¼ of the way down to the floor (think ragdoll) and just hang out there and feel the most gorgeous stretch down your back and legs.
When you want to return to that kettle slowly roll all the way up, one vertebrae at a time, starting at the bottom and finishing with the top of your neck. If you find this hard stand against a wall and take your back off it bone by bone and then re-stack that spine, making sure every vertebrae is placed onto the wall in sequence.
Teeth Brushing, Joint Strengthening Blend
Don’t just stand at the sink brushing your teeth, get those calf muscles working and ankle joints stronger!
Admittedly this takes a tiny bit of coordination but while standing at the sink, place your feet parallel to each other about 2-3 inches apart. Rise on to the ball of your feet, making sure the weight is on your 1st and 2nd toe and lower back down. After 10 of these you can open your feet into the Pilates stance (think heels close together, feet in a V position, or my favourite is think of Charlie Chaplin). Again raise up on the ball of your feet and lower back down 10 times.
Pelvic Tilt Time
We spend most of our time sitting down, and if we do get time to exercise do we pay any attention to our pelvis?
Pelvic tilts are a Pilates Staple and can be done almost everywhere. If you are seated, lengthen your spine and make sure your back is against your chair with a slight arch at the bottom of your spine. From here you need to push your lower back against the chair so the arch disappears, hold for 2 seconds and then (for want of a better descriptor) pretend you have a big bottom and push it out behind you. The arch this created will be quite big and you need to make sure it isn’t painful and that you aren't sticking your chest out as all the movement needs to be from your pelvis.
If you are lying in bed or fancy an alternative you can follow these same instructions lying down. Place your feet on the floor (ankles, knees and hips in line with each other) and again push your back down into the ground before arching it away.
Stretch Stretch Stretch
Start by warming your muscles up, this can be a quick trip round the office, or a few bum kicks (lifting your heel and trying to touch your bottom). After you have done this you can do a Pilates Roll Down (see previous) and then try to touch the floor. Once you have gone as far as you can go bend your right knee and grab your thigh, calf or rest your hand on the floor and keep you left leg straight hold for 10-20 seconds. Then swap sides.
Sit on a chair and put your right ankle on the opposite knee and gently push the right knee down. You should feel a stretch on the right leg and glute muscle - you can also go on your toes on the left leg to deepen the stretch. Hold this for about 20-30 seconds and then repeat on the other side.
Aaaaand breathe
Take a minute to think about your breathing. Look at your stomach and see what it is doing. Moving in and out? That is what we call ‘Diaphragmatic breathing’. This is where we let our stomach expand to let the lungs fill with air and we don’t think about it. Most of us will actually only use half of our lungs capacity breathing like this. Now, time for some ‘Intercostal breathing’, more commonly known as ‘lateral breathing’.
Get comfortable and place your hands on your bottom ribs, slightly contract your abdominal muscles (think putting on a pair of jeans that are a tad tight) and now slowly breath in through your nose for a count of 5 and attempt to make your ribs expand to the sides and back. Breathe in to the point where you physically can’t breathe in any more and then slowly exhale through your mouth for a count of 5. As you exhale you should feel your ribs contract along with your abdominals - try to exhale until you literally have no more air left in your lungs.
Hard right?!
This type of breathing is essential to Pilates and life in general. When doing abdominal exercises we tend to hold our breath which is not ideal and as we go about our daily lives most of us just ‘let it all hang out’, which means our abdominals are doing very little to help our spine and posture. Take 2 minutes to practice this breathing technique and attempt to hold your abdominals in and breathe deeper. You will feel more energised and you will notice that you are standing better, look like you have lost inches off your waist and gained a few inches in height.
You can practice this as many times as you want in a day and you can start off by breathing in and out for 5 counts and as you get more experienced you can challenge yourself and attempt 6, 8 or even 12 counts.