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Breathing well is the first step in developing strength with length. If you have a hard time maintaining the length of your spine when you’re standing still, how the heck are you going to make it happen when you’re bending forwards, backwards, sideways, and twisting?
One of the things that keeps Pilates exercises so challenging, regardless of how long you’ve been doing them, is the concept of developing strength with length. The muscles of our abdominals and back are the ones that help provide the lift, length, and space between the ribcage and hip bones.
Here’s a video with a few thoughts on practicing better breathing habits to help improve your ability to be long and strong. Start practicing this, and then learn how to apply it to all of your Pilates exercises (and other fitness exercises) to get maximum health benefits from your workout program.
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Posted by Aliesa George, on February 1st, 2010, in All Posts, Breathing, Exercise and Fitness, Fitness, Pilates Exercise, Pilates-Teaching Tips.
Tags: Breathing, Core Strength, Fitness, Health, Pilates Exercises
If you’re one of those folks who has a tendency to lock your knees, and may occasionally be bothered with knee pain… Here’s a video with a quick and easy exercise you can practice just about anywhere to help strengthen the muscles around the knee joint, become more aware of the difference between a locked and unlocked knee, and learn how to stabilize a straight knee without locking the joint.
The benefits of this simple kneecap dance exercise include: Less time standing with your knees locked, stronger quadriceps, freer movement of the leg, and better tracking of the patella (knee cap), which all help to reduce knee pain.
Have fun playing with your dancing kneecaps!
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Posted by Aliesa George, on January 28th, 2010, in All Posts, Exercise and Fitness, Fitness, Pilates-Teaching Tips, Videos.
Tags: Knee caps, Knee Exercise, Knee Exercises, Kneecap, Kneecap exercise, Locked Knees, Patella Exercise, reduce knee pain, Strengthen Knees
It’s amazing what technology is able to do and humans are able to create to help improve the lives of others! The iWalk prosthetics company has created the worlds’ first actively powered foot and ankle! Their PowerFoot One is designed to give amputees an ease of movement that is natural. This prosthetic limb makes approximately 500 adjustments every second! It’s computer processors have a library of known human foot movement patterns to help anticipate what the foot and ankle need to do. Incredible!!! It’s great to know that the opportunity to restore a more normal quality of life with this technological advancement might be possible after the loss of a limb. Our feet are so important. I hope that in time, these prosthetic devices will become affordable for the people who really need them.
Click Here to read more about the iWalk PowerFoot One.
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Posted by Aliesa George, on January 28th, 2010, in All Posts, Foot Care Tips, Health, Links to Interesting Articles.
Tags: amputees, ankle, Feet, foot, iWalk prosthetics company, PowerFoot One, prosthetic foot, prosthetic limb, prosthetics
Are you interested in staying healthy and injury-free? Foot and Ankle strength, flexibility, and alignment is critical! Our ankles assist with balance, help us run faster, and jump higher. One missed step off a curb, or quick turn on the basketball court, soccer field, or during any other sports activity and if your ankle turns… you’ve got pain, swelling, and are sidelined from the activities that you love to do!
You don’t have to be plagued by chronic ankle pain and problems. There are lots of great ankle strengthening exercises that can help you get fit, and enjoy all the sports and fitness activities you enjoy participating in.
Here are 4 of my favorite ways to help be sure your ankles are in top training condition!
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Pilates Reformer Exercises
Toes, Arches, Heels, Lift & Lower…The first four footwork exercises on the Reformer are excellent for strengthening the feet and ankles. Add in the five exercises in the Stomach Massage series, (Round, Hands Back, Reach, Twist, and Stretch) and running and you’ve done ten great ankle strengthening as well as some great whole-body, core conditioning in your Pilates Reformer workout program. |
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Standing Footwork Exercises
The standing footwork exercises are a wonderful way to work your ankles and improve your balance all at the same time!
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- Rise on your tippy-toes and then lower your heels 8-10 times.
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- Bend your knees, lift your heels, straighten your knees (staying high on your toes) then lower the heels 8-10 times.
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- Reverse this action of rolling through the feet (Rise on your toes, bend your knees staying on the toes, lower the heels, straighten the legs) 8-10 times.
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To add variety to your Standing Footwork exercise program, these exercises can be done in a V-Position, Parallel, or One Leg at a time.
Bonus Tip: Watch your legs and feet in a mirror to be sure that your alignment stays great – Knees over ankles, ankles over toes…no wobbles. |
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Theraband Ankle Exercises
Using a theraband is a great way to strengthen the foot and ankle with a little more resistance, but not have to work against your entire body weight. Line the band up lengthwise along the sole of your foot, and hang onto the ends with your hands. Practice pointing and flexing the foot, as well as doing ankle circles against the resistance of a theraband. Strive to work through a full range of motion in all directions for maximum benefits. |
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Centerworks® Super-Ankle Board
Turning an ankle is one of the most common sports injuries, and the Centerworks® Super Ankle Board is one of the easiest ways to stretch and strengthen the medial and lateral sides of the ankle joint and reduce your risk of injury. The strength and body awareness you’ll gain with the Centerworks® Super-Ankle Board is what’s required to pull your ankle back to a centered position if it starts to roll out! Standard wobble boards do not work this range of motion or provide the reference points needed to ensure that you’re using the right parts of the foot and ankle for correct lateral/medial action. Use this Super-Ankle Board regularly and chances are slim that you’ll never blow out another ankle again! |
For Pilates Reformer workouts, find a studio near you. Everything else you can practice on your own at home or add to your current workout! It doesn’t take a lot of time to improve ankle strength, just a few minutes focused on your feet a couple of workouts a week, and you’re on your way to staying healthy, fit, and injury-free!
You can find all of these great foot and ankle care products at Centerworks.com. Get a copy of the book Fantastic Feet with the Standing Footwork and Theraband exercises. Buy Therabands from super-easy to advanced strengths, and get a Super-Ankle Board all online in the Foot Care Products section at the Centerworks store.
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Posted by Aliesa George, on January 27th, 2010, in All Posts, Articles, Exercise and Fitness, Fitness, Foot Care Tips, Pilates, Pilates-Teaching Tips.
Tags: Ankle Exercises, Ankle Flexibility, Ankle Strength, Ankles, chronic ankle pain, Foot Exercises, Foot Strength, Pilates Ankle and Foot Exercises, Sprained Ankles, Theraband Exercises, Twisted Ankle
Can you think of all the times in your life that you’ve said, “Oh, I really want to try that!” or “I hope someday that I get to do __________.” But then life get’s busy, you’re schedule is home-to-work, work-to-home, and all of the things you want to see, or do, seem to get pushed to the far depths of your brain and seem to be forgotten.
What’s on Your Bucket List?
I’m going to encourage you to stop what you’re doing right now, and get out a piece of paper, open a word document on your computer, or click open the notepad on your phone and start jotting down anything and everything that comes to your brain that sounds fun, exciting, and needs to be on your bucket list for dreams and goals that you’d like to make happen before you actually “kick the bucket!”
Here are some things that your bucket list might include: 
- Health and fitness goals
- Places to go
- Things to see
- People to meet
- Stuff you want – house, car, jewelry, new bike…
- Wild Adventure – skydiving, bungee jumping, African safari, heli-skiing, climbing Mt. Everest…
- Talents to develop – art, dance, fly tying, knitting, singing….
It really doesn’t matter how far-fetched or crazy the things you write down are – just do it!
Not too long ago I found a list that I’d made more than 10 years ago. When I started looking at the things on my list – I realized that many of them had been achieved! And some of them were way out there and at the time I didn’t really believe I could ever make them happen. (But I wrote them down anyway!) And several of the big ones for me actually happened all in the same week!
Here’s the point…writing things down on your bucket list is the first step in making them become a reality! Set your intention and then have fun making your dreams come true.
There might be some things you can start taking active steps to make happen today. Other things on your list, might manifest with the help of a friend, or will come to happen down the road – But it’s actually great to keep this list in front of you, or at least put your list in a safe spot where you can find it and pull it out every so often to see what you’ve accomplished so you can say – “Wow! I’m so happy that I’ve gotten to do _____________!”
Chances are once you start paying attention to the things you really want to enjoy and achieve – you’ll find your stress level will go down, and personal happiness level will increase. You can be confident that you’re not just in a home to work, work to home rut, but are taking daily action steps to really enjoy life!
Fill your Bucket with fun and crazy things to do, and then enjoy emptying it one fantastic experience at a time!
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Posted by Aliesa George, on January 26th, 2010, in All Posts, Goal Setting, Health.
Tags: Be Happy, Bucket List, Dreams, Goal Setting, Goals, Reduce Stress
There are so many things that contribute to the health of our bodies, communities, and countries. The mind, body, spirit connection is something that is accessible to us all if we’re open to the sharing information from the Universal source, and being aware of the effects our actions have on our personal lives and the lives of others.
This amazing YouTube video is the gift of an artist to express her innermost thoughts and feelings and connect deeply with the heart of her audience. Kseniya Simonova is a gifted messenger with an amazing talent. You can’t help but appreciate the creative genius that you will have the privilege to watch as she shares her gifts.
At what age do you think someone took notice of her abilities to draw in the sand, and helped her develop her talents? We all have hidden talents that are meant to be used, shared, and enjoyed to keep our spirits healthy. Do you know what your talents are? Are you enjoying time on a regular basis to develop your gifts?
Enjoy this video as a bit of inspiration and art appreciation!
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Posted by Aliesa George, on January 25th, 2010, in All Posts, Health, Videos.
Tags: Art, Kseniya Simonova, Sand Animation, Sand Art, Ukraine’s Got Talent
A good friend recommended the book Autobiography of a Yogi
, by Paramahansa Yogananda to me a while ago, and I’ve been slowly working my way through it! It is an excellent read for anyone interested in a life story filled with exceptional information about the spiritual journey of a man, and Yogi, and religious insights for health, wellness, and enlightenment.
I have personally gleaned many little gems of information that have added deeper dimensions of perspective and awareness to my life, and I’m only half-way through the book on my first read. Some books I don’t care to read more than once, this book I look forward to reading again, but with a pen and highlighter in hand next time through so I can mark the passages and insights that have relevance to my life that it would be great to quickly find for reference and review.
I have not done much yoga in my life yet, nor am I completely up to speed on the culture and religious values of the people of India, but this book is inspiring me to want to learn more and perhaps discover new insights for my life’s journey to higher states of enlightenment and a deeper connection to my spiritual self.
I can see some of the points of perspective that Joseph H. Pilates may have taken from his studies of Yoga and Eastern Philosophies that have been incorporated into the Pilates Method, system, and exercises. And although the spiritual aspect of Pilates is not discussed much, I do know for me, as my mind-body awareness and physical health has improved with the practice of Pilates, there has been a positive shift and uplift of my spirit too!
I am looking forward to finishing this book, AND then starting again from the beginning for a second read. Perhaps the Autobiography of a Yogi will even inspire me to delve into a bit more Yoga and perhaps add some Yoga training to my lifestyle for added growth of my spiritual and physical health and wellness… It will be interesting to see what evolves!
Many thanks to my friend Deborah for the recommendation, and I too highly recommend this book!
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Posted by Aliesa George, on January 22nd, 2010, in All Posts, Book Reviews, Health, Meditation, Pilates, yoga.
Tags: Autobiography of a Yogi, Eastern philosophy, Paramahansa Yogananda, Philosophy of Yoga, Pilates and Yoga, religious literature India, Science of Yoga, yoga, Yoga philosophy, Yogi
I’ve always followed the mantra of “drink only when you’re thirsty.” And funny thing…I am rarely actually thirsty! So in the past, I’ve consumed very little water throughout the day. It’s an actual effort to take the time and remember to drink.
There are two sides to every coin and since the not drinking much has gotten me to where I am now and I’d like to change, I’m now headed to the drink more water side of the fence to see how this new “drink-more-water” habit affects my weight-loss efforts and overall health.
There seems to be some debate about the philosophy of drinking 8 glasses of water a day. Is it true, does, it work, has it really been proven that it’s a required health fact that we need eight glasses of water a day to survive? I found an article on Web MD, “Benefits of Drinking Water Oversold?” that says evidence is lacking. And in his book “Water: for Health, for Healing, for Life: You’re Not Sick, You’re Thirsty!” Dr. F. Batmanghelidj MD shows the crucial benefits of drinking water for our health.
So I suppose we each need to listen to our bodies and decide what’s best for us! Since our body is made up mostly of water, and coffee, tea, and colas are documented to cause dehydration, it makes sense to me that perhaps a little more H2O in my daily diet isn’t such a bad thing!
My water glass is empty, and I’m actually getting kind of thirsty… Time for me to close this post and head to the kitchen for a refill, but before I go, I’m curious… How much water do you drink daily and why?
Leave me a comment below, share your thoughts, and let’s explore the benefits of drinking water for health together!
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Posted by Aliesa George, on January 21st, 2010, in All Posts, Diet and Nutrition, Health.
Tags: 8 glasses of Water a Day, Benefits of Drinking Water, Drinking Water, Health Benefits of Water, Hydration, Thirst, Water, Water and Health, Water for Health
Have you tried using Kettlebells for your workout program? According to the American Council on Exercise, Kettlebells are a fantastic way to build strength, balance, flexibility, and endurance quickly and effectively.
Enjoy a cardio and strength conditioning workout in a short 20 minutes instead of 30 minutes on a treadmill and another 30 minutes lifting weights. The time savings alone for those days when you’re wondering how you’re going to get a workout in is great inspiration to give Kettlebell training a try!
Plus, the calorie burn for working out with Kettlebells is huge! Approximately 20.2 calories a minute. Which is equivalent to running at a 6-minute a mile pace or cross-country skiing uphill at a speedy pace!
Read the ACE research study and checkout the exercises in this 6-week Kettlebell training program developed by ACE exercise physiologist Fabio Comana, and consider using Kettlebells to keep your body healthy and fit.
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Posted by Aliesa George, on January 20th, 2010, in All Posts, Articles, Exercise and Fitness, Fitness, Links to Interesting Articles.
Tags: ACE research study, American Council on Exercise, benefits of Kettlebells, Kettle bell, Kettlebell, Kettlebell Exercise Program, Kettlebell research, Kettlebell training, Kettlebell training program, Kettlebells
I posted a blog article related to the topic of reducing neck strain during Pilates matwork and ab training few weeks ago. Here’s a new video post in my Core Training series to discuss the same issue.
Neck strain, and occasionally pain, is something that is common during Pilates Matwork and general abdominal conditioning programs. And while feeling some work in the neck while those muscles are getting stronger, might be a good thing… When you’re really wanting to work on strengthening your abs, it’s a challenge to focus when you’ve got more pain in your neck than work in your belly!
Discover a very important tip that can help you reduce neck pain and improve core fitness for all your Pilates exercises and general fitness abdominal training workouts in this third video from my Core Training Tips series:
Enjoy!
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Posted by Aliesa George, on January 18th, 2010, in All Posts, Exercise and Fitness, Fitness, Pilates, Pilates Exercise, Pilates-Teaching Tips.
Tags: Ab work, Abdominal conditioning, Abs, Core Fitness, Core Training, general fitness, Pilates Exercises, Pilates Matwork, Reduce Neck Pain, reduce neck strain
