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Posts Tagged ‘Pilates Exercise’
By Aliesa George and Centerworks.com
It’s interesting the difference in perspective between traditional “Aerobic” class ab work and Pilates ab exercises. You know how everybody always complains that their neck hurts? Or they feel more work in their neck, chest, and shoulders than they do in their middle, which means it takes tons of reps of a variety of targeted exercises before you “feel” like you’ve really worked your abs?
While with Pilates Matwork, once you figure it out… you only do 3-5 of most exercises, and with good body mechanics your abs are well worked with this very low number of reps, and the variety of Pilates exercises you do are not only working your abdominals, but the rest of your body as well!
One of the differences between general fitness programs and Pilates training is in the focused concentration on working the body through a full range of motion, and developing good spine articulation from the head to the tailbone. Our back should easily and naturally bend forward, backwards, sideways, and twist at every single segment. The Pilates system puts the body through all of these different ranges of motion with every workout which is why it’s such a beneficial training method for whole-body health.
Tags: Abdominal Exericse, Core Training, Fitness, Pilates, Pilates Exercise, Pilates Training Tips
Posted in All Posts, Articles, Exercise and Fitness, Fitness, Pilates, Pilates Exercise, Pilates-Teaching Tips by Aliesa George on December 21st, 2009.
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As Pilates teachers, our goal is to help our clients find, feel, and correct bad alignment, and muscle imbalances so that they can improve their whole-body health and enjoy life! It’s frustrating for us and them, when problems or pain lingers longer than we think it should. Chances are if a client walked through your door with pain, and it’s been there awhile – making changes isn’t going to happen overnight! But generally speaking – Pilates has fantastic things to offer for improving body awareness and developing new posture and movement habits to help pain and problems go away and improve your quality of life!
Here’s a Great Question about Neck Pain and Pilates that I received recently:
Hello: I receive your newsletter and I have to say thank you for your time and your commitment. I would really appreciate your point of view about people who practice Pilates for a very long time, but still feel pain in their necks, and this stops their progress in the work. I have two students with this problem. They are good physically (don’t have any structural problems in their bodies) which makes me think this is more than a physical problem. Thanks for your time! Any insights would be great. ~ Regards, Barbara
Thoughts from Aliesa George on Neck Pain and Pilates Exercises for Healthy, Experienced Students:
Neck pain during Pilates is a common problem for new students who don’t have great spine flexibility or the strength to get into a good curled up position for exercises like the Hundred, but I think it’s probably a more common issue than one might think for experienced students too!
Continue reading ‘Neck Pain and Pilates Exercise’ »
Tags: neck pain, Pilates Exercise, Pilates Teaching
Posted in All Posts, Articles, Exercise and Fitness, Health, Pilates, Pilates Exercise, Pilates-Teaching Tips by Aliesa George on October 27th, 2009.
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I recently received a question from Kylie, a fellow Pilates teacher, regarding snapping hip syndrome and what to do to make it go away during exercise.
Here are her comments and question:
“I have some very hip flexor dominant students that suffer from hip click in quite a few of the Pilates exercises, big one being Leg Circles and virtually anytime they extend their legs out away from the body. I cue to bring balance with the antagonist muscles (tva and Glutes) but am still having issues. Could you guide me in helping these people a little more effectively? (I do ask them to stretch with a lunge prior to class, and even do a recumbent jazz attitude movement before leg circles.) So is there something I am not seeing or doing? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.”
I then dove into a folder on my computer to find an article in hiding that I had written, but never posted on my blog – think I may have posted in on a Podiatry forum where I read a clicking hip question! Interesting to me that Podiatrists are also dealing with this issue with their patients. It doesn’t do anybody any good for me to keep things a secret! So I hope that for those of you out there challenged with clicking hips – you will find some of this information useful. Please let me know how it goes with teaching or doing Pilates exercises and using this info to get out of the hip click!
Here are my thoughts:
Continue reading ‘Pilates Exercise Focus – How To Fix a Snapping Hip’ »
Tags: Add new tag, Clicking Hips, Pilates Exercise, Pilates Matwork Exercise, Pilates-Teaching Tips, Popping Hips, Snapping Hips
Posted in Articles, Exercise and Fitness, Pilates, Pilates Exercise, Pilates-Teaching Tips by Aliesa George on August 17th, 2009.
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I’ve been focusing a bit more on my own Pilates workouts lately – and it’s such fun to discover new things about the same old exercises I’ve been doing and teaching now for fifteen years! It’s never boring, and regardless of whether I’m teaching a client, or giving myself a workout – I’m amazed at what I continue to learn about the benefits and subtleties of the Pilates system.
Here’s my revelation for the week! (or perhaps it’s just today’s revelation – and something else will pop up eager for me to share tomorrow.)
I’ve always cued my clients to begin learning their exercises with the awareness of working within the framework of the Pilates “Box.” Think about the torso from shoulder to shoulder, and hip to hip. Every exercise starts from the center of the box, moves away from, and back to center. The farther away from center you move, the stronger you have to be to maintain balance, control, and core support for your exercise or movement. Feeling where the corners of the “box” are help create an awareness of being evenly distributing your weight and staying centered. Great concept!
So when the knees bend in towards the chest on any exercise where should they go?
Continue reading ‘Knees Over Chest Is Best – For Getting Great Benefits from Pilates Training’ »
Tags: balance, body awareness, control, core support, exercise program, Fitness Training, flexibility, Health, health and fitness, Pilates, Pilates Box, Pilates Exercise, Pilates Matwork, pilates method, Pilates System, Pilates Teaching, Pilates Workout, Pilates-Teaching Tips, strength, Wellness
Posted in Pilates, Pilates-Teaching Tips by Aliesa George on March 23rd, 2009.
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Considering the large number of clients I’ve seen with chronic back and neck pain, and the great results they’ve had from participating in Pilates programs with me, I strongly agree with the findings from this recent research article I read in SOAP notes from PT Products.
Continue reading ‘Pilates Exercise Programs for Chronic Back and Neck Pain’ »
Tags: Back Pain, exercise program, neck pain, Pilates, Pilates Exercise
Posted in Health by Aliesa George on February 4th, 2009.
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Wii Fitness… What Fun!
I may be a bit behind the times when it comes to enjoying the fun and benefits of all the new interactive video game products on the market – like the Nintendo Wii Fit… but recently my techno-geek boyfriend purchased a Wii Fit for home. (He’s had one at work since they first hit the market.) Being a bit shy about actually getting a computer to do what I want, for me is intimidating, never mind the hand-eye coordination it takes to “win” a computer game…..I was never any good at these games as a kid.
I have to admit my extreme skepticism about the benefits of staring at a TV screen and using a computer game for fitness. But am always excited to hear about new ways to inspire and encourage people to increase their exercise and activity level, and ANYTHING that people enjoy doing that involves movement can be a great way to improve health and fitness.
Continue reading ‘Health Benefits, Fun and Fitness with Nintendo Wii Fit’ »
Tags: balance, Baseball, BMI, body awareness, Body Mass Index, body mass index bmi, Bowling, Boxing, computer game, exercise program, Fitness, fitness activities, fitness products, Fitness Training, flexibility, games, Goal Setting, Golf, hand eye coordination, Health, health and fitness, health benefits, health status, interactive video game, muscle strengthening, Nintendo, nintendo wii, Pilates, Pilates Exercise, Pilates Workout, Posture, posture improvement, skill challenges, strength, Tennis, video game products, Weight, Wellness, Wii, Wii Fit, workout, workout program, workout time, yoga
Posted in Health, Pilates by Aliesa George on November 30th, 2008.
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I’m frequently asked for referrals from people across the country (and the world) in search of a Great Pilates Teacher or Pilates Studio that they can check out and take Private Pilates lessons and join group Mat and Pilates equipment classes.
Here are a few frequently asked questions, and Five Tips to find a Great Pilates Teacher near you:
Continue reading ‘How to Find a Great Pilates Teacher’ »
Tags: Health, health club, mat exercises, Pilates, pilates books, pilates equipment, Pilates Exercise, pilates instructor, Pilates Matwork, pilates method, Pilates Studios, Pilates Teacher, Pilates Workout, Private Pilates, referrals, workout
Posted in Health, Pilates by Aliesa George on May 12th, 2008.
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I recieved this question about Pilates training by email today, thought it relevant for a blog posting:
Question: Is Pilates appropriate for someone with peripheral atrophy? Balancing is becoming more & more difficult so yoga is no longer an option. If appropriate, please tell me where I might find a certified teacher/instructor. Please advise.
Answer: I do not feel it’s appropriate for me to answer this with a specific yes, or no – because I’m out of my scope of practice to recommend Pilates for a specific person, with a specific medical issue. (Especially someone I’ve never seen or worked with!)
However, here are my personal thoughts on the subject:
Continue reading ‘Pilates Training and Peripheral Atrophy’ »
Tags: atrophy, balance, blog, body awareness, Exercise, exercise program, Fitness, Fitness Training, flexibility, Health, Kinesiology, Mat, medical issue, medical specialist, muscle diseases, nerve, nerve and muscle, physician, Pilates, Pilates and Posture, pilates equipment, Pilates Exercise, Pilates Matwork, pilates method, Pilates Studios, Pilates Teacher, Pilates Teaching, Pilates Workout, PMA, Posture, Private Pilates, quality of life, strength, therapy, training session, Wellness, workouts, yoga
Posted in Health, Pilates by Aliesa George on May 12th, 2008.
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I’m always experimenting with cues to help find good images that my clients can associate with while they’re moving through their workouts. When I can associate a relatable picture to proper body position and movements – I usually get great execution of each Pilates exercise.
Here’s my new cue of the week for improving Spine Extension.
Continue reading ‘Opening the Ribcage for More Lift in Spine Extension’ »
Tags: Arched, armpits, Back Extension, backbend, cue, Cueing, cues, execution, Extension, fan, Fanning, Fitness, image, image visualization, Imagery, Pilates, Pilates Exercise, pilates method, Pilates Teaching, Pilates Workout, Pilates-Teaching Tips, pivot point, proper body position, reducing stress, Reformer, ribcage, ribs, Spine Extension, stretch, swan, Teacher Education, technique, understanding, workouts
Posted in Pilates, Pilates-Teaching Tips by Aliesa George on April 21st, 2008.
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