Wonderful questions I received this week about Joseph Pilates book Return to Life, and other Pilates Matwork book & DVD resources for Pilates teachers and students. Keep reading this post to see the questions I’ve been asked, and my thoughts on the topic of publication quality, content, and the benefits of different Pilates exercise resources on the market.
Continue reading ‘Return to Life and Other Pilates Resources – Recommendations for Books, DVD’s, and Apps to Grow Your Pilates Expertise’ »
Posts Tagged ‘Pilates Mat Exercises’
Return to Life and Other Pilates Resources – Recommendations for Books, DVD’s, and Apps to Grow Your Pilates Expertise
Pilates Fitness Tips for the Pilates Matwork Side Leg Exercises
One of the biggest challenges with the Pilates Matwork Side Leg Series exercises  is keeping the body still. All of the Pilates Mat exercises that lead up to this point (with your back on the mat) are to prepare you to lay on your side and still be able to hold things together!
The Pilates side leg series exercises have many great benefits! 
- Increased Hip Strength
- Improved Hip Joint Mobility
- Leg Flexibility
- Improved Core Stability
- Increased Body Awareness
- Improved Gait Mechanics
Here are 5 things you can practice to help keep your body still and improve the free swing of your legs on all of the hip and leg exercises in this series:
Continue reading ‘Pilates Fitness Tips for the Pilates Matwork Side Leg Exercises’ »
Core Fitness: Improving Pilates Exercises & Sit-Up Technique
If you are looking for ways to strengthen your core, and increase abdominal strength for Pilates exercises and sit-ups. Here is some information that you might find useful to improve your technique and get more out of your Pilates and fitness workouts!
Here’s the question…Are you using more of the fronts of your thighs, or your abs when you’re doing abdominal training exercises like a sit-up, crunch, or curl? Or on Pilates Mat exercises like the Hundred, Roll Up, Series of 5, or Neck Pull?
Our quadriceps muscles are so used to doing lots of work, gripping to support us, that it can cause the abs to slack off a bit and not have to work quite as hard. And while our goal might be to do core training to achieve a set of 6-pack abs, or to help keep our lower back injury-free, it’s not going to happen if our legs are doing most of the work on our sit-up exercises!
Check out my series of new core training tips videos on this topic and discover ways to improve abdominal strength, Pilates exercise technique, and fitness:
Improve Ab Strength for Pilates Mat Exercises and Sit-Ups with the KG Curl
The KG Curl exercises is a wonderful warm-up exercise for any Pilates or fitness workout. It can really help you learn how to get more bend out of your body to achieve a good curled up position. The result… more work in your abdominal muscles, and less strain in your neck!
Use the exercise tips on this video to help you improve your ab curl position for Pilates Matwork exercises like the Hundred, Roll Up, Neck Pull, and Teaser. And at the gym, this easy-to-do KG Curl exercise can help improve your technique for sit-ups on an incline bench,  crunches on a ball, and with all your ab training exercises during aerobics class.
Have Fun Improving your Ab Strength with the KG Curl!
