Posture in the Zoom world and beyond!

Why is good posture so important to your well-being, stature and image?

Settling into a post-pandemic return to life? Travel, long days in the office, running from meeting to meeting. The last thing you are thinking about is your posture- even your health in general. At Endurance, we use Pilates to help our students engage, train and become aware, consciously and unconsciously, of the muscles involved in attaining a perfect upright posture.

Imagine walking into a room, filled with your colleagues and customers. You are tall, crown of your head reaching to the ceiling, shoulders back, chest open, tummy flat and glutes engaged to keep it all together. You are strong, in control of your body and pristine in your appearance, exuding confidence and expertise before saying a word. People smile at you, are immediately attracted to your grace and poise. You are already ahead of the game- in control of the room.

Now imagine the same scenario, you are stumbling in, shoulders slumped, little pooch in the belly showing over the top of your trousers or your pencil skirt, your head and neck straining forward. People turn away so as not to embarrass you by watching you shuffle toward your seat at the head of the table. You now need a little corrective, perhaps creative action to gain control of the room- your own meeting.

Enter Pilates. Pilates is a decades old exercise regimen emphasizing the muscles of the core.  Now, the core encompasses much more than just the abdominals, the most superficial (in many ways!) muscles of the body. That six pack? Means nothing if you aren’t able to hold yourself in proper alignment. Joseph Pilates created his regimen to teach students how to use their mind to control their muscles. He wanted folks to build a suit of armor from within. Joe Pilates was a boxer, he wanted you to learn how to take a punch- using that muscle memory as you are simply walking down the street!

Pilates retrains the neuromuscular connections in your body to ensure proper and efficient movement patterns. Instead of using your shoulders or hip flexors to account for a weakness in the core, we will train the supporting muscles in your upper back, back of legs and deep core muscles to work all the time. Standing up is hard work! We will also help to stack the bones and joints in the strongest position possible, creating a strong frame to wrap all of the muscles around. Pilates will help with all you do, whether it is your yoga practice, your eighth Zoom meeting of the day or your first triathlon, we want you to be unconsciously competent at standing strong so you can move better. According to Romana Kryzanowska, the woman chosen by Joe to carry on his work, “Pilates is stretch with strength and control- the control portion being the most important”!

Joseph Pilates called his method Contrology. We work hard to put the pieces into place. At Endurance, we try to give some simple and quick hints that you can incorporate into your daily lives to become more aware of your body, where it is standing in space and how you can easily put things into place- even if it is just for a little while. We can help with getting that perfect posture “in endurance” pun intended! Enjoy our video with a quick hint- all you need is a wall!

Stand better today with this simple Pilates- based reminder!
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The Final Stretch

Whether you’re a novice runner or a multi-marathon veteranyou’ve heard the importance of a post-run stretch, but do you know what to lengthen and what needs to stay strong?  Pilates is a specialized regimen that properly stretches the muscles of the body with the strength and control necessary to help joints maintain a proper range of motion. Without specialized stretching and the opposing strength to hold the newly found range of motions, muscles can become tight and leave you susceptible to pain or injury. 

So, what muscles need stretching? Any physical activity utilizes a whole range of different muscles, but targeting the ones that are being used the most during your runs will be most effective and help you improve in the long run

1. The Quadriceps

Quadriceps_3D

Your Quadriceps, or “Quads” are comprised of four separate muscles on the front of your thigh. This area can be overused during running and may be one of the first areas you feel soreness in, especially in a marathon like Boston that starts off downhill!   If not lengthened out properly, tight quads can cause a misalignment in the leg joints.

2. The Calves

Calf Muscle

Courtesy of lumen learning

Made up of two separate muscles on the back of your lower leg, the calves are an often overlooked, but essential piece of your running anatomy. If weakened or tightened, the calves can affect the movement at both the knee and the ankle joint.

3. The Hamstrings 

Hamstrings

You might not know exactly what or where your hamstrings are, but chances are you’ve felt them. The hamstring is a grouping of three muscles that run the length of the back of your upper leg. Although the hamstring is important for knee and hip movements, runners often forget or neglect to stretch them out. The hamstrings are important hip mobilizers and they also help to stabilize the pelvis.  Maintaining the right flexibility for a runner can help with muscle fatigue, overuse, and even lower back pain!

4. The Iliotibial (IT) Band

Tensor fasciae latae

While the Iliotibial band is not a muscle it plays a vital role in your body’s mechanics for running. The IT Band is a fascial band that spans the outer knee and thigh. It is part of a system that contributes to hip movement and knee stabilization and is used constantly during a run. The IT band is meant to be tight in order to control the position of the leg, yet becomes overly tight and overused when the glutes and inner thighs are weak.

5. The Gluteal MusclesGluteus_all.gif

Did you know that your Gluteus Maximus (aka your backside) is the largest and heaviest muscle in your body? It is also one of the laziest!  Your glutes are made up of three main muscles and several smaller ones that make many of your lower body movements possible. Sitting all day and general inactivity leads to these muscles becoming underutilized and weak, so it’s important to give them the attention they deserve. On the flip side, overuse of the Gluteal muscles can affect hip flexibility and overall pelvic stability.

Now that we’ve covered the basics of which muscles need stretching, you still need to know HOW to stretch them! Endurance is excited to announce two FREE upcoming seminars for runners of all skill levels: 

Runners Relax and Renew

Tuesday, April 16th at 10 AM: 

For our friends running the Boston Marathon, we are hosting a 45-minute post-run stretch and meditation session to help rejuvenate the muscles and embrace your amazing accomplishment!

Sign up HERE.

Saturday, April 20th at 1 PM: 

Inspired by your friends running the marathon? If you’re interested in running next year or just looking to jump head first into the sport, join us for an Intro to Running class where we’ll cover injury prevention, scheduling, nutrition, and cross-training. Learn how to run with the Endurance Method, the safest way to run with your butt and gut! 

Sign up HERE.

Stress Less at Endurance

Stress Less at Endurance!  Because for One Hour, all you will be able to think about is you!

Joseph Pilates called his method Contrology and according to him….

“The acquirement and enjoyment of physical well-being, mental calm and spiritual peace are priceless to their possessors if there be any such so fortunate living among us today. However, it is the ideal to strive for, and in our opinion, it is only through Contrology [Pilates] that this unique trinity of a balanced body, mind, and spirit can ever be attained.” Joseph Pilates

Want to take your mind off everything else going on around you- for an hour?  I will admit it- I seriously started doing Pilates because I needed at least one hour in my life on most days of the week where I didn’t have to think about anything else except exactly what I was doing with my body at that particular moment.  I couldn’t think of my grocery list or the 10 things I had to do when I went back to the office after my evening class.  Lots has changed since then, but I still use my Pilates workouts to get away from the rest of the world.  I can’t check my email, texts or monthly sales numbers when I’m backbending on the reformer.   I could do other forms of exercise session- spin, step…get on a treadmilll or elliptical and try and zone out, but everything I had to do or was worried about would creep into my mind.  That is certainly not the case with Pilates!

When students perform Pilates exercises at Endurance, we give them lots of direction as to how to move precisely and with control- there are no haphazard movements in a Pilates class.  Once we’ve established a certain level of control, we add in more flow and more moving pieces to control.  It’s the “mind over movement” that makes Pilates the ideal workout for stress relief.  During a particular exercise, you will be told how to do it, where to feel it, how to make it even better for your spine and overall physique.  Our instructors have taken years to learn Pilates in their own bodies and have plenty of practice “squeezing the juice” out of each and every exercise.  They when it is time to slow the workout down for precision and when to speed it up to flow.  Ever had a difficult time meditating?  Because you were trying to clear your mind and all those to-dos kept creeping back in?  We guarantee that for one hour, the only thing you will be able to think about is your tummy, tush and inner thighs working really hard to move your body in a more perfect and precise way in just about anything that you do outside the studio!  Come clear your mind with us and get a great butt and flat abs while you leave your cars by the door!

“Ideally, our muscles should obey our will. Reasonably, our will should not be dominated by the reflex actions of our muscles.” Joseph Pilates

Photo by Servidone Studios