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

Work out like a Pro while you are on your beach vacation!

Pilates Sidebend

Want to work out like a professional athlete does while on vacation?  I was asked by one of my students, an NHL hockey player, for a workout that he could do while he was  on a beach vacation with his family!  Check out the below 20 minute ab, glute worker, hip extender workout and work out like the pros do this week at the beach.  Be sure to be careful with form and check out the videos if you need visual explanations.  Normally, I’m so careful with hair, makeup and athletic clothing when I’m doing a video, but we were at a baseball tournament in NJ for the weekend and I’m not sure I had even showered before we videoed the clips and I’m in running gear – it’s all about the content right!  You should have everything you need to do the workout, even in your hotel room! Enjoy!

 

Half Rollbacks

Sit with knees bent, legs slightly apart, squeezing rolled up towel- hands under thighs, Keep inner thighs engaged and feet still and grounded.  Spine is in long -curve (long flexion like flexy straw).  Roll pelvis away from fixed femurs a few inches, squeeze towel 6 inner thigh deeper engagements.  Roll back a little further, repeat inner thigh engagement.  Roll back a few inches more, repeat inner thigh engagement (ensuring that the ribcage and pelvis are moving at the same speed- if ribcage gets ahead of pelvis, could lead to arch in lower back=bad).  If abs feel strong and legs can stay grounded, roll back as far as possible with abs in control.  Return to start slowly and with control.

Repeat with arms extended in front of the shoulders, palms facing up

Repeat with arms in genie position in front of chest or hands behind the head.

Bridges

On back, arms planted into ground, engaging upper back muscles, back of arms so that head doesn’t slide at all.  Rolled up towel in between the inner thighs.  Pull belly muscles in and start by moving pelvis through posterior position to lengthen the lower back toward the mat.  Engage glutes and back of legs to extend the hips.  Keep the ribs down as long as possible and press into upper back of arms in order to open the pec minor as hips lift.  Focus is on opening the hip flexors and the chest utilizing the muscles in the back of the body, moving the spine in articulation and keeping length in the torso on the way up and on the way down.  Do 3 rolling up and down, then hold at the top, trying to increase hip extension (stretching knees forward, pulling ribs back) using the glutes to open hip flexors as much as possible…towel should keep inner thighs engaged, but may need slight reminder.

One-Legged Bridges, Hip Extension

Same setup as bridge.  Legs hip bone (ASIS bone) distance apart.  Roll hips up exactly like two leg bridge with feet down.  Keeping left inner thigh engaged, extend right leg to the ceiling.  Keeping spine in alignment, lower and lift the hips (left hip extension) 5 times with control.  Keeping spine and hips still, lower and lift the right leg (right hip extension) 5 times with control, ensuring that the hips stay level.  Keeping spine and hips level, right leg reaching to ceiling draw a circle with the right leg 5 times in each direction without shifting, moving or dropping the hips.  Repeat with right leg grounding and left leg moving.

Hip Extension, Thoracic Flex Endurance

Supine position, hands behind to support the weight of the skull.  Feet flat, knees bent, abdominals engaged (if have little weight or can of something or full water bottle to rest on lower belly, great- don’t let it move) legs hip bone (ASIS bone) distance apart.  Curl head and shoulders up (thoracic flexion) to bottom ribs still down- 3 small pulses and then hold at highest possible point in endurance.  Extend the right leg (using hamstring glute to hip extend versus a pickup of the leg with the quad) to a hover position just above ground.  Keeping pelvis still, reach right leg straight out and toward the mat, extending the hips, using back of leg muscles to extend the hip and the abdominals to keep the pelvis still.  Repeat 5 hip extensions, then lift right leg toward ceiling (pelvis stays neutral) and left leg extends to the hover position.  Let left leg reach up to meet the right, then down again 5 times.  

Folded Towel, Thoracic Extension

Sit with knees bent, legs slightly apart, squeezing rolled up towel- arms reaching long.  Place a second rolled up towel to “catch” the spine as you roll back approximately mid thoracic. Keep inner thighs engaged and feet still and grounded.  Spine is in long -curve (long flexion like flexy straw).  Roll pelvis away from fixed femurs, squeeze towel between the knees and continue to roll until thoracic spine comes in contact with the towel.  Bring hands behind the head to support the weight of the skull and control thoracic extension over the towel, lower abdominals (low part of rectus abdominus, TA) stay as engaged as possible, top will open up with control.  Hold for a moment and then control back up over towel, focusing on reconnecting the ribs toward the pelvis and the whole abdominal wall engaged for control into the lengthened c curve.  Reach the arms in front of the shoulders (without letting the shoulders lead the work to lift away from the towel and back into the seated position.

Rollup                                                                                                               

1- From seated, legs extended, heels together toes apart, ground heels and hamstrings and roll pelvis away from fixed femurs as far as possible without moving the legs (as much as possible) pause, can add pulses- repeat 3 times.  Same exercise, legs parallel- focus on both is grounding the legs and using the glutes/abdominals to control the movement of the pelvis away from the femurs.  Repeat 3 times.  

2- From supine, legs extended  and grounded with hamstrings (can be done parallel or in slight turnout)  Reach arms to the ceiling, pull shoulders back into sockets and draw shoulder blades in toward each other.  Curl the head up away from the mat, flexing at the thoracic spine without allowing the shoulders to come forward.  Pulse at bottom ribcage connection 3 times, continuing to draw the shoulders back so that the movement comes from the abdominals moving the thoracic spine.  If possible, keeping legs grounded, continue to curl into long c-curve and roll all the way up (can have somebody ground the legs or put feet under couch or weight).  Roll all the way back, with control to start position and repeat 3 times.

Half Rollovers

Supine, legs extended to ceiling in a diamond shape, slight bend at the knees.  Find length from the ribcage to the hips and imagine somebody is pulling on your tailbone like a tail to start the movement by elongating the back- continue to elongate back, ground the upper back and back of the arms and allow a slight pelvic lift (lots of work for very little movement!!) that increases the distance between the back of the pelvis and the back of the ribcage.  Repeat 5 times.

Roll Like a Ball

From seated position, knees apart and bent, heels together (slight turnout at hips) roll pelvis away to balance just above tailbone.  Use lower abs to draw the knees to the elbows.  Keep the elbows on the knees and rollback and up, keeping the elbows on the knees.  Throw the first two away and go for 3 good ones, keeping the elbows on the knees and feeling the lower back lengthen into the mat each time.

Ab Series

Single-leg stretch

From last rolling like a ball, hold right knee and roll down with control onto back, keeping head and shoulders lifted.  Pull right knee into the chest and then switch legs, letting the legs pass each other while the femurs are at 45 degrees away from the pelvis…pelvis neutral.  Repeat 6-10 times.  Rock back up to sitting.

Double-leg stretch

From seated, hold onto front of shins and control roll down to ground, with knees pulled in, head and shoulders stay lifted.  Pull abs in, keep torso lifted and stretch arms and legs away from stable torso in opposition.  Keep arms at shoulder distance apart and sweep around, pulling knees all the way back in to start.  Repeat 5 times, torso stable throughout…pelvis neutral.

Single straight leg stretch

From last double leg stretch, reach both legs to ceiling, reach up with both hands to right leg, keeping shoulders squared,  allow left leg to stretch toward floor, keeping hips level, using obliques and all abs, glutes to stabilize torso and pelvis against weight of legs moving.  Draw left leg in as the right leg lowers, passing each other at 45 degrees if possible.  Repeat 6-10 times.

Long Spine Reaches

Sitting propped on something (bosu, towels, step, couple couch cushions)  Straight back, hands behind the head.  Lift to get taller, lengthening the back of the ribcage away from the hips.  Think of growing 2 extra inches by lifting the whole spine and keeping the back straight lean away from the legs an inch, lengthen a little more, keep back straight, one more inch lean, lengthen out/up one more inch and lean back one last inch.  Return to start by lifting and lengthening the crown of the head to the ceiling.  Repeat 4 times.

Hip Flexor Stretches

Standing in lunge position, right foot forward, left heel lifted, feet wide enough to be stable, pull left hip bone forward to square pelvis (hipbones like headlights) and start to stretch front of left thigh, bending both knees to dip a little more, hold leg position and stretch upper body away from legs a little more without allowing arch in lower back.  Hold for 30 seconds.  Repeat other side.  Repeat same sequence with knee on floor, back heel can be flat or lifted for comfort.

5 Confessions of a Pilates Teacher and Personal Trainer

We are not in good shape purely just because of our jobs as trainers! 

Being a trainer is a very active occupation,  however, I schedule my workouts, have trainers that I work with, have a running coach and I plan my students around my workouts.  So, when I have to miss, I have 6 other full days!  I had a friend who mentioned after I opened my first studio, “OMG, I saw you running the other day!  How do you have time?”  I don’t-  I make time.  Every day.   My alarm goes off at 4:30AM most days.   Some nights, I don’t leave the studio until 9:30PM but I get on the treadmill at 11PM.  And, it is very difficult sometimes, but so very much worth it to me.  I am in much better shape in my 40s than I was in my 20s.  My 14 year old son is always my first priority, then my health, then everything else!

We cram too much into our days! 

I never get enough sleep.  I have a Fitbit for the sole purpose of tracking my dismal sleep patterns.  It’s 11PM, I’m getting up at 4:30 to run.  Do the math (because I am denying it- haha).  I’m not done with the post either.  There’s a lot going on in my life and I am supremely lucky to be able to function on not a lot of sleep.  Am constantly working on this one.

We don’t eat perfectly all the time, but we also know that diet is the biggest contributor to our students’ overall health! 

I am not a breakfast person at all.  I will eat toast prior to a long run, but I’d rather have a salad mid morning or a cheese sandwich if I’m really hungry versus any other typical breakfast food. I also believe that banana bread should never be made without chocolate chips and during marathon training, I eat an entire baguette- almost every day.  Wine is a food group, medicine, happy juice.  I have been a vegetarian for 25 years.  In 2010, I cut out all the chemicals and preservatives I could out of my diet and never had a “boofy” belly again.  I eat things that I love that make me happy and would never deny myself a treat if that is what I wanted, but I am a maniacal label reader and will lecture you on the ingredients in the foods you eat. And, expect me to ask for ingredients lists if we are out to dinner.  But, only because some of them do make you puffy- and mess with everything else in your system.  I only eat real sugar.  I don’t believe in shakes or bars- mentally, I feel like they mess with your body’s ability to recognize nutrition and sustenance, so you are still hungry after 500 calories of processed stuff- as good as those ingredients may be.  I try and eat well 95% of the time, so when I want to have that piece of cake my student just dropped off for me, I eat the whole thing, never feel an ounce of guilt and can smile when I well her how much I on

We are maniacally picky about who we work with- doctors, trainers, physical therapists. 

I will question decisions, go with my instinct and seek out other opinions.  All the time.  At least once a month, I will travel 3+ hours to workout with a trainer.  Because I deserve to work out with somebody that I can learn more from as a student and as a teacher.  It is worth it to me to pay for and seek out the best available when it comes to health.

I sometimes wonder if my leggings are appropriate for dinner out.  I sleep in them, teach in them, workout in them.  I get excited to put on heels and a dress- like it is the highlight of my month!  I can’t imagine life in any other sort of work clothes.  And, if you tell me that yoga pants are not appropriate as pants, I will fight you on that!