Pilates on the Go

Pilates provides an excellent way to exercise the body and mind to anyone, anywhere you happen to be. Of course the best way is with your favorite Instructor in your favorite studio but since you can’t always be there, here are a few of my favorite anywhere exercises!

Ab Prep - Ab Prep seems easy, the word Prep is in the name so how hard can it be?! Well, the answer is however hard you want it to be. The basic exercise is accessible to everyone and it really gets those core muscles firing. The set up for this exercise is you laying on your back on the floor. Feet down hands overhead. Every time you exhale curl your head, neck and shoulders forward engaging the transverse abdominals, on your inhale return to the starting position. To challenge yourself lift your legs to table top and extend them as you curl up!

Swan Dive - This is an excellent way to extend the spine and create length in the back of the body. Lay on your stomach with the hands next to the shoulders, legs turned out and wide. As you exhale lift the chest keeping the shoulders down and the neck long. As you lower inhale and drop your chest back down to the mat. I love this exercise because you reverse some of the compression in the back that naturally occurs from sitting at a desk all day.

Spine Twist - So we have just worked on flexion and extension of the spine so now lets add rotation. Sit tall on your sits bones with the legs extended in front of you the width of your shoulders. Open your arms and reach them out at shoulder height to the sides of the body. Here’s where we rotate, from your waist turn to the right inhaling, then rotate back to the center exhaling. Now inhale rotating to the left. Repeat trying to rotate further each time.

For more Mat Pilates exercises that you can do anywhere anytime check out our virtual Mat class with Mindy on Tuesday and Friday mornings at 8am. Sign up on the Mind Body app!

Cheers & High Fives,

Katie and Jamie