March Matness 2016: Swan and Swan Dive

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The Pilates Swan and Swan Dive exercises are the first extension exercises in the Pilates mat order.  In previous exercises we lay on our backs and curl the spine forward off the mat rolling through our spine vertebrae by vertebrae.  You can think of swan as a reverse roll up.  We are still trying to articulate and roll through our spine but now we are starting lying on our front side!

If the Swan exercises are not your favorites- you are not the only one.  The Swan can be very challenging for lots of reason.  For many people who spend their days sitting and maybe slouched over at a computer this exercise is hard because our bodies are not accustomed to bending in this direction.  All that sitting and poor posture can cause tight hamstrings, low backs, necks and upper back.  If this is the case for you know that even though it’s challenging for you Swan is actually a really great exercise for you! (Remember the things that are hard for us are often what our bodies need most!) I would even recommend trying to do Swan variations throughout your day.  I included an Office Pilates version of Swan that is great to do just about anywhere!!

Here’s a few tips for your Pilates Swan:

    • Try not to “muscle through” this exercise.  Just pushing your upper body up with your arms is not what the exercise is all about. Try to slowly roll up off of the mat and be sure to only go to a place where you are not straining.  It should feel like work and a stretch but not painful in your low back.
    • Focus on lengthening and decompressing as you roll up from the mat. By drawing your abdominal muscles up and in away from the mat you will create a feeling of length through your whole spine.

 

 

 

March Matness 2016: Pilates Saw

Like so many of our Pilates exercises, the Pilates Saw builds upon exercises that come before it in the Pilates Mat sequence of exercises.  The Saw is essentially Spine Stretch with rotation.  Just like the Spine Stretch exercise we are trying to anchor our hips and legs as we articulate through the spine.  The key to finding the stretch and the deep abdominal work in this exercise might surprise you as it doesn’t just come from the upper half of our body.  Our legs and hips have to really work to anchor our lower body into place so that our core muscles can properly rotate and roll down through our spine away from them hence creating the work.  Here’s a few tips to help you find the “work” of the Pilates Saw exercise:

  • Make sure you can start in a tall spine and you are sitting up on your “sitting bones” of the pelvis.  If your low back or hamstrings are tight you may need to bend you knees or even sit on a block or roller to elevate your hips to find the correct start position
  • Focus on anchoring you legs and hips into place and only rotate and articulate as far as you can do so without moving or shifting through your hips and legs.  (This might not seem like a very big movement at first-  that’s ok!)
  • Use an exhale to help you rotate and articulate and wring out the breath into a deeper twist.  This will help you activate your deep abdominal muscles and specifically those oblique muscles.
  • Inhale to stack back to your tall spine.

March Matness 2016: Corkscrew

The Pilates Corkscrew exercise is a challenging one!  In it’s fullest expression you roll down your spine and gently twist while reaching your legs from your center. In his book, Return to Life, Joseph Pilates states,” Twist your trunk “corkscrew fashion”  ( hence the name!) If this exercise looks frightening and completely not doable to you- don’t be to alarmed!  Like all of the Pilates exercises there are plenty of versions of the exercise that allow you to learn the concepts taught in this exercise in a safe and doable way for your body!  Here’s a few of the main goals of the exercise:

  1. Stabilize your head and shoulders while reaching your legs away from you in a circle and rotating the spine.
  2. Keep your core muscles engaged and supporting your center while you challenge those muscles by reaching your legs away from you center in a circle.

So if you’re not ready to do the full Corkscrew exercise, where do you start?  Try keeping your hips anchored on the mat and reach your legs away from your center over your hips to a comfortable stretch place.  This may mean you still have a bend in your legs and that is just fine.  Start by drawing small circles with the legs gently squeezing together while trying to keep your abdominal muscles pulling in and up toward your spine.  You can challenge yourself by making bigger circles but be sure to not strain by going to big!  Check out the video below to see this version.

 

March Matness 2016: Rocker with Open Legs

The Rocker with Open Legs is another rolling exercise in the Pilates Mat sequence.  Remember the Rolling Like a Ball exercise that was so much fun?  You can think of Open Leg Rocker as the same exercise with legs reaching further from your center to make it a bit more challenging!

  • Start by finding your Rolling Like a Ball balance position and take your hands behind your legs on either the backs of your thighs, calves or maybe even ankles.
  • Extend your legs toward straight.  If you can’t lengthen them completely straight that’s ok- just try straightening them to what’s comfortable for you.  It will make this exercise more challenging than Rolling Like a Ball but allow you to find a working level for your body.
  • Holding this position use an inhale to roll back through the spine holding your shape, then exhale to roll back forward to your starting balance position.
  • Joseph Pilates suggested rocking 6 times in his book, Return to Life.

 

March Matness 2016: Pilates Spine Stretch

 

The Pilates Spine Stretch exercise is exactly what it sounds like…an exercise to stretch your spine!  If you are new to Pilates or haven’t tried this before you may find this concept of stretching your spine a little foreign.  By learning how to sequentially move and roll through our spine one vertebrae at a time we are able to decompress the spine while creating a feeling of stretching and lengthening our whole back body ( including your neck, back and backs of the legs).  Once you figure out how to create this Spine Stretch you will forever LOVE this exercise!

Find the feeling of spine stretch by curling forward with bent or straight legs and grabbing hold of your legs or even the toes or feet.  While holding on pull your abdominal muscles up and in toward you back to create a stretching sensation through your back body.  Try to recreate this feeling while doing your Pilates Spine Stretch Exercise.

  • Start seated and bend your legs as needed to create a “tall” spine.  Try to be on your sitting bones and imagine you are sitting tall against a wall
  • Use an exhale to curl your spine forward into the stretch and an inhale to stack back up to your tall spine one vertebrae at a time.
  • Check in with your shoulders when curling your spine forward and make sure they are not scrunching up in attempts to help you curl your spine!

March Matness 2016: Double Leg Stretch

The Pilates Double Leg Stretch exercise teaches you to use your center (ie core muscles) to maintain stability while you reach your legs away from your center and then pull them back in.

  • Make sure you only take your legs to your working level so as not to strain through your low back.  The level of your legs(how close they are to the floor when they are extended) in your Double Leg Stretch exercise will probably be very similar to your working level on your Pilates Hundred exercise.  You may notice that the portion of this exercise where your legs are extended is essentially your Pilates Hundred’s body position.
  • If lifting the head off the mat to curl up causes pain or strain you can leave your head on the mat.
  • Traditional breathing is an inhale to extend legs from your center and then an exhale to pull legs in to your chest.
  • As part of the original Pilates Mat sequence Joseph Pilates suggested starting with 6 of these to start with, eventually progressing to twelve