The swan is a Pilates extension exercise that helps open the chest and deepen the breathe while stretching and strengthening the abdominal muscles. The foam roller allows you to really work on stabilizing your shoulders while articulating through the spine. Grab your foam roller and move with us!!
Do you struggle with foot pain, foot cramps or stiffness in the feet and ankles?
Often forgotten about, our feet are our base and their strength and flexibility allow us to move in our day to day activities with ease. Our foot health and alignment can effect the whole body including knees, hips and our spine.
In today’s video, Carey shows you a few simple, effective exercises you can do to keep your feet healthy, strong and flexible utilizing a 4″ ball.
In this video, yoga instructor Meghann Foster breaks down the traditional yoga pose Downward Facing Dog. Meghann explains what yoga instructors look for in the pose and offers several modifications to make the pose comfortable for different bodies.
Not ready to try a Yoga class yet or maybe looking to try Yoga out in a one-on-one situation before joining a class? Rivercity Pilates offers private and semi-private Yoga instruction that allows you to create an individualized Yoga practice at your own pace. Try a complimentary session today!
![carey's fav prop](https://rivercitypilates.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/careys-fav-prop-300x225.jpg")
One of the things I love most about the Pilates method of exercise is that you can workout just about anywhere.
![carey's fav prop](https://rivercitypilates.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/careys-fav-prop.jpg")
The Pilates mat work is so versatile. There are so many different options, there is really no excuse not to do a little something as long as you have a comfortable carpet or mat you can use.
I love to be able to mix up my mat work and add in some fun props(or toys as I often call them). Props can add variety to your workouts and help you engage and work just a little bit more. There are a lot of great props designed for Pilates and they can range $1.50 to $200+ depending on what they are.
By far one of my favorite and cheapest Pilates prop ever is the playground ball.
I just picked up a few small ones today for $1.50 per ball! The medium sized playground balls were $2.50 per ball! Check out the video below for a quick mini-workout that would work great with either a medium or small playground ball!
In this video, Rivercity Pilates instructor Heather Thorpe teaches a Barre warmup sequence to some of our staff! Barre classes are a dance inspired workout that also incorporates the Pilates Method principles and fundamental concepts.
If you are new to Barre classes you can try one out for free! Sign up using our online scheduling system, give us a call or simply drop into a scheduled class!
The Pilates Ped-o-pull is a unique piece of Pilates equipment that you may have never even heard of. The Ped-o-pull consists of ![pedopull](https://rivercitypilates.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/pedopull.jpg")
a base platform and an upright pole that has two springs with handles. Participants stand on the platform,center themselves against the pole and then use the handles attached to the spring to do various exercises.
Like many of Joseph Pilates’ pieces of equipment it is simple yet genius, because of its ability to challenge the body to create efficient, balanced movement. The exercises you can practice on the Ped-o-Pull range from simple to quite advanced.
In the video, Carey teaches Sandy some basic Ped-o-pull exercises so you can see this little known piece of equipment in action! The Ped-o-pull is especially good for working on your standing alignment, strengthening the muscles around the shoulder girdle, fine tuning your Pilates breathing and is wonderful for strengthening you core muscles!