Pilates Favorites 1

Since not everybody has a studio full of Pilates equipment, I’m choosing my favorite Pilates exercises from the mat work.  We all have floors.

Because, like most of us, I sit at a desk more than is ideal, my favorite Pilates exercise is the supine twist.  I like to do it with yoga tune up balls under my back at the spot just above my bra strap (people who do not wear bras will have to envision the spot) with one ball on either side of my spine.

 

To do the exercise, we lie on our backs (With or without balls.  People new to this exercise might find doing it with balls a little… spicy.).  We bend our knees and place our feet flat on the floor.  So far, so comfy!  Then we extend our arms up toward the ceiling and place the palms of our hands together.  Throughout the exercise, the hands stay together and the elbows stay straight.

 

First, we keep our head still and move our arms as far from side to side as we can without moving our hips or suffering more than discomfort.  After about ten reps, we shift to moving our arms and taking our heads with us; another way to think about this is that we keep an eye on our thumbs as we move.  Then, after about ten more reps, we take our arms one way and our head the other way for ten reps.

 

At the end, our upper backs tend to feel looser and our breathing is easier.

 

Try it!