March MATness – Swan

Strengthening the posterior side of the body is an important component to your  “full” body health. When working in extension it is important to keep the spine supported by pulling the abs in and up. Also, focus on creating length between the vertebrae. For the swan, create a 4 way stretch within your own body.…

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March MATness – Saw

The movement in  “Saw” comes from the rotation of the spine not the hips and pelvis. Think of it as a “wringing” out of the abs. Also, try to create and maintain as much length from fingertip to fingertip. The deeper the work you can create in your own body the more you will get…

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March MATness – Corkscrew

Corkscrew Lie on your back with your legs full extended and engaged. Arms actively pressing into the mat by your side. Squeezing the legs together tightly, pull your ribcage and abs into the mat, lift both the legs away from the mat up to a 90 degree angle Inhale, begin to circle the legs to…

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March MATness – Open Leg Rocker

Open leg rocker is another great rolling exercise similar to “rolling like a ball” but with straight legs. Try to focus on finding the stability aspect of this exercise first before you add in the movement. Be careful as you are rolling not to place the weight onto your head and neck and don’t let…

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March MATness – Spine Stretch Forward

Spine stretch forward is an amazing exercise when executed correctly. A great tool for the spine stretch forward is to sit up against a wall. The wall will give your tactile feedback for where you are moving. Also, if you are really tight and feel all the work in your hip flexors you can sit…

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March MATness

Happy Friday! Today we will add the last 3 of the “series of 5.” The single straight leg stretch, the double straight leg stretch and the criss cross. These 3 exercises are not part of Joseph Pilates original mat repertoire but are great core strengtheners. Your ultimate goal is to perform the “series of 5”…

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March MATness – Single Leg Stretch and Double Leg Stretch

Today we are going to add the single leg stretch and double leg stretch to the mat repertoire that you have hopefully been practicing at home! These are the first two in what we call the “series of 5” Single Leg Stretch 1. Lie on your back with your legs full extended and engaged. Arms…

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March MATness – Rolling Like A Ball

Rolling Like A Ball  Have a seat on your mat with your knees bent into your chest Tightly grab on as close to your ankles as you can with the elbows broad Your goal is to get your thighs perpendicular to the mat Bring the weight of your head toward the knees and pull your…

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March MATness – Single Leg Circles

Single Leg Circles Single leg circles are a great example of the idea of “full body” movement. By the end of this exercise you should feel like every muscle in your body was worked! For those of you who have a lot of range of motion in your hips you might need to focus more…

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March MATness – The Roll Over

Here we are on day 3 of March MATness and that brings us to the rollover. The roll over is a “rolling” exercise and requires a lot of control. A very important component of this movement is to remember the “full body” connection. Before you practice the roll over, make sure that you feel strong…

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