My Pilates Body 2022

Throughout 2022 I will be spending a few moments each week and in every Pilates class I teach focusing on a particular part of the body. Teaching exercises to strengthen, discussing functional aspects and why its good to exercise that particular part. My hope is that once clients understand how a particular part of the body works, they can enhance their Pilates practice. Less copying an instructor and more really connecting and feeling your muscles work. Taking the time to focus on yourself and how you feel today.

The plan as it stands today look like:

January - Really find your core muscles (and exclude your bottom)

February - Care for your feet and ankles (don't undervalue them)

March - Hip and hip flexors (fun with rollers and other small equipment)

April - Glutes, min, med and max (could one of your bum muscles be weak?)

May - Abs (oh, no!)

June - Obliques (oh, yes!)

July - Spin, rotate, articulate and extend your spine

August - Quads and knees (how do they connect?)

September - Lumbar spine (how does it connect to your core?)

October - Shoulder girdle (what exactly are we talking about?)

November - Adductors and abductors (where and what?)

December - Triceps and biceps (So we are party ready)

Superman outside my mother in laws house Sep 2021

Comments

Pilates key principles: Concentration

In a world of attention grabbing, Pilates is a 55 minute window of calm. As a teacher of small group and solo Pilates I can tell if my clients are having a busy mind day. When the mind is elsewhere, movements are not as exact and clients ability to complete a challenging move is compromised. It is OK to have a busy mind, we are not robots, however letting go of your thoughts and concentrating on the movements your body is making will help your Pilate practice to develop. These are my top tips for concentration: 1) Be present, use the repetitive nature of the warm up to connect with every part of your body. Try to visualize each part of your body, be selfish and only focus on yourself. 2) Pay attention to the alignment of your body. The beautiful line from your toe, through your ankle, knee and then into your hip. Maintaining correct alignment will increase the difficulty of an exercise. Why not challenge yourself to completing level ...

Pilates key principles: Centre

In Pilates your Centre refers to the core of you body and the body's Centre of gravity. For anyone who may have forgotten what exactly makes up the core, please read Your core muscles are like a tin can . When thinking about the body's Centre of gravity. This is an imaginary point where the body's weight is equally balanced, and around this point the body may rotate freely. As we are all individually built, our Centre of gravity is unique to us. You will find the the Centre of gravity for a man is slightly higher than for a woman. Lets think about completing the perfect roll down: Starting sat up, knees bent to ceiling, legs and feet hip width apart on the floor. You squeeze your core, roll your pubic bone towards the ceiling and your back pockets start to come closer to the mat. You place your back pockets, then your waist band, each of your ribs and finally your shoulders and head onto the mat in a controlled sequence, keeping your...

Pilates key principles: Precision

Before I trained as a Pilates teacher I attended classes for years. I was always trying to speed through exercises to get extra repetitions in and prove to myself that I was really strong. However I was not really strong and I was not aware of the key Pilates principles. Precision in movement is the exact manner that an action is executed. When you are completing a Pilates exercise you are using your breath to power you movement, your concentration, your Centre, your control and finally your precision. The greater the precision the more likely you are to find the muscles that should be exercised and then to achieve your goal. When exercising I am thinking of the muscle that should be working, isolating it and being precises in my movement. Precision can make the difference between accessing a muscle or not. Next time you are in a class, slow down and connect with the muscle your working. Use all the Pilates princip...

Katie Leaver Pilates

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