Day 274- Inner Thigh Lift

This exercise works the bottom in the side lying series.

To do this exercise you will need a mat.  Start by lying on your side with your heels, pelvis, ribs, and head lined up with the back of the mat.  Exhale as you find a gentle lift underneath the waist and then cross the top leg in front of the bottom leg.  Inhale into the back of the ribs and then exhale as you lift the lower leg.  Inhale as you lower the leg and exhale as you repeat.  Repeat 8-10 times.

Things to think about

As you lift the lower leg, be sure that you are maintaining the pelvis aligned.  The tendency will be to drop the waist to the ground. 

As always be sure to exhale as you narrow the ribcage.  This will help keep the waist lifted.

Day 273- Rond de Jamb

This exercise adds multiple planes of motion to the hip socket in the side kick series.

To this exercise you will need a mat.  Start by lying on your side with your heels, pelvis, ribs, and head lined up with the back of the mat.  Exhale as you find a gentle lift underneath the waist and then lift the leg to hip height.  Inhale as you kick the leg forward and then exhale as you lift the leg higher than the hip and begin moving it towards the back of the body and the lower it to hip height and inhale as you pass the leg through the center again.  Repeat 8-10 times in each direction.

Things to think about

Movement of the leg should not cause movement in the pelvis.  Be sure that as you gain height in the leg movement that you are not allowing the top of the pelvis to move forward, back, or towards the ribs.

Check in with your head, neck, and shoulders with this exercise.  As you increase the range of the circle, be sure that you are not pushing your hand in the ground to get a higher leg.

Day 272- Bicycle

This exercise is a variation of the classic pilates sidekick.  It creates movement through the knee joint and the hip.

To do this exercise you will need a mat.  Start by lying on your side with your heels, pelvis, ribs, and head lined up with the back of the mat.  Exhale as you find a gentle lift underneath the waist and the lift the leg to hip height.  Inhale into the back of the ribs as you kick the leg forward, and exhale as you bend the knee and straighten the leg behind you. Repeat ten times and then reverse it.

Things to think about

Be sure that you keep the knee at hip height when it bends.  The tendency will be to either lift the knee or drop the knee at the point of knee flexion.

As with all of the sidelying exercises it is important keep the connection between the ribs and the hips.  Be sure to use the exhale to narrow the rib cage so that the base of the ribcage does not flare forward

Day 271- Sidekicks Circles in Front

This exercise adds additional movement to the sidekick series, and can increase the strength and endurance of the lateral hip.

To do this exercise you will need a mat.  Start by lying on your side with your heels, pelvis, ribs, and head lined up with the back of the mat.  Exhale as you find a gentle lift underneath the waist and then lift the leg.  Allow the leg to lengthen and move just forward of the hip, and then begin making small circles with the thigh.  Do ten circles in each direction.

Things to think about

In this position it is important to maintain lumbar stability so that the pelvis doesn’t move.  We want the thighbones to be circling in the socket and the pelvis to be still.

Hip and rib connection is also keep here, especially if the hamstrings are tight.  If you kick forward and your ribs pop forward.  Inhaling into the back of the ribcage can help regain connection with the pelvis.

Day 270- Sidekick Circles Behind

This exercise adds additional movement to the sidekick, which will increase the strength and endurance of these particular muscles

To do this exercise you will need a mat.  Start by lying on your side with your heels, pelvis, ribs, and head lined up with the back of the mat.  Use your bottom arm to support the head and exhale as you keep a gentle lift underneath the waist.  Inhale into the back of the ribs, and then exhale as you lift the top leg to hip height.  Inhale as you reach the leg slightly behind the pelvis and then exhale as you begin making small circles with the thigh and lower leg.  Do 10 circles in each direction.

Things to think about

This exercise is about strengthening the lateral movers in the body, and it is hard to find the most efficient strength if the pelvis and the ribs aren’t integrated.  This makes the breath (big surprise) so important in this exercise.  As you exhale fell the ribs narrow so that you can use the abdominal connection to maintain proper alignment.

If you feel a gentle burn in the hip muscles during this exercise that is okay, but if you feel pain in the hip joint rest before proceeding

Day 269- Sidekicks

This exercise is a classic Pilates Exercise that allows the body to practice hip disassociation in a side lying position.

To do this exercise you will need a mat.  Start by lying on your side with your heels, pelvis, ribs, and head lined up with the back of the mat.  Use your bottom arm to support the head and exhale as you keep a gentle lift under your waist.  Inhale into the back of your ribs, and then exhale as you lift your leg to hip height.  Inhale as you flex the foot and kick the foot forward and then exhale as you lengthen the leg behind you.  Keep performing this swinging motion for 8-10 repetitions.

Things to think about

Your pelvis will want to follow the leg, and I want it to stay with the spine.  As you kick forward feel the crease in front of the hip and as it moves back, allow the hip to lengthen through the front so that the back doesn’t extend.

Also be sure to maintain the height of the leg as you kick back and forth.  Keeping that even height while moving the leg will strengthen the hips even more.

Day 268- Side Lying Leg Lifts

This exercise strengthens the lateral line of the body and provides strength that will be useful when trying to balance.

To do this exercise you will need a mat.  Start by lying on your side with your heels, pelvis, ribs, and head lined up with the back of the mat.  Use your bottom arm to support the head, and exhale as you keep a gentle lift under your waist.  Inhale into the ribs and then exhale as you reach through the top heel and lift the top leg to hip height.  Inhale at the top and then exhale as you lower the leg down.  Repeat 8-10 times.

Things to think about

This exercise may not be hard at first, but after you finish a set of ten you should feel slightly tired in the side of you hip.  If you feel this somewhere else then re-check the position of your pelvis and alignment. 

As you lift the leg the pelvis should be still.  Often it will recruit muscles in the back, which will only hike the hip to the ribcage.

Day 267-Rolling out Both Corners of the ITBs

This exercise can increase circulation and provide release to the places where the lateral quad meets the ITB band.

To do this exercise you will need a foam roller. Start facing sideways sitting next to the foam roller, which is perpendicular to your body.  Place your hands on the other side of the foam roller and then lift your hips into the air and place your bottom hip just on top of the roller.  Then roll just slightly forwards so that the roller is pressing into the “corner” of your leg.  Follow this leg down toward your knee and then back to your hip 3-5 times on each side.

Things to think about

Like I said yesterday, this exercise might hurt quite a bit while rolling, but it should never hurt after you roll.  There should be no bruising or joint pain.  In any of these occur talk to a health professional.

Be sure that you are aware of your shoulder organization as you roll from the knee to the hip and back.  You want your shoulder blades to slide down your back and your neck to be long.

Day 266- Rolling Out the ITBs

This exercise can help ease knee pain, and it can loosen tissue that might be pulling on the kneecap or the pelvis.

To do this exercise you will need a foam roller.  Start facing sideways sitting next to the foam roller, which is perpendicular to your body.  Place your hands on the other side of the foam roller and then lift your hips into the air and place your hip just on top of the roller.  Then roll the foam roller towards your knee and back again.  Move as slowly as you can. Then repeat 3-5 times on each side.

Things to think about

This exercise might hurt quite a bit while rolling, but it should never hurt after you roll.  There should be no bruising or joint pain.  If any of these occur talk to a health professional.

This is a great exercise that will even the muscle tone of your thighs.

  

Day 265- Oblique Pull Ups on Ball

This exercise uses the circular movement of the legs to create engagement in the oblique abdominals.

To do this exercise you will need a mat and a large physioball.  Start by bearing weight on your hands with your shins on the large ball.  Inhale into the back of your ribs and then exhale as you draw your knees to your right armpit, then pass the knees underneath you and then point the knees at the left armpit, and finally inhale as you lengthen them long behind you.  Repeat 6 times in one direction and then reverse.

Things to think about

As you are making the circles with your knees, be sure that you are pointing the crown of your head towards the ground.  This will allow your spine to be the longest that it can be.

Make sure that your shoulders are stabile and connected to your back.  This will help maintain the connection of the ribcage to the pelvis as you rotate.

Day 264- Pull Ups on Ball

This exercise adds a proprioceptive challenge as the body is moving in and out of spine flexion.

To do this exercise you will need a mat and a large physioball.  Start by bearing weight on your hands with your shins on the large ball.  Inhale to prepare and then exhale as you bend your knees and lift your belly to bend your spine.  This will bring your knees underneath you.  Inhale as you lengthen your legs away from you, and then exhale as you repeat. 

Things to think about

Think of this exercise as a much more challenging version of the cat/cow in a quadruped position.  To the flexion of the spine we are simply adding movement of the lower legs. 

Make sure you remember that your head is technically part of your spine in the alignment sense.  When you are bending your spine, you are also dropping the crown of your head to the ground.

Day 263- Leg Pull Front Legs on Ball

This exercise adds even more proprioceptive challenge to the leg pull front.

To do this exercise you will need a mat and a large physioball.  Start by bearing weight on your hands and placing your shins on the top of the ball.  Be sure that you are supporting the length of your spine with the abdominals and that you are maintaining the connection of the ribcage to the front of the pelvis.  Inhale to prepare and then exhale as you lift one leg off of the ball.  Inhale to replace the leg and exhale as you lift the other leg off of the ball.  Repeat 8-10 times on each side.

Things to think about

All of our proprioceptive challenges with the foam roller were hard and the foam roller can only roll in two directions.  Now imagine the infinite directions that a sphere can move.  This requires much more abdominal control and relies on the stability of the shoulders and the pelvis to keep the spine safe.

Check in with your shoulders, are they connected to your ears?  Be sure to slide the shoulder blades down your back and maintain soft elbows so that you can keep your neck and wrists safe.

Day 262- Leg Pull Front Legs on Foam Roller

This exercise uses the Foam Roller to help integrate the lower abdominals with the stability of the pelvis.

To do this exercise you will need a mat and a foam roller.  Start in a quadruped position with your shins balanced on the foam roller.  Inhale to prepare and then exhale as you roll the foam roller away from you to extend the legs behind you.  Inhale into the back of the ribcage and then exhale as you lift one leg away from the foam roller.  Inhale to replace the leg on the roller and then exhale as you lift the other leg.  Repeat 8-10 times on each side.

Things to think about

Yesterday’s post put the proprioceptive challenge on the upper extremity and today’s blog post puts the proprioceptive challenge on the lower extremity.  You will notice a difference in how your abdominals feel, and this difference can help you decide which version to do, unless you want to do both of them in one day. Now that would be a workout.

As always with these plank exercises, you want to be sure to protect your wrists and elbows.  Locking the elbows can compromise the safety of both joints.  Try having a soft elbow, which forces you to rely on the tension of the muscles and the fascia as opposed to the ligaments within the joints.

Day 261- Leg Pull Front with Hands on Foam Roller

This exercise adds the proprioceptive challenge of the foam roller to the classic Pilates Leg Pull Front.

To do this exercise you will need a mat and a foam roller.  Start in a quadruped position with your hands placed underneath your shoulders on a foam roller.  Inhale to prepare and then exhale as you lengthen one leg and then the other leg behind you into a plank position.  Maintain shoulder stability as the log wobbles and exhale as you lift one leg, Inhale as you replace it and then exhale as you lift another leg.  Repeat 8-10 times on both sides.

Things to think about

The foam roller adds quite a bit of challenge to the leg pull front.  It gives the body the information it needs to integrate the top of the body with the stability of the pelvis and the mobility of the hip socket.  Use your exhale to maintain support under the ribcage.

This exercise will be challenging for the wrists.  Be sure to work with the arch of the palm to support the wrist.

Day 260- Leg Pull Front with Circles

This exercise adds even more movement of the leg, which will challenge the axial length of the spine even more.

To do this exercise you will need a mat.  Start in a quadruped position, Inhale to prepare and then exhale as you lengthen one leg and then the other behind you into a plank position.  Inhale again into the back of the ribs and then exhale as you lengthen one leg into the air and then make five circles with that leg.  Inhale to replace the leg to the floor and then exhale and repeat on the other side.  Repeat 3-5 times alternating sides.

Things to think about

As you circle the legs, it is important to remember the length of the thigh.  If you keep the front of the thigh long, then you’ll be able to circle the leg with out moving the pelvis.

If this exercise is hard on your wrists you can make fists and allow the knuckles to support the wrists and the palms.

Day 259- Leg Pull Front

This exercise is a Pilates Classic that adds some movement to the plank.

To do this exercise you will need a mat.  Start in a quadruped position.  Inhale to prepare and then exhale as you lengthen one leg and then the other behind you into a plank position.  Inhale at this point and then exhale as you lift one leg into the air.  Inhale again to replace the leg and exhale as you lift the other leg into the air.  Repeat 8-10 times on alternating sides.

Things to think about

The Plank and any subsequent exercises rely largely on support for the spine.  If you lose the length of the spine when the legs lift you will be placing your back in danger.

As you exhale imagine that your head is reaching even farther away from your heel.  You are lengthening your leg away from the body.

Day 258- Elbow Plank Wave

This exercise adds spine articulation to the elbow plank. (How is that possible?)

To do this exercise you will need a mat.  Start by lying on your belly with your elbows under your shoulders.   Inhale to prepare and then exhale as you lengthen your neck and widen your shoulder blades.  Inhale while maintaining this length and then exhale as you lift your sternum and your ribs.  Inhale to maintain the new lengthen and then exhale as you lift your belly and your hips so that your spine is long and suspended between your knees and your elbows.  Then Inhale as you curl your toes under your feet and finally exhale as you reach the heels away from your tailbone to suspend your knees in the elbow plank.  Repeat 8-10 times.

Things to think about

This exercise goes between two extremes.  The exercise starts by allowing you to hang on your ligaments in a position that doesn’t feel so great, and then through a series of breaths you begin to find your myofascial system, which will suspend your bones within the balances tension of the muscles and fascia.

Be sure that your neck stays long and that your shoulders stay connected to the hip socket towards the end of the exercise the tendency is to lost these connections. 

Day 257- Plank

This exercise is a classic core exercise that is also pretty trendy right now. 

To do this exercise you will need a mat.  Start in Quadruped position with your hands directly beneath your shoulders and your knees directly beneath your hips.  Inhale to prepare and then exhale as you reach one leg on the floor beneath you and curl your toes underneath so that the foot can bear weight.  Inhale in this position and then exhale as you reach the other leg long beneath you.  Hold this plank for ten breaths, and if your feel really strong try to hold it for twenty five breaths.

Things to think about

The breath in this exercise is what will keep the static position moving.  No matter how much you shake or shiver, be sure that you are breathing.  Inhale and Exhale is a great mantra for the plank.

Like I said in yesterday’s post.  Length, Length, Length, and more and more length.  How long is your spine?  Can you make it longer in the plank?

Day 256- Quadruped Walking to Plank

This exercise helps the body learn the best way to find a plank that is balanced from front to back.

To do this exercise you will need a mat.  Start in Quadruped position with your hands directly beneath your shoulders and your knees directly beneath your hips.  Inhale to prepare and then exhale as you reach one leg along the floor beneath you and curl your toes underneath so that the foot can bear weight.  Inhale in this position and then exhale as you reach the other leg long beneath you.  Inhale as your replace one knee and then the other.  Repeat 8-10 alternating legs that start the motion.

Things to think about

Length, Length, Length and more and more length!  How long can you make your spine?  How long can you make the front of your hips?  How far can you reach your heels away from your tail? These are all questions that will help the plank.

Feel free to make fists with your hands if this exercise hurts your wrists.

Day 255- Quadrupded: Spine as a Jump Rope

This exercise adds mobility and segmental movement to the spine.

To do this exercise you will need a mat.  Start standing on your hands and knees. Be sure that your hands are directly beneath your shoulders and that your knees are directly beneath your hips.  Inhale to prepare and then exhale as you drop your head and tail to the ground while at the same time lifting your spine to the ceiling.  Inhale as you take your head and tail to the right, which will in turn send your spine to the left.  Continue inhaling as you take your head and tail to the ceiling which allows your spine to extend towards the floor and then exhale as you take your head and tail to the left (spine to the right).  Finish the exhale as you drop your head and tail to the ground.  Repeat 3-5 times and then reverse directions.

Things to think about

Mobility of the spine is integral to the health of the body.  Learning to move your spine is as important for long term health as eating your vegetables. Move your spine, Move your spine, and Move your spine some more!!! (Soap box anyone)

As you are doing this exercise notice what parts of your spine might be stiffer than others and see if you can find mobility in every segment of the spine.