Joseph Pilates Quote of the Week:

Joseph Pilates Quote of the Week:

"The art of contrology proves that the only real guide to your true age lies not in years or how you THINK you feel but as you ACTUALLY are as infallibly indicated by the degree of natural and normal flexibility enjoyed by your spine throughout life." ~Return to Life Through Contrology

Friday, April 22, 2011

Your Daily Five

No, I'm not referring to five daily servings of fruits and veggies!  Whether it's called the Ab Series of Five, the Fabulous Five, or some other name, this is a great set to commit to memory.  Brooke Siler encourages in her book Your Ultimate Pilates Body Challenge to "commit these to memory and perform them every day without fail.  You will increase your abdominal strength tenfold!"  And I completely concur!!! 
Once you get these down, the whole set will take you between 5 and 10 minutes, a time commitment that is easily achievable.  With all of these exercises, focus on keeping the abs drawn in to the spine and the spine (focusing on the lower back) imprinted into the mat.  You will want to check either visually or with a hand pressing down between the hip bones that the lower abs are fully engaged and drawn in, not pooching up.  Always think of scooping the lower abs.  The other thing to remember as you raise your chin toward your chest is to always imagine holding an egg at the front of your neck underneath the chin so that the egg would neither be crushed nor roll off.

First up, you'll see a video clip of myself doing the five exercises all in a row, and as you can see, it does not take long when you do them back to back.  After that, I will explain each one individually with a picture for a visual cue. 




Single Leg Stretch: Lying supine (on your back), draw your right knee into your chest as your head and shoulder blades are lifted off the mat.  Grab the knee with your left hand, and put your right hand on your right ankle.  The left leg is extended straight but off the mat at a height at which you can keep the lower back imprinted on the mat.  Softly point the feet.  Exhale as you complete this stretch.  Inhale to switch sides, bringing the left knee into the chest with right hand (left hand on left ankle) and lengthening out the right leg off the mat.  Complete the stretch with an exhale.  (5x each leg)

Double Leg Stretch: Lying on your back (supine), bring head and shoulder blades off the mat and both knees into the chest, holding onto shins with your hands.  Inhale to reach arms by your ears at the same time as you extend connected legs off the mat at a height at which you can keep the lower back imprinted on the mat.  Exhale to bring arms and legs into beginning position.  Do not let your upper body move throughout this exercise.  (Work up to 10x)





Single Straight Leg Stretch: Lying on your back (supine), bring head and shoulder blades off the mat.  Keeping both legs as straight as you are able, bring your right leg towards chest, grabbing it with both hands behind the calf or ankle as left leg extends, hovering off the mat at a height at which you can keep the lower back imprinted on the mat.  Fully exhale to draw it a bit closer to your chest.  Inhale to switch legs, and exhale to stretch the left leg up.  (5x each leg)



Double Straight Leg Stretch: Lying supine (on your back) with hands behind your head (more advanced) or placed under your seat (modified), raise head and shoulder blades off the mat.  Both legs are extended as straight as you are able up to the ceiling and slightly turned out from the hip joint.  Squeeze your seat and your inner thighs together.  On the inhale, lower your legs down toward the mat, keeping them straight, only lowering to a height at which you can keep the lower back imprinted on the mat.  Exhale to use your lower abs to draw the legs back up to your starting position.  Be aware that when you begin working on this exercise, you may only lower your legs a couple inches before you feel your lower back begin to pop off the mat.  This is normal and acceptable.  Your movement range will increase over time.  (Start at 5x, working up to 10x)



Crisscross: Lying on your back, lift head and shoulder blades off the mat with both knees bent in toward the chest.  Hands are behind the head and elbows are wide.  Think of creating a flat plane from elbow to elbow throughout this exercise.  On the exhale, straighten the left leg (hovering off the mat at a height at which you can keep the lower back imprinted on the mat) while you twist the upper body to reach the left elbow toward the right bent knee, keeping the flat plane between elbows.  Do not let the elbow cross in towards your face!  This may mean the elbow does not touch the knee.  Inhale to come back to the center with the upper body while the legs are switching places.  Now exhale to bring the left knee into the chest while the right leg extends, bringing the right elbow toward the bent left knee.  The rotation should come from the upper body so that the hips are not lifting off the mat and try not to lower the upper body as you transition from side to side.  (5x each leg)



This series is challenging, I'm not going to lie, but very doable, especially with modifications.  Begin slowly, with purpose, and you will feel the difference almost immediately.  

You can find Brooke Siler's book Your Ultimate Pilates Body Challenge at http://www.amazon.com/Your-Ultimate-Pilates-Body%C2%AE-Challenge/dp/0767919823/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1303395729&sr=8-1 .

Have a great day, and don't forget your daily five!

~Jess

3 comments:

  1. I love that you've included videos of you doing the moves. Been working on my own, but sure miss class. Looking forward to starting back again in the Fall.

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