everyday pilates

Do you often find yourself feeling stiff and achey after a long day at work?  Ease your body back into vitality with the help of Lindsay Jewison, who has devised this set of easy Pilates moves for everyday aches and pains.

Everyday Pilates Moves...

With today’s busy lifestyles it can be difficult to exercise as often as we would like. Long periods of sitting at a computer, standing at work or driving lead to muscle imbalance, resulting in joint and back pain. Pilates is an excellent form of exercise to address these imbalances, by stretching and strengthening the muscles. Many of the exercises here can be done anywhere without specialist equipment.

You can incorporate these simple exercises into your daily life to tone your body and relieve your aches and pains. They can easily be done every day, almost anywhere. If you have longer why not log onto My Exercise Studio for an online Pilates class?

Correct posture

Standing with the correct posture can relieve a surprising number of complaints from lower back pain to sore hips or shoulders. Bring your body into this position whenever you are standing for a few minutes, the supermarket checkout, putting petrol in the car etc, and it will soon become your normal posture.

Stand with your feet hip width apart and parallel with your weight even. Knees straight, but not locked. Pull your tummy in and hold this position by tightening the lowest muscles in the buttocks. Take your shoulders a little back and relax them, sliding blades down the back. Lengthen up through the crown of the head, keeping the chin slightly tucked in. Image a small ball held under there. The position should feel relaxed, but lengthened.

We spend much of our time with our arms in front, working at a desk or machine, or driving. This leads to tightness in the chest muscles and weakness in the back resulting in shoulder and back problems.

This exercise will stretch the chest and shoulder, improve upper body posture and relieve shoulder pain.
Lie on your back with knees bent. Rest your fingertips on the front of the shoulder joints with your elbows pointing to the ceiling. Inhale and open the elbows wide to the side, and exhale to point them to the ceiling again. Repeat 8 times and then reverse direction and the breath pattern.

Create strong abdominals to improve posture and reduce the risk of lower back pain with this curl up.
Use an exercise mat or large, folded towel to lie on. Lie on your back with your knees bent, arms at the side, making sure your tailbone is resting on the mat. Exhale to pull your tummy in and curl your head and shoulders off the floor, lifting your arms to hip height. Hold that position for an in breath and roll back to the floor. As you lift keep your chin slightly tucked in, as if holding a small imaginary ball, and lift until your shoulder blades are just off the floor. Be careful not to lift your tailbone from the mat. If your neck feels strained place one hand behind the head. Repeat 8/10 times.

Today’s sedentary lifestyles can lead to a weak lower back and the consequent pain. Try this shoulder bridge to strengthen the gluts, hamstrings and lower back. Use an exercise mat or large, folded towel to lie on.

Lie on your back with knees bent up, arms at the side. Exhale to pull your tummy in and without tilting your pelvis, lift your hips up and squeeze your buttock muscles together. Hold for a count of 5. Slowly lower again, releasing the buttocks. Keep your torso long and open. To strengthen the upper arms press the arms into the mat as you lift and lower the hips. Repeat 8/10 times.

Strengthen the legs and stretch tight calves with this leg exercise.
Stand in stocking feet and hold onto the back of a chair with both hands. Bring yourself to correct posture. Breathe in and as you breathe out pull you tummy in, squeeze your buttocks and relax the shoulders. Breathe in and bend your knees, making sure they line up over the toes. Breathe out and straighten the legs lifting onto your toes. Breathe in to return to the start position. Repeat 10 times.

If you have trouble standing on one leg to put your socks on try this exercise.
Standing in correct posture, breathe in and as you breathe out take your weight on one leg, in the centre of the foot, pressing the big toe into the floor. Keeping your hips level lift the other knee, resting you hand on your thigh. Feel your leg stretch. Swap legs. Repeat 8/10 times with each leg.

Relieve a stiff back and increase flexibility with this cat stretch.
Get onto all fours, with your shoulders and hips in a straight line. Breathe in and as you exhale pull your tummy button in and curve your back to the ceiling. Allow your head to fall forwards. Breathe in and as you exhale gently drop your back into an arch, keeping the tummy pulled in. Keep your arms straight, your shoulders relaxed and your neck long. Repeat 10 times. Finish by sitting back on the heels and rest your forehead on the floor, arms stretched out in front. Hold for up to 3 minutes, breathing deeply.

Relieve headaches and neck stiffness with this massage using a beach or similar ball. Lie on the floor and place the ball under your head and neck. Let your head sink into the ball and gently turn it from side to side a few times. Now make a figure of eight with your nose. Imagine you are drawing on the ceiling with your nose. Repeat 10 times, alternating.