All posts tagged: Pilates

A Pilates instructor says this three-move routine is the quickest way to improve your posture and reduce stiffness

A Pilates instructor says this three-move routine is the quickest way to improve your posture and reduce stiffness

Published by Jenni Sidey

Spending hours at your desk and hunching over your phone can hurt your posture—but the right kind of exercises can undo some of the damage. Boston-based Pilates instructor Julie Erickson, founder of Endurance Pilates and Yoga, suggests practicing this three-move sequence. Done regularly, it can restore mobility and strengthen your back, making it easier to sit and stand upright. Latest Videos FromFit&Well 1. Roll up / roll down Roll Up Exercise – Pilates – YouTube Watch On Reps: 8-10 Sit with your legs straight and your arms reaching forward. Inhale, then tuck your tailbone under and slowly roll your torso down to the floor. Reach your arms overhead so they’re lying on the floor, then point them up to the ceiling. Exhale, engage your core, and curl your head and chest up until you’re sitting up. Inhale and roll forward over your legs, then come back up to sitting. Make it easier: Roll down only halfway, or tuck your feet under a strap or the couch. You may like 2. Swan prep Pilates Exercise: Swan …

How a Pilates instructor overcame major health setbacks to become stronger than ever—here’s her weekly workout routine

How a Pilates instructor overcame major health setbacks to become stronger than ever—here’s her weekly workout routine

Published by Jenni Sidey

Welcome to Workout Diaries, a series where we ask expert trainers to talk us through what a week of exercise looks like for them, helping you figure out how to develop and maintain an effective workout routine. Georgia Testa has always enjoyed working out, but it became central to her recovery after health issues. The Pilates instructor and Studio 281 founder had skin cancer in 2018, when she was just 22. Three years later, she had a complicated C-section birth. Latest Videos FromFit&Well “It took me around three years [after the birth] to feel as though I had properly rebuilt myself,” she tells Fit&Well. Pilates was central to her postpartum recovery: “It taught me to slow down, reconnect with my body and rebuild strength from the foundations rather than trying to rush back to where I’d been before.” You may like Now, the instructor says she feels stronger than ever, but her definition of fitness has changed. “It’s much less about pushing myself as hard as possible and more about building a body that is …

A Pilates instructor thinks this underrated piece of equipment is better than dumbbells for teaching controlled movement and body alignment

A Pilates instructor thinks this underrated piece of equipment is better than dumbbells for teaching controlled movement and body alignment

Published by Jenni Sidey

If you’ve never come across the magic circle, you’re not alone—I hadn’t heard of it until Nikkii Behrens introduced me to it last week. “The magic circle—also called a Pilates ring—is a lightweight resistance tool designed to add gentle but effective resistance to Pilates exercises,” says the founder of Rare Street Pilates. Unlike traditional gym weights, it’s not designed to provide a high amount of resistance. Instead, it trains your body to move with control and precision. Latest Videos FromFit&Well “Think of it this way: dumbbells train your muscles to produce more force, while the circle trains your body to use that strength with greater control, balance and efficiency.” Behrens tells Fit&Well that both weights and precision equipment like the Pilates ring should be part of a well-rounded fitness routine, but the latter will help with posture, movement quality and core stability. You may like JKSHMYT 14.5-inch Pilates ring PhysKcal 15-inch Pilates ring Lionscool 14-inch Pilates ring set with mini bands and ball Here are three exercises that will teach you the basics of how …

Bookmark this five-minute workout recommended by a Pilates instructor for your next exercise snack

Bookmark this five-minute workout recommended by a Pilates instructor for your next exercise snack

Published by Jenni Sidey

If you can’t fit a full workout into your day, that doesn’t mean you have to forget about movement altogether. In fact, exercise snacks—short bursts of movement throughout the day—are a great way to improve your overall health, particularly if you spend a lot of time sitting down. Try this five-minute routine from Pilates instructor and Barre coach Vanessa Michielon to help you activate your core, shoulders and glutes. Latest Videos FromFit&Well How to do this “exercise snack” five-minute Pilates workout The short workout is essentially made up of four exercise positions. We break down the moves below. 1. Plank knee drives “This is a great way to prepare the whole body for the sequence ahead, activating your core, shoulders and hip flexors while warming up the body through a dynamic, weight-bearing movement,” says Michielon. You may like “The cross-body action also challenges coordination and control through the trunk.” How to do it: Start your week with achievable workout ideas, health tips and wellbeing advice in your inbox. Reps: 5 each side Start in a …

Over 50? A Pilates teacher wants you to try these three exercises to build core strength

Over 50? A Pilates teacher wants you to try these three exercises to build core strength

Published by Jenni Sidey

A strong core is essential if you want to continue moving easily as you age. “Your core includes the muscles that support your spine and pelvis, and help you stay steady as you move,” explains Pilates instructor Nicolle Lopez-Ellis. “After 50, that strength matters in everyday life: when you’re getting up from a chair, carrying groceries, walking with confidence, or reaching for something without losing your balance.” Latest Videos FromFit&Well Lopez-Ellis is the founder of NuPilates in New Jersey, where she helps people build well-rounded strength. She says that the best way to build your core is to start with easy movements like the ones below and gradually make them harder. You may like For beginners, she suggests doing this routine two to three times a week, moving slowly through each exercise. “You’re building strength for the movements you do every day, and that’s worth far more than racing through a workout.” Start your week with achievable workout ideas, health tips and wellbeing advice in your inbox. 1. Bird dog Benefit: Bird dog challenges balance …

Ease back and hip stiffness with this 10-minute beginner Pilates flow

Ease back and hip stiffness with this 10-minute beginner Pilates flow

Published by Jenni Sidey

Looking after your joints pays off in your later years; keep them strong and mobile now, and you’ll be able to move with ease when you’re older. An efficient routine like this one from Sundrop Pilates instructor Hannah Lawrence will help your joints stay happy. Doing the 10-minute session will not just maintain your mobility—it will improve your ability to move and hold certain positions, too. Latest Videos FromFit&Well “The idea is that sitting cross-legged and reaching toward your toes will start to feel more comfortable and natural,” says Lawrence. She suggests moving slowly through the exercises and making sure each one feels like a stretch, but doesn’t cause any pain. You may like 1. Pelvic curl/bridge Pelvic Curl | The Ultimate Spine Stretch – YouTube Watch On Reps: 6-8 Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet hip-width apart. Exhale, tuck your tailbone, and peel your spine off the mat one vertebra at a time, until your knees, hips and shoulders are aligned. Inhale, then exhale and slowly roll back down. 2. …

Scientists study 221,000 people to find which exercise works best for pain relief

Scientists study 221,000 people to find which exercise works best for pain relief

Published by Jenni Sidey

A sweeping umbrella review drawing on 157 systematic reviews, 2,736 randomized trials and 221,279 participants found that structured exercise reduced pain across a wide range of acute and chronic conditions. On a 0-to-10 visual pain scale, exercise produced an average reduction of about 1.1 points, while benefits appeared across aerobic exercise, resistance training, Pilates, yoga, tai chi and other approaches. Lower-intensity programs, interventions lasting less than 12 weeks and programs involving under two hours a week showed larger average effects, but researchers caution that these subgroup findings should guide individualized care rather than become rigid prescriptions. When a migraine is pounding or painful joints make movement difficult, exercising can feel like the wrong response. Evidence gathered from more than 220,000 people suggests the opposite may often be true. Researchers at Adelaide University pooled findings from 157 systematic reviews containing 2,736 randomized controlled trials and 221,279 participants. Exercise significantly reduced pain across conditions ranging from osteoarthritis and low back pain to migraines, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis and cancer-related pain. The umbrella review, published in Pain Reports, is …

These are the four moves a Pilates instructor does every week to build strong abs in her 40s

These are the four moves a Pilates instructor does every week to build strong abs in her 40s

Published by Jenni Sidey

When you think about building core strength, what are the first exercises that come to mind? If it’s sit-ups and crunches then stay with us. These moves can help you build strength in your abdominal muscles. However, the core is made up of other muscles too—the pelvis, obliques and lower back, to name a few—but crunches and sit-ups isolate the abdominals, rather than working the core as a whole. “I wouldn’t necessarily say that crunches are a bad core exercise—they have their place—but our core has a much bigger job than simply flexing the spine forwards,” explains Pilates instructor and strength coach Rebecca Daodun. Latest Videos FromFit&Well “In real life, our trunk needs to bend, rotate, resist movement, transfer force between our upper and lower body and keep us stable while our arms and legs are moving,” she continues. Below, Daodun has shared four moves that she does each week to strengthen her entire core. You may like “I like including exercises that challenge the core in different planes and in different positions, rather than …

A Cadillac Pilates instructor says this low-impact home workout is ideal for anyone new to Pilates

A Cadillac Pilates instructor says this low-impact home workout is ideal for anyone new to Pilates

Published by Jenni Sidey

Once the sole preserve of the studio, the Pilates reformer has found its way into homes, with mini Pilates boards, full-spec reformers and everything in between available to buy. But the Cadillac Pilates machine, another piece of equipment patented in the early 1950s by Joseph Pilates, looks set to stay (mostly) in the studio due to its size. The apparatus resembles a four-poster bed with adjustable springs, bars and straps. Because the attachments can provide assistance, as well as the resistance you’d expect from a reformer bed, it’s especially well suited to rehabilitation (I first encountered it when rehabbing a torn ACL) and Pilates newcomers. Latest Videos FromFit&Well “The combination of support and resistance it provides is exactly what makes it so effective and approachable for people new to Pilates or coming back from an injury,” says Daisy Zhang, founder and instructor of Mind Pilates, which has two locations in New York City. Daisy Zhang using the Cadillac Pilates machine (Image credit: Mind Pilates) If you can’t get to NYC, or another studio with Cadillac …

‘My body is on fire!’: my perilous, painful, perfect month of pilates | Health & wellbeing

‘My body is on fire!’: my perilous, painful, perfect month of pilates | Health & wellbeing

Published by Sam Flores

I realised something needed to change when I nearly toppled over trying to tie my shoelaces. I was on a busy high street, with people rushing past holding shopping bags, when I saw my open shoelace spooled on the ground. I bent down to deal with it and felt gravity move against me. Only a quick flail of my arms stopped me from faceplanting. When I raised myself back upright, I felt a sharp pain in my lower back. This can’t be right, I thought. Bracing my foot on a bin to finally fix my shoelace, it dawned on me. I’d become rusty. My core strength was nonexistent, as was my flexibility. Years behind a desk had taken a toll, not helped by an after-work routine of watching TV or playing video games on the sofa. But after getting home and doing some research (yes, from my sofa), I found a potential remedy: pilates. Originally known as contrology, this so-called “mind-body exercise” was created by a former boxer roughly a century ago. Joseph Pilates, a …