Helpful Tips To Improve Pilates Exercises
Discover helpful tips and strategies for getting the most from your Pilates exercises to improve your ability to bend and articulate every segment of the back smoothly and easily.
I’ve been on a rant the last couple of weeks with my Pilates clients with the goal of helping them to improve their 100’s curl, as well as getting better articulation through the upper back on exercises like the Roll Up, Teaser, and Neck Pull – Three challenging exercises for most beginner Pilates clients..
If you observe participants executing any of the above Pilates exercises, you’ll either notice smooth, sequential articulation of the spine – in which case the exercises are easy! Or the head leads, then the next place the body bends is almost at the waist! When this happens, the upper body is moving as a “chunk.” Instead of the back muscles releasing and breastbone softening to help the front of the body bend forward more effectively.
When the whole upper body is held stiff, it completely restricts smooth movement, and makes it difficult to properly engage the abdominals for effective core support.
Here are my Ah-Ha revelations, a couple of preparatory exercises , and helpful tips that I’ve found useful to help my Pilates clients free up their upper body and improve their ability to bend forward with ease for all of their Pilates Exercises.
1. Rib Expansion & Contraction (rise and fall)
When inhaling the entire ribcage fills with air, and the ribs separate. On exhaling, the ribs should come closer together, so there is pliability through the entire chest.
Strive on the exhale to see and feel the highest ribs (right below the collar bones and under the armpits) begin softening or actively come closer together. Lots of people expand under the armpits, but don’t release these muscle on the exhale.
This will help lengthen the spine and help the upper back drop closer to the mat placing the back in a better position to articulate well while peeling off the mat to curl up during exercise.
2. Breastbone Slide Exercise
Stand facing the wall and place both hands on the wall in a “push-up” position. Keep the arms straight and lower abdominals lifted. Inhale to stand tall and on the exhale pull the shoulders down while sliding the breastbone down the front of your shirt to flex the upper spine. The bottom tips of the shoulder blades should spread wide to make room for the breastbone to move backwards between the blades.
Inhale to return to center – standing tall. Exhale to pull the shoulder blades down and slide the breastbone up and forward reaching it towards the wall in front of you. Keep the elbows straight and feel the upper back bones move towards the breastbone as it slides up and forward. The upper back moves into extension.
Inhale to return to center . Continue alternating between the breastbone sliding downward and the upper back moving into flexion, and the breastbone sliding up and forward as the spine moves into extension.
3. Standing Roll Down on the Wall
Stand with your back against the wall, and either together or hip-width apart as far out to the front as needed to get the entire back from your tailbone to the head firmly pressed to the wall.
Maintain lower abdominal support throughout the exercise to keep the lower back firmly against the wall. Arms and shoulders remain hanging and relaxed throughout the exercise.
Inhale to stand tall, exhale and nod the chin to the chest. Inhale and exhale to continue forward bending. Watch the breastbone slide down the front of the shirt, and move backwards towards the wall between the shoulder blades. Continue breathing and forward bending to the bottom of the breastbone. Lower abs stay lifted.
Take as many breaths as needed to roll down the wall peeling one segment of the back off the wall at a time to the bottom of the shoulder blades. Take as many breaths as needed to roll back up to a tall standing position one segment at a time. Lower back and lower abs stay firmly against the wall.
Tip for Maximum Movement on this Exercise:
The collar bones should rotate like a rotisserie. Then each rib from the top to the bottom of the breastbone should rotate and move backwards under the collarbones to effectively deepen the upper back flexion. Strive to put the front ribs that are attached to the breastbone, and the breastbone on the wall behind you, then peel the back off the wall to bend forward. If you have a partner or spotter, they can lightly place their hands on the front ribs to help find this movement. The breastbone slides down and back while the ribs rotate and move back and up to bend forward.
I use these three exercises to help improve awareness of rib, breastbone, and upper back movement. Then take this body awareness and new movement habits back to all of the Pilates exercises that require a forward bend. Hand support behind the head will help when beginning to transfer these concepts to curling the head and upper body off the mat. The Roll Down Bar and Push Through Bar on the Cadillac are also helpful to improve forward bending and reinforce these new muscle habits.
Every Pilates exercise that requires a C-Curve, needs this whole-spine flexibility to achieve optimal body alignment and muscle use for maximum benefits from every forward bending exercise. These tips and fundamental exercises are great to incorporate into Pilates workouts, and also make great “homework” exercises!
Have Fun & Happy Forward Bending!
Six Easy Ways to Reduce Neck Tension during Pilates Exercise with Better Breathing Habits
I’ve seemed to have a flurry of issues with Pilates clients lately who are dealing with neck pain. And with the Optic Neuritis that I’ve been dealing with for the past 6 months, the tension in my neck has been an issue too! Whether we end up with increased neck pain from an accident, injury, or just how we use and move our body for work and daily life, chronic neck pain, is no fun and literally a pain in the neck!
Pilates exercises done correctly are excellent for strengthening core muscles for support, which over time helps to reduce neck tension. However, sometimes getting started – newer Pilates participants can aggravate a neck problem, by not understanding, or having the strength and flexibility needed to support the body well and keep the stress out of the neck. If you’re doing any exercise and you begin to feel stress or strain in your neck –Stop! Better to take a break, then start to use muscles that shouldn’t be doing the work and continue to aggravate neck issues. There are hundreds (maybe thousands) of exercises that can be done without neck pain. The challenge is finding the right exercises for your body to start with, and continue to progress.
Regardless of the exercise, good breathing habits are critical for opening the joint space in the neck and helping to lengthen the neck muscles to reduce neck strain and improve posture and body alignment. Our head is basically an 8-10 pound bowling ball sitting on a straw. If the ball is not well-balanced on the straw, the straw will lean or bend and the head will tip to funny angles striving to stay perched at the top of our body. At this point, some muscles are working too hard, and others are not pulling their weight. Over time, the body accepts this way of holding the head and neck as correct (whether its good or bad) and the pattern of muscle use becomes a habit – whether we like it or not!
The good news…It’s never too late to change a habit!
With a little effort, and having some new strategies to play with and practice, you can effectively reduce neck tension and neck strain quickly and easily just by paying attention to where you are holding tension and practicing better breathing habits during your Pilates exercises.
Here Are Six Tips To Help Reduce Neck Strain During Pilates Exercise
(AND Daily Life Activities!)
1. Posterio-Lateral Pilates Breathing Technique
Learning how to utilize the Pilates style of posterior-lateral breathing is KEY to helping lift the head up off the neck and lengthen the spine. Emphasis is placed on inhaling to fill the back of the ribcage from the bottom to the top. In effect, what happens is as you fill the lungs with air, you are increasing the natural curves of the spine. This should happen from the tailbone to the top of the head. So your inhale helps to float the head up off the neck.
For more details on a variety of Breathing Exercises to practice your Posterio-Lateral Pilates technique check out my blog post Breathing Basics
2. Keep the Front of the Neck and Throat Relaxed on Your Inhale
I notice that a lot of people actually inhale through the torso and tense up so much through the front of their neck that the head actually gets closer to the body on the inhale! When this happens – the neck muscles are pulling the neck bones closer together (when things should be lengthening apart!) Watch yourself breathe in front of a mirror and see if you notice your neck get longer, or shorter as you inhale. Do you see the muscles in the front of your neck tense up on your inhale? Or do they stay loose and relaxed? Think about your neck and throat being an open tube that air can easily flow in and out of.
3. Tongue Placement
Where your tongue is placed in your mouth can make a difference! Lightly touch the tip of the tongue to the roof of your mouth on your inhale, and drop the tongue away from the roof of your mouth on your exhale. This helps facilitate proper use of the diaphragm, and as the tongue drops on the exhale, you may notice that the muscles in the front of the neck soften and relax a bit.
4. On Every Exhale Use a “HA” Sound To Release and Open the Jaw
Using “HAaaaaaa” and opening the jaw to exhale moves the primary support lower in the torso to help activate core muscles. You might actually make the “HA” sound as you exhale until this becomes a familiar habit to release the neck and open the jaw.
The habit I notice if people aren’t doing a “HA” breath, is exhaling like you’re playing a flute, through a slightly pursed lip. This creates the look of a sour lemon face. If you make a sour lemon face, you’ll notice that the front of the throat tenses up, scalene muscles grip, and the head and neck get pulled closer to the body. Plus, it is more difficult to feel the activation of core support – support almost gets stuck in the throat instead of dropping lower into the center. Can you see how this can create or aggravate a neck problem? Strive to make “HA” breathing your new habit!
5. Pelvic Floor
While I’ve got this as #5 on my list….It probably should be #1! Effective use of the pelvic floor provides the anchoring at the base of the spine which is necessary for lift and lengthening that occurs during breathing. Without an active, engaged pelvic floor, it’s impossible to get the ribs to lift away from the pelvis, the neck to lift away from the torso, and the head to lift away from the neck! How do you effectively find and use the Pelvic Floor? If you’re not already familiar with using your Pelvic Floor, check back soon, for a blog post on this very important topic!
6. Shoulder Depression
Our body is a system of levers and pulleys. Think of a teeter-totter. Both ends can’t go up! One goes down and the other goes up. So for our body, the shoulder blades doing down provide the leverage for our upper spine, neck, and head to lift up. If your shoulders are wrapped around your ears, chances are your head and neck are jammed in too close to your torso. Pull the shoulders down and you should feel your head shoot up another inch or two closer to the ceiling.
Which Pilates Exercises Should You Apply These Six Tips to Reduce Neck Strain?
ALL of Them!!! Whether it’s a Pilates Matwork Exercise, or Exercises on the Reformer, Cadillac, Chairs, or Barrels. If you’re walking, running, riding a bike, swimming, lifting weights, dancing, riding a horse, playing golf, tennis or other sports… You have lots of opportunities to apply these six tips to get your support where you need it and reduce the amount of tension and stress you feel in your neck.
Don’t forget about moments throughout your day too– at work, driving the car, doing things around the house…anytime you remember to take a minute or two and practice utilizing these six important neck lengthening tips – you’ll be changing your habits for better health!
Don’t worry if you can’t make them all happen at once! Pick one and practice for a few days. When it gets easier, see if you can add another one, then another – until you’re able to incorporate all six into any and every exercise you do!
