Author: michikopilates_f688po

My personal activity levels increased over the past few weeks. In addition to playing more tennis, I’ve also taken up working out with my hubby. This means I’m lifting weights that my body’s not accustomed to. This added activity and effort in my upper extremities has gotten me so tight! I searched for good release and mobility work so I could feel better in my body and recover faster. I came across this segment that made a huge difference for me.

It’s really effective if you sit at a desk working on the computer. I want to share especially with our new world of virtual & remote learning, working, etc.

Keep me posted on if this frees up your body like it has for me.

PROPS:

broomstick/dowel
Foam roller
2 balls taped together
Hand weights – 3lbs or canned goods

Stretch 1: Around deltoids
Take your right hand right behind the small of your back.
Left hand around the back of elbow & give some resistance.
Think about the organization of your rib cage not arching.

2 breaths & try the left side.

Stick time – Stretch 2: Rotator cuff – supraspinatus mostly – think top seam of a shirt.
Put your stick right behind your back more on the outer border of the shoulder & hold the bottom end & pull up.
This is helping assist that upper arm bone, your humerus into external rotation.

2 breaths & try the other side

Restore funky desk posture – Palms face up, take palms out to point fingers toward the wall, and point thumbs behind. Could try this with a Theraband too.
Pull upper arms in toward your body without thrusting the ribs.
Out & in 5x
Try for an upper back extension, not from the low back.

Ball time – tape 2 together or put in a sock
Place a little lower than shoulder blades, not on them & hold your head in your hands.
Roll side to side.
Slight upper back extension & back to neutral.
Move hips down to get the balls to go upwards on your back – right between shoulder blades.

Arm arcs – take head down & see where the arms go.
arch over, keep the trunk stable, and try to allow more shoulder flexion giving your weight to the balls.

Roller time & weights
Shoulder blade tips on the roller, wrap around to get head down & take arms overhead. (You may need to prop your head up with a towel, pillow, yoga block, etc. )
Lift your pelvis up.
Anchor the arms and elongate your hips back to the mat to lengthen the spine.
Come up carefully & try with weights to get extra feedback for tissues to change.
5x

Move the roller up your back
Isometric lift of weights – act like you want to lift but don’t – stiffen the arm muscles to get some strength work.

Happy New Year! Have you considered your bone health? Different conditions that could increase bone loss, like celiac disease, Crohn’s, cancer meds/treatments, too much cortisol the stress hormone, and in my case thyroid medication. It’s sneaky because you don’t feel a loss of bone unless you get a fracture possibly. Asymptomatic fractures happen.

Recommendations from the National Osteoporosis Foundation to prevent fractures.

• Get enough calcium and vitamin D and eat a well-balanced diet.
• Engage in regular exercise.
• Eat foods good for bone health, such as fruits and vegetables.
• Avoid smoking and limit alcohol to 2-3 drinks per day.

I personally have a lot of risk factors. I’m female, have a small frame, my mom has osteoporosis, I’m on thyroid meds, I used to smoke and in college, I definitely drank excessively! Due to all these risks I went ahead and got a DEXA (the screening technique dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry) to get a baseline reading. Sure enough, I have low bone mass or osteopenia.

I’m proactively working to improve my low bone mass by re-mineralizing through my diet and exercising in ways that will not increase my risk of fracture but build my bones in the most fracture prone sites (Vertebra, hip & wrist). Movements that increase the risk of fracture, especially in the spine:

• Loaded spinal flexion, think of abdominal curls or traditional sit-ups or inversions like a Pilates rollover or plow in Yoga.
• Loaded spinal rotation, especially combined with spinal flexion, think oblique crunches.
• Loaded lateral flexion, like side bending to end range of motion.

I love Pilates but higher intensity & higher load on my bones will stress my bones in order to get them to respond to get stronger. This safe for low bone mass routine can help anyone wanting to maintain strong bones.

Foam roll  – I start with rolling to help get my circulation going and work out any tightness from whatever else I’ve got going on. If you don’t own a foam roller you can improvise with tennis balls, lacrosse balls, dog balls, etc. Get creative!

• Mid-back – shoulder blade area
• Lie on the roller for an amazing chest stretch and back massage rolling back & forth
• Glutes & Piriformis
• Quads

Breathing & pelvic clock – check out this tutorial that starts at 1 minute

Bridges 3-5x each variation

• Articulated – think about just the tailbone curling up then lengthen the pelvis up as you reach your knees away keeping your ribs softening down. Find a nice line from your shoulder joint, hip joint & knee joint.
• Hinge – think about pressing up your hips to find your bridge & for extra challenge use weight on top of the pelvis.
• Hip lift w/reach – ball in b/w legs on the wall. Think of just hoovering your pelvis up keeping neutral in your spine. Notice which side feels harder.

Clamshells with a resistance band with feet against the wall. If you don’t own a resistance band, you can use a pair of tights to give you something to work against as you externally rotate your leg, 15 reps on each leg.

Book openers – 4 reps to each side. Keep your hips stacked and think of getting taller as you spiral. Try for 75% range of motion vs full-on rotation if you have low bone density.

Reformer supine arms – Sets 3 Reps 5

• Add in 5 single leg lowers

You can tie a resistance band around a doorknob to replicate this exercise. Monitor that your pelvis stays neutral vs arching or tucking under. Think of not moving the pelvis, but use your breath on the exhale to soften the ribs down to activate your core & keep it there.

Reformer lunge – sub a kneeling lunge

Mat Pushups 3x – We want to hinge forward vs rolling down with low bone density. You can bend your knees as much as you need to get your hands onto your mat to walk out & find your plank. Try for 3-10 pushups keeping elbows towards your ribs vs out to the side. You can perform them on your knees to modify. Perfect weight-bearing exercise for the wrists.

Three-Way Squat 3 sets  

• Stand on one leg and reach out and tap your heel in front of you as you squat down.
• Then take your leg out to the side so you resemble a speed skater.
• bring your leg back behind you 

This also works on balance for fall prevention.

Jumping jacks 1-2 minutes

if you have a T-score greater than -3.0, you may need to do a low impact version. Always check with your healthcare provider and listen to your body.

All the rest do 10 to 12 reps; Rest for 30 seconds; try for second set 

TRX pull-ups – you can use a pull-up bar or try resistance bands hooked up on a door anchor

TRX chest press – same as above you can try a resistance band facing away from your anchor 

Deadlifts with kettlebells – I put shoes on and I’ve got 2 15lbs and I’m fatigued by the time I get to 12. If it’s easy you need more weight and if it’s too hard try lighter. I’ve used a barbell, dumbbells’, even stuff in a box that weighs a lot.

Weighted squat to a bench – I used 2 10lb kettlebells, again play with what weight challenges you.

Seated on bar footwork – you can sit in a chair and tie a resistance band around the bottom legs of a chair, place your lower leg in to perform knee extensions with the resistance.

Squat to Row using Reformer – Standing in the well 1 spring on with footbar down. You can replicate with a resistance band hooked up to a door anchor.

Bicep Curls – I used 8lbs

Triceps extensions – I used 5 lbs.

Cooldown: 

Try Ladder Barrel stretches on a fitness ball for extra balance challenge, chair or standing.

• Hamstring stretch
• Inner thigh stretch
• Quad stretch
• Hip flexor stretch
• Figure 4 stretch
• Groin stretch

A participant of my monthly virtual community Mat Pilates class requested more arm work for the class. I found this great standing 10-minute warmup for arms that works in balance and full-body strength. The instructor originally taught it using 3lb hand weights and I’ve modified it to use with a resistance band. I’ve listed notes in the description and I may say I’m going for 10 but I really only do 5! LOL! Enjoy this quick workout when you’re short on time. 

Here’s a sneak peek of me in action converting the Reformers to trapeze tables for my tower/barrel (Pilates Arc) class at Synergy Pilates & Personal Training in downtown Round Rock, TX.

Having two pieces of Pilates equipment in one means that I’m able to teach so many more exercises and give more variety to clients. Experiencing the footwork exercise on the tower has an entirely different feeling than when performed on the Reformer.

Then it’s time to play and practice my flow! I love to sneak in a few movements to feel it in my body right before I teach.

I designed this class for a duet of mine at Synergy Pilates in Round Rock, Texas where I train clients. Here’s them in action working on their scapular mobility.  

Watch me as I practice the full flow, then join me on the pelvic clock exercise. 

I started off with a challenging standing warm up for the legs on the chair

I take it down to the mat to allow the heart rate to come down a bit and to do my favorite pelvic clock exercise! You don’t have to use a ball but I love it to increase the stretch and release for the hips, sacrum and back. 

You can add in the stretches that I show later in the video and the elbow slides. No chair required! 

If you watch long enough you can see my frustration with the “wall”. 😆 

My lightweight chair makes pulling it out on the porch to practicing Pilates outdoors safer in these pandemic times. Let’s call it “Porch Pilates”!

I posted this photo on my Instagram feed and was asked how can you replicate this with no equipment?

The side stretch exercise on a Pilates Arc with an added upper back extension gives an amazing chest opening. It’s so beneficial for those who tend to have a rounded shoulder posture or have desk jobs which require a lot of computer work.

Check out my video where I show the same movement but using a wall in a standing position.

Here I show how to open up the side of your body using a wall for support. I then transition into getting an upper back extension.

Additional tips & notes: I talk about shoulder health at the very beginning of this video because when I first learned this exercise, my right shoulder was being pulled into a forward position because I was so tight in my chest and my daily habits didn’t help. If I didn’t work to correct that posture I was heading towards a shoulder impingement.

If at any point you feel nerve pain, tingling sensations, or the joint hurts please come out of it!

It’s not worth it just to do a movement. Be kind to your body and listen to it.

When I position my hand on the wall I imagine my left shoulder blade gliding down my back to help get my upper arm bone in a slight external rotation. If you have a tight chest this may be hard. I also think about my sternum lifting up. You could stop at any point and just get a stretch and breath into the tight spot. My elbow’s bent and soft and I’m trying to get a sensation of doming in my armpit.

I talk about lifting my spine up because I don’t want to just hinge over I’m really looking for my spine to bend but in a lifted elongated way instead of compressing the vertebra in my spine.

The right arm may not come up by the ear and that’s OK! Ultimately you’ll want to get it there but I didn’t start that way.

Once you get into your side bend wherever feels good for your body, start looking with your eyes to the ceiling. The eyes are the king of the spine, so when you look out of the corner of your eyes you are indicating to your spine “ok I want to go that way”. Your body may not be ready to go there yet but slightly and gently send your intentions that way.

If it’s easy and you are open in your body go for it just try to keep your neck long and not just hanging back there because it may cause some tension in the neck and cut off your upward energy flow.

Watch that I’m trying to extend from my upper back. Think about your sternum placement but on your back above the bra line or bro line and up bending instead of the low back taking the work. Notice how your back feels as you go into this. We ideally want to have a long curve in the low back so we are not compressing the spine.

One more thing, notice what your ribs want to do. Do they want to pop out or can you keep your rib to pelvis connection as you take your arms overhead?

Let me know how this feels for your body!

Who has a foam roller? Who also has tight quads and inner thighs?

Here’s a video to help you unravel your inner thighs and quads. The quads tend to get restricted and can pull our body forward and down which can affect our hip flexors and posture. 

Check out my latest video. P.S. If you don’t have a foam roller just let me know and I’ll share another method.  

This week we had a lot of leaves fall and I decided to sweep my front porch. The cleanliness inspired me to drag my mat and chair out for a little outdoor Pilates time. 

You don’t need much for this exercise. You can just practice with your pelvis up against a wall to ensure you get your spine aligned. You could leave the arms out of it altogether and focus on lifting the quad to help strengthen your knees.  

Try not to get discouraged, I remember when my leg couldn’t even lift when I attempted this back in the day! I also struggled to sit upright like that in my pelvis! You can prop your bottom up on something like a yoga block or cushions to get right up on top of your sit bones. 

I’m motivated because I want to get back on the tennis court! Oh and have fun with the blooper at the end! : ) 

Bosu plank in the balance room at Synergy Pilates & Personal training!

I love our new studio space, particularly the balance room!

Here we are balancing in a plank position using a Bosu trainer.

It’s great to feel the instability of the Bosu to get stronger before moving on to the reformer Long Stretch exercise where the movement of the carriage may startle those that are beginning their Pilates practice.

We challenge the stability of the shoulders when we add on the kick like in the mat leg pull exercise. So much fun!