Pilates Cat Stretch Video
This link will take you to the cat stretch.
Protraction/Retraction Video
This link will take you to the video on protraction and retraction.
Run Your Butt Off
When you run, you should run your butt off—literally. It is the largest muscle in your body: USE IT. That muscle should give you the burst on each step. It should be what springboards you into your stride, especially going up a hill.
For information on Personal Euphoria & Evolution Pilates upcoming runner’s workshop click here.
Try Not to Compare
I know it’s hard not to compare yourself to others in a group class. We see someone else doing something and we want to be able to do it too. I get that. I’m pretty competitive. But the problem is there is more than just our level of strength that may make us need to do an exercise at a different level.
Think of the roll up. If you have short legs and a long torso, you have a lot of weight to lift and not much to help counter balance you. No matter how strong you are, this exercise will always be harder for you that someone with longer legs or someone who is similar in size on the top and the bottom.
When I went to the psoas workshop last week I learned that depending on where the psoas connects to the spine it get affect how you move. The psoas can connect to your vertebra at T12 or L5 (which I knew), but what I didn’t know is that if it is lower […]
Pilates Style Lessons
I’m behind in reading my magazines. I just read Pilates Style January/Febuary 2010, but it listed what they thought were some of the best, new (now semi-new) health research for the year. And I figured I’d share:
1) Interval Training is more effective than long periods of aerobic exercise.
I for one am not going to stop running long distances. It’s too good for my mind, but this is why our new Interval Cardio class is so important. Intervals are all the range right now for increase calorie burn and heart health.
2) Low Fat Diets Aren’t Good
Research is showing that low fat diets are less healthy than moderate fat diets. Experts even claimed that opting for carbs over saturated fats might increase your risk of heart disease.
3) Cholesterol May Not Matter
I actually read about this research study while on the vegan diet and became very discouraged, but it turns out half the people with elevated cholesterol have normal hearts and half the people with heart disease have normal cholesterol. Our good cholesterol and bad cholesterol may not matter as much as the type of bad cholesterol we have. Turns […]