pilates – The CORE Performance Center

3 Simple Mat Pilates Exercises to Strengthen Your Spine & Improve Your Posture

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLzn4Y_U44w

If you need a challenge in your workout while improving your posture and strengthening your back muscles, you’ll want to throw these advanced Pilates mat exercises into the mix. These three exercises can be performed anywhere, and provide big benefits and efficiency that target a bunch of muscles all at once: core, back and neck extensors, scapular stabilizers, arms, shoulders, glutes, hamstrings and calves!

Here are the BIG 3:

1. Swimmer

Target Muscles: Postural muscles of the neck, upper and lower back, deltoids, hamstrings, glutes, calves

How To Do It: Lie on your stomach, with your arms and legs extended. Make sure your palms face in and your pull your shoulders away from your ears. Lift your right arm and left leg, then switch. Continue alternating arm and leg lifts for 30 seconds, twice, or 60 seconds once through.

2. Leg Pull Front

Target Muscles: Core, lats, triceps, glutes, hamstrings, calves, quadriceps

How To Do It: Get into plank position, making sure that your shoulders are over your wrists and navel is drawn in. Inhale and lift your right leg up. Exhale and shift your shoulders back and point your right foot. Inhale and shift your shoulders forward. Exhale and lower your right foot down. That’s one rep. Repeat on the left and do 5 reps on each side.

3. Leg Pull Bicycle

Target Muscles: All postural muscles, triceps, shoulders, core, glutes, hamstrings, calves

How To Do It: Get into a reverse plank position, making sure shoulders are over wrists. Lift your buttocks high in the air so that your body is in one straight line. Bend your right knee to your chest, extend the foot up to the ceiling, and then down. That’s 1 rep. Do 5, and repeat on the left side. Rest for 10 seconds and reverse the bicycle: Lift your leg to the ceiling, bend your knee to your chest and extend your foot out for 5 reps. Repeat on the other side.

Once you start doing these exercises consistently, in addition to getting strong, you’ll notice that your posture will improve and that you’ll starte getting compliments on your toned body! Have fun and if you need modifications, make sure to ask me. If you want to learn these exercises in person, or need help with designing a program that addresses your posture, make sure to send me an email here, or call me at (310) 463-4363!

These are a Few of My Favorite Posture Correctors

Here’s a list of my favorite posture correctors:

1. Awareness: Of course, this is by far the best solution.
2. For the low back: McKenzie rolls. It’s a cylindrical pillow with an elastic strap to hold it in place. The McKenzie roll is placed right above your waistline to help maintain your natural lumbar curve. It works great in the car, which never seem to have lumbar supports that are big enough. There are also inflatable lumbar supports for travel, too.

3. iPosture: This little gadget can attach to your skin or bra strap. It keeps you upright and vibrates if you are slouching.
4. Posture brace: This gizmo slips around your shoulders and criss-crosses in the back to get you into the habit of pulling your shoulders back.
5. Taping (shoulder and low by physical therapist to keep your back straight and pull your shoulders back. This is a short-term solution to bad posture. The tape acts as aid to remind your muscles to keep you upright.
6. Soft tissue and joint mobilization by physical therapist, addressing the important areas: Thoracic spine, pecs, paraspinals, hip flexors, psoas and hamstring muscles.
7. Foam rolling exercises: Bar none if you don’t have access to a massage therapist! This little piece of 3 foot foam/6-inch diameter will be the best $30 investment you could ever make for yourself. One of my clients says that she doens’t understand why everyone doesn’t have one because the exercises are so easy and they’ve helped eliminate her neck and shoulder pain.
8. Yoga and Pilates: Gets your core strong and tight areas flexible. Undoes the damage caused by prolonged sitting.

I’d love to hear what your favorite posture correctors are!