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Pilates Exercises For Weight Loss And Muscle Tone

Do you know some of the top athletes improve their fitness through Pilates? Given the ease at which you can get started and how much the exercises are able to improve the tone your body it is no wonder. You will most likely notice dramatic results after a few weeks or months of continued practice. In order to avoid injury please follow the advice and guidance of a qualified Pilates instructor.

The Roll Up – Lying on your back with arms and legs stretched faraway from you. Inhale and as you do bring your arms up over your head and begin to roll up from your head and work your way down the vertebrae. Hold your abs in as they should be doing the work. You should not feel any strain on you neck or back. Roll down back to the mat slowly.

One Leg Circle – Lie on your back with your legs flat on the floor and arms beside you. Raise one leg up to the ceiling toes pointed up. Now begin the circular movement rotating your leg from your hip. Lower your leg and repeat with the other leg moving in a circle one way then the other. Finish off with both legs on the floor and breath deeply.

Double Leg Stretch – Lie on your back with your knees up. You want to hold both legs with your hands. Raise your shoulders off the floor. From this position you are going to extend outwards. Both your arms and legs go in opposite directions while your body remains stable. Bring your legs back to centre closed position and sweep your arms around back to centre also. If it is too difficult then you can raise your arms and legs higher, making the exercise easier.

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Sound Pilates Principles And Techniques for the Over Weight Client

Sound Pilates Principles And Techniques for the Over Weight Client How to Empower Obese Clients and help them find their Centers Jeff is in his mid 50’s and, at 6 feet 2 inches, weighed approximately 265 pounds. He started Piltaes for weight management, balance, core training and overall fitness, and became an instant fan. Jeff is now down to 235 and has a goal of 222 that he will make no doubt in his mind. More importantly, he has lost 4 pant sizes reduced his chloesterol in half, and takes 1/4 of the blood pressure medication he did before. Jeff says “I love the quiet strength it builds in my body through very subtle motions, but at the same time the workout is as tough as nails, ” he says. “The more advanced I become , [the more I find] there’s another layer to address. As I lose weightwith the combination of strength training, Pilates, and Nutritional Counseling it becomes even more challenging as I continue to connect with my body.” Jeff’s Pilates instructor, Personal trainer, and Licensed Nutritionist which is me is always willing to make adjustments and modifications as we go along. “For full figure, the muscles are there below the fat, so the trainer has to have more patience, ” says Jeff. It has never bothered me coming from battling obesity in my early teens going from 180 pounds to 115 pounds at 5 feet and 4 inches tall. Jeff has worked 3 times per week for 1 hour sessions with me and 1 hour on his own. We have been together for 6 months now and he is doing fantastic. He has incorporated Pilates in his program for 6 months now and he is now able to walk with more balance and clarity. I look smaller from all angles than I did 6 months ago. I’m more compact and my abs are alot tighter! The sense of balance, strength, and well being are different from all my heavy lifting, and rough and tough style training over the years before. The more I do it the more I feel my body for sure! Jeff was one of the many overweight individuals in search of better health, truth, and Results. He found it in a more Wellness and connection approach to his overall Fitness plan. With some of these great skills and tools in my tool box I am able to really help my clients get lasting, sustainable, and lifestyle solutions to their problems and needs. I highly suggest adding Pilates to your clients experience it is worth a little more education for sure. Have a healthy and happy day! By, Natalie Pyles Fitness & Weight loss expert, Author, & NSA Speaker

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Fitness & Pilates -The Truth About Pilates And Weight Loss, Does It Really Work? Core Exercises And How They Can Help You?

There is a lot of misunderstanding about Pilates and core stability ball exercises ,I get asked lots of questions but the most common one is…’Will Pilates help me lose weight?’

The truth is Pilates is designed to tone and shape your muscles, it is not designed to burn of fat.

If you are over weight you will need a cardiovascular workout. This type of workout is more active and combined together with a good food plan you will start to lose weight quickly.

If you haven’t done any cardio work before I suggest you just start of with a cardio exercises for beginners its not going to be easy when you first start out but if you stick with it you’ll see some fantastic results very quickly.

When I talk about food plans I say ‘Food Plan’ because I hate the word ‘Diet.’

Diet to me means going without what I like and trying to stop eating. You don’t stop eating and you don’t go without you just need to eat the right foods to help you lose weight.

Now, if you do a cardiovascular workout one day and then have a rest day to let your body recuperate you can then do a workout using a Pilates core exercise ball. By alternating your workout routine in this way, you will help to tone your muscles which will start to pull your body into shape and by combining the two different work-outs and having a good food plan you will see a dramatic change in your body very quickly and also lose the weight. 

I want to talk about is the ‘Core and Core exercises ‘… Everybody asks me ‘what is the ‘Core’ and what does it mean?

If you could stand upright and straight and draw a straight line through your body from the tip of your head down through the centre of your neck, spine, pelvis and then straight down to the ground, dividing your body exactly in half then this is what they call your centre line.. You’re Core.

Your Core is kept upright and stable by your ‘Core stability muscles’, which include deep abdominal, back and pelvic floor muscles.

Now if your Core stays in line and straight you will stand upright and tall with no back, neck pains or any problems.

However, in the real world it is not like that and people in today’s society suffer from injures, over weight, and illnesses which can all throw your Core out of alignment coursing you more ailments and discomfort. Some people don’t even have any injures but over time they have started to lean more to one side this then starts to throw their body out of alignment.

With your Core out of alignment your stability muscles start to do there own thing to try and help you keep upright. They end up working unevenly, for instance.. if you put more weight on the right foot because you lean to the right you will put an extreme amount of pressure on the Core muscles and they start to form there own shape to help them perform as best as they can under these circumstances.

This can then cause other problems and lots of unnecessary pain or discomfort.

With Pilates exercises carried out correctly it helps stretch the body and reshape your muscles helping you to realign your Core, intern returning your body to an upright and straight position.