Birmingham Pilates Studios

BEST PILATES STUDIO OF THE YEAR!
Birmingham Pilates Studios has been nominated and awarded regional winner for вАЬBest Pilates Studio of the YearвАЭ! This is such a privilege for the studio, as you might imagine! The Corporate LiveWire Birmingham Prestige Awards celebrates successful small, local businesses that work in a highly competitive community and stand out in their field by having a positive impact.
To find out more and to read what the judges said about our studio, head over to our blog: https://www.birminghampilatesstudios.com/ pilates-studio-ofвА¶/

Reformer for Beginners: 15. The Mermaid
It's the final twist! There's a twist when you push the carriage out, and a twist when you pull the carriage in. Then there's a side stretch at the end... There's a phrase we use in Pilates: "working in opposition", this exercise is the embodiment of that concept
... рЯШКрЯШКрЯШК
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Reformer for Beginners: 16. Eve's Lunge
"Never deny yourself whatвАЩs best for your body вА¶"
... Hip flexor and hamstring stretch in one! Added to that is the careful coordination required for the choreography (I find it difficult) and the abdominal activation required to achieve the hip flexor stretch. This is the Home Stretch now, literally!
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Reformer for Beginners: 15. Standing
Not only a stretch of the inner legs, but a test of control and balance. Keeping the pelvis level and the spine neutral can require some abdominal and spinal connection...
... ƒ∞t's a great way to begin to relax after some of the previous hard work. I've not met a person that doesn't enjoy these variations...рЯШКрЯШКрЯШК
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Reformer for Beginners: 16. Armwork Facing Back (Rowing) a. Serve a Tray рЯУ•рЯУ§рЯУ• b. Hug a Tree рЯМ≥рЯМ≥рЯМ≥ c. Salutes рЯЦЦрЯЦЦрЯЦЦ
... Just like climbing a mountain, each step gets more difficult as we get higher...рЯЧїрЯЪµвАНвЩВпЄПрЯЪµвАНвЩАпЄПрЯ ЪµрЯЧї
... each variation becomes more challenging as the height of the handles increases.
Your back will get stronger as you try to stay on your sit bones! For a greater challenge, sit on the carriage cross legged. First with your legs crossed one way and then the other way.
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Reformer for Beginners: 13. Armwork Facing Back a. Triceps Press b. Biceps Curl c. Twist
... Ever pulled a heavy suitcase on wheels behind you at the airport? This first exercise targets those same muscles you need for that: the triceps!
For a Balanced Body, we target next the biceps. That's not the end of the story. Keeping your elbows up and still requires solidly stable shoulders.
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Finally, the Twist which is what our spine needs to do every minute of everyday... And it's the most common way cause of acute back pain! Who do you want to be? A person strong and supple, or worried about pain?
Do you want to challenge yourself? Try these cross legged, kneeling up... then, try standing!
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Reformer for Beginners: 12. Bridging a. Pelvic Tilts b. Single Leg Variation
... I love Bridging. Why? Because everytime is see myself do it I feel a deep connection to any of my students that find mastery of any exercise difficult! Here are all my failings on display! But own it, I say! Perfection not a Principle of Pilates, we are only perfect when we're dead! Hopefully that's a long time comingвА¶ so be patient, be consistent and practice often.
With lighter springs the challenge increases because the hamstrings pull on the pelvis (keeping the carriage in) and in turn, the pelvis cannot rotate so that we can't articulate our spine off the mat. That difficulty in flexing the spine increases our abdominal workвА¶ weвАЩre working (nicely?) in opposition here рЯШКрЯШКрЯШК
The Single Leg variations increase the difficulty by adding an вАЬanti-rotationalвАЭ element. рЯТЮрЯТЮрЯТЮвА¶ have fun and I'll see you tomorrow рЯМЈрЯМЈрЯМЈ
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Reformer for Beginners: 11b. The Long Stretch
A BeginnerвАЩs exercise? Well, yes it is a tough exercise to crack! ItвАЩs a plank on a moving surface. But if you practice at home: Sternum Drops, Knee Lifts and the other exercises from the вАЬShoulder StabilizationвАЭ section of our Pre-Pilates Foundations, then after a short time youвАЩll master it..
... Wrists can be problem, so i suggest that instead of gripping the footbar, press into it with the flat of your hand. In this way, youвАЩll increase the connected feeling in your shoulders and that is precisely what weвАЩre looking for.
Pull in the abdominals and squeeze the inner thighs together to help you form a straight line - because thatвАЩs how a plank is done. Good luck and keep practising!
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Reformer for Beginners: 11a. The Long Stretch Series : The Elephant ... рЯРШрЯРШрЯРШ . There are two types of people: those who struggle to stretch out the Superficial Back Line to create a flat back as those that don't understand what all the moaning is about. .... I'm in the first category. That's why I've used the Footboard: it's higher that the Footbar.рЯТ°рЯТ°рЯТ° . You can do The Elephant as a pushing exercise with a higher spring weight, or as a pulling exercise with a very light spring. The are my вАЬspringвАЭ emojis: рЯМЈрЯМЄрЯМєрЯМЇрЯМЉрЯ¶ЛрЯ¶ЛрЯ¶Л рЯ§£рЯШВрЯ§£рЯШВ . .
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Reformer for Beginners: 10. Bridging ... a. Bridging вАЬOn HeelsвАЭ (one variation of at least 8!) b. Pelvic Tilt c. Nose Scratch рЯШЕрЯШВрЯ§£рЯШ≠рЯШЬ... d. One Legged Bridging . Everyone hates The One Hundred рЯТѓвА¶ untilвА¶ BridgingвА¶ ufffff! . The вАЬOn Heels, Parallel LegsвАЭ is the easiest variation IMHOвА¶ вАЬOn Toes, Feet TogetherвАЭ makes me want to cry! . Start with high spring tension, and as you learn to keep everything under control and connected, lose spring assistance, but keep the carriage on the stoppersвА¶ yum yum рЯ§™ . Alternatively, lower the footbar and / or practice on Mat: The Bridge on The Mat (after the High Bicycle) is a whole other kettle of рЯОП fish.
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Reformer for Beginners: 9. Knee Stretches ... a. One Legged Curved Spine (L) b. One Legged Straight Spine c. The Tiger... d. Flat Back e. One Legged Curved Spine (R) f. One Legged Straight Spine
. Master these starter exercises, and a whole new world opens up: "The Jackrabbit" aka "Knees Off"! The Jackrabbit is similar to The Tiger and Flat Back variations. But, and this is important, the knees are off the Reformer, by just (again important) just one centimetre at the start and the legs push the carriage out.
. HIIT Pilates? Oh yes рЯШО! 60 seconds of Jack Rabbit, followed by something more sedate: Supine Armwork. Jack Rabbit again, followed by say, Feet in Straps (one variation). Then back to Jack Rabbit... рЯРЗрЯМЈрЯРЗрЯМЈрЯРЗ
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Reformer for Beginners: 8. Long Box Pulling Straps... a. Lat Press b. Triceps Press c. T Pulls... d. Swan e. Swan with Beats
This is what I like to call the "meat and potatoes" course!
It can be heavy on the arms, depending on the springs you use... But (starting from the feet) heels together, externally rotated and squeeze them together, then similarly, it's the inner thighs and glutes holding the legs straight and true! Squeeze! Feel those connections...рЯШГрЯШГрЯШГ
Then it's the abdominals: pull them in (and connect them to your glutes) in order to protect the lower spine from excessive extension when you come to the SwanрЯТЖрЯТЖрЯТЖ
Then there's the "T Pulls": keep the palms if your hands pointed down resist the temptation to outwardly rotate the shoulder.
Finally "The Swan"... Add some "Beats" (clapping your heels together) for extra challenge. And if that's not enough: repeat the whole series with a Swan on every repetition! рЯ¶ЖрЯ¶ЖрЯ¶ЖрЯ¶ЖрЯ¶ЖрЯ¶ЖрЯ¶ЖрЯ¶Ж (there are no Swan emojis) рЯ§£рЯШВрЯ§£
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Reformer for Beginners: 7b. Short Box Abdominals... a. Round Back b. Round Back with Rotation c. Flat Back... d. Flat Back with Rotation
Strengthen your abdominals and your back extensors - and learn balanced strength between the two рЯШКрЯШКрЯШК...
How far should you roll back: until just before you lose control of the connections! Keep those adbomials pulled in!
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Short Box Abdominals... A taster... A starter of shoulder, lateral thoracic and spinal rotational movement... What's not to love?
Next post shows the basic Short Box Abdominals repertoire, but for now, let's practice some elementary concepts...
Your shoulders might get tired, so some shoulder circles might wiggle it out. If they don't get tired? Check the integrity of the trunk: in other words pull on your rib cage, so that you can feel the opposition between your shoulder ...blade movement and abdominals controlling your chest. Lovely вЭ§пЄП. If it's easy, you're not doing it right...
I never really understood the Short Box Abdominal Series until someone pointed out to me ( @pilatesandrea ) that the whole series goes through every possible combination of spinal movement:
- flexion - flexion with rotation - extension (actually straight spine: but that's the challenge) - extension / straight spine with rotation...
But there is one thing missing: lateral translation... That really is an exquisite movement to make and when I can do it well, I'll audition for Bollywood вЭ§пЄП
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