Pilates Exercise Thera-Band Tips

Series Summary

Pilates are more popular than ever. The exercise system invented by Joseph Pilates was created to strengthen core muscle groups and maintain flexibility. Pilates can be done by almost anyone of any age and fitness level because it very low impact and builds muscle gradually. This fact has made Pilates an increasingly popular form of exercise over the last ten years. In fact, there are over 14,000 Pilates instructors in the United States and it is estimated that 11 million people practice the exercises on a regular basis. In this free video series, an experienced fitness instructor will demonstrate a variety of Pilates exercises. Learn to do full roll ups, the hundreds and mid-back exercises in a Pilates workout. Get tips on Pilates coordination and abdominal preparation, as well as instructions for the single and double leg stretch. An expert Pilates instructor will also demonstrate the frog and corkscrew exercises. Get the six-pack abs everyone dreams of with tips from an expert in this free exercise video series.

Video Transcript

"In this series we are going to be working the abdominals with the challenge of using a theraband to go along with it. When you are using a theraband make sure that you get a number of different weights. So they come in heavy, medium, and light and everything in between. Also make sure that they are about six feet long. This happens to be five so it is a little bit short particularly if you have long arms or a long torso. When we do abdominal work in Pilates we want to make sure we are engaging the right muscles so go ahead and put your hands around the ribcage, expand the ribcage against your fingers and then exhale, close that ribcage down lacing your fingers together as if it were being corseted. When you do this posterior lateral breathing you engage not only the muscles around the ribcage but all the way in the back with the muscles along the spine the erector spinae as well as internal and external obliques. In abdominal work you also want to pull up on the pelvic floor."