I never thought it would be possible to get a tight firm body after having a baby. After trying boring workouts and following the herd to the gym I ended up disappointed and frustrated.
Out of shear luck I jumped into Pilates as rehab for my knee and a couple of slipped discs in my lower back I was shocked with how it completely transformed my body.
Commonly practiced by women, this style of training has been incorporated with dozens of other workout regimens. Pilates uses the bodies’ own gravity as resistance to strengthen and tone without putting unnecessary strain on the joints. A challenging and intense style of workout but the missing link to really tapping into the deep core workout.
Pilates is the hidden secret to developing a strong core, and I don’t mean lay down on the floor and start in on hundreds and hundreds of crunches. You won’t even tap the surface of hitting the deep transverse abdominals (the deepest layer of the core) by doing this.
Eventually resulting in a tight low back and super tight hip flexors, it’s all relative and the body works as one unit so paying careful attention to what you are doing to strengthen the core will directly affect the rest of your body.
When targeting the intricate muscles that supports and protects the low back, spine, pelvis and hips. Resulting in a firm toned body and strong, supple look and feel.
Not to mention it shaves off years of your age! People don’t believe me when I tell them I’ll be 40 next year!
Unfortunately, I often see far too many people yanking on the back of their neck and thrusting their hips forward trying to get a deep crunch, it makes me cringe. They will undoubtedly wake up the next day with a stiff neck, an extremely tight low back and hip flexors. Over time this can develop into constant injuries and limited mobility.
Seriously? Who has time for injuries?
A sore low back, tight flexors and poor flexibility in the hips it has to come from somewhere right?
That’s right! A weak core, overuse of muscles and tight stiff spine that leads to feeling old and immobile.
Our core is the foundation and when the foundation is lacking in strength and stability everything around it will crumble.
Try this Pilates Core move….
I was just wondering about a lot of the core exercises. Everyone’s saying how bad crunches are for the neck and back etc but a lot of the core pilates exercises are done in a crunch-type position, is this safe for the neck especially where there is no support ie roll up curl, core cincher etc and even where there is support for the neck, I’m worried about straining etc. Do you have any tips please?
Hi Janine,
This is a very common concern with crunches. Although the positioning of many of the Bodyweight Pilates exercise are in the “crunch” position, the difference is the movement of the exercise. All Pilates moves start with the deep transverse abdominals and the torso which includes the head, neck and shoulders all move as one unit as to avoid tension in the neck. There are many other core workouts in the program that are not in the “crunch” position.
Let me know if you were able to find those…Sylvia =)