Pilates is a super exciting exercise! But people usually connect a pilates with losing weight. However, it is not the truth, because your body and weight loss is created in the kitchen (i.e. with the food you intake). Exercise works much better because if you're doing exercise and you're not going to watch what you're eating, then you're going to get fitter to meet the shape a bit. You are just going to be the fitter version of fit or maybe slighter version of self, but you're not going to lose weight. Secondly, with the pilates, it still helps you with a strong core, now the strength core means your abdominal that gives you abs. Your weight loss journey should have pilates and cardio exercises. One should make a few rounds of both pilates and cardio training, (in a way) which will keep themselves safe, burning more calories, working on their core to make it a kind of win on all level.
PILATES EXERCISES FOR WEIGHT LOSS
Hundred: Beginners version
- You lie down on the back with the legs in the tabletop position, now the tabletop position you'll see in the picture, i.e. 90°, your hands are to the ground and knees try in creating a 90-degree angle. You can either put a cushion under the head, or you lift the head, and you start moving quickly with your arms up and down.
- So it's fast short right movements with your arms up and down, this is already going to elevate your heart rate, you inhale on the count of 4 beats you exhale on the count of 6 beats and that is total of 10 beats. You should do 100 beats, that's why the exercise is called 100 because you're supposed to do 100 quick repetitions with the arm movements up & down.
- While you're doing this exercise you should be pushing the back into the ground you should pe pulling the stomach in really tight your abdominal area. If you're having any back problem, you can put a cushion under the back, under the bottom, i.e. going to give you support.
Connection
- You keep the legs in tabletop position, and you put your hands against your thighs, and you try to use your arm strength to push your thighs away from the body, but at the same time, you're moving the legs to over the chest.
- So that way you're creating two opposing forces. This is creating deep tension and engagement of abdominal muscles when you make the tension push as much as you can and then do quick breathing.
- The same rhythm you have been using for short movement, you're doing quick breathing, while you're pushing arms and legs into each other. This exercise is called a connection.
Reaching Out (Beatle on the Back)
- You hold the same position where you were (connection), and you take the right arm and left leg and push them away from another. While left leg remains in the tabletop position and the left arm is alongside the body.
- So you're lying on the back, and you're just taking one arm and leg away (bring them together take them out). So ten times one side and then you change your side and do the same movement on the other side.
- Tip: Originally these exercises are meant to be done in this order because they're progressions, so each workout is built on the previous one, and it is challenging the different abdominal area than the other.
Pilates Crunch
- Legs still in the tabletop position and you just put hands behind the base of the head, and you try to lift your chest, to curve over your navel without pressing the shoulders.
- If this position is too difficult, you can put your feet against the wall because that way you'll have a little stability and then you push into the wall, and that will help you create tension and connection with the abdominal.
- Now from this position, you are holding the upper body up. Connection fighting the abs and you're stretching one leg out between 45 and 60 degrees. So you're stretching one leg at a time while the upper body is lifted and you're in the crunch position.
- Tip: If even that is too difficult, you can also put the feet on the ground and keep the knees bend and then do the crunch.
Conclusion
We're talking about pilates for weight loss and beginners so we are assuming that people are deconditioned, and they might be slighter heavy side. So usually there could be an issue with neck, with the back, okay, not necessarily anything seriously wrong but just because of the weight & condition. That way we are modified things, so it's still significant, still beneficial & but it is safe. Because what is the point if you start something & end up with an injury. It might better be doing small steps in continuous progress, i.e. what is always about baby steps progress. Rather than you start taking a big chunk & you so something fabulous & then you injured & cannot do such things for a much longer which keeps you frustrated.
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