July 2008

Jason and I now have an online courseware site up and running! 

Yesterday I put up our first book.  The Pilates Basic Mat is FREE to read online, covers everything you need to start getting into shape right NOW and you can also download a print friendly version. 

We are still in the early stages, but this book is the first of a lot more to come.  We will be offering courses and publishing books through this site on Pilates, Shaolin Kung Fu and general health and fitness.  So be sure to keep checking in with us for the latest. 

I am so excited!  It’s official, I can no do The Pull Up on the Wunda Chair with only 2 springs on the bottom!……and do it well….and repeat it consistently!  For those of you who know the exercise and the spring strength I am sure you will appreciate my excitement:)  

If you aren’t familiar with the exercise here is a photo.  In this photo I have the usual spring setting of one top and one bottom.  You can’t see it in the photo but the springs attach from the peddle my feet are on to one of the three hooks at the back, you can see the bolts on the outside of the chair.  There is one spring on each side of the chair.  With the Pull Up, the less spring resistance you have the harder the exercise is as you have to use more of your own strength to pull yourself up.  The stronger the spring resistance the more help you get.  On the Wunda Chair the spring resistance is strongest when you attach them to the top hooks and lightest when you attach them to the bottom hooks.  So my next challenge is to be able to pull up with only one spring attached!       

Here are three things you can do to help keep your feet in good shape. 
 
The first one, as I mentioned above, is massage.  Do it yourself or get someone else to help you out.  A few minutes once a week will make a big difference. 
 
The second one is a follow on from a body tip a couple of issues ago.  Stand with your heels together, your toes apart, squeeze your legs together and pull your abdominal muscles strongly to your spine.  Place your weight evenly on both feet.  Keeping your weight even and your heels together, slowly rise up onto your toes.  Only lift as high as you can keep your weight even and your heels together!  Repeat this a few times, and try it a couple of times a day.
 
The third tip you can do standing or sitting.  Simply try to seperate all your toes.  Spread them all out so that none of them are touching and see if you can move each toe.  This one is fun, as you get better at it you will be able to see all the muscles and bones up through your foot move.
 
Have fun with these and remember to love your feet! , as you get better at it you will be able to see all the muscles and bones up through your foot move.

The Hundred is the first exercise in the Pilates mat work routine.  It has a variety of benefits for the body, including strengthening the abdominal muscle as well as the hip and legs muscles.  It helps to improve breathing and the co-ordination of breathing with body movement.  It’s placement in the mat sequence is important to consider as well.  The Hundred is the first exercise in the sequence because it wakes everything up and warms everything up. 

There are a couple of common mistake that people make with The Hundred.  The first one I see all the time is the position of the spine.  When you’re doing The Hundred you should feel your back, right from your pelvis to the base of your shoulder blades, flat on the floor.  This whole section of your back should be pressed into the floor.  Many people let it lift up, either because they aren’t instructed properly or they are attempting to holdtheir legs lower then their strength can maintain.  If you feel that the work moves quickly form your abs to your back when you do The Hundred check your position, try bringing your legs up higher.  The goal is to have yourlegs just off the ground but most people aren’t strong enough to do that straight away.  Make sure you are working your body intelligently and pay attention to the position of your spine. 

The second most common mistake I see is in the head position.  A lot of people struggle in the beginning keeping their head up off the mat as they feel strain in their necks.  When your head is up it should be all the way up, you should be able to rest your eyes on your belly button.  IF your neck is feeling strained you should rest it down on the floor.  Don’t make the mistake of trying to hold it a bit lower of the ground as that will make it worse.  All the way up or all the way down, if you are looking at the ceiling your position is wrong. 

When I first moved to Tasmania I did a Pilates class at a gym to see what it was like.  When we eventually got to The Hundred the instructor told us that we should feel the deep abdominal muscles working but let the surface one relax, he also told us that if we were feeling the work in our necks that was good because that was where we should feel it………no, no and definitely NO!

The Huindred should work ALL of your abdominal muscles and you dont’t want to feel it in your neck.  You will strengthen the neck muscles by holding your body in this position but you shouldn’t hold it to the point that you are straining the neck.   

Here are a few examples of positions for The Hundred.  The second two can easily be done with the head on the ground if you have trouble with your neck.