Pilates an exercise similar to yoga that is designed to improve the over-all strength, posture, and flexibility of one’s body. Moreover, it also enhances the awareness of one’s mental health by utilizing breathing exercises.
If you are a beginner and needs further guidance in starting your Pilates journey, discussed in this article are its benefits and basic Pilates exercise routine which you can refer to.
Pilates exercises can come in different degree of difficulty. For beginners, there are easy to execute routine that you can employ on your work-out. Provided below are some of the beginner Pilates exercises.
1. Side Plank with Leg Raises
This exercise targets your arms, legs, and abdomen core. First, lie on your side. Have your thighs together and bend the knees of your leg on the lying side at a 90-degree angle. Raise your upper body and support it using the strength of your elbow and forearm.
Place your other arm on your side and start raising the leg up multiple times. Exhale while raising your leg and inhale as you put it down. Repeat the process on the opposite side.
2. Ball Roll
You can have fun while doing Pilates exercises. This exercise is a great way to simply massage your back and work your abdominal muscles. You need to first engage in a seating position. Make sure that your knees are bent and feet are pointed. Hug the back of your thigh using each hand.
Then, you can lift your legs while keeping your knees apart. Tuck you head between your knees. Finally, rock your body back and forth while doing a breathing exercise. Repeat the back and forth motion for multiple times.
3. The 100
This is a popular exercise in every Pilates routine. The 100 was designed to normalize the blood circulation in the body. It also helps your warm up. To start doing this routine, draw your legs toward your chest. Curl up your head while sending your legs on a position like tabletop.
While having your knee parallel above your hips, hollow your abs. Hover your arms above your abdominal wall and start pumping them. Raise and drop your arms on around six to eight inches range. Every five counts, you should inhale and exhale. Repeat the steps for 10 times.
4. Saw
If you need to stretch your shoulders and strengthen your upper back, you can employ this easy Pilates exercise. The saw requires you to sit up and spread your legs spanning across the yoga mat. You can then straighten your arms to the sides.
Twist to your side and stretch your hand towards the opposite foot for three times. Return to center and twist again to another side. Repeat the process and continue doing for multiple times.
5. Push-ups
To stabilize your core muscles, you should get an excellent upper body work-out. You can make use of a Pilates chair to gain more benefits in your workout. Find the best Pilates chair which can aid you in your exercises.
To start with the push-ups, lie down on top of your chair. Press your hands on the chair’s pedal. Find your comfortable place and settle with a balanced position by bringing your hips on the edge of the chair.
When you are already in a parallel position, you can start to push and pull on the pedal. You can include a breathing exercise by exhaling as you push. Repeat the steps for up to 20 times.
Tips for Beginners
Pilates provides a number of physical and mental health benefits to you. You can improve your flexibility and improve your body coordination. Furthermore, it can improve your posture and increase the strength of your muscles.
You can easily get started by trying out these beginner exercises. These are easy to execute and require no advanced training. You can also amp up your exercise by utilizing Pilates equipment such as a Pilates chair.
You can include breathing exercises in your routine. This is a great way to calm your senses and relax your mind. Not only you can prevent potential diseases and injuries related to your muscles and bones, you can also improve your mental health.