Pilates on Fifth Video Podcast A free weekly Pilates online video program to train your core muscles!

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Want a fun exercise that Pilates yoga enthusiasts will welcome in any Pilates class? Then Dizzy Cat is for you! Perfect for a Pilates beginner, the Dizzy Cat is a variation of the spinal flexibility exercise “Cat Stretch” and uses the abdominal muscles to effect flexion, lateral flexion and extension of the spine. Pilates yoga classes require flexibility and strength of the spine in all shapes of the spine, so Dizzy cat is the perfect exercise for a Pilates beginner to start including in his/her Pilates class from the start. Because the exercise is conducted in an “all fours” position, the spine is never subjected to external pressure. You control the movement with your abdominal muscles, so if you approach this exercise with precision and control, you’ll start to increase flexibility of the spine safely. If a Pilates beginner really learns how the abdominal muscles control and support the spine, then any exercise in a Pilates yoga class will be manageable. Finally, any Pilates class can easily turn into an hour of flexing the spine (like crunches!) Although one may feel their abdominal muscles more this way, balancing movements of the spine is essential to total spinal health and longevity. Thus, Dizzy Cat is a perfect choice for Pilates yoga enthusiasts to include in their Pilates class because all spinal motions are practiced.

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Small balls of all shapes and sizes have become popular items in almost every Pilates studio. Advanced Pilates practitioners, then, will enjoy this twist on the original Pilates exercise “Push Up.” With a medicine ball (easier) or small inflated ball (harder) under one hand, Pilates gym goers will strengthen their cores while targeting the abdominal muscles and muscles of the shoulder girdle as well. The instability created by the ball under one hand triggers the deep stabilizing muscles of the spine and torso to fire and provide extra support. This instability mimics the instability created in a Pilates studio by the equipment such as a Pilates chair. Pilates gym enthusiasts have long known that unstable surfaces are the best way to strengthen deep, inner joint muscles, so this version of the push up is the best way for advanced Pilates students to kick their Pilates workouts up a notch! When performing this Pilates exercise, it is important to keep your shoulders and hips level to the floor and NOT let the ball under one hand affect your alignment. This is where strength is developed! Pilates studios have many ways to challenge alignment, for it is only in challenging alignment that the postural muscles get stronger. On that note, Pilates gym attendees – namely the gym rats – should pay attention to alignment in every exercise! Ask any advanced Pilates practitioner and they will tell you that the key to a healthy spine and body is in the alignment. By challenging your alignment in exercises such as these, you will strengthen your spine, shoulders, abdominals and core!

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Pilates gym workouts merge with this variation on a classical Pilates exercise! Great for golfers, this Pilates exercise focuses on rotation of the rib cage on the pelvis, and any PIlates beginner should incorporate the Spine Twist into his/her Pilates workout. The addition of the mini body bar kicks this Pilates exercise up a notch by adding weight to the rotation, much like a golfer would experience when swinging a club. Pilates gym workouts should integrate weighted rotation into exercises carefully, as unsupported rotation can be a vulnerable position for the spine. A Pilates beginner should make sure they have mastered Pilates exercises such as Spine Twist and Saw before adding weight to rotation. When performing this Pilates exercise, concentrate on using your oblique abdominal muscles to rotate the spine and torso instead of the momentum swinging the arms creates. Using weight during rotation in Pilates gym workouts can be dangerous if you use momentum, but highly effective if you use the abdominal muscles to control the rotation of the spine. Every Pilates beginner is tempted (we know!) to attempt the harder version of an easy Pilates exercise before mastering the original version. Don’t let this be you! The Pilates technique is what makes Pilates workouts so effective, so take the time to master the original series before adding weight.

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Elbow Plank Scapula Boxes is a “spin off” of original Pilates exercises that strengthens the core and scapula stabilizers all at once! If you have not tried the “Elbow Plank Scapula Isolations” please make sure you are comfortable with that Pilates exercise before progressing to the Scapula Boxes. This exercise strengthens the muscles of the rotator cuff, the erector spinae and the deep stabilizers of the torso and lumbo-pelvic hip complex.

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Elbow Scoop Scissors is a variation of the original Pilates mat exercise “Scissors.” The elbow scoop position helps facilitate a deeper rib to hip connection while creating a safer position (strong posterior tilt) for those who wish to explore increased range of motion. Be careful not to sink into the shoulders and to maintain a lengthened spine in this position. You’ll tone and flatten the abdominal muscles and increase flexibility of the hamstrings.

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Elbow Plank with Scapula Isolations strengthens the stabilizers of the shoulder girdle to prepare the body for more difficult original Pilates mat and equipment exercises. If this is too difficult or you feel strain in the lower back, please perform the same exercise on all 4’s! This exercise strengthens the shoulder girdle and targets the deep core muscles as well.

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Side Lying Ovals is adapted from the original Pilates Cadillac exercise of the same name. ; The exercise strengthens the core by challenging stability in neutral against the oval shape drawn by the upper leg. Simultaneously, you’ll tone the inner and outer thighs!

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Happy Cat is an exercise emphasizing lateral flexion of the spine that helps warm up the spine for original Pilates mat work. Because the exercise is conducted on all 4’s, Happy Cat is accessible to most population types and facilitates increased flexibility of the spine without increasing any pressure on it. You’ll tone the abs as you gently warm up the spine.