Is it okay to skimp on sleep in order to fit in a workout?

If you are cutting back on your sleep on a routine basis, then the answer is no. In most cases, people are exercising to stay fit and trim. Lack of sleep can result in just the opposite. Insufficient sleep is associated with weight gain, impaired glucose metabolism and cardiovascular stress. It also weakens athletic performance and makes you much more vulnerable to injury. Several recent studies have demonstrated how athletic performance is directly related to sleep.

Another thing to keep in mind is when you want to work out. If it is close to bedtime, it will affect your ability to fall asleep. If it is early in the morning, before you usually wake up, it may cut into your REM sleep and can have adverse consequences.

Making the Transition from Beginner to Intermediate

Q: Right now in my practice, I find beginner mat classes too basic, and intermediate classes a little too challenging. Do you have any suggestions for making the transition from beginner to intermediate level? Is there anything I can do at home to bridge the gap?

A: In your practice, you should always feel challenged. But that doesn’t necessarily mean more complex or difficult moves. It has more to do with diving deeper into the work, gaining some more control and achieving a better quality of the moves. It is important to keep in mind that level is not an indication of your grasp of Pilates, the way you do the work is! And your ability to assimilate it into your everyday life.

Herein lies the power of Pilates: it is a lifelong practice of understanding our bodies better and being more aware of our alignment, posture, and moving habits.

You will hear many instructors say they derive just as much value and challenge from a fundamentals class as they do an advanced class. Of course, we understand that it is human nature to want to be challenged.  There is a sense of gratification in feeling and seeing improvement but your ability to do the work safely without harming yourself should always come first! With this in mind, consider practicing at home between classes! You’ll be amazed at how quickly self-practice will allow you to feel more confident and comfortable in a higher-level class. And remember… Enjoy every class you take, regardless of the level!

Mindful benefits of Gratitude

Sometimes it’s all too easy to let negative thoughts take over and with our mental state and physical health inextricably linked, it is important to keep the negatives in check. Negative thoughts and stress often present in the physical body in a myriad ways, from headaches and stomach-aches to suppressed immune systems.

In today’s world filled with social media ads and fast pace, self-reflection and improvement can feel like more to-dos on an already full list. But taking just a few minutes out of your day to reflect, write down or verbalize what you have to be grateful for can have a huge impact on your mental state, health and quality of life. By adapting habits to show gratitude as part of your daily routine you can begin to reap its benefits. Here are a few simple ways to start feeling and realizing what you are grateful for in your life.

Improved Relationships:

Showing gratitude for the people in your life can have a huge impact on the quality and longevity of those relationships. Having strong connections around you is not only beneficial for your mental health, it can also lead to new experiences and opportunities.

Effective Stress Management:

Daily life is full of stressful situations. Being grateful can improve your ability to deal with adversity, helping you handle whatever life throws your way at work and in your personal life. Practicing a gracious attitude can greatly reduce negative emotions such as, guilt, resentment, and frustration as well as reinforce positive emotions such as happiness and optimism, and lower levels of depression.

Improved Physical Health:

Grateful people report feeling less pain and feeling healthier, according to a 2012 study published in the online journal Personality and Individual Differences. They also tend to take better care of their health by exercising more often, going to the doctor and being more conscious of what they eat.

Focus on Achieving Goals:

Self-reflection is an essential part of gratitude and also plays a role in achieving your goals. Taking stock of your life and being aware of what you want for yourself helps in setting goals and putting in the work to make them a reality.

Live in the Moment:

Be present and try to focus only on what you are experiencing in the current moment! Break the cycle of being concerned with rewriting the past or controlling the future. Let the mind be free to be present and content with what is. And if you feel yourself falling into negative thoughts, take a moment, focus on your breathing, and be grateful.

Start a Gratitude Journal:

Take a few minutes either at the start of each day or right before bed to list what you’re thankful for. It could be something positive that happened during your day or in your life you are thankful for. Doing this will help shift your focus from the negative to the positive! And you will have the opportunity to look back on it at the end of the year.

Don’t forget to thank those who contribute to your life even in the smallest ways with a simple spoken thank you or a note. You’ll find that the effect is cumulative—the more you practice gratitude, the more grateful you’ll become.

5 Benefits of Agility Training

Agility is your body’s ability to be quick, graceful, and nimble. It is how effectively and efficiently you can move, change direction and the position of your body while still maintaining control. It is an important aspect of an athletic lifestyle.

Being agile doesn't just improve athletic performance. Agility can also improve how you move day-to-day. Whether you want to improve your balance, build your mind-body connection or improve your recovery time, agility training can complement your Pilates training. As the weather gets warmer, it’s the perfect workout to take out to the back yard or a nearby park. Have some fun with it, get outdoors, challenge yourself and reap the benefits!

Injury Prevention

Many injuries happen when the body falls out of alignment in motion. An easy way to understand this is to think of pulling the muscles in your lower back if you lift from an improper position. Just like tearing the ligaments in a knee if you misstep, injuries happen quite easily. Agility training has been proven to increase balance, control and flexibility, allowing the body to maintain proper posture and alignment during movement. Agility training helps the body learn correct body placement, meaning sensitive areas like the shoulders, lower back and knees are protected while moving quickly.

The Mind-Body Connection

Agility training helps build pathways in the brain for fast responses to various stimuli. At first, the responsive movements will seem forced, but as you practice, they will become more natural as muscle memory is established.

Improved Balance and Coordination

 If you have ever watched a gymnast on a balance beam you’ve seen their movements are dynamic, fluid and perfectly balanced. Agility training encourages the body to develop balance in the midst of dynamic movement. Practicing quick stops and starts, hand-eye coordination and speed help the body work as a whole. When the body is working in sync, movements become more fluid, for smooth, coordinated transitions.

Improved Recovery Time

Sometimes an intense workout can leave you with sore muscles and decreased energy levels the next day. But the bursts of movement in agility training, when practiced over a sustained period of time, help build strength in the musculoskeletal system, which in turn can shorten recovery time.

Increased Results in Minimal Time

Often agility training drills are also High Intensity Interval Training exercises, which can produce noticeable results in a minimal amount of time. Non-linear movements, such as side-stepping footwork using an Agility Ladder, or running a slalom course around Agility Cones, engage a greater number of muscles than if you were to simply run in a straight line. Engaging more muscles translates into greater results from your workout.

Finding the Breath with a mini stability ball

Most people are unaware of the impact that poor breathing habits have. In fact, there is a strong correlation between poor breathing habits and incontinence as well as lower back pain. Understanding how to recognize breathing patterns is the starting point for any well-established Pilates practice. Mini stability balls are great tools for identifying the primary and secondary breathing muscles. They can help in understanding which muscles should be doing 80% of the work and how overworking the secondary breathing muscles can create tension in unwanted areas. Additionally, learning the importance of posture and aligning our 3 main diaphragms vertically in the torso helps the flow of breath in both static and dynamic postures. Use the Mini Stability Ball™ as a focal point against the ribcage and this directs the ribs to move. We can place the ball on the side of the ribcage, the chest or the back of the ribcage directing the breath into the ball.

Using a mini stability ball to get a thorough overview of the breath will also bring a new appreciation for proper breathing. Your instructor can also provide useful exercise options to promote more movement in areas of the thorax that are restricted and hopefully less movement in unwanted places.

Pilates for Hiking

If you are looking for a workout that strengthens your heart, burns calories and improves your mental health, a hike is just the ticket.  Research shows that it can lift your mood and decrease anxiety and being in the outdoors is always good for the soul. In fact, one study found that people who walked in nature were less likely to dwell on their worries compared to those who strolled on a city street!

The good news is that Pilates offers a strong base for hiking. Both hiking and Pilates involve your legs and use your core and balance.

 If you are hiking on rocky terrain you need to stay upright without leaning forward.

Going for a hike can be as easy as lacing up a sturdy pair of shoes and finding a trail and we recommend prepping with these four moves.

Planks

WHY: This classic core exercise works the entire body. A strong core is key for going up and down hills.

Lunges on the Chair

WHY: You’ll use the same leg muscles that you use while hiking. Try to incorporate them into an hour-long cardio equipment class to help with endurance.

Swimming

WHY: It’s effective for teaching you how to maintain a long spine.

The Hundred

WHY: Along with focusing on the breath, this exercise also teaches perseverance which can help when your hike starts to seem daunting!

Coordination on the Mat

If you’ve been having one of those days, it is easy to turn to exercise for a pick me up.  Moving has the power to rejuvenate your mind, relieve your stress, reverse your mood and turn your day from drab to fab. Get started with this coordination-challenging exercise for a mood change!

Purpose: strengthens the powerhouse; challenges coordination with breath.

Setup: Lie on your back with your knees bent into your chest and elbows bent by your sides. Curl your head, neck and shoulders off the mat.

1.       Inhale as you extend your arms and legs forward.

2.       Open and close your legs.

3.       Exhale as you return to the starting position, staying in your curl. Do 4 more reps.

Making the transition from beginner to intermediate level

If you find yourself in that spot where you find beginner (mat) classes too basic, and intermediate classes a little too challenging, we have some suggestions to help you bridge the gap. You should always feel challenged but challenge doesn’t have to mean feeling uncomfortable. It has more to do with delving deeper into the work, gaining more control and achieving a better quality of the movements.

Keep in mind, level is not an indication in and of itself of your grasp of Pilates. The way you do the work, and your ability to assimilate it into your everyday life is.

Pilates is a lifelong practice of better understanding our bodies and being aware of your alignment, posture and movement habits as you grow in your practice. You can derive just as much value—and challenge—from a fundamental class as you can from an advanced class.  It is human nature to want to be challenged, so if you are feeling stuck in the middle try focusing on your movement and control.

And remember that your ability to do the work safely and not harm yourself should always come first!

Pilates Perfect?

Somewhere along the line Pilates became associated with perfectly sculpted bodies. Maybe it is because so many celebrities and athletes have talked about their pilates routines and regimes over the years. Maybe it’s because of Joseph Pilates himself, whose own book references “mortal perfection” and “bodily perfection” in the very first sentence of the intro written by Frederick Rand Rogers.

It is no secret that Joe was tough on his students and demanded a level of precision most of us could never dream of fulfilling. And maybe it’s because, at the end of the day, engaging in a regular Pilates practice will help you sculpt beautiful, strong muscles.

The truth is that there is no such thing as a “Pilates-perfect” body. The Pilates method does not differentiate or discriminate. It will change your life for the better regardless of how hold you are, if you are a size two or twenty, in great shape or coming off of an injury. Perfect is not what Pilates is about. It is about feeling amazing on the inside and out!

How to Teach Kids Pilates

Pilates benefits kids in many ways. Pilates can boost physical fitness and increase concentration in the classroom for kids. But kids can pose interesting challenges when it comes to teaching them- they are less likely to stay still, or to follow detailed instructions, or to understand high-level fitness lingo. So what to do?
 

• Make it a game: You can do a Pilates Says take on the popular game Simon Says!
• Identify role models: Being able to have someone to relate to can make Pilates more enjoyable for kids and easy to get them excited.
• Harness the energy: Incorporate cardiovascular exercises
  when the little ones have a lot OF extra energy. This way, you can harness that energy in a controlled manner.
• Improvise: Don’t be scared to play it by ear. If there are some moves that the kids are enjoying more than others, mix up the routine and follow their interest.
• Take it easy: Remember they are just kids so take it easy and have fun!
• Save the breath for last: Working on breathing and educating kids on how to breathe properly will help them calm down from the all the exercise and is a nice way to end.

Premiere Pilates Sarasota is for everyBODY! Our clients consist of all different fitness levels and ages, both male and female. We meet you at your fitness level and will help you progress every step of the way. You will receive hands on personal instruction and corrections will be made throughout your workout so that results can be achieved quickly.