Pilates Anyone?

In my last post I talked about weight and exercise. I know many of you probably thought, "Well, I don't have that kind of time," and so you don't do anything at all. Been there, done that...

The fact is, you don't have to go to the gym and spend hours upon hours there. Especially if you are doing nothing at all right now.  Just one hour a day, five days a week is plenty. Start out like I did. Walk. 

The reason walking is not working for me any more, is because, well, my body just got tired of doing the same thing all the time. Yes you read that right. You see, walking was great at first, but as my body got use to walking, it got stagnant. Just as in dieting, you have to trick your body. It's the same with dieting AND exercise; you have to trick your body.

For example...with eating. If you only ate the same thing, same amount of calories, your body will all of the sudden think that it has to keep those calories and then store them (as fat) instead of burn them. It is best if you maybe one day a week, eat a little more. Same thing with exercise. That is one reason that now I am taking so many different types of exercise.  In the next few days, I will go over some of the the forms of exercise I have been doing.

First...Pilates. Great for your core.  These muscles are in the body's lower and upper torso. Most of these muscles are below the surface, so you can't really see them. They are very important because it helps in balance, proper posture, and protects the inner organs. They pretty much help the overall health of an athlete. When I first started Pilates, I found that even though I have week stomach muscles, I have a very strong core, go figure.  So just because your stomach muscles are strong doesn't mean your core is...and vice versa.

According to http://pilates.about.com/od/whatispilates/a/WhatIsPilates.htm
"Pilates is a form of exercise  developed by Joseph Pilates, which emphasizes the balanced development of the body through core strength  flexibility  and awareness in order to support efficient, graceful movement." I guess that's why dancers like Pilates so much. 

source

Breathing is very important in Pilates. Inhale through the nose, exhale through the nose.

Here is a pretty good beginner work out just to give you an idea as to what Pilates is all about. She starts out talking about the breathing.

For more information about Pilates, hop on over to her blog: http://pilates.about.com/od/whatispilates/a/WhatIsPilates.htm
There is a lot of information, and who knows, this might sound very appealing to you.

The next link is a video of a good ab workout. It is a lot like the one we do at my Pilates class.
http://www.blogilates.com/animated-gifs/fabulous-flat-abs-gif-from-pilates-bootcamp

Hope you get the opportunity to try this. I love it!