If you’re not a morning person, a bit of movement first thing could improve your relationship with your alarm clock. Don’t panic, this doesn’t mean you need to head out on a 10K run or attempt a challenging HIIT workout (opens in new tab) in the early hours.
Instead, unfurling a yoga mat (opens in new tab) and easing into some simple stretches, like this 30-minute Pilates session from certified instructor Nicole McPherson (opens in new tab), can be enough to wake up your body and prepare you for the day.
As well as strengthening movements, a lot of the exercises in this routine focus on increasing your mobility. Improving in this area can make your joints more robust, prevent injuries and ease aches and pains, so it’s well worth your time.
McPherson might have designed this for a quick morning boost, but there’s no reason you can use this throughout the day to feel more energized and strengthen your core, especially if you follow her demonstrations to perfect your form.
Watch Move With Nicole’s 30-minute Pilates routine
To really feel the benefits, try to use a full range of motion during each of the movements. However, to avoid injury, you should never push your body to the point where a stretch feels painful.
This Pilates practice includes a large number of core strengthening exercises (opens in new tab). These challenge your midsection muscles to support your torso as you complete each movement, as well as powering twisting and bending motions.
As a result, you will work your “deep core” muscles like the spine-stabilizing transversus abdominis and multifidus, as well as more visible components of the core like the internal and external obliques, and the rectus abdominis (responsible for the six-pack shape).
To make sure you’re using your core to control these movements, think about squeezing your stomach muscles to activate your mind-muscle connection (opens in new tab), which increases your awareness of your body and the activity in the targeted…
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