Pilates Double Leg Stretch - Learning Pilates Correctly

By Dusty Thornton
In this article we're going to talk about a Pilates exercise called the Pilates double leg stretch and how to properly perform it. As you know, properly executing Pilates exercises is the key to effectiveness, so learning the right way to practice is going to lend you greater benefits from your workout.

As always, it's best to find a personal Pilates instructor or attend a class to improve, but if you're one of those do-it-yourself kind of guys or girls then here's a rundown of the correct steps in the Pilates double leg stretch:

1. While lying centered on your mat, bend your knees into your chest. Inhale as you pull your abs in and up.

2. Exhale and float your head up off of the mat and grab both shins, tucking yourself into a tight ball.

3. As you inhale, straighten your arms and legs up to the ceiling like you are reaching for the sky.

4. Exhale and circle your arms down and pull your knees back into your chest, creating that tight ball again.

5. Repeat this exercise five more times, inhaling as you reach and exhaling as you pull in.

When doing the double leg stretch, focus on keeping your core stable, letting the movement of your arms and legs flow out naturally. Make sure you are working from your core and not straining your neck. This exercise really works your abs and helps to stabilize your core. It is great for toning and strengthening abdominal muscles.

Finally remember to practice this exercise in an area where you can completely relax. Stress and straining will do nothing but hinder your progress.

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Pilates Single Leg Stretch - Learning Basic Pilates Moves

By Dusty Thornton
The single leg stretch in Pilates is one of the abdominal Pilates movements that works your core muscles. This move teaches you to stabilize your body while relying on your abdominal muscles instead of other body muscles.

In this article we're going to discuss how to perform the single leg stretch, step by step.

1 - From a seated position grab onto the backs of your thighs and slowly roll yourself down onto the mat. Center yourself, keeping your needs bent and arms long by your side.

2 - As you inhale, scoop your belly and bring your knees into your chest.

3 - As you exhale, float your head and neck up off the mat and place both hands just below you right kneecap. Pull your knee into your chest as you extend your left leg out, no further than a forty-five degree angle. Inhale as you switch, bringing your left knee into your chest and extending your right leg out.

4 - Repeat this pattern, inhaling and exhaling with each move, eight more times.

5 - During the single leg stretch, make sure you are using your core to control the movement and not your body. Also, make sure the tips of your shoulder blades remain on the mat and that your head "floats" up off the moat. If you feel any tension in your neck simply release your head down to the mat.

6 - Finally, really stretch your extended leg out like you are trying to reach the opposite wall while pulling the opposite knee tight into your chest.

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5 Good Reasons You Should Start Doing Pilates

By Jack J. Jackson
Would it not be handy if you ever could include pilates in your training routine? A lot of people have answered "yes" and gone on to actually do it. Comparatively few people ever take enough time to think it through carefully. Most are convinced it's a lot more challenging than it truly is, so that they never begin. Thinking that it would require too much time discourages many people. Others just consider it too low a priority to be really worth bothering with.

Now "Whoa Up" there one minute, my friend! Are those reasons really sufficiently good to base an important decision on? Did the reasons for have a fair hearing? Were both sides in the question taken into account? Did the problems win out for the reason that positives were not taken into consideration? Maybe we ought to reconsider that. Probably we ought to simply give some thought to five positive reasons to include pilates in your training routine and reevaluate them.

First, these universal exercise assist with slenderizing your body, and with improving control over muscles of the hands and legs.

Second, pilates will make muscle tissue more flexible. And this is beneficial to your health. O.K., I can understand your objection that this isn't very important factor to suit your needs. You don really dream day and night about having flexible muscles. You don't really care about how flexible muscle tissue are. Yes, this is a good point. But look at this, if you have flexible muscles it's easier to do any kind of exercises that you'll require for slimming or bodybuilding. Even more, consider that these exercises will not only make parts of your muscles more flexible, but additionally stronger. And this also will help you with all of your other trainings.

Third. Pilates will help to counter-balance both sides of your body. The list of exercise you do on each training was designed especially to keep yourself balanced. As a consequence of that, you're not suffering from stress so easily, you really feel harmony and power in your body.

Fourth, these workouts allow you to be familiar with the body system, be in touch with it (and most people are not). Additionally, it helps you with proper breathing!

And fifth, pilates prevents injuries of bones and muscles.

Consider every one of those reasons each in its turn, and look at how they affect you. You will be able to understand that a strong case exists for starting to search for ways to start doing pilates.

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Ten Things You Must Know About Stott Pilates Toning Ball

By Nurum Mukharum Mawan
For Pilates students, having a pilates equipments like Stott Pilates Toning Ball is a good choice. This tool make easier the exercise and raising the performance. But before get the one, have a knowledge about this for ten things.

1. Take a consult your certified instructors before purchasing any pilates equipment. Use them only the pilates teacher given advised.

2. You should guaranteed the maintenance and frequently replacement the Stott Pilates and its components. Ask the users manual to determine the schedule of replacing parts.

3. Stott Pilates Toning Ball have two pounds weight and added 1.8 pounds weight when shipped. This is a ball, so the height, length and width are same is 4 inch.

4. To gain maximum results, get two balls not a single ball only. And ensure both have same weight and same size. Sometimes the weight difference is not noticeable so see scrutiny.

5. The ball is created for developing strength and can be used into pilates, yoga, and aerobic classes.

6. This Stott is produced from soft and durable vinyl shell and filled by the sand. So the weight shifts slightly when the student use them.

7. Not included a battery

8. The buyers get a 30-day warranty. So if your ball not inflatable or hard as rock and couldn't make it happen even took it by using air compressor, have a returned as soon as possible.

9. Stott Pilates produce three color in this product. Purple for one pound, blue for two and green for three pounds. The price each color under $16.

10. To using the ball in real exercise you can purchase a Stott Pilates DVD. You can a pick up Amazing Tone DVD, Stott Pilates Fitness Circle Lite DVD Gift Pack or The Secret to Toned Thighs.

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The Benefits of Occupational Therapy

By Susan A Moore
Pain is a part of life sometimes, but don't you wish you could deal with it in such a way that it won't just come back again? Occupational therapy can help you with your aches and pains in a way that you may have not thought possible.

There are many ways for the human body to start aching; work, play and life all cause aches and pains throughout the body and though many people can just pop a painkiller and be done with it, some pain is far more chronic and becomes a hindrance to your quality of life. Pain from conditions like carpel tunnel syndrome, fibromyalgia, headaches and neck pain cannot just be willed away or dealt with through painkillers and this is where you may want to consider the benefits of occupational therapy.

Occupational therapy when done through a good clinic has a number of benefits for you. The most obvious one is pain management. A lot of occupational therapy is a series of massages that relieve tense muscles and help blood circulate freely through your body which eases pain and tension. It's also just relaxing to have a massage, so you attain a state of mind that is more conducive to dealing with pain. Occupational therapy uses a number of hands-on techniques like soft tissue massage and myofascial release to restore muscle movement and give you more pain free freedom to move.

However, there are other benefits to occupational therapy that you may not have considered. For example, many good clinics have wellness centers which teach you how to manage the pain on your own through things like diet, exercise and education into what your particular pain means and how to handle it between therapy sessions. Some occupational therapy clinics will even have other things like Pilates or stretching sessions to give you other chances to work through your chronic pain in a way that is more active. Occupational therapy will also teach you the ins and outs of your specific condition so that you know what to expect, what to avoid doing, and what to do to minimize the damage on yourself so you can go longer between massages and not need so many painkillers. If nothing else, occupational therapists will teach you what you need to do at home to stop chronic pain before it get to be too much to bear and how to deal with it without the use of drugs. After all, it is therapy as well as pain management, so you learn more about yourself and how to work with yourself as well as get pain relief.

Chronic pain is not something that you need to suffer through; there are plenty of ways to help yourself and stay pain free longer without relying on drugs or surgeries. Occupational therapy can help you in dealing with your pain and with what exactly is causing the pain so that you no longer have to live in the dark about your condition and you can deal with it on your terms in the best way possible and of course, offers pain relief in the form of various massages and exercises. No matter what kind of chronic pain you have, nor where it is sourced, you can find help with occupational therapy.

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The Benefits of Pilates for Chronic Pain

By Susan A Moore
Pilates is normally thought of as a type of stretching exercise, but it can also be very beneficial for those with chronic pain problems. How can Pilates benefit you?

Pilates is a kind of stretching activity which works on your core; strengthening it and making it more flexible. Pilates is done on floor mats and you do stretches and hold yourself in a variety of positions. Pilates can also be done using equipment; in fact for many beginners and those suffering from some kinds chronic pain, it's advisable to start with the equipment to get a feel for the program before moving on to the mats. It may sound simplistic, but there are actually many benefits to Pilates, especially if you are a sufferer of chronic pain anywhere in the body. Pilates may have become something of a buzz word, with many people claiming to incorporate it into their exercise systems in order to sell them, but the real thing is very effective on your body.

Pilates does a range of things for your body. It teaches correct posture, deep breathing, and tones up your core (though it won't by itself make for flat abs or strong muscles; it just improves flexibility and durability). Pilates has also be used to help those who have been injured to achieve greater muscle and limb motion and get back a lot of lost flexibility and strength. Pilates is also all about bringing your mind and body together in a harmonious, unified whole so that you feel healthier and happier after every session.

The main benefit of Pilates is not just flexibility and core strength though; it's also about body awareness. Utilizing correct Pilates means that you become more aware of how your body feels and why it feels badly after certain activities. For example, you may well know that hunching over a computer hurts your back, but you may not know that it's because of the way your shoulders are aligned. Pilates helps you to realize what is causing many of your chronic pain and how to relieve it in your own home without drugs or surgery. For this reason, Pilates is used a lot in conjunction with occupational therapy because it lets patients take their cure into their own hands and work on their core and flexibility so that the chronic pain becomes lessened over time.

Pilates also teaches you how to move correctly so that you aren't doing things that will cause more pain to your limbs. It works the whole body instead of muscle groups so that everything works together and thus works more smoothly for it.

Keep in mind that Pilates, for all of its touted glory, is not a cure all; in fact, for some pain sufferers, it may not be all that useful. Make sure to check with your doctor before trying Pilates to make sure that it will actually work for you and always do Pilates with a trained instructor so that you get the full range of exercises and you're under professional supervision at all times. However, for those whom Pilates will benefit and under the correct guidance, it's a great way to lessen chronic pain and bring back your flexible limbs and strong core.

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Pilates Training Fit for Martial Arts?

By Simona Rusnakova
There are many people who have started to integrate Pilates into their martial arts training. There are many reasons for why this is done but the most important is that Pilates provides core balance. There are also a number of benefits that martial artists have found with Pilates. These benefits will include a reduction in injuries the ability to hold the body in proper alignment to remove strain on the muscles.

Pilates courses

If you are going to be doing Pilates in conjunction with martial arts training there are some things that you need to know. The first is that there is no special martial arts Pilates that you need to do. Most Pilates courses will work and it is best to start in beginner classes. All courses will teach you stretching and control over your body and this is very important for martial artists.

Pilates courses will help you exercise and stretch the abdomen and the back muscles. When this is done your balance will become better and many have found their coordination is much better as well. These are important for martial arts practitioners as good balance and coordination will allow you to do you martial arts better.

One thing that needs to be kept in mind when thinking about doing Pilates is that the creator of Pilates originally worked with boxers. This means that the whole system was created to be used for sports people and martial artists. Pilates evolved to help people with injuries during World War One but had started as floor exercises.

Pilates training

If you are going to be doing Pilates training for martial arts practitioners there are some things that you should keep in mind. One of them is that there are certain aspects of Pilates that should be doubled compared to a normal training session. The amount of leg exercises in particular should be doubled as this will help the martial artist feel lighter on their feet and allow them to perform kick easier and with less effort. Some of the exercises that should be doubled include anchoring the pelvis through pulling the abdominal muscles inward.

Pilates training has a lot of emphasis on the shoulders. One thing about the shoulders in particular is to keep them down and away from your head. When you do this you will also be lengthening your neck and strengthening the muscles that are under your armpits which creates a longer spine. As you are working your back muscles you will find that back injuries are greatly reduced and longer lines can be created in martial arts. The space that this training gives the joints is good for martial artists as a misstep will no longer cause a long term or permanent injury but rather a smaller one or none at all.

While it may seem far fetched to expect Pilates to help martial artists many do incorporate it into their training. A lot of martial artists have found that Pilates has helped them take their art to the next level and further.

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Looking For The Best Home Hemorrhoid Treatment - You Wont Believe This

By Temitope Agboola
It is not uncommon to find sufferers of hemorrhoids looking for the best hemorrhoids treatment but how can one tell which treatment is the best? For instance, what worked for me may not work for you; to me, it is a best treatment but to you, it is actually no treatment. So what is the yardstick for measuring the best hemorrhoids treatment?

The best treatment for hemorrhoid must be one that has a universal cure for all, in my own opinion, or at least have a larger percentage of cures for sufferers. It should also be one that everyone can embrace without fear. So how does one find such treatments?

Surgical procedures for hemorrhoids are very good for taking care of extreme cases of hemorrhoids such as internal bleeding and profuse external bleeding. However, it may not pass for the best treatment because most people still do not embrace it. Most folks find surgical procedures very scary and they will rather stay with creams and lotions.

While the creams and lotions are good at bringing relief, it still does not reach to the root of the hemorrhoid which ought to be addressed before we can talk of permanent treatment. In the same vein, we cannot say creams and lotions are best hemorrhoids treatment.

We all tend to love fruits and vegetables and we all eat food. Since hemorrhoids are mostly caused by what we eat and what we do not eat or what we drink and what we do not drink, I believe taking cognizance and paying attention to feeding habits, we can arrive at the best hemorrhoids treatment.

So the best hemorrhoids treatment lies in a combination of herbs, vegetables, fruits and foods that can be taken by the sufferer that will lead to a cure of the ailment. This is what is made available in natural or herbal cures for hemorrhoids. There are several herbal remedies out there but the best program I have found it the hemorrhoid miracle which takes you through step by step into the kinds of food you eat and exercises that you can do that will give you complete power over hemorrhoids for life.

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