Increase Energy with Pilates
Pilates requires precise focus, connecting your mind and body, which can also help you increase energy.
Why Movement Boosts Energy
There are many Pilates movements that can be energising and shift you out of your tired, sluggish mood/mode. Movement boosts circulation, delivering more oxygen to your muscles and brain, which helps you feel more alert. It also releases endorphins, which are natural mood lifters.
Tip 1: Listen to Your Body and Focus on Form
Always start with a warm-up, even just a few gentle stretches and moves. The body needs to warm up and get ready to work. Keeping the correct alignments and maintaining the proper form is an essential part of Pilates. No point doing Pilates with more reps, faster, or with heavier resistance if you are doing it wrong, your core is not engaged and or your posture is slanted. Keeping this in mind, you’ll perform exercises better, maintain better form, and achieve greater results and better posture. Listen to your body. If you are new to Pilates or have had an injury, are recovering from birth, surgery, etc., do what feels right and gradually add more moves or levels to your routine. Adding intensity, resistance, and gradually moving to higher level(s) will increase your energy. These challenges can make you focus on your form and boost your circulation.
Tip 2: Breathe with Purpose
Breathe. In through your nose, out of your mouth. Exhale fully in the hardest part of the exercise. It not only helps to release tension in unwanted places, such as the jaw or shoulder, but it also helps to supply oxygen to your muscles. And it connects the mind and body, bringing calmness and energy at the same time.
Tip 3: A Quick Move to Get Energised
But we can do simple moves like a few roll-downs can do the trick too, as long as you move with intention, using your breath and connecting your mind and body.
Abdo Prep - moving into 100’s
Tip 1: Listen to Your Body and Focus on Form
Always start with a warm-up, even just a few gentle stretches and moves. The body needs to warm up and get ready to work. Keeping the correct alignments and maintaining the proper form is an essential part of Pilates. No point doing Pilates with more reps, faster, or with heavier resistance if you are doing it wrong, your core not engaged and or your posture is slanted. Keeping this in mind, you’ll perform exercises better, maintain better form, and achieve greater results and better posture. Listen to your body. If you are new to Pilates or have had an injury, are recovering from birth, surgery, etc., do what feels right and gradually add more moves or levels to your routine. Adding intensity, resistance, and gradually moving to higher level(s) will increase your energy. These challenges can make you focus on your form and boost your circulation.
Tip 2: Breathe with Purpose
Breathe. In through your nose, out of your mouth. Exhale fully in the hardest part of the exercise. It not only helps to release tension in unwanted places such as the jaw or shoulder but it helps to supply oxygen to your muscles. And it connects the mind and body, bringing calmness and energy at the same time.
Tip 3: A Quick Move to Get Energised
But we can do simple moves like a few roll-downs can do the trick too, as long as you move with intention, using your breath and connecting your mind and body.
My Three Go-To Pilates Exercises to Fire Up!
Plank is a great energy exercise; it has many modifications, so everyone can find the level they are looking for. It is a full-body workout, connecting core and trunk muscles. It is a static hold exercise, which definitely gets you to feel the core and fire.
Hundreds is probably the best exercise to boost energy. This exercise clearly focuses on the importance of breathing with small intentional movements. The result is an engaged core and pumping up your energy. Based on level, you can keep feet flat on the ground and level it up by bringing one or two legs to a tabletop position and adding abdo prep and many different small pieces of equipment to make it more challenging. As you pulse your arm up and down in a small movement, like threading water, you inhale for 5 arm movements and exhale for 5 arm movements. Make 10 breath cycles or count 100 arm movements. Again, if the form is compromised, it's best to reset or lower the level.
Saw is a spine mobility exercise which focuses on flexibility, twisting, and not just improving your mobility but also improving your posture and helping you stay focused. Sitting with open straight legs, optional to cross, or sit on a block if the pelvis tilts. Turn the spine to one direction with the head and the neck also to follow. As you exhale, roll the spine forward to the foot/knee, and reach the opposite hand to the foot, the same side hand behind the body. Inhale to restack the spine, rolling back up, and rotate the spine back to midline. Rep 4-6x alternate direction.
Planking
What's your favourite way to get an energy boost during the day? Share your tips in the comments below!
