Exercises you can do at your desk!

Following my post about the benefits of Pilates, heres some useful exercises you can do at your desk!

Note: With all sitting exercises you must be sitting up tall on your sit bones. Keep your core engaged (almost feel like you are pulling your belly button in towards your spine) and shoulders relaxed and down.

Dumb waiter

Sit with your elbows bent at 90 degrees. Keep them tucked into your waist while you open out your forearms and keep your back straight. Keep pressing your shoulders down while you repeatedly open and close your forearms.

Spine twist

Hold your hands on the back of your head. Keep elbows out to the side. Hips facing forward. Inhale through the nose and as you exhale through the mouth twist though the mid-point in your back to one side. Inhale and on exhale come back to center repeat on the other side. Do as many as you want but make sure you keep an even count.

Spine stretch forward

Sitting nice and tall, resting your hands on your lap. Breath in through your nose as you exhale tuck your chin to your chest and start rolling down through from the top of you back, only to half way down your back. Breath in and then on the exhale use your abdominals to pull your torso back up to sitting tall. Rolling through your spine bone by bone.

Lateral/side bend

Sitting up nice and tall, arms by your side as you breath out reach your right arm down one side of your chair with out leaning forward or backwards. Repeat on the other side.

Hip opener/Hip flexors

Cross one leg over the other (ankle on the knee) and bend forward over your legs with a flat back.

Single Leg raises

Sitting nice and tall with feet flat on the floor, extend one leg at a time focusing on activating the quadricep muscles and then slowly lower down. Alternate each leg.

Why not try a Pilates Class?

We offer a wide range of Pilates and Yoga Classes at our Hemel Hempstead Clinic, with our experienced and qualified instructors.

• Check out our Pilates Class Timetable
• New clients receive one free taster class!
• See our website for details and  special offers

Pippa
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Blog Post by Pippa
FCO Gym Manager & Personal Trainer
Emma James Physio

 

Pilates – gain a balanced body and mind

Pilates practice can help you gain a balanced body and mind. … A balanced body is one in which each part of the body works with one another to create and maintain a stable person. A balanced body is one that is mentally, emotionally, and physically stable.
The beauty of Pilates is that anyone, at any age can get started. Through the controlled and progressive movements, you can totally reshape your body.

Improved posture

By strengthening your core and improving your alignment of your spine.
Desk jobs encourage bad posture which can lead to kyphosis (rounding of the upper back) by working on muscular imbalances this can be reversed. Most Pilate moves help with scapula, shoulder and spine stability.

Improve flexibility

With longer hours of sitting we get tight hip flexors and generally stiff. Pilates encourages you to lengthen and expand your muscles.

Strengthen core

All Pilate moves require you to hold your core. Core muscles are not just your abdominals but the deep muscles running from the bottom of your head to your pelvis. They help support the trunk. Having a strong core will help support your back, which will help with pain and injury prevention.

Improve your balance

As you get older your balance becomes worse over time, this can then cause falls and injury. Pilates exercises require a more holistic approach and require activation and coordination of several muscle groups at the same time, which in turn improves your balance reducing the risk of falls.

Mental Health

In Pilates you are told to regulate your breathing. Breathing is one of Joseph Pilates key principals. Pilates breathing directs your focus inward for the duration of the class, focusing on the present, feeling the muscles work and reconnecting with your body.

Exercising even if low impact helps produce endorphins in the body, which are also known as the happy hormones. It is natural drug to help boost your mood.

 

Pilates Classes

We offer a wide range of Pilates and Yoga Classes at our Hemel Hempstead Clinic, with our experienced and qualified instructors.

• Check out our Pilates Class Timetable
• New clients receive one free taster class!
• See our website for details and  special offers

Look out for my next pilates post coming soon!
Pippa
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Blog Post by Pippa
FCO Gym Manager & Personal Trainer
Emma James Physio

 

Mat Pilates improves strength, balance & flexibility in older adults

Some of this information is taken from an article in the most recent edition of Physiotherapy Frontline magazine.

In the UK, 11.8 million people are aged 65 or older, with numbers increasing each year. Maintaining physical fitness in this age group is of paramount importance for the prevention of falls and cardiovascular disease but also to ensure mental wellbeing.
Mat Pilates, offered at Emma James physiotherapy on a one to one basis or small group class, is a form of exercise that only requires a mat. It aims to strengthen the abdominal and core muscles, as well as many other muscles. It also focuses on increased flexibility and balance. Though, in theory, Pilates should be beneficial for older adults, there has been limited objective evidence.

What did this study do?

This systematic review (the highest quality research which can be conducted) included nine randomised controlled trials comparing mat Pilates with no exercise. Studies included 415 adults aged over 60 years with no recorded health concerns.

What did it find?

Mat Pilates gave a large improvement in all the following elements compared to no exercise:

• Dynamic balance
• Lower limb muscle strength
• Lower body flexibility
• Cardiorespiratory fitness

What does current guidance say on this issue?

Department of Health 2011 guidelines recommend adults aged 65 or more complete at least 150 minutes of moderate activity per week. They also recommend strength training on at least two days a week.

NICE 2008 guidelines on mental wellbeing in the over 65s recommends tailored physical activity programmes, delivered by physiotherapists, fitness instructors and the voluntary sector. This includes strength, resistance, toning and stretching exercises, dancing, walking and swimming.

What are the implications?

The evidence has some limitations, as is often the case with physiotherapy research design, but the conclusion was that Pilates is beneficial for for strength, balance and flexibility.

Mat Pilates Classes in Hemel Hempstead

At Emma James Physio we offer customised 1-1/ 1-2 sessions or small group classes run by highly qualified clinical pilates instructors who are also therapists.
See our Pilates Class Timetable and Pilates section for more information and how to book.

Lisa
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Blog post by Lisa
Senior Physiotherapist
MSc MACP MHCPC MCSP 
Emma James Physio

Source: de Souza ROB, de Faria Marcon, de Arruda ASF, et al. Effects of Mat Pilates on Physical Functional Performance of Older Adults: a Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Am J Phys Med Rehabil. 2017. [Epub ahead of print].