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Elevate Your Equilibrium: Unlock Balance and Strength with These Simple Pilates Moves
Dec 5, 2023
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This workout will challenge you, it definitely challenged me!
Standing work will improve your:
✅ Strength
✅ Coordination
✅ Confidence
✅ Ankle strength
✅ Mobility
✅ Mind body connection
Together we will focus on our breath to keep our minds calm and body relaxed as we challenge or balance and really focus on building strength and mobility in our ankles.
I loved this workout and felt the work the day after, which can only be a good thing, right?
Please stand near a wall or a chair to support you if necessary.
As ever , enjoy and please let me know how it’s goes x
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
So we're going to start standing in the middle of our mats, relax your shoulders
0:06
you're going to lift the crown of your head towards the ceiling. And as I draw the crown
0:12
of my head towards the ceiling, that sense of my tailbone drawing down to the floor
0:17
heels are standing strong into the floor and give those toes a little wiggle
0:22
press those toes down. So keeping your eyes open to start to shift your weight to the front of the
0:29
foot and then come back to the center and then we're rocking backwards. So the movement is going
0:36
to be quite small. We're going to keep the toes down. We're going to keep the heels down and we're
0:42
just shifting your weight through the floor through the foot. And just one more
0:53
And then bring yourself to what you feel is the center. So you're standing into the heel
0:57
the big toe, the little toe. And then I want you to rock to the left. And then we're going to go
1:05
through the center and over to the right. So I'm shifting my weight from one hip, from one foot
1:12
but the feet stay firmly planted over to the other side. So stick with this because we're just getting
1:17
you grounded on the mat, centered, you're finding that mind-body connection. And then we're going to
1:24
really focus on some gorgeous movements. So now come into the center, stand tall. I want you to
1:31
reach the arms up towards the ceiling, draw the hands behind your head, lengthen through the neck
1:36
I've got my thumbs at the base of my skull. So I'm going to take a big breath in and slowly breathe
1:42
out, relaxing those shoulders. Breathing in again, press your head into your hands and draw that right
1:49
elbow down towards the floor. Draw the left elbow up. Try not to press your head forward
1:56
Stay here. You're going to take the left arm from behind your head. You're going to make that lever
2:00
nice and long palm faces to the floor. Stretch out, support your head with the right hand. Lift
2:07
that arm up. Big breath out. Breathe out and reach. Inhale, lift. Exhale, reach. So we're just
2:17
deepening that stretch down the side of your body breathing out feels so good you've got one more to
2:24
go press great bring that hand back behind your head lift up lengthen your spine relax your
2:32
shoulders didn't realize how much I needed that okay opposite side so the right elbow right shoulder
2:39
lifts left elbow draws down to the floor stand strong into that right side you're going to extend
2:46
this right lever, arms straight, palm faces to the floor. Breathe in, lift the arm. Breathe out
2:54
press and reach. Breathe in, lift, press and reach. So just watch that this right shoulder
3:01
isn't rolling forward. Hips stay static. Just focus on that movement from the shoulder joint
3:07
and you're going to feel that lengthening down the side of your waist. Bring your hand behind
3:12
your head, come all the way up to a standing position, stand here, interlace those fingers
3:18
behind your head. Okay, relaxing the shoulders. So now we're going to add in a little rotation
3:25
So we go into a side bend, you're going to rotate, bring that left shoulder, left elbow
3:31
forward, keep pressing your head into your hands, rotate to centre, lift all the way up
3:38
We're going to do that again but this time you're going to have the right arm out to the side
3:43
So as you go over into your side bend, you're reaching up towards the top of the mat with the hand
3:49
Now bring your left arm in front and press that right arm back behind you and twist
3:57
Come back to your start position by lifting, lengthening up. I'm going to go to the side so you can see the movement more clearly
4:06
So we reach out to the side with that right arm, we go into our side bend
4:11
You're going to bring your left arm across. We're going to twist, press the opposite arm back
4:19
Rotate round and lift all the way up. Bring your hand behind your head
4:25
Guess what? We're going to do the other side. So this workout is perfect to do at any time of day
4:31
but it would be perfect to do. sorry, both hands behind your head and you're going to twist here. Perfect to do if you've had
4:41
a long day sitting in the car, sitting at your desk, maybe one that'd be really nice to do if
4:47
you actually get a lunch break. So we're going to go over into our side bend. So the right arm
4:53
reaches in front, press that left arm back and twist and take that hand out to the side, lift
5:02
all the way up. You're going to go two more times. Just move at your own pace with this
5:14
And lift up. And last one. And come all the way up. Bring your hands behind your head. Well done, relax your shoulders
5:31
Bring your feet please to a Pilates dance. So as I'm standing here now, I'm thinking about drawing
5:37
those inner thighs together. Switch on those glutes, navel to spine, long neck, lots to think
5:44
about. Okay, press the heels together, slowly lift the heels up off the floor, hold here
5:53
Slowly bring those heels back down. So try and think about lifting directly up towards the ceiling
6:00
as opposed to bringing the body too far forwards. So we go up, pause, and then as we press those
6:10
heels together, those inner thighs, you can see the wobble is real. We're going to try and add in
6:15
a little bit of rotation. So we inhale as we turn away from our center and exhale, come back to the
6:24
center, bring those heels down. So rotate to the other side first. Now you don't have to lift your
6:31
heels off the mat. You can keep them down on the floor if you prefer and just focus on the rotation
6:37
Remember, whenever we do anything like this, we're trying to keep the hips still. Imagine somebody's
6:43
got their hands on your hips Those hips aren moving You twisting You going to come back to the center and you going to bring your heel down Well done reach the arms out wide relax your shoulders sliding your spine down that imaginary wall
7:01
So the spine stays long, pelvis stays static here. So the movement is coming from the spine
7:07
rotating, press those knees out wide, come back into the center, try not to lead with the arms
7:15
Keep those arms equal distance away from your center. Come back to the center. Well done
7:23
One more on each side. And center, pulling in here all the time, connecting to your abdominals, back to the center
7:37
press those arms to the ceiling, lengthen the legs, bring those arms down. Now just disco those
7:44
shoulders. Well done. So you're going to take a step wide with each foot. We've got a turn out
7:52
in the hips. So I'm thinking with the feet. So that would be my toes pointing up to number 12
7:59
on the clock. So we go to one, then two and 11 and 10. I hope that makes sense. Okay. So I've got
8:09
my hands on my hips. I'll be able to feel if my pelvis is tucking or tilting. So pressing those
8:16
knees out wide, soften those knees. Try not to tip your tailbone out. Push the knees out wide
8:23
press into the floor to come up. So just getting warmed up in this position. So inhale, lower
8:29
Exhale, breathing in, breathing out, and again. So we're working on that range of movements
8:45
As those hips start open, we're going to feel like we can go a little bit deeper
8:52
hopefully. Press out those knees. Breathe out. Well done. And last one, come down and hold
9:02
relax your shoulders, long spine, five, pulse, four, three, two, one. Slowly come up, press those
9:16
arms out. Well done. You're going to walk your feet in. We're going to turn to the side. Okay
9:23
So we're going to try to bring our hands back onto our hips. We're going to keep those legs
9:27
extended. So we're going to work on ankles. You're going to draw your toes off the mat
9:34
and pull those toes up towards your shin. Try not to bend the knee. Foot comes down, switch sides
9:42
Switch. So as we do this, so we're working on that ankle flexion
9:52
We're trying to think about the foot coming directly up, not turning out to the side
10:01
And last couple here and last one. Nice. So you can stand near a wall or have your hand on the
10:09
back of a chair. If you're able to stand in the middle of the mat, cossack your arms. Okay
10:15
we're going to think about lifting both heels away from the floor. Pause here
10:22
Slowly bring those heels down. Breathing out. Breathing in as we lower
10:32
So just give your body a chance to work out what to switch on as we do this exercise
10:40
So I'm finding a connection into my abdominals, my glutes, my quads, thinking about using the breath to give me control and to keep calm when we get that wobble
10:56
That's it. Breathe, breathe, try and stay nice and relaxed. One more time, lift up. Okay, we're going to bounce slowly, slowly. Well done. Five, four, three, two, one, hold and slowly down
11:20
So you can have, as I say, one hand holding onto the wall or one on the back of a chair. Okay, we're going to repeat the start of this and then we're layering into it
11:30
So we're going to come up with the heels, we're going to pause. You're going to bend your right knee and allow your left heel to come down, squeeze this quad
11:40
Now you're going to lift that heel up off the floor, both legs straighten
11:45
Same side, bend the right knee, bring that left heel down. Push into the floor with the ball of your left foot, straighten that leg, come up
11:54
We're coming down. So I'm feeling more work in this left calf
12:00
And down and lift. So I've had a few clients who've had issues with Achilles
12:10
with torn tendons in the ankle, and just a general weakness in the ankle. And we do a lot
12:18
of these exercises to strengthen the calves, to work on that mobility in the ankle joint
12:23
last one press slowly down relax shake out the legs so I can really feel this in that left ankle
12:33
as I'm pressing the floor away so I'm going to turn so even if say it was your left ankle that
12:39
you're looking to strengthen and always do the other side as well okay balance can be different
12:45
from side to side we know that let's work out what we're going to switch on here before we lift those
12:51
heels up off the mat. Okay, slowly bend the left knee, bring that right heel down, work into that
12:58
right leg, lift that heel. Whoops. What did I just say about balance being different from side to side
13:06
Press and lift. Breathing in, breathe out, press. So it's a good one for coordination. Just take your
13:18
time as am I Lift lower And very last one lift hold and slowly slowly down So I can and really feel that work in the foot in the calf in the ankle Well done
13:51
Okay, so we're going to stand with our feet close together, long spine
13:56
So I want you to lift your right heel off the floor. I'll come this way so you can see me
14:02
And as I lift that right heel, the weight shifted into this left side
14:05
We'll try not to hide that hip out. So lift up here. Okay, you can cross out the arms, we can press the arms out wide, it's up to you
14:14
So then we're going to lift this foot away from the floor and we're just going to balance on this
14:19
left side. We're going to keep lifting up. So I'm working into that quad and the glute on the left
14:27
side, using the foot on the floor, trying not to collapse onto the arch of my foot, use your toes
14:34
squeeze into the floor. If you're able to lift that right knee a little bit higher
14:40
now and we're going to rotate this foot around. Three, two, one, pause and then
14:58
bring the foot down. Good so then I could feel that burning sensation in the
15:03
calf around the ankle. Okay, that's just building strength in the muscles. Okay, so it's challenging
15:12
Okay, and it's really challenging in terms of balance. So just give, be kind to yourself
15:18
breathe, relax. If you're wobbling, it's okay. Our balance can only improve over time. So you're
15:24
going to lift up her. Fix your vision on a spot in front of you. Lift your foot off the mat
15:31
let's anchor ourselves, let's find our balance. Take your time. Oh, there's my lovely cuckoo clock
15:40
Okay, now we're going to draw that knee a little bit higher if you are able to balance, breathe
15:45
start to take the foot round. One, two, three, four, change direction. One, two, three
16:00
harder on this side. Four, pause, bring the foot down, relax. Well done. They're not easy at all
16:11
Well done. Be kind to yourself always. Okay. So we're going to take it in turns now
16:17
standing on alternate legs. Okay. So come with me near to the top of your mat
16:23
bring your hands onto your hips, and then we soften the knees and then we come forward in a
16:29
hinge. So this is engaged. Okay. We keep the neck nice and long, hinge forward a little bit more
16:36
and then we start to feel connection into our glutes. Okay. So we're going to step our right
16:45
foot back. We're going to pause here. So then what I want you to do is bring your right arm forward
16:51
and reach your left arm behind you. We're going to lift the leg out here. And I just want you to
16:56
balance, balance, breathe, find the opposition with the arms, one's reaching forwards, one's
17:05
reaching behind you, balance, the leg behind you is straight, we're trying to fire up that glute
17:13
tap, lift, tap, lift, and again, and again, four, three, two, last one
17:28
bring the knee through, switch the arms over, press back and reach, lift up, wow, I've lost it
17:41
we're going to lift the knee up, well done, slowly, slowly, press through, reach, one more time
17:53
slowly bring that knee up, bring the foot down, bring the arm down and shake out those legs
18:02
oh my goodness, is that just me, or could you really feel that activating in the ankle, in the
18:07
calf. It's good. Okay. It's only going to make us stronger. Well done. Balance can be challenging
18:13
Okay. We know that. So the more balance work we do in those tricky situations where you slip on
18:23
something on the pavement outside, or you slip on the ice outside, your body is more likely
18:28
that muscle memory to remember what to switch on to help you in those moments. So this is good
18:34
It's really good. Okay. We're going to do the same thing on the opposite side. We're going to hinge
18:39
forward. Core tight, lengthen through the neck. Okay. So now it's my left leg sweeping behind me
18:46
left arm in front, right arm behind. Softly point the foot and reach. Find your balance
18:53
Breathe, breathe, lower, lift, lower, lift
19:04
Well done. Faster. We're going to six, five, four, three, two, one
19:16
Hold. Slowly come through. Switch the arms. draw the knee up, slowly press back and reach, slowly lift up, nice well done, press back
19:39
this is your last one and lift slowly, slowly, whoop, challenging, pause, arm comes up
19:50
foot comes down reach to the ceiling press those palms forwards okay slowly inhale sweep down exhale
20:01
sweeping up breathing in breathing out well done you're going to go two more and last one
20:13
Well done. Walk the feet closer together, bringing your hands behind your head
20:22
Okay, so feet close together. I've now brought those heels in, so the heels are pressed together
20:29
We just got a slight turnout of those toes Really lengthen through the neck So the elbows are wide but they in my peripheral vision as it were okay we going to slowly lift those heels away from the mat we going to
20:45
imagine our shoulder blades against a wall and we're going to try and slide down that imaginary
20:52
wall heels together pressing those knees out wide pause slide back up the wall squeeze your quads
21:02
and glutes, bring those heels down. We're going to go again, relax your shoulders, breathe in
21:12
breathe out, breathe in at the bottom and then
21:21
heels come down. The breathing makes such a difference. Okay. Inhale, lift the heels
21:35
Breathing out, slide down that imaginary wall. pause inhale and then breathing out sliding up and slowly down one more time okay we've got this
21:55
take your time inhale lift finding our balance that's great try not to press the head forwards
22:06
Inhale at the bottom. Breathe out, slowly come up. Heels come down. Take the heels to hip distance
22:19
Reach the arms up and slowly come down with those arms. Well done. Okay, again, you can stand near a
22:26
wall. You can hold on to the back of a chair. So I would like you to cossack your arms, lift your
22:33
right heel away from the floor. So think about the position of your spine. You've got your shoulders
22:39
and your ribs stacked over your hip. Now slide that right leg out in front of you and just lift
22:45
it a fraction off the floor. Circle that leg behind you. Try not to lean forwards. Tap and then come
22:55
back to the center, slide that foot in, stand tall. Opposite side, take the leg out in front of you
23:06
long spine lift up, slowly sweep that leg back, trying not to lean forward. Pause, we come forwards
23:16
Slide the foot in, stand tall. Shift the weight to the left side
23:24
Pause, press, sweeping behind, in front. Now we're going to do that three more times
23:36
So we're going to go round and back and forwards. And two more
23:46
Last one. Slide in, stand tall, relax for a moment
24:01
You're doing so well. Gosh, these take a lot of energy. You're doing great
24:07
Well done. So then we're going to cross out those arms again
24:10
And we're doing the three, four repetitions on the opposite side. So the weight shifts to the right hip. We slide that left foot out in front of us. Stand tall. So we rotate in that hip joint and we slowly sweep around. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale
24:41
Last one, breathing in. Breathing out, sliding in, stand tall
24:53
Fantastic. Okay, so I'm going to face towards the front. You can stand, say, side on if you want to
25:01
Take your right foot off the floor. Press the arms out wide
25:05
Lift out of that left hip. Draw your knee up towards your chest
25:09
Place your hands behind this side, draw the knee up, lock out this leg, squeeze this quad and glute
25:16
try not to lean back. And we're going to rotate the foot round one way and then round the other
25:23
way. And one more on each side. Nice. You're going to take the arms wide and we're going to slowly
25:33
Bring that foot onto the floor. Relax the arms. Other side. Press wide
25:43
Heel lifts. Lengthen. Draw the knee up. Slowly bring your hands underneath. Draw the thigh
25:53
towards your chest. Start to turn that foot round in one direction and then back in the other
26:01
and two and last one. Okay, press the arms wide, lengthen your spine, lift up, foot comes down and relax. Okay, one more time. Take the arms up
26:21
bring your hands behind your head and then again, we're going to lift the toes away from the mat on
26:28
this side and switch and switch. So as one foot's coming down, the other side is lifting, switching
26:37
switching, eight, seven, six. Try not to just lift the toes. You want the arch of the foot lifting
26:48
off and three, two, one and relax. Well done. Thank you. I really enjoyed that. Thank you for
27:01
choosing to work out with me. I hope you enjoyed it. Hope it really helped and you can see how it
27:07
will help if you've had any issues with ankles in terms of injury. So this will really help to
27:13
rehab them, help you to gain confidence and feel stronger and more stable. So yeah, just keep
27:20
practicing. Keep giving yourself that little bit of time, three, four, five times a week
27:25
where you just focus on you and building that stronger body. And together we will get stronger
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