Pilates with Noha

Author: Noha Hassan

Thoracic Spine Mobility.

Posted on by Noha Hassan

The thoracic spine is located below along your mid back and consists of 12 vertebrae. It’s attached to your rib cage. Mobilize your Thoracic spine to support movements for everything above and below it. It’s simply the link between your upper and lower body. 

The thoracic spine loves to extend and rotation. It also helps you take your arms overhead, reach out to an object behind you or help you take off your sweater coat. 

Tight thoracic compromise the movement of your shoulder and your hips & result in a rolled forward shoulder posture, poor alignment, and unbalanced load transfer through the whole body.

The focus during our Thoracic training is:

  • Think of a string hanging your head up as you twist your grow taller and resist any tendency to shift weight sideways.
  • Move from the waistline and articulate up the segment by segment finishing with the neck and head. 
  • Anchor your feet forward and square your hip to isolate movement through the Thoracic spine.

Exercises tips.

Always start your workout with spinal mobility in all directions

  • Use a foam roller in an incline position and extend your thoracic from neutral to extension
  • Progress to side bend – lateral flexion
  • Progress to spinal rotation 
  • Finish with flexion if you are arthritis and osteoarthritis free.

As a progression, you can repeat above in 4-point kneeling – Moving from neutral to extension- lateral flexion and rotation while the lower extremities stay stable.

Introduction to Mat Pilates

Posted on by Noha Hassan

Introduction to Mat Pilates

Dates: Nov 2sd – Dec 21

Location: Alton Village, Burlington, ON

Once a week – every Wednesday @ 8 pm
 
Rate:  intro offer for one time only.
$140 + HST
 
 
Class Size: Small group of 4 for personalized experience.
 
Pre-requisite: No experience required.
 
Reservation: Fill up our contact forms to book your spot.
Description: Over the course of 8 classes, you will learn the basic principles of Pilates. Re-wire your brain to place your shoulder, neck and hips in the right place focusing on your core stability while your are moving your limbs.
The course will guide you through the essential exercises with a personal attention to details to ensure your movements are safe and effective.
Once  your are done, you will be able to pop up to level I  starting your Pilates journey.
 

Gluteus Activation Fact or Myth

Posted on by Noha Hassan

We see a lot of clients in our private and group classes working out for many years but repeatedly saying they can’t feel there gluteus.

Let’s start first find out where is your gluteus muscles and what it does?
It’s your buttocks muscles divided into 3 muscles: upper part right called gluteus Medius under your thumb when you hold your hip, gluteus Max the big part of your buttocks and lower gluteus forming the lower part we call the smile face area. You gluteus muscles action is to extend-externally and internally rotate and abduct.

Your gluteus is responsible to keep you in upright position and a lot of functional activities like squat, walk, lunge and climb stairs. Nerve supply your gluteus muscle is the of the superior glutues nerve, it helps stabilize your pelvis during physical activities.

Sitting for prolonged period of time compress the nerve and allow your legs muscles to fall asleep. That’s occurs with sustained pressure on the nerve supply either with repetitive movement, poor sitting position or sitting for prolonged period of time.

It’s also important that sitting for a long time is not only the main reasons, but it’s the sedentary lifestyle that make things worse.

Remember the say “ motion is lotion” that the key to recover your sleeping gluteus.

Few exercises to repeat at home daily focus to do it slowly with precision and mentally image the placement of your muscles and the action you are trying to achieve..

1-Start with gluteus stretching in figure 4
2-Shoulder bridge progress bilateral then progress to with gliding plate & single leg
3-Single squat
4-Claim shell.
5- side lying abduction.

Progression repeat the same with loop band above knee for 2,3,4,5
Remember the key is to keep moving and firing those muscles consistently to avoid the risk for other issues in the future related to less hip functionality.

Do you really have a strong core or just 6-packs?

Posted on by Noha Hassan

Do you really have a strong core of just 6-packs?

Your core Muscles is more than just your superficial 6-packs. It’s a corset of muscles that wrap you around. It’s layers of muscles that starts very deep toward your organs and continue to layer up to finish with the superficial muscles called your 6-packs. Building a strong core needs to start from the foundation of the building; the deep layers then continue to progress up.

Establishing a proper connection require association and disassociation of muscles. You start by firing each layer independently to feel it and strength it without compromise than progress to associate the muscles in harmony as team.

Your nervous system helps to establish a good communication between your brain and your muscles to recruit the muscles properly with adequate pace and range and transfer the force between the core and the rest of your body.

In other words, your core is your Powerhouse, it must be efficiently on during any movement to keep your spine in a safe place and absorb gravity load.

Let’s take a deep look into our Powerhouse:

The foundation of your house is the Transverse abdominal or the TA. It runs from the front of your last two rib horizontal and wrap you around like a belt attached to the fascia in our spine.

Multifidus muscles & erector Spinae small, tiny muscles running along your spine for its stability during movement

Pelvic floor is at the basement of your Powerhouse it helps your core and pelvis to remain stable. They always refer to it as the hammock.

The diaphragm is the roof of the building utilized for breathing. Breathing properly expanding ribs in 3-D dimension breath like an umbrella shape, facilitate a proper functioning of your diaphragm which is essential for core stability

Building up your core require a level of progression in all plans:

Plans:

Flexion & extension meaning; forward and back

Lateral flexion meaning side to side like lateral bend; windshield movement.

Oblique movement like spinal twist.

Progression:

Level 1: Prone- Supine- Side lying

Level 2: Four Point kneeling – Side plank – Plank prep – Kneeling

Level 3: Plank – Kneeling lunge – Side Plank – Standing

Strength

You can do each plan and level then  load it with Prop to add strength.

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