Home Pilates: how to do a home session with no more material than a mat

You are always in a hurry, but you barely leave the chair.

The body is constant movement and, however, if you get up it is to put the washing machine (press a button) and the dryer a while later (another button).

Movement ... rather little.

Now that you spend more time at home, it is precisely when you have fewer excuses: as long as you do not have an injury or any ailment that could put your physical integrity at risk, you will only need a mat to do it Pilates style, the system that teaches you move while you

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The first thing is to master the breath.

To achieve this, start by lying on the floor and feeling how you breathe in through your nose and exhale slowly through your mouth.

In the inhalation, you have to direct the air to the maximum towards the lower, back and lateral part of the rib cage, trying not to raise the shoulders towards the ears.

The sensation is that of wanting to fill the lungs as much as possible, without actually blocking or apnea, to enlarge the rib cage.

You will feel the ribs separate from each other.

From this point, one arm begins to gently move away from the leg on the same side, gently sliding them in opposite directions, alternating movements to the rhythm of breathing.

"The body likes rhythm and each body has its own, its own music," says Claudia Almagro Di Marco, certified teacher in the Classical Pilates Method.

Then the opposite arm and leg, the other arm and the other leg, move away, always from a conscious breath.

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Breathing helps activate the

, the area that goes from the lower part of the ribs to the end of the hip line and includes the abdominal muscles, those of the lower part of the back, the pelvic floor, the muscles around of the hips and buttocks.

It is about creating a contrast of opposing forces that stretch from the center to the periphery.

With this, we have already prepared the body to move to a deeper activation and oxygenation at the hand of Almagro.

For starters, the Hundred (“hundred” in English), probably the most famous exercise in the Pilates Method.

Raise your head and lengthen your legs;

They can be left folded on the ground (easiest) or raised to 90º (more intense) or 45º (the most demanding).

If your cervicals bother you, leave your head resting on the floor.

The arms are raised about 15 centimeters and are kept extended along the body.

Breathe in and, on the exhale, pump your arms up and down five times, as if bouncing a ball with each arm.

We breathe in for another five shakes and repeat up to 10 times.

It is essential that the body is stretching from the center to the periphery.

When in doubt, always go for the less intense option;

when your body is not yet ready.

The routine continues with the Roll up (“roll up”), in which you lie down and get up little by little, without pushing yourself, until you remain seated with your legs extended.

If you can't, grab onto the back of your thigh to help yourself up.

Learn to anchor and lengthen your legs from your back and relax your quadriceps to be able to lift yourself from your center, which is where the force comes from to lift yourself.

Do it five times, inhale as you rise and exhale as you descend, lengthening your back, as if your vertebrae were a pearl necklace.

Notice how they touch the ground one by one and keep your abdomen active at all times.

From there, move on to the One Leg Circle, an exercise that stabilizes the body, lengthens the adductors, creates space, and lubricates and strengthens the hips.

Lying on the floor, lift one leg and make five small circles in one direction, without moving anything other than that leg, which will be straight and with the foot pointed.

The quadriceps must be relaxed.

To achieve this you have to stabilize your center to the maximum, if not, the rest of the body will move.

This is achieved through the execution of opposing forces, in this and in the other Pilates exercises.

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Then do the five circles in the other direction and repeat the process with the other leg, before starting the Rolling like a ball (“rolling like a ball”), in which, in reality, you roll on your back;

in this way we can massage the back muscles, improve balance and learn to maintain control.

To do this exercise, balance yourself on your sitting bones with your knees bent, your feet pointed.

The arms hug the legs, the heels are placed in connection with the sitting bones.

Inhale raising the abdominal to deepen the ce that forms our body and roll back over the spine to the scapulae, without losing the curved shape of the body, controlling the descent, fluidly and without jerks.

Exhale as you return to the starting position, remembering not to disconnect the muscles between the buttocks and the heels.

Like this for 5 repetitions.

With this you are ready for the Single Leg Stretch: lie on your back, bend your right leg and grasp the ankle with the right hand and the knee with the left while lengthening the left leg forward.

Raise your head (if the cervicals bother you, leave it resting) and feel the s

which is what is called in Pilates for the action of bringing the navel in and up, forming a spoon).

Without losing stability, with the pelvis positioned over the sacrum, change legs, now grasp the left ankle with the left hand and the left knee with the right hand.

Do 8-10 reps before moving on to Pilates' flagship exercise, the Double Leg Stretch.

Lying on the floor, you bring both legs to your chest, bent, and, inhaling, stretch your arms and legs at the same time, in opposite directions, then pick up the limbs again, you stay in a ball.

The most important thing is that when you exhale you stretch, by sticking the navel to the spine, the whole body is lengthened from the inside out.

This is done between 8 and 10 repetitions.

The Spine Stretch Forward ("spine stretch") is an exercise that, at first glance, seems easy.

However, it is quite a challenge for those who have little flexibility in the back muscles of the legs.

And is that to reach the starting position we need to sit with the spine erect, as if we were leaning against a wall, and that is very difficult for many people.

If this is your case, do not give up, with practice it is achieved.

Sit with your legs straight, on your sitting bones (if necessary, do it on the rolled-up mat).

Inhale growing from the crown and, exhaling, flex the spine forward, vertebra to vertebra, first cervical, then dorsal, and finally lumbar.

Keep your arms parallel to the ground in line with your shoulders, forming a long cé.

Inhaling, we return from our center, we get up aligning the vertebrae until placing the shoulders in line with the hips.

At all times we have the abdomen activated, as if our navel wanted to rise through the spine.

Do it five times, very slowly, with awareness.

From there, you turn around to do the Swan, a pose that lengthens and strengthens the spine and stretches the abs.

In addition, it increases postural balance and muscle tone in the back.

To perform this exercise, lie on your stomach with your arms bent at the side of your body, your palms on the mat, just below your shoulders, and your legs parallel and together.

On the inhale, push your hands and elbows towards the ground and raise your chest from the abdomen forward and up, keep your elbows close to your body, and when you exhale lower again until you lengthen and hold your center until you are lying on the ground.

Do it three times.

Roll over and lie on your back, legs bent hip-width apart to do the The Shoulder Bridge.

When inhaling, activate the sitting bones, raise the pelvis and reach towards the knees, raise and lower the spine articulating the vertebrae, notes how one by one they come off the ground when they go up and one by one they touch the mat when they go down.

For more intensity, lift one leg, then another.

Repeat five times.

Finally there is the Side Kicks (“side kicks”), in which one discovers how difficult it is to move one or both legs while the rest of the body maintains balance, since there is now less support surface.

Lie on your side with your body aligned.

Bring your legs forward and leave them at a 30º angle to your hips.

Sharpen and lengthen your waist, so that the side that is on the ground remains elongated and elevated.

Raise your leg to hip height, being careful not to move your pelvis.

Keep the

connected

for stability.

As you inhale, bring your leg forward as far as possible and we return back. It is important to do so without the body swaying.

Pilates is mostly about control.

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Do 6 to 8 reps on each leg.