Get Toned Arms for the Perfect Dress By Kloey Hanson

New brides often find it challenging to balance the wedding planning with finding the time to take care of their bodies. After all, this is THE most important day of your life and all the eyes are going to be on you. So, between invitations and flower arrangements for the big day, the last thing you may want to do at the end of a stressful day is workout. But, who says working out has to be hard and tiring? The right Pilates workout allows you to tone up your trouble spots without wearing you out. Here are five moves that we suggest you do to tone your arms up for that perfect dress!
 
1. Water Drop
Seated on the edge of a sturdy chair, keep your back in a straight line and constrict your abdominals. Using your water bottle or canned food as weight, lift your arms over your head while holding the weight with both hands. Lower the weight behind your head by bending your elbows until you feel a strong resistance or the weight touches your back. Slowly lift the weight back above your head, keeping your abs tight and your back straight. Repeat.
 
2. Easy Arm Extensions
Grasp a weight in each hand while keeping your abs tight and your knees slightly bent. With back straight, lower your upper body by hinging your hips forward to about a 45 degree angle from your lower body. Extend your arms back as though you are handing your weights to someone behind you, all without moving your upper arms. Slowly curl your arms back into the starting position and pause before repeating.
 
3. Twisted Raise
Stand again with your feet hip-width apart, while slightly bending your knees and holding your weights in the palms of each hand. Let your arms hang naturally by your sides with your palms facing the side of your thigh. Keeping your shoulders down, lift your arms straight out from your sides, keeping them in one vertical plane with the rest of your body. Rotate your arms, turning your palms toward the ceiling. Hold for 5 seconds before rolling your palms back toward the floor.
 
4. Triceps Dips
Seated on the edge of a chair, place your hands behind your hips, using your palms to support your body weight. Angle your elbows outward before lowering your hips slowly toward the floor. Keeping your body angled slightly forward, straighten your elbows, but stop the motion before they are completely straightened (do not lock your elbows).
 
5. Slow Row
Sitting on your towel or yoga mat with your legs straight, wrap a T-shirt or towel behind the soles of your feet. Grasping one end of the shirt or towel in each of your hands, push your shoulders and elbows back so that your elbows are behind you. This motion should provide enough resistance to give the shirt or towel a firm stretch. Slowly return to your starting position and pause for a few seconds between repetitions.

Kloey is the owner of Hot Body Pilates, a nationally acclaimed Pilates studio in the heart of the Gaslamp.  Learn more:  www.hotbodypilates.com

A First Time Experience

Today's blog post is courtesy of Rachel Hunter about her first experience in a Pilates Class.

If I spend one more day on an elliptical or treadmill I will scream so loud I’ll break the mirrors in the classrooms, I remember thinking when I arrived at the gym that day.  Hmmm… speaking of classrooms... maybe I should try one of the classes.  I walked to the main desk and consulted the list of scheduled classes for the day.   Pilates was scheduled to start in 15 minutes.  Perfect!
 
Pilates… pilates what do I know about pilates? I racked my brain for any background knowledge I had acquired regarding it.  Sort of like yoga, but not really; strengthens the core; popular with dancers; and involves the use of a ball… or I am I confusing that with something else? With that much knowledge and forethought I embarked on my first pilates class!
 
The teacher arrived, turned on some soft yet somehow upbeat music, and we were on our way.   After a quick warm-up, we started working the arms.  First observation- exercises are done slowly.  Plenty of time to feel the burn!
 
After a series of exercises targeting muscles I didn’t even know existed in my arms, we moved into strengthening the abdominals.  Second observation: the exercises burn, but cheating results in an exhausted neck! Especially when doing exercises such as “the hundred.” For that reason, it’s better just to work at an individual level. 
 
For the last portion of class, we worked on our lower body.  When we put our feet on top of the ball (I was right, there is a ball involved!) and moved it towards and away from our gluts, I could practically hear my hamstrings scream for mercy.  Then, just as I started to feel like I was understanding what pilates is all about, the class was over.
 
Third observations: After class I noticed that although my body felt like it received a thorough workout, I was not tired! I fact, I felt rather energized.  Fourth observation: I felt like I learned a great deal from the class, however,  I imagine I’ll get more attention and help with form from a small class.  For that reason, I’ll research pilates studios in the area.  Or at least, I’ll try to research a studio if I can ever move my arms again! (They’re tired already!)

For more info on Rachel please visit her at the right writings and name to know.

Jennifer Kries: The Master Trainer Series

After I graduated from my first teacher training certification course, I felt that I had a great understanding of the work in my body and had clocked literally hundreds of hours working with a wide variety of people with different body types, and needs, everything from rehabilitative requirements to strength-training and pre and post-natal conditioning, so I had confidence in my ability to provide clients with the appropriate exercises that suited them; however, as difficult as this is to admit, what I didn’t know how to do was communicate the work concisely and confidently--how to choose exactly the right words with which to literally transmit what I knew to the client and also, how to physically interact with the client--the specific hands-on techniques to use in each and every scenario! And I knew that I was not alone in this feeling. Since those early days, shortly after completing this first “watershed” teaching course, I was on a path to cultivate greater skill and deepen my understanding of my craft. Along the way, I learned a great deal, too much to do justice to in this short story. Not only did I gain the hands-on and verbal experience that I felt I had been missing in my practice, but I honed my techniques and expounded upon the best of what I learned from others-- I forged a new way, one that literally combined the best elements from the teachings I had been exposed to, and I brought them all together in a powerful, simple approach, one that I have been passing on to others for years. This is a perfect segue to my next thought: that truly the most important lesson that I already held in my heart, but was reminded of along the way, was the value of collaboration, of being open to sharing and co-creation, of being a “forever student.” We can all learn something from others, as experienced as we may be, there is always room for growth and expansion, and for sharing our gifts.

And it was in this spirit that I decided to share my hard-won gifts with the world of Pilates devotees and make my own contribution to upholding Joseph Pilates’ standard of excellence and purity. Some of the fruits of my years of labor are now showcased in a forum for others to benefit from and then continue the expansion of greater mind-body-spirit consciousness by then sharing it with others! The Pilates Method Master Trainer Series was born! Alongside my excitement and enthusiasm, were the thoughts about the responsibility towards the public-- to stress that this series was not a replacement for real-life training and that instead, it should be used as a guide and supplement to what I said earlier-- real dedication and hours in the field. It took me a while to decide whether this series was something I should share in this way-- an entire teacher training course, typically a $5,000 value for the accessible price of $399, not to mention the "moral" argument I had with myself-- hoping that people would use it as an essential addition to formal training and not use it as a substitute. In this account, I felt compelled to be utterly open and honest about the conflict I experienced with the decision to release the series and why ultimately, the idea that it would be helping to shape generations of teachers ---won. I knew that it was imperative to share this with others in the community to improve the quality of teaching that would be made available to the public, and hoped that the comprehensive nature of the series’ content would inspire integrity in each and every person who purchased it and viewed it.

Communicating the essence of Pilates work has always been a particular source of gratification for me, and after traveling to distant parts of the globe teaching The Method, I knew there was a need for a multi-purpose resource that would serve several needs in the Pilates population: a teaching guide that would help Pilates professionals to become exceptional teachers and also one that would provide students and lovers of Pilates with a comprehensive series that would not only show the viewer all of the exercises in the Pilates syllabus, but go into real depth, discussing the meaning and import behind each exercise, how to properly execute it and how to find the most immediate and effective way to cue it, and how to best use hands-on techniques to facilitate the work. I wanted to create a series that would leave no stone unturned and highlight every aspect of the Method, going well beyond the exercises themselves into the realm of psychology and interpersonal interactions. I wanted to address the vital aspect of responsibility towards another, having healthy boundaries, being able to tap into one’s intuition and empathy when greeting and working with a client, keeping one’s own practice up and maintaining proper self-care and attention to one’s own growth and personal progress while attending to a business that often requires a considerable measure of energetic output-- how to achieve self-preservation and simultaneously cultivate a thriving business. I decided to film one of my complete teacher training courses, from the Mat, including the Magic Circle and Sculpting Series, to the Reformer, the Cadillac, Chair and Barrels, Ladder and small arc barrel, all levels, all case studies, from scoliosis to various injuries, pre and post-natal approaches, for the young, seniors, overweight, and the list goes on and on ...The result is my Pilates Method Master Trainer Series, and it is my hope that this collection of DVDs helps to serve as the bridge from esteemed, accredited teacher training courses into the real-time world of flesh and blood, transformational interactions in Pilates, one that leads you to feel a deeper confidence, steadiness of spirit, greater skill and finesse and inspiration in each and every one of your Pilates experiences whether you teach it to many, or practice it on your own!

Enjoy!
To your good health and good fortune everyone~

For further information on Jennifer Kries please visit www.jenniferkries.com.