Resistance Band and Classical Pilates Exercises: Part Two

As we saw in the last installment the resistance band can act as a challenge or an assist to many of our classical Pilates exercises. When performing these exercises remember THE alignment and economy of your work and movement. Work as hard as you have to but no more. In Pilates there should always be an ease of movement even in the hardest of poses. So remember the basics. It’s important to maintain a neutral spine and pelvis and full tension free breath. Keep the shoulders away from the ears and engagement from head to toe without gripping. All these elements are even more important to remember when you add another element into the work like the Resistance band. To avoid gripping, it is important to use the right band according to the exercises you are doing and your strength and flexibility level. Resistance bands come in a range of colors that relate to their stiffness. Color-coding varies between the brands but it usually follows:

• Yellow (thin)
• Red (medium)
• Green (heavy)
• Blue (extra heavy)
• Black (special heavy)
• Silver (super heavy)

Here are some more classical Pilates exercises incorporating the resistance band. Remember to move through the exercises slowly and do only a few reps your first few times. If anything feels uncomfortable or painful stop the exercise and skip it for now. The more consistent you are with the work and the slower you move through it the more benefits you will see long term.

Exercise: THE HUNDRED WITH THE RESISTANCE BAND

• Start sitting on the mat with the long legs extended out.
• Wrap the middle of the resistance band around the balls of the feet.
• The tighter your hold on the band the harder it will be.
• As you progress tighten up on the band and still keep the legs super straight.
• Throughout the exercise the arms should stay extended.
• Slowly start to roll back until you are at the tips of the shoulder blades with the legs extended into 100's position.
• The feet are still in the resistance band with each end of the band in the hands.
• Holding the position of the torso and legs still start to pump through the arms.
• Keep the pump of the arms small so the tension on the band is not lost.
• Inhale for 5 small pumps of the arms.
• Exhale for 5 small pumps of the arms.
• Try to do 10 breath cycles to hit 100.
• If you feel your form slipping don't continue through the whole 10 sets.
• Keep practicing and eventually you will achieve the full 100's.
• When you are finished, hug the knees into the chest as you set the head down.
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Exercise: DOUBLE LEG DROP WITH THE RESISTANCE BAND

• Start lying on the back.
• Place the resistance band around the balls of the feet and extend the legs up to the ceiling. Each end of the band should be in the hands and the arms should be extended by the sides.
• Turn the legs out, bringing the heels together with the toes apart.
• Squeeze the legs together.
• Either keep the head down (if so, you may need to put a pillow behind the head and tops of the shoulders) or roll the head and shoulders up with the arms hovering over the floor a few inches and the fingers reaching towards the front of the room (you may need to tighten up on the band as you hover the arms up).
• Keeping the head and shoulders in place, inhale and lower the long legs away from the torso.
• Exhale and slowly lift the legs back up to the starting position.
• Do 6 -8 reps.
• Release by hugging the knees into the chest and resting the head.

 
Exercise: TEASER WITH THE RESISTANCE BAND

• Start sitting on the mat.
• Place the middle of the resistance band around the balls of the feet. The leg should be long. Tighten up on the band so the tension is snug.
• Slowly roll down onto your back.
• Once on the back, bend the knees towards the chest and lengthen the legs so the feet point towards the ceiling.
• Exhale and slowly roll the torso up bringing the legs forward, balancing on the sacrum in a V position.
• Legs and torso should be long with the tailbone slightly tucked under and the eyes and chest lifted. If needed the legs can be slightly bent.
• The shoulders should be lowered away from the ears.
• Inhale and hold at the top.
• Exhale and slowly roll the torso and head down with the legs long and feet pointing up to the ceiling.
• Do 4 to 6 reps.
• To add on you can lower the torso and legs at the same time so both are just hovering over the floor and then slowly come back to the teaser position.
• Do 2 to 4 reps.

Exercise: MERMAID WITH THE RESISTANCE BAND

• Sit on your mat in Mermaid position.
• The advanced Mermaid position with both knees bent and stacked is a challenging balance act.
• An easier position is to sit on the mat, bring both your bent knees to the right side. Your bottom bent left knee will be in front with the left shin facing to the front wall. The bent right leg will be to the side with the right shin facing the right wall. Try to anchor both sitting bones to the mat.
• One end of the resistance band will go under the left buttock and the other end will go into the left hand.
• Inhale and stretch the arms out to the side while sitting tall.
• Exhale, start to bend towards the right side as your right hand grasps the right ankle and the left arm and resistance band go over your head.
• The eyes face the front wall as you side bend.
• Inhale hold and try to reach a little further in the stretch.
• Exhale and travel up to a tall spine with the arms extended to the sides again
• Inhale and place the left hand and forearm on the floor and stretch the right arm over head.
• Exhale slowly lengthen the left arm and use the abdominals and breath to bring you back to your tall spine with the arms stretched to each side.
• Do 4 to 6 times and switch sides.

Join us next time for targeted upper body work with the resistance bands and tubing.