Episode 14: Chair Pilates
Are you interested in learning how to do Pilates in a Chair? Today I break down the benefits to doing this type of work and more.
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Show Notes:
Introduction: Cari Vann, the host of Better Than a Pill, introduces the topic of the day, which is Chair Pilates.
Who Benefits from Chair Pilates: Cari discusses the different groups of people who might find chair Pilates beneficial. These include those with trouble lying on their back, pre or post surgery patients, those comfortable with exercising in a seated position, and those who work at a desk.
History with Chair Pilates: Cari shares her personal experience and development in the field of chair Pilates, detailing its advantages and the progress seen in individuals over time.
Importance of Posture: Cari emphasizes the importance of maintaining proper posture when seated and how it can positively impact our health.
Specifics of Chair Pilates: The basic components of a seated regimen are discussed. This includes spinal alignment, using support for maintaining posture, maintaining correct hip-knee alignment, and working on scoop and ribcage breath.
Incorporating Pilates Circle: Cari discusses the use of the Pilates circle for developing a connection in seated exercises and integrating it with movement in arms and legs.
Spinal Movements and Center-based Strength: The importance of including all spine movements and building center-based strength in a chair-based routine is highlighted.
Flexibility and Mobility: The scope of flexibility and mobility exercises possible in a seated position, including progression to upper body and neck exercises, is outlined.
Building Habit and Routine: The importance of creating a consistent routine for chair Pilates is emphasized, with suggestions for how to incorporate it into a daily schedule.
Recap: The key points of the episode are summarized, and Cari concludes the episode by extending an invitation to the listeners to join her in future episodes.
Key Takeaways:
Chair Pilates is Beneficial: It is particularly helpful for those who have difficulty with traditional Pilates exercises, such as those who struggle to lie on their back, or those who are most comfortable exercising in a seated position.
Posture Matters: Maintaining proper posture is crucial for overall health, especially when engaging in seated exercises like Chair Pilates.
Versatility of Chair Pilates: The practice incorporates fundamental movements, including spinal movements and center-based strength exercises, and can be tailored to include flexibility and mobility exercises.
Routine and Consistency: Just like any other fitness regimen, consistent practice of chair Pilates is key to seeing progress and reaping benefits.
No One Size Fits All: The program can be done all at once or can be broken up throughout the day as per convenience, emphasizing the flexibility and adaptability of the regimen.
Transcript:
Hello, everyone, and welcome back to Better Than a Pill. I'm Cari Vann and I'm so grateful and excited to be here again to share with you today. In today's episode, we're going to be talking about chair Pilates. Now, let me start off by sharing a little bit about who would benefit from this type of work and my history and development with this work as well.
If you have trouble lying on your back or you don't have a table or you have trouble getting onto a mat, this is a great way to do things. Also, if you want something additional to do besides work on a mat, this is a great option and can provide another way of doing things to help the body. If you are pre or post surgery, this work can be a good option. Also, if you are most comfortable exercising in a seated position, and let's say other positions are a little bit more tasking at the moment, this can be a great fit.
And if you work at a desk, say in an office, at home or away from home, this is ideal because you're already sitting, and this can be an easy program to implement or even break up throughout your day. Now, I started doing chair based Pilates work over 20 years ago with people, and I found it extremely beneficial. And I saw that people were able to not only maintain their bodies in this fashion, but gain control over their bodies and improve. And so I built up some protocols to assist.
A big advantage of doing work in a chair is that you can sit and do a lot of good things for your body during that time. So let me review some of the basic components that should be included in a seated regimen. And we're going to start off with posture. We can't overlook this. This is important anytime, especially if we're going to be doing something seated intentionally. And I try to spread this information as much as I can.
But we want to give our back support while we're sitting. This puts our spine in proper alignment, and the spine loves being in alignment. And your body will appreciate you for this. And what that means is basically lining up your ears, over your shoulders, over your hips. We can do a lot of damage to our bodies while sitting, so it's really important to set yourself up to succeed. There's nothing wrong with support. Let's use it. I do this stuff for a living. It's impossible to maintain proper posture all the time. The support gives us that reminder and sets us up to succeed.
Also, your hips should not be lower than your knees. They can be either in a straight line from your knees or a little bit higher. And this is because you don't want to tighten the hip flexor or so as muscle. That's important. Now, in the chair, we also work on the fundamental use of our scoop and our ribcage breath and learning how to connect the breath to your center, just like in a therapeutic Pilates mat regimen.
I love building this type of connection through using the Pilates circle. And again, I use it with both the hands and the legs. And proper form and setup is just as important in a chair. And then we begin to add into this stabilized movement with the arms and the legs. And this is another fundamental skill that's usually, sorry, important. So we want to integrate those things in.
We also incorporate spinal movement. We go through all the movements that our spine needs, unless there is a contraindication, because this is important even while we're sitting. Now, center based strength we can do in a chair. One of our pillars, all these are pillars of pain free movement, right?
We're integrating all this work into the chair. And this is a great place to start with center based strength, especially if standing creates a challenge. And we can build upon these things. Seated, mobility, stretching, yes, we get in our flexibility, legs, hips, back, and then we can progress adding neck, upper body, et cetera. But yes, we can do all these things in a chair.
And I think it's just important. And the whole purpose of this episode is just to create that awareness and also know that it is an option and it's good. As well as being able to incorporate, like I said, all the pillars of the pain free movement into this work as well.
Now, creating routine and habit with chair work is just as important with a chair just as it is with a mat or in the water. And so we really want to focus on that, getting the habit of doing things so that we can get consistent with everything that is key. And like I said, this can be done all at once or you can break up the method throughout your day as needed. There is no right or wrong way to do things. It's just about getting it into your body.
So, just to recap, today we talked about how Pilates can be done effectively in a chair, who this work is good for and what should be incorporated. So I really hope that you all enjoyed this episode and found it helpful. Remember, we do new episodes every week on Wednesday and I look forward to having you join me then.
