As you age, your body changes in many ways. Two common issues many people experience are mobility difficulties and a decrease in balance. These largely stem from changes our muscles, bones, and joints undergo—but, luckily, there are ways to combat these issues, including certain exercises that can help your muscles and joints stay limber and strong.
One of the best types of exercises to boost balance and mobility is Pilates, which certified Pilates instructor Jessica O’Toole, owner of Willow Tree Pilates, says helps by “strengthening and training our small stabilizer muscles that help with proprioception, or knowing where our body is in space.” We asked her to tell us about two of her favorite Pilates exercises for targeting these issues: swimming and hip rolls. Learn more about them below!
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1. Pilates “swimming”
No, we’re not talking about the type swimming you do in the water—but this Pilates exercise requires some similar movements. O’Toole says it’s “designed to mobilize the hip and shoulder joints, while promoting upper and lower body coordination on alternate sides,” making it a great move for helping out with balance and mobility. “It’s a great functional movement that helps with posture and balance,” she tells us, noting that “Pilates swimming also does a great job at strengthening our back muscles, helping to combat our much too common forward hunched over position.” Sounds perfect! Here’s how it’s done, according to her:
-Start lying on your stomach, face down with your legs long and parallel
and your arms extended overhead
-Engage your abdominals by lifting your belly button away from the floor
-Hover both arms, legs and head just off the mat, while keeping your neck
long and in line with your spine
-Lift both the right arm and the left leg higher
-Switch by lifting left arm and right leg
-Continue alternating, lifting opposite arm and opposite leg
-As you lift them, both arms and legs remain straight and muscles stay taught and engaged (no floppy limbs!)
-To challenge coordination and core stability, you can speed up the movement
-If feeling discomfort in low back, ensure abs are engaged and refrain from lifting legs too high
When you start implementing this move into your routine, you can aim for 20 repetitions. From there, increase the amount of reps you do as you get stronger!
2. Pilates hip roll
As you age, you may run into mobility difficulties with your spine and hips. If you’re looking to combat any issues in this area, O’Toole recommends trying out a hip roll. “This exercise focuses on creating spinal mobility, while opening up tight hip flexors and strengthening the glutes,” she says. “Learning to properly engage and strengthen our glutes is vital to maintaining stability and proper pelvic alignment.” Luckily, this is a pretty simple move to get the hang of. She gave us a rundown:
-Start lying on your back with arms by your side, knees bent, feet flat and
about a rulers distance away from your bum
-Inhale to prepare
-Exhale as you engage your glutes to tuck your pelvis so the tailbone
begins to lift of the mat, continuing to lift the lumbar, then thoracic
spine, ending in a shoulder bridge position – forming a straight line from
knees to shoulders
-Inhale as you hold this position
-Exhale as you reverse the movement, rolling through the spine segmentally
to the tailbone and untucking the pelvis
O’Toole recommends repeating this motion 5-8 times.
Of course, the best exercises for you will depend on your personal needs and the areas in which you’d like to improve your mobility. However, adding these Pilates moves to your workout routine can be a great way to give your overall balance and movement a boost—why not give them a shot?
