The key to core strength in Pilates

You may have been to one of Nina Youe’s classes, she’s one of our amazing Mat instructors here at Scout. Passionate about all things fitness & Pilates, she’s sharing with us below her top tips to help you build core strength and make the most of your Pilates workout.

We all know how vital it is to have a strong core! Core strength significantly improves our posture, coordination, and general movement and of course, reduces chronic pain! Pilates is widely regarded as one of the most beneficial methods of exercise to strengthen one’s core, but are you familiar with the best practices to efficiently engage your core?

Here are a couple of things that you should pay attention to when it comes to core engagement in order to get the most out of your mat classes:

SLOW DOWN

Pilates is all about the mind-to-body connection, and this is for good reason! The longer you spend during an exercise, the more time under tension the muscle goes through which in turn means more muscle engagement and more results! It may seem fun and efficient to use momentum and power through an exercise, but particularly during abdominal exercises, we want to slow down every movement to ensure that the abdominals are working to maintain stability and drive the movement.

FOCUS ON YOUR SET-UP

This one is particularly relevant for those Pilates veterans who know their way around the mat and can do each exercise in their sleep. This is where we tend to get a little sloppy with our set-ups and may miss crucial cues that align our bodies correctly. It is possible to get through an exercise with little to no pain, but still, be performing it incorrectly. Take the time to find your neutral pelvis, feel the engagement of the deep abdominals and maintain this sense of connection as you start to execute the more complex elements of the exercise.

ENGAGE YOUR CORE ALWAYS

My third and final step is so undervalued. Almost every single exercise in Pilates and many other forms of movement engage our core. A squat, a push-up or a deadlift are all core exercises (as well as the other muscle groups). By neglecting to think about our abs during these other exercises, we are missing a massive opportunity to strengthen our core! The reason we are working our abs in the first place is to make general life and activity easier, so why wouldn’t we be conscious of it then? As you move through your day, particularly when exercising, do a few mental checks to see if you can find your abdominals, be aware of your powerhouse at all times to get the most out of it!