"A Pilates instructor suggests viewing physical exercises as an investment in your future well-being: here are three essential movements to maintain strength and flexibility as you grow older."
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As we age, it's essential to maintain a healthy and active lifestyle to support our bodies and ensure we can continue to move efficiently and with ease. One low-impact mind-body practice that can help is Pilates, a method that focuses on building strength, promoting joint health, and encouraging proper posture.
Paola Di Lanzo, the founder of Paola's Body Barre, recommends three specific Pilates exercises for building lasting strength and mobility. These exercises are the glute bridge, roll down to plank, and seated spine twist.
The glute bridge is a simple yet effective exercise that involves lying on your back, knees bent, feet hip-width apart, arms by your sides. By lifting your hips upward one vertebra at a time, you build and maintain strength for bones and joints. It's crucial to engage the buttocks and avoid overarching the lower back during this exercise.
The roll down to plank is another exercise that requires standing tall, rolling down one vertebra at a time until your hands reach the floor, walking your hands forward into a high plank position, holding for a breath, and then rolling back up to stand. This exercise engages the core and maintains a straight body line in the plank position.
The seated spine twist is a gentle exercise that can be performed with legs extended straight or slightly bent for comfort. Sit on the floor, extend your arms out to the sides, rotate your torso to one side, and return to centre. Repeat on the other side, maintaining a long spine and engaging your core during the twist.
According to Di Lanzo, these Pilates exercises translate to better balance, more efficient movement, and reduced risk of injury as we grow older. By thinking of movement as an investment in our future selves, we can ensure that we remain active and mobile well into our later years.
For precise details on these exercises, the original source from Fit&Well by Paola Di Lanzo would be the best reference. However, the focus of these moves is to build lasting strength and mobility, protect joints, encourage optimal alignment, and ensure balanced muscle development, which together contribute to a healthier, more resilient body.
[1] Di Lanzo, P. (2021). Three future-proofing Pilates moves for building and maintaining strength, promoting joint health, and encouraging proper posture. Fit&Well. Retrieved from https://www.fitandwell.com/fitness/three-future-proofing-pilates-moves/
Engaging in these Pilates exercises, such as the glute bridge, roll down to plank, and seated spine twist, as recommended by Paola Di Lanzo, not only strengthens our bodies but also promotes joint health and proper posture, which aligns with the science of fitness and health-and-wellness. By following these workouts regularly, one can likely reduce the risk of injury and cultivate a fitter and more resilient body for the future, supporting the philosophy of fitness-and-exercise.
