September 25, 2008

10-minute Pilates exercise for the office Part 2:

Filed under: Pilates — Tags: — Wellicious @ 8:38 pm

The second exercise is called the “Leg Worker”:

Stand tall in flat shoes or bare feet on the bottom of a step. Your feet have to parallel and hip-width apart. Hold on to the handrail. Place the balls of your feet on the step and the arches and the heels over the edge. You can also do this exercise on the floor, if you don’t have a step, but the stretch will be less. Breathe normally throughout and remain gently zipped. Bend both knees directly over your second toes, maintaining good posture. Do not tip forward or back. Lift both heels so that you are now on the balls of your feet. Keep your knees bent. Keep lengthening upwards, but don’t stick your bottom out! Slowly straighten your legs, but stay on the balls of your feet. Now lower your heels away from the top of your head until, if you are on a flat surface, they reach the floor, or, if you are on a step, they lower over the edge to stretch your calves. Repeat the sequence 10 times.

10-minute Pilates exercise for the office Part 1:

Filed under: Pilates — Tags: — Wellicious @ 8:29 pm

The   Wellicious team recommends two exercises that you can easily do at your officedesk to tone your body.

The first exercise is called “The Twister”:

Balance your weight evenly on your swivel office chair and lengthen your column.Hold the desk in front of you and lift your feet together off the floor. Breathe wideinto the rib cage. Breath out, zip gently, stay zipped. Keeping your upper body still and facing the front, rotate your lower body with the chair. Twist as far as you arecomfortable, as long as your upper body remains squarely facing forwards. Breath in then slowly, with control, twist back to the starting position. Repeat five times each way. Lengthening upwards through the spine.