For all the ladies (and gents, don’t lie) who have ever envied another’s collar bones, I am happy to report that they are not just a product of genetics or excessive skinniness. As it turns out, visible collarbones have much to do with the posture of your shoulders.

Here are 3 Simple exercises to help you achieve your new sexy shoulders:

1) Stretch your pecs & chest:  stand in a doorway with elbows on either side of the door frame and let your body weight sink through

2) Back extension: lay on the floor face down, with hands directly under shoulders. draw shoulders away from ears and lift up head chest and hands. hold for 5 breaths. repeat 10 times. (your upper back should start burning, make sure your shoulders are down!

3) Triceps: (rotator cuff): using 2 lb weights, stand in a lunge …

Its Monday again, so lets make a check list of the stretches we are going to do this week to undo the office neck.

1) Trap stretch (upper trapezius muscles)

Stand upright with good posture, tilt your head to the right, and take the right hand and gently pull to the right side. this will stretch the left side of the neck. take five breaths and repeat on the left.

2) Shoulder Rolls

Lift both shoulders all the way up to your ears, then roll back so that your shoulder blades come together, then drop down to neutral. repeat 10 times.

3) Pec stretch (pectoral muscles)

Stand facing a wall, take your left hand diagaonally up and place it on the wall. Then turn away from your arm until you feel a stretch through your chest.

Once an hour stand up to do the these stretches …

Gothamist broke some bad news today.  A study says bikes decrease pelvic floor sensitivity making for bad sex. Bad sex makes for no sex. No sex means the entire species of cute cyclists could die out!!!!

But there’s hope.  This is the sort of discovery that reminds me what great work I’m doing for the universe. Since Pilates strengthens the pelvic floor and increases sensitivity, I’m pretty much saving the human race– or at least the sort with cute butts from biking.  Spread the word otherwise the entire species of babes on bikes might die out!

xoxo
New York Pilates

Walk like a model:

Ever seen that girl walking down the street in high heels that are too tall? Super lame. She looks like she’s about to break her ankle. Not hot. How do you fix that with pilates? Ankle stability exercises. Grab a there-band and lets go.
 

1)Thera band ankles- Sitting with your legs in front of you put 1 foot in in the thera-band and do the following exercises:
- point and flex foot twenty times
- ankle circles 10 in each direction
2) Heel lifts- standing facing a wall, put your feet in parallel directly under your pelvis, you can use the wall to help you balance
-30 heel lifts in parallel- make sure your weight is over your big toe
-30 heel lifts in external rotation- keep your heels together!
3) Towel toes- sit with both feet on the ground, feet on a towel
- …

Push ups and “Plank” poses are great for getting those pectoral muscles pumped to lift up your ladies and minimize drooping. When your pecs are firm and tight they help keep your assets up where they belong, instead of drifting towards your lower half. This multipurpose exercise also tones the back, arms, shoulders and abs to keep things firm and tight for your whole 360.

Here are three styles of push up to help you lift and firm your bustline.

1) Classic Push up: Elbows bend wide to the side

All around great classic exercise, works pectoral and arm muscles with some good abs too.

2) Yoga Push up: Elbows stay in by the body

This push up is a great options because in addition to working out those pectoral muscles, it tones the back of you arms (tricepts) and that pesky bra strap overhang …

Many men experience chronic low back pain, which can be caused by sitting on the couch playing too many video games, hitting the viagra years or  just pumping too much iron at the gym.

So, how do you combat this problem when you feel like you are already doing tons of abs? Well, it turns out that crunches & situps only strengthen the most superficial (outermost) layer of your abdominals, and don’t even address the muscles that help support your spine and reduce low back pain. Pilates is a great way to find and strengthen these deeper muscles.

Here is a great exercise for finding stability in your low back by strengthening your abdominals:

Lay on your back with knees bent in tabletop

Keeping your pelvis in neutral (if you don’t know what this means look at contemporary vs classical pilates in the faq …

Got soccer legs? Quads that look like Shawn Johnston? Been running and running but keep bulking up? Been doing the BarMethod?  Years of overworking combined with a postural mis-alignment are to blame.

But, there is hope for the skinny-ness of your legs. Here is a three step plan (yes, just like any self help guru, I have a 3 stepper for you) to slim down while you tone up.

1)   The posture of your pelvis. In pilates we are kinda obsessed with talking about “neutral pelvis” and this scenario is a great example of why. Most people when running, or doing anything really, tend to live in either an anterior tilt (butt sticks out, overdeveloped butt and quads, sometimes accompanied by a poochy belly) or a posterior pelvic tilt (butt tucked under: no butt, slouchy looking). In my experience most big quad people …

Here is a great article from the Wall Street Journal about neck pain. The interesting thing about this article is that the research showed  home exercises and chiropractic were almost equally effective, beating out  pain medication. Thanks to my client “H” for sending this along.

ok, so what are the “chicken excercises”

“Dr. Bronfort said a neck-retraction exercise, or chicken-like maneuver of the head, in which a people pull their heads back and then tilt their chins slightly downward “seemed to be especially useful.”

Lets break it down :

1.  stand against a wall, shoulders and head rests on the surface.

2. Pull your chin all the way in, tipping chin down slightly, sliding the back of your head up the wall.

3.  Allow your chin to jutt out forward (chicken maneuver) allowing your head to  leave the wall extending all the way out, while keeping …