How can you use Pilates for prehab? Here are five easy Pilates Mat exercises that you can easily do in the gym or at home:
The Hundred
This classic Pilates exercise trains abdominal endurance and enhances breath and control. This is a great Pilates warm-up exercise.Lie on your back with your knees bent and up in the air, your knees and hips form 90-degree angles (otherwise known as table-top position). Support your lower back by gently lowering your lower back toward the floor by drawing your abs in towards your spine.
Inhale: Reach your arms straight up to the sky. Exhale: As you reach your arms back down to the floor, lift your head and shoulders off the mat. Keep your eyes on your kneecaps.
Start to pulse your arms with a quick rhythm, inhaling for the count of five pulses, exhaling for the count of pulses. Keep doing this for 10 repetitions. Pause at the last exhale, and then gently lower your head towards the floor.
More: 9 Principles to Pump Up Your Pilates
The Swan
This exercise extends the spine and stretches the chest.Lie on the mat face down. Place your hands right underneath your shoulders. Engage your abs by feeling that you are lifting your belly button from the floor and turning your pubic bone to the mat. Inhale: Lengthen your spine, sending energy through the top of your head as you lift your upper body. The elbows are close to the body, the head stays in line with the spine, and the hips stay on the mat.
Exhale: Keep your abdominals lifted as you release to the mat in a sequential and controlled fashion Repeat Swan three to five times using an even, flowing breath to support the movement.
More: 4 Pilates Moves to Tighten and Tone Your Body
