Have you ever noticed how certain areas of the body tend to feel weaker or more fatigued than others? Many of our daily activities, like working at a computer, driving, slouching in a chair, or even just walking, rely heavily on repetitive forward movements. And over time, this can weaken your abdominals, overstretch your upper back, and compress your hips. The result is often a familiar combination: a sore or stiff lower back, one or both hips that feel pinched…
Maintaining bone health is a lifelong challenge; it’s never too early to start. In fact, bone strength can begin to decline as early as age 40, slipping at an average rate of 1% per year without proper maintenance1. A well-rounded strength-training workout, like Pilates, targets all major muscle groups and benefits virtually all your bones. It’s especially valuable for the hips, spine, and wrists—areas most prone to fractures. These exercises help build bone strength and promote better balance. If you’d…
Have you ever looked closely at all the people you come into contact with every day? They all have one thing in common. Posture. We go up against environmental factors daily, causing our backs, necks, and shoulders to spill forward into a rounded-over posture. It’s no longer just age causing poor posture, but it’s our modern life – phones, computers, binging TV shows, and, of course, gravity. But what can we do about our poor posture? First, we can start…
These tried-and-true Pilates exercises go beyond your studio class and work your whole body fitness, whether in the gym, a part of your warm-up, or your cooldown! Pilates Bridge Exercise Why we love it. Strengthening and stretching for the lower body and core. A bridge is the perfect reverse exercise for your sitting behavior. It combines the flexion of your hamstrings and core while lengthening and stretching your hip flexors. Pilates Chest Lift Exercise Why we love it. Deceptively simple,…
When it comes to building a healthy body, there are benefits to intense sweaty workouts as well as rest, relaxation, and recovery sessions. But where does “release” fit into the balance and what does it mean? At Pure Movement, release work means using a soft prop to gently manipulate and relax the fascial connective tissue to improve blood and lymphatic circulation, whole body alignment, and relieve pain. So what is “release work”? Release work is the gentle manipulation of the…
While our studio will still be physically closed March 30th through Monday May 11th (at least), we are ramping up our virtual class schedule and taking virtual privates in the meantime. Here’s how to sign up for our virtual classes. There is no better time to work on your Pilates form! Which Class is the Best Class for Me? Classic Mat Flow and Release + Restore will be more all level classes and have less contraindicated exercises. They are most comparative to our…