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We’re heading into Week 5 of our Stomach Massage Program – we hope you are enjoying it as much as we are enjoying sharing it with you!
This week, we thought we’d take a look at the Reverse Abdominals movement. It’s so different from the more traditional abdominal exercises, you may wonder why we do it at all!
It’s actually really good to shake up our traditional movement patterns. It means that we have to focus on our form and avoids ‘auto-pilot’ – it’s unlikely that anyone will be thinking of their shopping list while getting to grips with Reverse Abdominals!
When we learn how to do it well, it really does help strengthen our abdominal muscles. But, as with so many Pilates movements, the benefits are multi-faceted! It requires a strong core (muscle groups in the torso) to help stabilise us throughout our flow – we can feel our core working hard throughout the movement. We know, from your feedback, that you can feel your shoulders, arms and hip flexors working hard – and becoming stronger too.
This is another of those movements where we have layered the complexity over the course of the program, to make sure that we find the form that’s right for our body, particularly as we familiarise ourselves with the movement. For example, we might be tempted to work from our shoulders. There’s nothing wrong with that – it’s just a different exercise, so you won’t feel the full benefit in the abdominals. But, don’t worry – our teachers have lots of cues (tactile and otherwise) to help you. For some of us, it may take a few weeks before we have that ‘eureka’ moment, when we feel the abdominals really starting to fire up. That’s fine – in the meanwhile, you’ll still be working hard!
We hope you’re feeling the benefits of the Stomach Massage program – we can certainly see them in your movement. We’d love to hear how it’s helped you in your day to day activities too!
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