The BalleCore(r) Workout: Integrating Pilates, Hatha Yoga, and Ballet in an Innovative Exercise Routine for All Fitness Levels
288
The BalleCore(r) Workout: Integrating Pilates, Hatha Yoga, and Ballet in an Innovative Exercise Routine for All Fitness Levels
288eBook
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Overview
Fitness dynamo and faculty member of the Boston Ballet for the past seven years, Molly Weeks is the woman behind BalleCore. She has chosen an array of effective exercises from each of these three disciplines to create a fulfilling workout that can easily be done in your own home and in under an hour. The results?
• Reduce backaches and stress
• Develop stature, support the spine, and feel steady on your feet
• Sculpt your arms, legs, hips, and core–and look trimmer than ever
• Loosen those tight spots in the shoulders, neck, and joints
• Gain an incredible sense of ease throughout your body
• Experience inner calm, self-confidence, and renewed optimism
With step-by-step instructions and profusely illustrated with helpful photographs, The BalleCore Workout® is the ultimate path to good health, longevity, and mind/body wellness. Remember: 50 minutes a day can change your life!
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780307481894 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Random House Publishing Group |
| Publication date: | 03/03/2010 |
| Sold by: | Random House |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 288 |
| File size: | 13 MB |
| Note: | This product may take a few minutes to download. |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
GETTING STARTED
BalleCore is a beautiful way to exercise the mind and body. It is a thoughtful technique that requires you to be conscious of what is happening with your body inside and out. In this chapter, you will learn all the elements—including the six BalleCore Foundations and the five Body Concepts—that are necessary for you to exercise attentively and truly enjoy it. They are easy to follow and will guide you all the way.
BalleCore Foundations
Physical stress and mental anxiety are common obstacles in today's world. When was the last time you found the time to relax and focus on fully inhaling and exhaling? It isn't always easy to do. We all have busy schedules, and thinking about past events or your “to do” list isn't the best way to initiate an exercise program. First and foremost, you need to feel comfortable and create your own atmosphere—one that allows you to tune in. Staying focused and relaxed sets the stage for a more pleasurable workout, and you will find that you become naturally drawn in. Take the following steps to begin your workout.
Relax Your Body and Mind
We have become conditioned to tense up, hold our breath, and strain muscles. Freeing your mind and oxygenating the muscles before you begin the program will help disentangle and release tense areas in the body, providing a more enjoyable experience for you. A relaxed, full breath enhances mindfulness during your daily life and while working out. When you are ready to start the BalleCore program, relax to release tension, but remember to maintain tone and control throughout the body. At first, you'll need to remind yourself that you are actually sitting still, breathing, and staying in the moment. But with practice, it will come naturally.
Prepare by either lying down or sitting in the tailor's seat position (cross-legged).
Clear your mind by bringing attention to your breath.
Close your eyes and inhale slowly. Feel your lungs and belly expand. Slowly exhale.
Bring attention to your muscles and relax every muscle in the body.
Slowly scan your body from your toes to the crown of your head.
Let go of any negative or stressful thoughts about the day.
Breathe
When breath stops, so does flow! Breathing disentangles and releases tense areas in the body. Breathing with attention can help you during exercise and your daily life. A relaxed, full breath enhances mindfulness. Remember, you are using breath and exercise to create equilibrium in the body.
The BalleCore breathing technique is designed to work with each exercise. It will improve the quality of how you move and how you feel. And it will strengthen your deep abdominal muscles and lower back, which is essential for the BalleCore routine.
The BalleCore Breathing Technique
Tailor-sit, lifting off your sitting bones.
Lift your abdominal muscles in and up, creating length from your hips to ribs.
Lengthen the base of your torso.
With your elbows pointing out to the sides, place your hands on your ribs, spreading your fingers.
Slowly inhale through your nose. Feel the rib cage expand to the sides and into your back as your diaphragm descends.
Exhale slowly and completely through your mouth, drawing your belly toward your spine and feeling your ribs knit together.
Exhaling completely gets you in touch with your deepest muscles. Focused breathing also keeps the muscles warm, causing them to lengthen and open up the spaces between each vertebra and rib so that the body expands to create a longer, leaner shape. A basic abdominal contraction occurs with every exhale and is the preparation for each and every exercise. This continuous support must be emphasized at the beginning, middle, and end of an exercise. Always exhale on the muscle contraction or exertion, and inhale on the muscle release and extension. Maintain the lift in your rib cage and keep your neck and throat soft. Keep your shoulder blades down.
Stabilize the Core
Rather than rounding your shoulders and sinking into your hip area with your tummy relaxed, think about creating the longest possible length from head, neck, and upper spine all the way to your tailbone. Now move your attention to your middle.
The band of muscles located in your midsection front and back, from just below your chest to your pubic bone, is called the core. The core is the body's center of power. The deep abdominal muscles that support your pelvis and internal organs (transverse abdominals) and your side muscles (internal and external obliques) stabilize your torso. The surrounding muscle groups, such as the hip, buttocks, and lower back muscles as well as your pelvic floor, need to be strong and flexible in conjunction with your inner core to execute the movements with full control and integrity.
A strong center allows you to move efficiently and become less prone to injury, especially at the joints such as the hips, knees, and ankles. Not only will you find that your sense of balance and muscular control improves by learning to activate your center, but your waistline will appear slimmer, too.
Bring Belly to Back
The action of pulling in your lower abdominal region, specifically your belly button and the area just below, is a good exercise to practice regularly. Whether you are standing, exercising on the mat, or just going about your daily routine, this action will strengthen your lower back and significantly improve your posture. By carefully drawing in your navel and pelvis, you create a flat abdominal wall and lengthen the back. In this position, feel as if you are narrowing your pelvis. This is the point where you want to reinforce a muscle contraction. Always try to lengthen the base of your spine and gently draw the tailbone down toward your heels. Be careful not to suck the stomach in, because it means you are probably holding your breath. You want to maintain an “anchoring” feeling while breathing normally.
If you connect your belly to your back, the BalleCore movements will feel more natural. As you learn the BalleCore routine, you will feel your body moving in many directions. Our bodies have the mobility to move in three dimensions. We will learn exercises that take you forward (flexion), open you up (extension), as well as bending you sideways and spiraling. Moving with good support is an essential part of BalleCore. Follow these steps before moving in any direction.
Breathe mindfully.
Starting at your navel, draw your abdominal muscles (just below the navel) up and inward.
Continue breathing and move your attention to your sides and around to the back.
Feel as if your connection is one continuous circle around the waist, remembering that your goal is to establish a strong structural base.
Now imagine that you are shrinking this continuous circle, as if you're squeezing out a sponge. This is the point where you want to reinforce a muscle contraction.
Inhale, lift up, and notice the lengthening in the spine. Exhale.
Focus
Each movement in BalleCore has a purpose. Some exercises are easier than others, but the same mental focus is required for each. Understand that you are an entity—body, mind, and spirit working in tandem. Although some movements may require more work in one specific muscle group, remember that all of your power initiates from your center. (Think of your belly button as the ignition button.) You will discover that even with the simplest of exercises, your mind needs the same degree of focus as with the more challenging movements.
Be Efficient and Strive for Quality
The quality of movement—doing it right—is more important than the repetition of mindless exercise. Remember, building a strong foundation before you begin your workout is the key. Once you have established a strong center and a conscious breathing technique, you will be ready to move effectively and efficiently.
How you move determines the visible results in your body. If you force an exercise by jerking or moving too quickly without really thinking about the action, you can cause wear and tear on a joint and experience pain. There is no need to waste precious physical and mental energy on thoughtless movements, instead, strive for efficient, continuous, and fluid movements that call for precision, integrity, and grace.
BalleCore Body Concepts
As you work through the exercises, concentrate on which muscles are working and on your overall body position. When your posture is correct, your brain has the ability to better perceive and coordinate movement. Whether you are performing the floor exercises or standing moves, it is imperative to weave together both the Foundations previously discussed and the Body Concepts outlined below.
The Body Concepts will guide you to proper placement while working on the mat or while standing. Each Concept has a function and is part of the overall plan to generate healthy movement from the bones to the joints and out through the muscles.
The Neck
The BalleCore Workout works the body from top to toes, starting with gentle body-awakening stretches at the neck and shoulder area. The seven cervical vertebrae are very fragile. While standing, imagine that you are increasing the length from the crown of your head to your tailbone. While lying on the mat, keep your neck long by gently lengthening the back of the neck on the mat as you slightly tuck your chin. Always keep in mind that these vertebrae are part of your spine. During the routine, you'll work to increase the range of motion in your neck, which will in turn make the abdominal exercises more comfortable.
The Shoulders
Tension in the shoulders is a common problem with many of us. Sitting at a computer or talking on the phone while performing another task lends itself to more misalignment in the body. If your shoulders are rounded and tight, the strain will eventually radiate to your neck or other parts of the body. You probably are not thinking about correct posture, but it's only a matter of time before you feel the strain somewhere else.
To correct this problem, in a seated position, pull up out of the waist again by engaging your core muscles, and create length from the tail to the crown of the head. Slide your shoulder blades, or scapulae, down the back toward the lower spine, creating a V. Feel as if the space between the shoulders and chest is opening up wider and wider. Try to avoid pinching the shoulder blades together by opening up too much.
Good range of motion in the shoulder girdle is essential for many of our daily movements as well as with the BalleCore routine. You will feel more open and will be able to accomplish the exercises with more ease and fluidity.