Traveling Pilates  

You don’t like the in-flight movie, your computer battery is dying and the person next to you is asleep, so what can you do on a long plane ride? Long car ride? Pilates, of course!!

Okay, Cadillac and Reformer work are out of the question, but you can still do some productive work on your core even at 30,000 feet.

Starting Position

Put your seat in the upright position and sit tall on your sitz bones with your feet about hip-width apart and flat on the deck of the plane. Your shoulders should be lightly resting on the seat, but there should be a slight space between the small of your back ant the seat (how big the space is depended on your normal lordotic curve) Pull your shoulders down toward the center of your back, and lift your weight out of your hips. You arms are relaxed by your side with your hands resting on your thighs.

Back Press

Get into Starting Position and inhale to prepare. As you exhale slowly, pull your belly button towards your spine, pressing your lower back against the seat by engaging your abdominal muscles. Release. Repeat at least ten to twelve times or as often as you want.

Pelvic Tilt

Get into Starting Position. As you inhale, tilt your pelvis away from your head. This will cause the stomach to stick out and the small of the back to arch away from the seat. As you exhale, pull your belly button into towards the small of your back by squeezing your abdominals and simultaneously tilting your pelvis upward. Keep your head and shoulders against the seat back. Do this exercise slowly focusing on the range of motion of the pelvis, and how the abs control its position.

Pelvic Floor 1

Get into Starting Position and inhale to prepare. Put the flat of one hand against your stomach. As you exhale, engage the bottom of your pelvic floor, without getting into your butt muscles. The sensation should be the same as stopping the flow of urine when you’re peeing. Squeeze into the pelvic floor more intently, concentrating on lifting up through the center towards your head. As the pelvic muscles engage fully, they will spark the abdominals. You will feel the abs being drawn in as if from the inside. Keep on lifting and pulling up until you feel like you have lifted up to the bottom of the ribcage. Inhale to release. Repeat at least ten times or as often as you like.

Pelvic Floor 2

Get into Starting Position and inhale to prepare. As in the first Pelvic Floor exercise, engage the bottom of your pelvic floor, again without clenching your glutes. This time squeeze and release at that point five times. Then inhale, squeezing deeper into the pelvic floor until you feel that you have engaged the muscles halfway up. Squeeze and release there five times. Inhale again, squeezing the rest of the way, and pulse for five. Repeat five times. If you want to intensify at this point, add another “station” so that you stop four times for pulses. Do five more again. After that, play with squeezing up and down holding at different points for different lengths of time. After all, unless your in Business or First Class, they aren’t going to be serving an in-flight meal, so you will have lots of time!!