Best Pilates Classes near Fort Saskatchewan, AB

Tuesday Teaching TipsnnSwan - a full body effort to open the front of the spine.nnThe Swan, and even more so the Swan Dive, had long been my nemesis. I got into Pilates to rehab from two fractured vertebrae. So, back extension has never been a favourite direction. For the first several years into my Pilates journey, any back extension movements would only lead to over-firing my lumbar extensors, compressing my low back. nnOne of the movement principles Joseph Pilates espoused was whole body movement, everything works to support the movement. It was when I figured out how to do this that I was able to do the Swan without pain. Now, I can literally traction my whole spine in extension with this exercise. I still don’t have a very big range of hyper-extension, but do I need that in my mid-50’s now? No, I need a long, supple spine that can move in any direction freely and without pain.nnThe components for a good swan are:nBack extensors - working the multiple levels of extensors to articulate through each jointnHip extensors - gluts and hamstrings leverage the pelvis off the floor and are continuous with the back extensors through the posterior kinetic chain and cues lengthening of the hip flexors. nShoulder girdle - strongly sliding the shoulder blades down the thorax engage the lats and lower trapezius, adding more lift of the weight of the torso and countering the extensors to open more space between the vertebraenAbs - use the entire length of the abs to support the front of the spine/torso with the eccentric contraction of the absnArms - the hands are fixed into the floor to anchor the shoulder girdle. Actively pull yourself up and down with the arm effortnEyes - track up along the floor and back down to refine the smooth articulation from the top of the spine down and back.