Standing Footwork
– #pilates4life2020: #11 of 31 exercises
What’s it good for?
This helps to strengthen your upper legs, stretch & strengthen the calf muscles, achilles tendon and feet AND it helps us to earn to stabilize our pelvis and spine – what’s not to love?
A Quick Guide to Standing Footwork
Hints and Tips
💡 Inhale, lift high don’t pitch forward. Neither from the hips nor the ankles!
💡 Keep your weight on the bi toe joint rather than the little toes – that way your ankles won’t collapse.
💡 As you bend your knees, keep you heels grounded. Then dig deep. Then dig yet deeper to really stretch those calves
💡 Keep your spine perfectly vertical as you lower it (by bending your knees) over your heels.
💡 Try in the opposite direction!
💡 Go the Full Monty and work with feet together, in a small V and in a wide V position (i.e. – || – V: – \ / – )
💬 Joe Pilates on his apparatus: “I invented all zeez machines. Began back in Germany. Was there until 1925. I used to exercise rheumatic patients. I thought, why use my strength? So I made a machine to do it for me. Look, you see?.. It resists your movements, in just ze right way, so zose inner muscles really have to work against it. Zat way you can concentrate on ze movement! You must always do it slowly and smoothly… Zen your whole body is in it.”
Joe Pilates on his Pilates apparatus…
💬 “I invented all zeez machines. Began back in Germany. Was there until 1925. I used to exercise rheumatic patients. I thought, why use my strength? So I made a machine to do it for me. Look, you see?.. It resists your movements, in just ze right way, so zose inner muscles really have to work against it. Zat way you can concentrate on ze movement! You must always do it slowly and smoothly… Zen your whole body is in it.”
