When you think of a core workout, this is probably what comes to mind, right?
Burning abs.
Flexion.
On your back.
That feeling that makes you question all your life choices.
And to be fair...
A real burn.
Believe me, I loved it.
(Thank you for inspiring me to try this setup.)
But here’s where things get interesting.
Though the deep abs are part of your core.
They’re not the whole story.
A truly functional core is not about the burn.
It teaches your body to reflexively:
→ Respond to load
→ Transfer force
→ Adapt to unpredictability
That’s why some of the best core exercises don’t feel like abs exercises at all.
And why some of the best abs exercises, like these, are only one piece of the puzzle.
A reminder that there’s room for both:
The burn that makes you smile.
And the movement quality that keeps you strong for life.
Which one is your favourite here?
Marianne.CoreConnect
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A fully-certified Pilates instructor and educator, women's health advocate, and core expert, I am th
A fully-certified Pilates instructor and educator, women's health advocate, and core expert, I am the founder of the Core Connect Method. Over the past 4 years, I have become one of the leading prenatal and postnatal specialists in the UAE, teaching over 400 pregnant and postpartum women, and developing a signature diastasis recti repair programme. I have 5 years experience in teaching group, priv
We don’t hype our kids up before big moments.
No matter how nervous we are 🫠
A few weeks ago, Adam read to his brother’s class. (Very grateful to the teachers who made this happen)
So when I asked him: “Are you nervous?”
And he responded laughing: “Nervous about what? I am just reading to a bunch of kids.”
I knew we’d somehow managed not to instill in him what we had suffered from ourselves.
Namely the feeling that if we were not high-performers, we were not loveable.
Does it mean we are never attached to outcomes?
Certainly not.
I am glad I was working this morning when my youngest’s team lost their match 10-0.
But we do our best to strike a balance between a deeply rooted sense of enough-ness and a healthy dose of competition / performance.
It’s so hard to get it right.
And I certainly don’t claim to get it right with them every day.
But this stands as one of my proudest moments as a mama.
✨What has been your proudest parent moment this year?
Our best work is always co-created, isn’t it?
This reformer sequence wasn’t planned.
An advanced student needed more challenge for a plank series.
I told her to try a knee dip.
She tried a knee dip.
Not the one I had in mind.
One thing led to another.
This flow was born.
(The knee dip is much harder than it looks!)
One of the greatest gifts of teaching is discovering that inspiration doesn’t always come from having all the answers.
Sometimes it comes from being curious enough to explore the question together.
This sequence is one of those moments.
Does this look like a pelvic floor workout to you?
Guess what?
It is.
It’s also a gorgeous Chair workout.
Because the pelvic floor is a team player.
Isolated pelvic floor exercises have their place in a rehab programme.
But they rarely deliver lasting results on their own.
The pelvic floor needs to be integrated to truly function.
Incontinence. Hip pain. Painful in*******se.
For so many, the missing piece isn’t more Kegels.
It’s movement that brings the whole system online.
On the Chair, that might look like:
→ Eccentrically loading your deep hip rotators
→ Increasing thoracic mobility
→ Building leg strength
→ Mobilising the pelvis
→ Releasing abdominal restrictions with the Rad Center
It doesn’t look like lying on a mat squeezing.
It looks like this.
🗓️Next perinatal Pilates teacher training course starts in September 2026.
✉️ DM for info.
01/06/2026
I have taught 119th postnatal courses to date 🙌🏽
So I can say rather confidently that over the past 9 years, I have learned a thing or two about postpartum exercises that tend to impede progress rather than support it.
Especially when they are performed:
-at home without guidance
-in group classes
They’re not ‘bad’ exercises.
I find them relevant and use them often.
But they’re not ideal “postpartum exercises”.
And guess what?
There is no such thing.
It’s the breath, cueing, context and mindfulness that make a difference during postpartum training.
Not the exercises onto themselves!
The 120th Core Connect postnatal course starts next week. Who’s in?
If your back hurts, your plank sucks.
(Sorry 🙊)
A lot of women are told to « just hold a plank ».
But if your body has been through pregnancy, birth, stress, leaking, pain … or simply poor instruction 😂 it will find ways to compensate.
Those compensations kill your efforts.
They turn the solution into yet another problem.
Fix your plank now.
Thank me later 😊
Constraints can become inspiration 🫶🏽
That’s true in Pilates.
And it’s true in times of conflict.
Last week, a teacher in the next room needed my reformer boxes, so I used blocks instead.
That small limitation led to slide 1 and 5 of this sequence.
Since Feb 28th, this pattern has shown up well beyond the Chair room.
Life and business have required a level of adaptability that hasn’t always felt easy.
Yet within it came unexpected partnerships, meaningful encounters, and beautiful community moments.
We can see obstacles only as barriers.
Or we can accept that the environment has changed.
And turn it into a new playfield 🙌🏽
This isn’t toxic positivity.
It doesn’t mean dismissing frustration, grief, or uncertainty.
It simply means remembering that limitations sometimes become the raw material for creativity✨
Sometimes the thing that gets taken away creates space for something you wouldn’t have built otherwise.
Let me know which you’ve enjoyed most.
It’s a functional series I’ll keep coming back to!
⚠️The body doesn’t work in parts.
It communicates and negotiates between them.
Constantly.
When one area gets blocked or cranky, others mimic.
Especially through the sciatic chain.
I’m not here to say stretching doesn’t help.
Or that core work doesn’t matter.
(Who’s the Core Queen?👸🏽)
But really: how often do you think about your feet when your back starts shouting?
As someone who has had nerve-related foot surgery, I stopped ignoring that link a long time ago.
Sometimes it’s not what’s tight.
It’s what’s stuck at the base.
We rush to the back.
When the conversation might start at the ground.
Give your feet more attention.
Not more effort.
But more space.
And more input.
You might be surprised what softens upstream.
Try it now.
Thank me later
The antidote to doubt? Action!
Playful reformer variations with the magic circle today ✨
To stay anchored in what’s already there.
Not letting external instability run the inner world.
And of course… to connect with you all.
Because what’s the point of creative movement if it doesn’t bring us closer?
Something shifts when we move together.
The body leads.
The chatter quiets.
And doubt… softens.
Keep showing up, dear friends.
You deserve to stay focused on you.
Your path. Your goals.
And maybe that’s how goodness wins.
Steadily.
Because we don’t give up.
🇦🇪🫶🏽🇦🇪🫶🏽🇦🇪🫶🏽🇦🇪🫶🏽🇦🇪
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