Bia Fit

No pilates post today peeps. My baby is graduating and I’m an emotional mess. Basically a human leaky faucet.

Over 15+ years I have been kicked, hit, scratched. It’s MY fault. Even if the client didn’t pay a lick of attention to my cue, it’s my job to anticipate all the ways it can go wrong. I’ve laughed and recovered and moved on to the next thing.

Most of my workouts are not pretty. I don’t look cute. I am not smiling. I’m concentrating. I’m not super skinny and toned. I having quiet conversations with different body parts about what does and does not work in that moment, for that exercise.
They’re not what the algorithm wants.
I’m not trying to be an influencer. I’m being real.
If you’re looking for a cute pilates girlie, keep scrolling. If you’re looking for a studio and teacher who has knowledge, experience and a south Jersey attitude here in central Virginia, I’m it.

Frog Back on the chair is one of my favorite exercises. It’s an extremely challenging exercise, but one that really teaches glute isolation. My back body and core are working so hard to keep me lifted off the chair, but my glutes have to work even harder to extend a little further and press the pedal down. So hard. But soooo good.

Another, this wasn’t supposed to be a post. Why? Because it’s not perfect. But you know what? I don’t care. I am not perfect. I’m shakey, my form is meh. I’ve got a layer of fluff around my midsection.
What you see here is a post menopausal woman, who is strong, but EXHAUSTED.
Tired. All. The. Time.
My body isn’t recovering the way I am used to. More often than not I am on the proverbial struggle bus.
But I show up.
So enjoy the unfiltered, not perfect, real me.

Ok, this exercise is not called “sucker punch to the gut” but that’s a common cue I give to help clients get that super deep abdominal scoop of the abs to help facilitate the lift here. It’s like those old looney toons cartoons where someone would get punched and they’d fold in half and go flying backwards. This is spinal flexion and scapular stabilization. And a little magical fairy dust (no, not really)
PS This exercise is actually called elephant.

Nothing new here. Just some variations on an old classic, the “dead bug”. Dead Bug is a great exercise to strengthen your abdominals. But if you want to make it spicy…. Add a loop around one leg to intensify the lat connection. Add a block to deepen the transversus and psoas connection. Add a ball and go opposite arm/leg to find the diagonal line and more oblique work.

Single Thigh Stretch, but make it spicy.
I still get the stretch through the quad, but some dynamic movement too.
Quads, abs galore, shoulder stability, glutes.
And it gets your heart pumping too!

Please fuel your bodies people!
Exercise requires energy. Energy requires fuel, aka food. Yes, in order to lose weight you want a calorie deficit. But you still need calories. Especially if you are exercising.
First time in 15 years I have had to call an emergency contact. 😳

Bodhi suspension straps for an awesome abdominal series. Side planks with hip flexion and extension. Oblique crunches. Planks with hip abduction and adduction.
(Some of you may remember this series from our group Volée classes back in the day!)