We loved being at Jill Lindsey's lovely store in Fort Greene this spring. We are excited to be kicking off a monthly mat class there for the summer! Join us! Visit Jill's Event Page to sign up!
PLUS
Emma Fitzsimmons is teaching on the following dates!
Tuesday June 30th at 730pm
Thursday July 23rd at 730pm
So grab a friend and your mat and get ready to move, lengthen, and center yourself!
Here are some good reads and links on Glutes!
Check out this read from the Vertical Workshop to help you reconsider the ever popular, not so functional, butt squeeze. Here's another one about booty clenching (and much more) from Breaking Muscle.
Dive into this interview with Katy Bowman on Mama Sweat discussing the role glutes play in pelvic floor function.
Here's a video from Dooley Noted (at Brooklyn Bridge Park!) for your lateral hip activation. Fall fully in and explore the links she suggests as well!
This post from The Gait Guys discusses crossover gait in distance runners vs sprinters and how that relates to balance between your quads and your glutes. ( To nerd out full force, be sure to check out the link to their you tube channel. They are great to follow on Facebook BTW).
Use all of these articles as food for thought, not diagnosis or being your own internet doctor. It's great to get a broad perspective on the many things our bodies do to keep our wonderment and investigation of our own unique structures alive!
"A sound mind "housed" in an unsound body is just about as desirable a physical condition as is the structural weakness of a house boasting a find copper roof but built upon a foundation of shifting sand.
A sound body "housing" an unsound mind is just about as desirable as a physical condition as is the structural weakness of a house boasting a solid rock foundation but possessing a roof of flimsy paper.
A sound mind "housed" in a sound body is desirable just as is a fine copper-roofed house built on a solid rock foundation"
-Joseph H. Pilates
Your Health
This GF flatbread/ pizza crust recipe is a weekend staple of our household. We have been topping it with pesto, kale, artichokes and feta. If you are avoiding dairy you can easily top with any delicious veggies that you like!
Ingredients:
Cooked Quinoa (1 cup dry) - cooked and cooled.
I have been cooking my quinoa and everything else in bone broth these days.
2 eggs
1/4 teaspoon of arrowroot powder
pinch of cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon of the following fresh rosemary, oregano, garlic powder, kelp or dulse granules, sea salt.
Fresh pepper
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 cup of cheese (totally optional)
Pre-heat oven to 425. Mix the herbs, arrowroot, cream of tartar and pepper into the cooled quinoa. Make a well in the quinoa and beat the eggs + olive oil with a fork. Then mix well.
Cover a small cookie sheet with parchment paper. Spread mixture into the cookie sheet making sure to even out the thickness. Place in the oven for 25-35 minutes. Be sure to check often. (I must mention my oven doesn't hold or maintain heat well so be sure to check your crust it might take more or less time!) The crust should brown a bit on top and around the edges, but more importantly when you lift a corner away from the parchment paper it should hold together.
Once the crust is ready, pull it from the oven and top as you like! Then put it back in the oven until cheese is melted and kale is wilted. I like to bake mine for about 10 minutes and then put it under the broiler for a few to brown the cheese. Enjoy!
For our #gloriousglutes #moveit series we are really breaking it down so that you understand the action of each glute muscle. Towards the end of the series, guest blogger and Swan Instructor Travis Sisk will offer a full glute home program. Take your time and use these exercises (as well as this one that targets your glute max) to gain a deeper understanding of the actions of each gluteus muscle on the joints they articulate. Better understanding leads to smarter movement!
Side lying leg lifts
This exercise is a Pilates classic within the side lying leg series. As we learned in Shorty's post about Gluteus Medius this muscle moves your thigh away from your center line in abduction.
Lie down on one side with your head, ribs and pelvis all in one long line. Bend both knees into table top. Place a block or half roller under your head to keep your neck in alignment. Place your top hand in front of your waist for stability or on your top hip, or sacrum, to monitor what your pelvis is doing. Extend your top leg out long and bring it back in line with your top hip. Lower it to the mat and then lift it 1-2 inches higher than hip height. Lower it down to the mat keeping it long under your hip. Repeat 12 times. Flip over and set up for the other side.
Variation: Set up with your back against a wall. As you lower and lift your leg keep your heel in contact with the wall. This is great if you have quads that like to dominate.
Wall balance with physio ball.
Stand with your physio ball between your greater trochanter and the wall. Look down and get both feet truly under your hips. You will feel like the ball is shoving you away from the wall a bit. Square your ribs and hips off to the wall in front of you. Reaching tall through your torso, gently bend the knee of your leg that is touching the ball to lift that foot off the ground keeping your pelvis level. Balance here for 15-30 seconds. Repeat on the second side. Do three sets. Try this one with your shoes on or off!
MON 7:30pm
F.L.O.C.K.
Fitness. Love. One on one attention. Center. WORK.
*new class
WED 7:30pm
Jump Stretch Roll
*new time
FRI 10am
STRENGTH
*new time
FRI 3pm
SUMMER Friday Mat
*new class
TUES 12pm
Healthy Shoulders
*new class
THUR 10am
Core Organization
* new class name
THUR 12pm
F.L.O.C.K.
Fitness. Length. Open level. Center. Kinesthetic.
*new class name
See the complete class schedule here!
Here to help you start your week off in Swan style, our newest Swan Instructor, Mariusz will help you organize your core and define your musculature. Movement and the body are his passion! Mariusz shares his philosophy of teaching, his favorite place to eat and more in our newest #SwanQ&A!
Come get your F.L.O.W on every Monday at 7:30pm at #BKSwan. Sign-up here!
Can you tell us a bit about your philosophy of teaching, what interests you about the body, and any influences that have shaped your practice and your teaching?
I believe Pilates is a way to live, not just a set of stagnant exercises. The exercises I teach are meant to be used as tools for everyday actions and should feel good in everyone’s bodies. My major influences are Amy Beversdorf and Joan Karlen, who are professors at the University of Wisconsin- Stevens Point, and the incredible Lesley Powell, a master teacher in New York City. They have helped me understand that with consistent practice I can change old habits and create new spaces in my body. Developing muscle memory often takes time; I aim to create space in my classes for people to take their time to investigate and integrate new ideas into their bodies. In my classes, you will focus on discovering efficiency in your alignment, have room to breath, and get your sweat on.
What’s your favorite piece of equipment and why?
The reformer. It helped me with redirecting my hyper mobile body. It was not until I jumped onto the reformer that I figured out what my core really is. Just footwork by itself does wonders!
What is your favorite city to travel to?
My favorite city to travel to is with no doubt Rimini, Italy. I have the best memories there with my mother at the beaches and flee markets.
Go out or stay in?
Go out.
If you had to eat at the same restaurant every night for a month, where would you choose?
My mom’s kitchen. Clearly, I’m a mama’s boy.
If you could ask Joe and Clara anything, what would it be?
I’m very curious about what they might think about the state of Pilates today and all their potential opinions about how Pilates has developed between then and now.
Anything else you want to share with The Swan community?
Cannot wait to see you in the studio!
All the details you need will be provided in your confirmation email! Got questions?
Shoot us a line at bkswanpilates@gmail.com
Here is a simple exercise that should teach you to feel your GLUTE MAX.
Lie face down and take time to connect into the length of your torso, and the support of your abdominals, while you breath into your back. Bend your right knee so that your heel reaches up to the ceiling. Turn your leg out slightly - the knee will open slightly away from center and the heel moves slightly towards center. Keeping a long spine, even hips and maintaining the rotation of your leg, lift your knee off of the ground. You should feel your GLUTE MAX engage to make this movement happen! Try both sides - you may have one side that likes to work more efficiently than the other!
It is the first week of June, and while the weather in this strange yankee state we call home might not have gotten the memo, that means summertime is upon us! It is a magical season full of new adventures swirled up with nostalgic memories of past escapades. This combination creates what might possibly be the perfect conditions for living in the present. Wouldn't fond thoughts of the past and excited plans for the future kind of positively cancel each other out? And isn't it easier to just be present in the moment while sitting in the park on a summer day? Why not try living in the past, present, and future all at once? "How do I do that?" you are asking. Go to your favorite outdoor space and think about all the fun things you are going to do this summer while listening to this Musical TBT.
Version one is for all you southern transplants who will always hold a special place in your heart for a band named Codeseven!
Version two never goes out of style!
Gluteus Minimus is the smallest and deepest of your glutes. If we work our way superficial to deep you have Gluteus Maxiumus, Gluteus Medius and now Gluteus Minimus.
Where is it?
Glute min originates on the posterior ilium and inserts on the anterior (towards the front of the body) portion of your greater trochanter.
Image from wiki images.
What does it do?
Glute min is an assister. Minimus helps medius abduct the leg (move it away from the mid-line of the body), and when the hip is extended min helps internally rotate it too! Minimus also aids in flexion of the hip joint.
Stay tuned for some excellent exercises to help you identify and utilize all those #gloriousglutes muscles!
