Anti-Aging Pilates With Milena Jaksic
hi there welcome back to the KBC wellgood program I’m Melana and I’m gonna be taking you through a really cool mt aging workout so the secret to t aging of course is to keep your body moving keep your joints mobile keep your muscles flexible and strong and have the whole body working in symphony with its ass so we’re gonna go through really nice work we’re gonna start in seated position there’s a level of ability for everybody so if you want to make the exercises a little less challenging you can tone it down a little bit it’s really important during the workout that you listen to your body so you listen you know what I’m giving the instructions and we’re going through the exercises if something doesn’t feel really good even though it might be challenging but if it doesn’t feel good maybe take it down or take a little rest as you feel and just enjoy the workout so we’re gonna start off in a mermaid position so this is like a sad sit position so we want to really balance the pelvis have the front of your leg lined up with the side of the mat your other leg is just tucked around the back and if you can tuck it in that’s really cool and if you haven’t got the flexibility for that it’s really fine you can leave it out once you feel fairly balanced and stable and you don’t need your hands to kind of prop you up that’s gonna be a great place to start so we’re gonna start off with a little lateral flexion and one of the things that’s really important for the spine is lots and lots of movement in all different directions so we start off with a really nice easy side to side Bend so we’re reaching through from one side through to the other and the idea is that we keep our pelvis fairly quiet as we move into this space so we try and bring a little bit of breathing into our system as well so we started to really work deeply through our breath really managing to take nice long deep breaths in and nice long deep breaths add as we go we’re gonna do three more of those just flowing through and then possibly each one we take that stretch a little bit further two more like this and if you can keep your eyes really high that’s gonna help to line up your head you’re gonna stay lifted here just have a little look up to that out from that place you’re gonna add a little flexion into the spine so you’re gonna rotate down towards the matter then you’re gonna inhale as you lift and lengthen and you’re going again little exhale as you reach down towards the matter than inhale come up do it again so we’re adding a little bit of flexion extension through the spine in that lateral band just to get things moving in a slightly different position than maybe you normally would last one and then you’re gonna come all the way up you’re gonna stay lifted you keep reaching up towards the ceiling you can really anchor down with your other arm and then very gently release left behind come down we’re gonna do that again on the other side so you swing your feet around and you might find the differences when you work from one side of the body to the other that’s really normal it’s very rare that you’re gonna get total symmetry anyhow so you know find again a place that feels nice and comfortable you might find that your hips are a little less or more balanced on this side that’s okay too so we stand down into the arms just to give us a really nice lift and then whenever you’re ready we’ll start off again with those arms so that side-to-side motion is gonna be really really good again for the spine and we’re just getting things like the discs mobilized we’re getting lots and lots of space and reach through the different tissues in the body and again just breathing deeply it’s always a great exercise super job to do in the morning it’s lovely exercise to kind of wake you up first thing in the morning or last thing it nice just before you you head off to bed it can really do wonders again you’re just gonna breathe really deeply and flowing through and just because the workout is a little more gentle what we can focus on on this sequence is starting to create real depth in our movement and also slowing it right down it’s not a workout that you need to do really really quickly so you can take your time the next time you come up and over you’re gonna here and really reach towards the ceiling so with my hand I’m pressing down into the mat and you’ll notice if I press down I’m gonna get a really big lift up and my ribs are gonna open all of the space to that left side of my body is gonna open as well and then from there I’m gonna reach and lengthen down and you can kind of aim let’s say for the corner of the mat and then inhale as I lift through the arm and then we go again so you’re breathing out as you reach in and then slowly coming back up and you’ll feel how you’re getting a little bit of compression through the belly through the front of the body that’s really good because the organs the organs of digestion your stomach your liver your spleen pancreas all of the organs the intestines are getting a really nice massage when you work through this way into the spine that’s gonna give you a really nice space hold and stay here gonna reach up just a little bit more towards the ceiling and again have a look up of that hand so you kind of get that sense of lift and again I press into my hand and I get even more lift up and out through those ribs and then I release I’m gonna take it all the way down so from there we’re gonna come and find an all-fours position so this is what we call like our quadruped at position so hands are gonna rest down so weight bearing is gonna be really good for posture one of the things as you age is posture is going to go into decline if you don’t look after it but the great thing is that at any time you can intervene and start to get some really good postural exercises going on and you can almost reverse those signs of aging so the hands are gonna wait there we’re gonna press down into the mat and I’m really imagining here that I’m pushing that Mart away from me I’m not collapsing down into the mat I’m gonna stay quite lifted in space and then from here I’m gonna round my spine I’m gonna tuck my tail and I’m gonna come into like an angry car position and then as I exhale I’m gonna open up and release through the front of the body and the spine loves extension particularly thoracic extension so this movement really really creates a nice space and a nice balance between the front and the back of the body and if you’re sitting at a desk all day you may find the extension part a little bit more restrictive we’re not gonna say harder we’re just gonna say a little more restrictive so you can emphasize and this part of the exercise inhale deeply as you fill your lungs you fill the back of your ribs exhale as you open up and you reach your heart almost up towards the ceiling and during the course of this workout we’re gonna really emphasize our mental imagery in terms of where our heart is sitting because that part of the spine around the sternum around your thoracic spine is gonna be a place that we’re gonna try and get a lot of movement into one more like this and then we’re gonna come and find somewhere between those two points so if you have a little mirror you can look if you haven’t got a mirror you got to just feel it out for yourself so kind of figure out okay I’m not completely arched I’m not completely flexed so I’m gonna find somewhere in between sometimes it’s better without the mirror actually cuz you’ve got to use the brain from that place we’re gonna come into a little quadruped add in a single leg arm and opposite leg and arm reach I’m gonna inhale as I bring my elbow and my knee together I’m gonna exhale as I reach it away breathing deeply and one of the challenging parts of this exercise is literally just finding a balance between the two so making sure that you can lengthen out of the arm as well as out of the leg and then support everything through the middle of the body we’ll do three more of these again a really nice exercise to wake up those core muscles to support a little bit of strength through the shoulders a great postural exercise one more we’re gonna hold and we’re gonna stay out here from that place we’re gonna open the arm and the leg wide and then release come back into the center and we go again exhale open wide come back to Center so it doesn’t have to be a big movement just a very small deviation is gonna be enough to create a balance challenge upon the body and then one more of those before we change sides hold and stay there reaching the middle further with the fingers and the toes and then release that the hand to come in we recenter ourselves and then we do it all over again on the other side so we’re gonna take the left arm and the right leg or just the office at this time we find our balance we’re gonna reach with our toes or in a reach the pound and then off we go we’re gonna inhale as we let the arm and the leg come in and then breathe and we do it again slowly in and then lengthen away and we’re really aiming to create a big reach through the arm as high and as long as you can get the arm and the leg keep reaching for more like this three to go and breathe all the way through it two more and the last one when you’re ready you’re going out you’re gonna hold it from that place same thing with dv8 just taking the arm out to the left and the leg out to the right opening up just a little it’s not such a big movement take it back in and the last one very gently come back into your starting position and then slowly take ad ad from there we’re gonna come forward we’re gonna find a nice long line from our shoulders to our hips to your heels we’re gonna walk the hands a little closer together and maybe the feet a little further apart from there we’re gonna come into a little thoracic rotation so we’re gonna open from one side through to the other so if you find full plank a little bit of a challenging exercise you can drop on to your knees and do it in half plank version if you can manage to do the full plank that’s really good that’s where we want us try and stay but half plank is gonna give us just the same effect take your time for me this exercise is best done slowly so if you speed up through it you’re gonna actually miss the magic of the exercise your landing needs to be really slow and controlled because that’s what we call eccentric deceleration and it’s the idea of controlling movement through the body is actually going to give us the positive change that we want one more on either side breathe as you reach through and in the last one you’re opening up and then slowly take it down you’ll take a little bend onto the knees and you can have a little sit back and reach through those arms as you breathe then when you’re ready you’re going to come forward and we’re gonna come down onto the mat so we’re gonna find a little bit of extension through the spine so again the whole idea of this movement is to try and keep extension in the right parts of the spine so a lot of us tend to be quite extended through this part and a little more stiff in the upper part of this way that’s our thoracic spine and sometimes if you look at a video and you can you know you could try and replicate it the movement comes from the lower back but on this exercise we’re gonna want to try and have a little more of the movement come from our sternum so it’s really useful for you to visualize your heart and visualize that the movement comes from your heart as opposed to coming from your back so you’re gonna give that a try I’ll cue you as we go so we’re gonna take the hands down you’re gonna soften into your elbows and then as you exhale very gently you’re gonna press into the mat and open through the front of your body and you don’t have to come up so high on this exercise halfway up was absolutely perfect not a lot of weight in the hands and then inhale as you very gently come down take your time your breath is gonna be really important in this exercise so you’re breathing as you start to make your way up and then slowly come down so you’re visualizing you’re feeling like that movement is coming from your heart you’re opening through the front of those ribs and then release take it back down two more like this exhale as you extend and reach through the body and then inhale slowly come down one more you’re gonna stay here this time and then from that place you can extend and reach all the way through really long with those arms inhale come halfway back down breathe deeply exhale lift and extend right out through the front of that body inhale release and again you’re visualizing it’s the movement coming from your heart and from your sternum as you open up into the front of your spine and release take it back down the next time you come up you’re gonna stay lift it you’re gonna hold and just breathe right there so really feel like those hands are standing into the ground your gaze is lift you’re breathing deep your collarbones are wide nice long deep breath in and then very gently release take it dad so we have another exercise in our extension series and we’re going to work through the arms this time so we’re gonna come up just a much softer extension so much so that your hands can find their way off the mat so if you find your lifting here but as soon as your hands go you fall down then you’re a little too high so we want to stay pretty low in this exercise so again go long with the legs reach through the tail take a deep breath in and as you extend just find a kind of a place that you can balance where the hands are not come right on the exercise you’re gonna come out into like a little T shape and then from that place you’re gonna exhale as you reach your arms forward inhale as you release take them back do it again from breathe and then release back in so you’re feeling like the movement is supported through your shoulders and you almost want to aim upwards with the hands so you’re aiming into that long extension and then release take it down do two more like that breathe and then last one you’re gonna go up and hold in that position and then release take a down and from that place you can just sit back onto your heels and you’re gonna open up through the back and reach into the spine so from that place just take your time little bit of a shift through the spine side to side opening it through the shoulders we’re gonna come back into our weight bearing exercise so we’ll take the hands forward as if we were gonna do a plank again and this time we’re gonna rotate onto the side borders of the feet so any of the side plank work that you’re doing is gonna be really really useful to supporting your spine if it gets too much look you can just drop onto your knee that’s what we call like a half side plank and so like that it’s gonna be a little bit easier for you to support yourself so you can always come back to this place if it gets too challenging I’m gonna start in this place so we go two legs the top arm is gonna reach up and over and you’re gonna really expand through the side of the body and then as you inhale you’re gonna sweep the arm down and under and then you’re gonna go again lift and extend up and over and then release take it down and under do do two more so we won’t stay here for long lift right up and over and then release take it down here’s one more exhale reach up and over hold it keep your pelvis lifted and then release take it down come down take a little rest from here the hand that you were just weight bearing on you’re gonna cross it over and you’re gonna just lean back through the mat so you get a really nice stretch through your lats so that was the hand that you were just on you’re gonna take a big deep breath in here give yourself a little rest we’ve one more exercise on that side so we’re gonna come back find your plank find your side rotation drop onto your knee if you want to so you can drop that knee if you want or stay here with me now we’re gonna wrap around so we’re gonna sweep the arm in an under exhale as we open up and reach and we go again we’re gonna sweep around and under exhale open up and reach and again take your time so again it’s not one that we want to rush through we really want to stand into our feet and into our hands great job and then one more take a deep breath and you’re holding it there to finish stay there three stay there two and stay there one and release come around and again same thing my right hand my weight bearing hand I’m gonna cross it over but I’m gonna go palm up this time and I’m gonna just gently rest him I can at my head onto my arm have a little rest in that position of course before we have to do it all over again so I’m just gonna turn my position on the mat on my back pointed towards you so we do the same thing this site so we find our plank we rotate over so the first is our side Bend so remember again we dropped down we inhale here we exhale as we reach up and over I’m really working what we call the side seams of the body and it’s a really super strong exercise to keep your spine strong and mobile and support it in all the right places and breathe and go again – like this making sure he’s stand-in to the hands and into the feet and then one more breathe and if you want you can go straight into your second exercise or if you need to take a little break pause the video and then join back in go again you sweep under exhale and you open go again you sweep under and you exhale and open two more like this sweep under exhale and open last one breathe and then release reach towards the ceiling pause there for three and then two and then one and slowly bring yourself back down onto the mat good alright so from here we’re going to come back and find a little plank position a little later on we’re gonna add in a couple of little stretches and then we’re gonna come down onto our back so from here this position we’re gonna do what we call a spine stretch forward so we’ve done all of our extension work now we’re gonna create a little flexion in the body so if you find those hamstrings are a little tight like mine are a little bend in the knee will allow you to be able to sit right up on top of your pelvis particularly if you do a lot of running you kind of feel it can be really challenging to stay on top of the pelvis so by having that little kink allows you more of an upright position so that you can execute a little more of a stretch into the movement so those arms are reaching out you can take a nice long deep breath in as you exhale you’re going to reach and send the arms all the way forward towards the feet and then inhale allow the spine to stack up lift up into those arms go again exhale and it doesn’t matter if you reach to the outside or the inside of those feet inhale slowly come back up deep breath go again exhale as you reach through the spine inhale release take it back in a feels great it’s one of those exercises that just feels absolutely gorgeous reaching in and then slowly come back in from this place to take a little bend in your right leg your left leg take your foot let it rest into your inner thighs arms are going up we’re doing the same this time we’re aiming down towards the right leg and then we inhale lift up through the arms exhale come down so now we’re adding a little bit of rotation inhale release take it back here’s your last one exhale we reach down you’re lengthening out of the spine you can take a hold of the foot if that feels good drop the crown of your head in the direction of the foot stay there you can point the toe if you want a little more of a stretch so you can lengthen out into that space take a big big big long deep breath in and then very very slowly come back and stack your spine the great part is we get to do that twice so right foot comes and rests in towards your left thigh deep breath in exhale you’re going long and reach into the leg and then inhale come back up so the rotation is because you’re coming down in the direction of that thought so you’re turning through the spine breathing all the way go again big breath in I think we did four on the other side so we are balance it up and make sure that we have that space here’s your last one big breath in come down and hold it and again it doesn’t matter where you hold hold a thigh the shin hold the foot if you can stay there stay there eight and seven and six and just breathe as deeply in as you can point your toe if you want to energize through the leg just a little bit more hold and stay there three hold and stay there two and then hold and stay there one release come all the way up very nice and deep so from here we’re gonna start to reach through we’re gonna let the arms come back we’re gonna take the hands down and rest them behind so one of the things we want to do to improve posture for anti aging program is to try and open up the front of the body as best that we can so we’ve done a lot of weight-bearing front facing narrow and do a little bit of weight-bearing taking those hands behind so you might decide that you just want to start here so for some people that’s enough of an exercise pressing the hands down into the mat lifting up and out through the front of the body and then just taking a load off take a deep breath in a little bit of flexion and go again it’s an exhale as you open out inhale release back in if you’re a little more energy you can take the weight up and you can lift into those hips breathing deeply release let the legs come down do it again exhale stand into your hands open through the front of the body and then release take it down and again two more like this exhale as you open so you’re really feeling a really nice release through the front of the body and then the last one you’re gonna come up you’re gonna stay lift it hold it there keep your pelvis pressing towards the ceiling keep your gaze high stand in to your feet stay there three stay there two stay there one and then release very gently that those hips come back and find the mat from that place you’re gonna ease your way back down into that little C curve position then very gently start to roll back this time we add the arms so you’re gonna release you’re gonna come down as you exhale you’re gonna let the arms reach towards the ceiling inhale let them come down go again breathers you lengthen out of those shoulders reaching towards the ceiling so it starts to get the middle of the body working so you’re working into those abdominals a little bit more you’re working into your sling systems and you’re supporting that movement through the spine very much keeping your feet connected to the floor lifting through and then release take it down and the very last one you’re gonna stay high into that lifted position from there just hold keep reaching your arms to the ceiling keep talking through the pelvis just a little more stay here for stay here for three stay here for two and then in your own time just let the hands come down and you can find your way all the way down onto the mat so we’ve two exercises for you down here really nice and gentle spine mobility and core strengthening exercises not too much flexion so we’re working on extending and opening at the front of the body so you’re gonna reach your arms out to the side the first movements really basic it’s just a side to side with your thigh bones so this is like a level one of this exercise so you can leave your feet on the ground and just allow the thigh bones to roll from one side through to the other we’re gonna make it really quite controlled and slow and I want you to really stand down into your arms and if you can you’re gonna look in the opposite direction of where your thighs are going so if I my legs are going over to the left I’m going to take a little gentle lean and look over to my right if you’re feeling good with that little movement you keep going or you can make a little more challenging by doing the same exercise in a tabletop position so working a little more intensity and a little stronger through the core so you need to kind of pick up a little more middle body stability and middle body strength here to control the legs traveling from one side through to the other don’t swing the legs on this one because you will get momentum and that kind of takes away from the exercise it’s actually much more effective if you slowly control that movement from one side through to the other had moving as well along in the same way breathing deeply the higher you take the legs the more challenging that it’s gonna be so you can decide how much you want to give and that exercise breathe and when you ready come back in and then from this place you’re gonna take a hold of the back of the thighs so a really nice way to find flexion is to actually use the thigh bones to take you up so I support my arms with my legs or so to speak and at the same time I’m using my legs to anchor myself up so from this place we’re gonna reach our leg really long so we’re let’s just let the right leg go we’re gonna hang out in this place we’re gonna send the arms all the way forward so now my support network is here if you want to hold this leg it’s really fine if you have the strength and the energy let go and reach your fingertips forward from that place we’re gonna breathe as we exhale we’re gonna extend into our left leg breathe as you release and let it go so we’re working some active dynamic flexibility here and those hamstrings and like I was saying earlier my hamstrings tend to be really tight and fatigued feeling and so this is a really nice exercise for me to get some active flexibility and of course some core work at the same time breathing really deeply three more like this so I’m reaching with my right leg forward I’m reaching with my left leg in the ceiling and I’m sending my arms all the way forward and of course I’m breathing at the same time one more like this I’m gonna stay here for three I’m gonna stay here for two I’m gonna reach through both legs for one and release come back in deep breath in I send my left leg long and again if I want to hold on to give me a little anchor that’s really fine or if you’re ready to let go you can extend the arms and then go again as I exhale I reach into that leg and then release take it down do it again exhale as I reach and release take it down go again breathe deeply lengthening into the leg and then release down a couple more extending my energy into both feet that’s important so I’m not just thinking about my leg going up towards the ceiling I’m also thinking about the bottom leg reaching for and the very last one lengthen and hold into that space I’m gonna reach forward little further stay there three stay there two stay there one and gently come all the way back in and my head rests down and very slowly I’ll take my way back up towards the mat we’re just about finished so we’re gonna come around and we’re gonna find our feet one more time so from this place we’re gonna just sit back onto the heels and then as I exhale I’m gonna just allow my pelvis to reach towards the ceiling so I kind of find a forward fold position here and then I inhale and release let the hips come down I’m gonna do that part again big exhale as I lengthen into the back of those legs and I release take it down two more like this as my tail goes up my head is gonna go down so I want to definitely make sure I have that really nice opposition and the last one I’m gonna lengthen towards the ceiling and then very gently I’m gonna allow my spine to roll and to stack back up and take a really nice space on the mat and then from there I’m gonna breathe as I bend into that right leg so I’m kind of side squatting my feet can stay parallel or slightly turned out whatever feels good and then from there I’m gonna just lean in so I’m gonna aim in the direction of that foot and it doesn’t matter where my hand goes wherever feels good my opposite arm is gonna rotate and reach and again I can sink down if I want to go in that direction or I can just let it rest in that space and then I release come back to my starting position I do the same on the other side so again I can let the hand rest I can reach up into the arm or I can sink right down and release come back it just do one more of those on either side exhale as I reach send the arm up reach down through the bottom arm and release and then the very last one lengthen all the way through and then release and then just let the feet walk back in to your starting position and that’s you all finished so thank you so much for joining the KB see well good program and I hope you enjoyed the workout
