Pilates exercise

Work out at home. Your muscles will never know the difference between the gym and your living room.

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Pilates exercises

Pilates is a physical fitness system developed in the early 20th century by Joseph Pilates in Germany.

Working out at home is a great way of saving time and money. Your muscles will never know the difference between the gym and your living room; they just need to be put under some pressure. With a little bit of creativity, you can easily do all the basic exercises from the gym machines without leaving your home.

Working out one to three times every week is a good level to begin with. Try to do as many repetitions as possible three times without resting too much in between. To maximise the effect of exercising you need to rest your muscles for at least 48 hours after working out. The day after a muscle work out can be used for running, biking or other forms of endurance exercises.

A good basic exercise for your back is to lie down facing the floor, with your hands behind your neck and feet separated just a bit wider than your shoulders. Starting from this position, lift your shoulders almost as far as you can and then return slowly to the original position.

To exercise your triceps all you need is two chairs. Put the chairs facing each other with a decent distance between them. Put your heels on the edge of one of the chairs and support yourself with your hands on the other. Make sure that your arms are close to you body and slowly lower your body towards the floor until your elbows are level with your shoulders. Before “hitting the bottom” you should lift yourself up again, a little faster than on the way down.

To give your pecs a proper work out, keep one of the chairs and position yourself with your toes on it and hands on the floor. Place you hands palms down and with the fingers pointing forwards. Make sure your back is straight and stomach tense. Slowly lower your body till your chest touches the floor lightly and then return to the original position.

The classic situp exercise takes you a long way in tuning your abs. To optimise the work out, put your hands behind your head and cross your legs. Lift your chest towards the ceiling and make sure the whole movement is smooth and that your stomach is tense all the way.