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Archives for January 2014

Why Does It Matter If You Have Stiff Hips?

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stiffhips

The hips are an area of the body that are often taken for granted, many people don’t stretch or strengthen them until they are stiff, but why does it matter if you have stiff hips? Your hips are the fulcrum upon which most activity depends. From bending down to pick something up off the floor, getting up off a chair, walking, jogging, we even need our hips to be functioning well to allow us to sit well.

If you own a set of hips, the ability to traverse their full range of motion will improve your life in many ways. Treat them well, keep them moving, and you will reap the benefits and reduce your chance of injury.

What’s the worst that can happen? Stiffness in your hips results in additional stress to other areas of your body due to compensations for the lack of movement. The most commonly affected areas are:

  • Your lower back, causing back ache
  • Your knees, sometimes resulting in pain and grinding (also called crepitus)

The good news is – Pilates is here to help! Your instructor will observe you performing a range of hip movements to determine where you restriction lies. A program tailored to release your tight structures and explore the full range of motion in the hip will be created for you. Equally as important as creating new mobility in your hips is strengthening the muscles around your hip socket and core to support your new found freedom.

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Your Pilates instructor will use a range of techniques including strengthening, guided mobilization, and contract relax stretching, utilizing the full range of studio equipment.

For in between your Pilates sessions here are some home exercises to help keep your hips beautiful and free. If you have any discomfort during these movements stop and book in to see your Pilates or Rehab Pilates Instructor.

Circle/Heel squeeze – lie on your tummy with a Pilates circle between your ankles (heels can squeeze together if you don’t have a circle). Squeeze circle/heels for a count of 5. Try to drive the movement from your hip sockets. Repeat 10 times

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Fire hydrant circles – lift one knee off the floor. Draw circles with the lifted leg being sure to keep the knee bent. 10 slow circles each leg

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Hip flexor stretch – hold for 30 seconds and repeat twice each side

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Side lunge stretch – place hands on the floor with feet wide. Send your weight over to one side using your arms for support. Find a gentle groin stretch and hold for 30 seconds. Repeat twice each side.

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Achieving full hip mobility will improve your posture, help you to run faster, squat lower, have more freedom in your golf or tennis swing and delay age related joint problems. Enjoy the benefits of full hip mobility while reducing the likelihood of injury!

 

 

Breathing in Pilates – Part One

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We all know that breathing is important – without it, we wouldn’t be alive, correct breathing in Pilates is also extremely important. Breathing is the first thing we do when we enter this life, and our last act on leaving it. Breathing affects and is affected by our emotional state and posture. But what is all the fuss about breathing? After all, I can hear you saying, if I am sitting at my desk reading this post, rather than collapsed on the floor, I must be breathing fine. Right?

Well, yes, to an extent. But breathing is something that a lot of people especially those who experience emotional stress, neck, shoulder or back pain do not do correctly. People under stress or in pain will often hold their breath for short periods of time without even realizing it. And when they do breathe, they frequently have a very shallow, disordered breathing pattern. While this is probably an unconscious protective reaction to pain, it can actually increase the level of pain. Learning to breathe better will help you in your everyday life, sports, and Pilates.

When we breathe very short breaths we are not flushing all the carbon dioxide from our system. By breathing in this manner we increase stress to the tissues of our body.

In Pilates we focus on Lateral Breathing through the base of the rib cage. It could almost be described as a 3D breath- you are breathing to expand the rib cage out to the side and through the back- you want to get a sense of expanding your ribcage with the lower portions of your lungs. Through your Pilates practice you will learn that this type of breathing goes hand in hand with engaging your core.

Try to breathe low and wide into the base of your lungs. Breathing deeply and directing air into the bottom and sides of your ribcage will let your body absorb oxygen most efficiently. Breathing well has a huge impact on your energy levels, spinal mobility, and overall vitality.

 

Who would have thought breathing could be so complex hey? It does take some time to learn the lateral breath, and combining it with stabilization and movement takes some more time. But like anything in Pilates, once you begin to live your practice outside your session, it becomes second nature, and you will most definitely reap the benefits.

 

Are Your Breathing Properly?

To find out if you are breathing properly:

  • Lie flat on your back.
  • Place your hands on either side of your ribs just above your waist.
  • Breathe as you normally do.
  • Notice: Do your hands move when you breathe?
  • Now place one hand on your chest.
  • Does your upper chest rise when you breathe in? (You may even feel your shoulders rise slightly.)
  • If your lower ribcage expands, tummy rises slightly, and your chest stays relatively flat, you are breathing well.
  • If your lower ribcage and abdomen barely moves and your chest rises, you are not breathing properly and need to practice the breathing exercise below.

breathing in pilates

Tram Line Upgrade Victoria Street throughout January

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Please be aware of the tram works on Victoria Street throughout January. We expect traffic in surrounding streets to be heavier than normal during the works from Wednesday 8th January to Thursday 23rd January. Parts of Victoria Street including the Victoria Street Bridge will be completely closed to traffic during this period. To make sure you don’t miss out on any of your Pilates you can easily access the studio via Leslie Street from Buckingham street. If you need to cross the Yarra River from Hawthorn/Kew we suggest using Bridge Road then coming along River Street or Burnley Street.

Full details from Yarra Trams below

Routes 24, 30, 31 and 109 – Track renewal and maintenance work – Wednesday 8 to Friday 24 January

As part of the modernisation of Melbourne’s tram network, Yarra Trams and Public Transport Victoria will be renewing the tram tracks on Victoria Street bridge, between River Boulevard and Findon Crescent in Richmond. This work is part of the Victoria Street bridge refurbishment. During this time, maintenance work will also take place between Burnley Street and Church Street. The major work on Victoria Street bridge will take place from approximately 1am on Wednesday 8 January and continue 24 hours a day until 5am on Friday 24 January 2014. This renewal work will take longer to complete than other track renewal projects due to the complexity of working on a bridge, as well as additional bridge strengthening works. Tram service changes – first tram Wednesday 8 January to last tram Thursday 23 January 2014 No trams will operate on Victoria Street between Stop 29 Barkers Road & High Street and Stop 18 Hoddle Street & Victoria Parade. Route 109 trams will divert via Route 48 along Bridge Road, between Stop 29 Barkers Road & High Street and Stop 8 Spring Street & Collins Street. Route 31 will operate normally with additional trams on Route 31a each day. These trams will operate approximately every 20 minutes from first to last tram, between Stop 12 St Vincent’s Plaza and Stop 18 Hoddle Street & Victoria Parade. Route 24 will not operate during the work. Passenger should consider taking Route 48, 75 or 109 trams during this time. Route 48 and 75 will operate as normal.

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Preliminary work – 6am Thursday 2 January to 1am Wednesday 8 January 2014 Preliminary work to prepare the site for construction will begin at approximately 6am on Thursday 2 January and continue until the bridge track renewal work commences on Wednesday 8 January. This work significantly reduces the amount of time that the site needs to be closed to trams and traffic during the major work. The work will include the unloading and pre-welding of rail, and will take place as per the table below. Details of the times, locations, and effect on traffic of the project are as follows:

Preliminary Work

Location Date and time of work Effect on vehicle traffic
Victoria Street, between River Boulevard and Findon Crescent Thursday 2 to Wednesday 8 January, 6am to 10pm Partial road closures on Victoria Street.

Major work

Location Date and time of work Effect on vehicle traffic
Work zone 1Victoria Stree,t between Burnley Street and Findon Crescent 1am Wednesday 8 to 5am Friday 24 January Victoria Street bridge closed to all traffic. Full road closure on Victoria Street between River Boulevard and Findon Crescent. Partial road closures on Victoria St/Barkers Road between Burnley Street and High Street South.

Maintenance work

Location Date and time of work Effect on vehicle traffic
Work zone 2Victoria Street, between McKay Street and Burnley Street. 5am Saturday 11 to 5am Monday 13 January Full road closure on Victoria Street between McKay Street & Burnley Street. McKay St & Burnley St will remain open to traffic. Vehicles from Burnley Street will not be allowed to turn left onto Victoria Street.

 

Effect of major work on traffic Full and partial road closures will be in place on Victoria Street, and Victoria Street bridge will be closed to all vehicle traffic during the project. Please see the table on the previous page for details. Traffic will be diverted around the work zones during this time.

 

Detours

 

The renewal of more than 200 metres of tram track will improve safety for everyone, as well as deliver a better road surface for motorists and cyclists, a smoother ride for tram passengers, and less tram noise associated with potholes, broken rails and wheel squealing. Associated noise from machinery, vehicles and work crews will be unavoidable but Yarra Trams will do all it can to keep this to a minimum. The use of reverse beepers and flashing lights is a safety requirement and these devices cannot be switched off. We thank you for your patience and regret any inconvenience caused by this essential renewal and maintenance work. We advise that it is being performed in accordance with our obligations to Public Transport Victoria and is necessary to maintain a safe tram network as required by the Rail Safety Act 2006 (Vic). Accordingly Yarra Trams will not be compensating third parties for any losses incurred during the conduct of the work.