Pilates for Posture

Good posture can make you look slimmer (or perhaps I should say that poor posture makes you look lumpier than you are). It also effects the way you are perceived by others. Good posture conveys confidence and subtly demands respect from those you interact with.

I've been guilty of poor posture for a long time. When I was young I was embarrassed about my quick-to-grow breasts and often slouched. Seems silly in hindsight, but adolescence is so irrational. A bit later I was diagnosed with a slight scoliosis (curvature of the spine). I was never advised to wear a brace or anything, however, so it's not really a good excuse either. Now that I'm taking a complete look at my fitness level, my bad posture is a real concern. Not only do I have to build up muscle strength to support the goal of sitting/standing/moving around with an upright spine, I also have to reverse two decades of bad habit. I'm still trying to devise strategies for the psychological work, but the physical work is well within reach. One of my tactics is pilates.

Working Out for Weight Loss: Strength + Cardio + Abs

The journey toward fitness is about much more than weight loss. However, extra weight is a very common symptom of a body out of balance. When shedding pounds is a part of your fitness goal, exercise will be key to doing it the healthy way. An approach that I've seen in several programs is to start with strength training, add cardio, and end with abs. I learned this first from Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred (which is very effective, BTW) and have seen it in other circuit-style workouts. Recently, I've applied it to my workout regimen by doing three successive workouts that focus on each section. The following three videos represent the workout that I did today. The first two portions especially allow you to somewhat tailor your efforts to your fitness level. For example, the cardio section here is kind of mild, so I ramped it up by doing things like jogging in stead of marching. Make sure you are well hydrated before and after. If you pushed yourself you should be sweating buckets and feeling great!

Get up, Get Moving

5 Reasons to Work Out First Thing in the Morning

1. To get it out of the way. Don't you hate when you have an especially trying day and by 5pm you feel completely drained? Those are the days when dragging yourself to the gym, studio, or treadmill are seems like torture and you are prone to skipping it altogether. But if you get your workout in first thing, you can check it off the list and get on with your day. You'll be so glad you did at around 4:45.
2. For more energy during your workout. There's a reason so many people get that 2:30 slump and it's not because they hate their jobs (that doesn't help either). For those of us that are still working on sorting out our nutrition habits the things we eat as the day goes on actually slow us down, rather than fueling us up. Start you day with some fresh fruit or unpasteurized juice then get moving! Your body will a lot more energy from not having any heavy and/or poorly balanced meals to digest.