How to Strengthen Shoulders With Pilates

How to Strengthen Shoulders With Pilates Welcome to the neck and shoulder workout. If you haven't done the warm-up yet, please go there first. If you have, let's get started. Please take yourself to the edge of your chair. Place your feet flat on the floor, hip distance apart and let your arms hang along by your side. Draw your abdominal muscles into your spine and send the top of your to the ceiling. Now as you inhale, gently lower your chin towards your chest keeping your back very, very long. And as you exhale, gently bring your eyes right back to center. I’m going to turn to the side so you can see what I’m doing. As you inhale once again, slowly nod the chin towards your chest. And as you exhale, bring your eyes right to center. One more time just like this, inhale and nod. Avoid collapsing in the middle stayed lengthen to the back, exhale, bring your eyes right to the center. Now as you inhale, take your shoulders and rise them up towards your ears. And as you exhale, slowly, slowly slide them down your back. Now, again inhale, reach them up. Careful that the shoulders don’t rotate in, but keep them wide, exhale and slide the shoulder blades right down your ribs. One more time, inhale, reach them up. And one last time, exhale and slide them down. Now as you inhale, reach your arms up in front of you, palms at the hands facing each other, exhale, and just pause here. Now as you inhale, reach your fingertips forward, as if someone is gently tagging on them. And as exhale, take your shoulder blades and slide them back. And again inhale, reach forward. Feel how the back widens. And as you exhale, feel how the back narrows, one more time just like this. Inhale, reach it forward-forward, forward. It’s a very small movement so please take your time with it. Exhale and draw the shoulder blades back. Now as you inhale, let your arms come down by your side and take a pause. I’m going to use a theraband for the rest of the workout. However, a theraband is not necessary for this workout to be effective. If you have a theraband, please take it and place it right underneath the soles of your feet. Once again, let your feet be hip distance apart, readjust yourselves, you're sitting comfortably on the edge of your chair. Now, take the band into the palms of your hands, curl your fingertips over it and take the thumb across. Take your palms and flip them over. Arms are long. Elbows are soft. Take an inhale here. As you exhale, reach your arm up towards the ceiling. And as you inhale, slowly return it to the ground. Other side, inhale, exhale, reach it up. Inhale to return. And let's just alternate arms, side-to-side reaching and returning. Now as you exhale and lift the arm up, make sure that the shoulder blade is staying stable. What you want to avoid is that the shoulder coming up into your ear. Let it stay long on your back, other side, good. One more time, each side, here we go, exhale, lift. Now it's one smooth controlled pull. Don’t let that band snap you back. One more time at the side, good. Inhale to return. Now both arms together. Exhale and scoop those arms up as you feel those shoulder blades, slide down your back and return. Three more times just like this, exhale and reach. Inhale to return, two more times. Now just notice which arm is stronger and which arm is the less so. This really shows up in this exercise one last time, good. Inhale and pause right there. Flip your palms to the diagonal. Feel how the shoulders rotate open. Take a breath here, relax the elbows, exhale and bring the arms up. Inhale to return, good. Three more times just like this; exhale, reach it up, inhale to return, last two. Remember as those hands come up, the shoulder blades are sliding down your back. One last time, exhale and reach. Don’t let that band beat you. Go ahead and control that action as you return your arms down to your side, excellent. Now, please take the band from underneath your feet, fold it in half and place it into your hands. Let your arms be a little wider than shoulder distance and let them be about level with your chest. Make sure that those elbows are wide. Go ahead and readjust your feet so that they're a little wider than hip distance apart here. Take a breath in. And as you exhale, bend the elbows, pull the band apart, and bring it towards your chest, good. Inhale and press it away. And again, exhale. Bend the elbows. Draw the band towards your chest. Keep those wrists very, very long. Inhale to return. I’m going to turn the side so you can see what I’m doing. Exhale, bend the elbow, inhale to return it. Now, notice as I bend the elbow that I’m not extending my chest. I’m keeping my back long. So once again I’m thinking about sending my head to the ceiling. I’m constantly thinking about drawing my abdominal muscles into my spine and press away. One more time, exhale. Pull it in. And one more time, inhale and press it away. Now take your band and just let it rest right over your thighs. Let your hands come down by your side. Take a deep breathe in here. And as exhale, draw the shoulder blades back. And as you inhale, bring the shoulders to your ears and just make circles with the shoulder. Gently, slowly, noticing the roundness or not, your breath is just natural and easy. One more time in this direction, good. Now let's reverse. Bring them forward, up, and back, and down, and again. Now, notice that my elbows are quiet. My hands are quiet. All of this is happening in my scapula. My hands and my elbows are not necessary in order to make shoulder circles, good. One more time, slowly and gently, and pause the arms, excellent. Thank you very much for joining me for the neck and shoulder workout today. To maximize the benefits of this workout, please come back at least once a day. The stronger your neck and shoulder muscles are, the more comfortable you will be in sitting.