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Bad news for people in the office – One more strike against sitting still!

As published in MSN, “even if you go to the gym for half an hour every day, if you sit at your desk for eight hours you still have a sedentary lifestyle”. Sitting down for many hours a day doesn’t allow our major muscle groups to move leading to a loss in metabolism that otherwise boost muscle mass.

In the same report, doing only cardiovascular exercise may not be good enough. Running, biking, swimming, and rowing get your heart pumping, making them super-important for boosting your metabolism. But if you’re not incorporating strength training into your regular routine, you’re missing out!

The more muscle you build, the more calories your body will burn, so grab some hand weights, do resistance training using your body weight (for example push-ups, lunges, and squats), or ask a Pilates teacher to teach you how to perform these resistance based exercises on the Pilates Reformer.

1. Lunge
This movement helps to stretch the hips, while working on the leg muscles of the hip and knee joints. For extra challenge, the student can reach the arms to the sides. On the other hand, older clients can perform this movement safely as they have a bar to hold on to and one leg is rested on the bed.

2. Back Split
This movement promotes flexibility, strength and stability. It challenges a client to achieve beyond functional – to reach his/her movement potential. In reality a number of sports people do require such strength and mobility for example tennis players need to lunge and get to the ball without falling and to recover fast.

3. Pilates Jackrabbit
This movement promotes endurance and core strength. The challenge is to keep the spine stable when pushing the bed out and in. Clients usually have fun doing this movement – they have to do 20 repetitions without losing form!

4. Seated Front Arm Work

There are a whole series of movements on the Pilates Reformer for beginners to intermediate clients and for sports people. In fact, the Reformer is a favorite amongst clients, as they can get a whole body workout without moving off to another Pilates equipment.

For a Pilates teacher, it is versatile piece of equipment and highly adaptable to clients who have physical problems such as back pain.

Some studios offer Pilates Reformer group classes but it is advisable to start with Pilates one-on-one sessions. Pilates one-on-one sessions enable a student to learn more about his/her body and to get the most of the movements when they opt to join Pilates group classes.