Heads Up on Your Body

Pilates Arm Work

Summer is coming soon and we all know what that means! It means tank top season, bathing suit season, bare arms season!

We all know pilates works the “core” muscles, but pilates can also give your arms a great workout, too!

Each piece of equipment offers many ways to work your arms by using the springs for resistance. If you’re working out on the mat without springs, hand weights work just as well.

Every exercise described here as arm work, is really primarily upper back and core work. When you’re able to stablize the upper back and core, you can use the stabilization to initiate each movement, which then works the arms. And of course, every pilates exercise works your arms, because with every exercise, your entire body is working.

On the tower, every exercise in the Standing Arm Springs Series works your arms, and many similar moves can also be done kneeling. There are other arm springs exercises, that are done laying on your back in various positions or sitting up facing towards or away from the tower.

If you are prone to neck or upper back tension, the best arm exercises for you on the tower are probably done standing or kneeling.

On the reformer, a great set of arm exercises is Swakkiti. You can work all around the arms at every angle and feel your strength build up over time as you practice. This is an advanced set of exercises. To built upper back strength for these exercises, you should learn the Long Stretch Series, Chest Expansion, and Arm Circles first.

On the Chair, there is a whole series of Push Up exercises that, of course, work the arms. There are also multiple ways to do Tricep Presses.

If you’re working on the mat, there are a variety of push ups, and Balance Control Front and Back. There is also the whole Standing Arms Series, done with weights, that is very similar to the Standing Arms Springs on the tower.

If you feel shoulder pain or clicking in your shoulder during arm work, talk to your instructor. It could be caused by poor alignment in your neck, a tendon rubbing over a bone, or a shoulder injury/issue that should be looked at by a doctor.

For interesting information on push ups, see my post: “Heads Up on Push Ups”:
http://headsuponyourbody.blogspot.com/2008/03/heads-up-on-push-ups.html

Can’t wait until the summer!

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