Since becoming pregnant, my primary powerhouse has been compromised and as I progress through the pregnancy, I have had to take a lot of exercises out of my workout. This has still left me with a variety of exercises to choose from, but all the ones that everybody else loves to hate (ahem ab series anyone?) have either been taken out or modified to focus on the other areas being worked rather than intensely challenging the abs. The result: Not very sore abs.
As you may know, Classical Pilates sticks to the order of exercises that Joseph Pilates himself used to teach in class. This doesn't mean classes are the same from week to week, he still had hundreds of exercises that we can't get through in one hour... We take one exercise out, put another in, change equipment, try a variation, etc. He had many reasons for his order and sequences, but a big point of this order was to integrate the muscles of the body throughout class so that by the end of the class, your body is working as one. You start out with the hundred to get your blood flowing, your lungs taking in fresh air, and to wake up the abdominals. You progress through the roll ups continuing to wake up the abdominals and get them working fully. Single leg circles then bring rotation into the hips. But by the end, it's the fancier stuff! Why do you think we save teaser and front support till the end of a mat class? It's not to make you perform the hardest exercises when you are the most tired. No. We wait till the end because these exercises most definitely require the entire body to be integrated and work as one.
Now back to the obliques... Because of this sequencing of exercises I knew that my obliques were getting a thorough workout, but I didn't realize how much they were working until recently. It's not like I always made it a priority to do crisscross, side sit ups, and twist series all in one class. Yes those exercises are more specific to the obliques, but it doesn't mean they are the only exercises that work those muscles. Recently though, the majority of my abdominals are 'taking it easy,' as I'll put it. They are not not working, they just aren't working the same. They kind of get to just hug the baby. And in some exercises the baby gets hugged more than others. But in a lot of the exercises, when most of my abdominals are 'taking it easy,' the obliques fire up and carry me through!
I love my side sit ups, and boy do I make sure to do those every class right now. But who would have thought that my obliques would still be helping me through teaser!? Especially if I'm on the box holding the handles (On days when it works for me)! And the knees off version of knee stretches (exercise pictured above on the right)... I get excited every class that I can still do them. And boy do I feel my obliques helping me along!
Probably the biggest surprise lately was just the other day. I was teaching a couple clients teaser from the twist series on the chair (exercise pictured above). I wasn't teaching them the whole thing right off the bat, I was just having them practice holding their teasers at the top since it's a little more awkward than most teasers. They did exactly what I was telling them, but they couldn't wrap their head around where they were actually going with the exercise. What were they working towards? So decided to show them. After a fair warning that I might or might not be able to do the actual exercise, I jumped on the chair to give it a try. And I did it! Absolutely shocked myself! I didn't even master that exercise till after I finished my 600+ hours of training. And, out of all the different teaser exercises, it was one of the easiest teasers for me to currently hold! Way more oblique than the others!
Funny how I didn't realize the power of my obliques till I had a baby popping out in the middle the of my primary powerhouse...
