Here’s a 20-minute "morning" mat Pilates routine you can follow at home to wake up and energize your body without equipment. Designed to supercharge your body, this short routine can be really be performed anywhere, anytime.
Nicole, of Move With Nicole YouTube fame, shares this full-body Pilates workout for moderate practice to stretch and strengthen muscles all over, whether you’d like to release tension from your shoulders, hips, back, or everywhere.
I recommend rolling out one of the best yoga mats from our handy guide — I personally practice with Lululemon's ‘The Mat’ which provides 5mm of thickness perfect for yoga and Pilates practices. Ready to get started? Watch this video below for the full routine.
Watch Move With Nicole’s 20-minute full-body Pilates workout:
This routine was only recently released and has already hit over 380k views. Importantly, Nicole cues the entire routine step-by-step, so if you enjoy playing your own music and not relying on looking at your screen, you can follow along with audio cueing, which is pretty much how you’d experience most in-person classes.
I’d recommend this Pilates workout for most people. However, anyone with an injury or illness should exercise cautiously and clear any new exercise routine with a relevant medical professional first.
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20 MIN MORNING PILATES || Full Body Mat Pilates Workout (Moderate) - YouTube
As little as an hour of Pilates performed consistently several times a week can strengthen muscles, improve posture, increase stability, mobility and flexibility, and develop balance, alignment and coordination. It’s functional exercise at its finest.
Nicole starts with gentle "wake-up" spinal work — like seated cat-cows — and moves gracefully, slowly and with total control. It almost feels like moving in slow motion, which means having autonomy over your joints and muscles and what they do, when. It’s tougher than it sounds when your muscles are working through resistance at the same time.
The tempo of the class positions it as a morning or bedtime routine rather than a more vigorous upbeat session. That said, your glutes, hips, abs and spine will love you for it as you begin to lengthen and unfurl on the mat.
There are some core-trembling moments as you move through the ab work synonymous with Nicole’s sessions, so although it’s not signposted as an ab workout, learning how to activate your core properly during any workout will help you improve your mind-muscle connection, also improving muscular control.
Here’s a 20-minute ‘morning’ mat Pilates routine you can follow at home to wake up and energize your body without equipment.
Each move flows together like a gentle dance routine with little rest or transitions. It reminds me of a yoga class, but using strong Pilates principles. As with any Pilates routine worth its salt, there’s a strong focus on breathwork — your inhale and exhale.
Your Pilates instructor should cue your breath, but regardless, diaphragmatic breath means directing your breathing toward your sides and stomach rather than the chest. It can help tap into the parasympathetic nervous system which helps us calm and relax. According to the Cleveland Clinic, this type of breathing during exercise can improve muscle function and aid relaxation.
It takes a great amount of spinal mobility and flexibility to move with freedom through the torso and hips, which means you might feel restricted and tight to begin with. Over time, you may feel more open and relaxed as you move and your range of motion increases.
If your go-to style of training involves a lot of cardio or weightlifting, these types of sessions, performed several times per week as a warm-up, cool-down, or standalone class, could offer huge benefits for recovery and posture. Regularly practicing Pilates should make you stronger and more mobile heading into high-intensity workouts.
You’re unlikely to leave sweaty and breathless. But the benefits are likely to stick with you throughout the day, including feeling calmer and more centered in your body while undoing the effects of prolonged sitting when performing the 20-minute Pilates class after your work day.
I highly recommend this short Pilates routine if you can’t find time to fit a longer session into your day and still want to release tension from your back and hips and strengthen your glutes, core and shoulder muscles.
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