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Before we begin, let me introduce you to the Pilates body circles and show you how to use them.
Pilates body circles are lightweight, padded metal rings that you spin on your wrists to tighten and tone your arms.
Working with the circles takes just minutes and you can do it almost anywhere.
The workout begins with some stretching. You can also stop and stretch at any time during the workout if you feel you need to.
Each exercise lasts one minute, although you can start by only going for 30 seconds and work up to the full minute.
During the exercises, stand in a strong Pilates stance, heels together, toes apart, your weight evenly distributed between both feet.
It's important to remember to work from your powerhouse, the core of your body, where all movements originate.
By varying the position of your hands while spinning the circles, you can target different muscles in the upper body.
Palms down targets the shoulders and back.
Palms up focuses on the biceps, shoulders and back.
And palms back works the triceps, shoulders and back.
Be sure to remove your watch or any jewelry before you begin this workout and wear short sleeve clothing.
Let's begin!
Stand firmly in Pilates stance, heels together and toes apart.
We'll begin by stretching out the shoulders.
Place one Pilates body circle in your right hand.
Sweep your right arm across your body and hook your left arm from underneath with your palm facing towards you.
Stretch your right shoulder and breathe.
And switch. Place the Pilates body circle in your left hand.
Sweep your left arm across your body, hook your right arm from underneath with the palm facing towards you and stretch out your left shoulder.
Breathe.
And release.
We're going to warm up by practicing to use the Pilates body circle.
Place one circle on your right wrist and extend your right arm out to your side with your palm facing down.
Begin by circling your arm in a backwards fashion.
Using a very small movement, try to keep the body still throughout.
Hold your tummy very tight.
Try to keep your arm as steady as possible.
It's just a small movement.
Continue. Try not to move your body.
Very good. Now lower the arm down carefully and try the same thing with your left arm.
Place the circle on your left wrist with your arm extended to your side, palm down.
Begin by circling your arm backwards, keeping your tummy tight, trying to move the body as little as possible.
And lower the arm down with control.
Very good. Let's stretch out the shoulders.
Place your circle in the right hand.
Sweep your right arm across your body and hook your left arm from underneath with your palm facing towards you.
Gently press your left arm towards you and feel the right shoulder stretch.
And breathe.
And switch arms.
Place the circle in the left hand and sweep the left arm across your body.
Hook your right arm from underneath with the palm facing towards you.
Pull the right arm towards you and feel the stretch in the left shoulder.
And breathe.
And release.
Now we're ready to put both arms together.
Place one circle on each wrist and extend your arms out to your sides with the palms down.
Stand very strong using your powerhouse and begin by circling your arms backwards.
Don't let your body move. Keep your tummy very tight and continue to circle your arms.
It's a small action in the shoulders. Your arms move very little.
Now we're almost halfway so you have the option of taking a break here or continuing.
Keep your powerhouse very strong.
A little bit longer. Try not to move your body.
Very nice. Now lower the arms all the way down.
Let's stretch out the shoulders once again.
With one body circle on your right hand, sweep your right arm across your body and hook your left arm from underneath.
Gently press the left arm towards you and feel the stretch in the right shoulder.
And switch. Place the circle in the left hand, sweep the left arm across and stretch the left shoulder.
And release.
Now we're going to rotate the circles in the opposite direction.
Place one circle on each wrist, extend your arms out to your sides with your palms down to circle in a forward direction.
With two different arm variations.
Begin circling your arms forward.
Now turn your palms backwards and keep your arms circling forward to work your triceps.
Keep your body very still.
We're about halfway so you can take a break here or continue.
Still circling forward, tummy very tight.
Now turn your palms up towards the sky, keep circling your arms forward and join us again if you took a break.
I know it's tough hanging there, you're almost done.
Keep those circles moving.
And carefully lower your arms all the way down.
Now let's stretch out the triceps.
Place the closure of one circle in your hand, sweep your arm up over your head and bring your other hand up from the bottom.
Pull down on the bottom of the circle and feel your triceps stretch.
Now let's switch hands.
Place the closure of the circle in your other hand.
Sweep that arm up over your head and reach the other arm behind and pull down on the circle to feel the triceps stretch.
And release.
We're going to make it a little harder now by spinning the circles in front of us.
Place the circles on the wrists with your arms extended in front and palms down.
You must keep the arms a few feet away from one another so that the circles don't collide.
Begin to rotate the circles away from each other.
Keep your tummy tight.
Try to hold your body as still as you can and circle your arms in front of you.
You're probably feeling this in your shoulders now, but hang in there, keep your arms moving.
From this point you have three options.
You can take a break now, continue in this position, or to increase the difficulty, lower your arms down toward the ground.
Now stay here for a moment and in unison slowly lift your arms back up.
Keep the circles rotating away from one another.
Again, bring the arms down with control.
Stand very firm in Pilates stance.
You can raise your arms one more time if you'd like or make it even harder by rising up on your toes as you lift your arms up.
Don't get all the way up onto your toes until your arms are all the way up.
Keep pressing your feet into the earth.
Keep your tummy tight.
Now lower down with control.
Heels don't touch until your arms are all the way down.
And release the arms down.
And now for the final stretches.
Place one circle down and hold the other circle in your right hand.
Sweep your right arm across your body and hook your left arm from underneath with your palm facing towards you.
Pull the left arm towards you to feel the stretch in the right shoulder.
And switch hands.
Place the circle in the left hand and sweep the left arm across the body,
hooking the right arm from underneath with the palm facing towards you.
And release.
Now for the triceps stretch.
Place the closure of one circle in your hand.
Sweep your arm up over your head and bring your other hand up from the bottom.
Pull down on the bottom of the circle and feel your triceps stretch.
Now let's switch hands.
Place the closure of the circle in your other hand.
Sweep that arm up over your head.
And reach the other arm behind and pull down on the circle to feel the triceps stretch.
And release.
Reach the circle behind your back and place one hand on each side of the circle.
Press your arms up towards the sky, stand very tall, and feel your chest stretch.
Now reach a little higher.
Stand strong.
Turn real tight.
Don't move your body.
And lower your arms down with control.
The last stretch is the side stretch.
Hold the circle in the palms of your hands.
Keep your fingertips extended.
Stand very tall.
And lift your arms up overhead.
Keep your tummy tight.
Inhale.
Reach up towards the sky.
Exhale.
And stretch over to your right.
Inhale there again.
And exhale.
Inhale.
Come up to center.
And exhale.
One more time.
Inhale.
Stretch up towards the sky.
And exhale as you bend over to the right.
Inhale again.
Tummy tight.
And exhale.
Inhale as you return to center.
And exhale.
And lower your arms all the way down.
Excellent job.
Now relax.
Good job.
Good job.
Good job.
Good job.
Good job.
Good job.
Good job.
Good job.
Good job.