"Consider physical movements as investments toward your future physical well-being: a Pilates instructor recommends these three exercises to maintain strength and flexibility as you grow older"
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As we age, it's essential to focus on building strength, mobility, and resilience to ensure our bodies remain strong and agile. Paola Di Lanzo, the founder of Paola's Body Barre, recommends three future-proofing Pilates moves that emphasise supporting bones and joints, keeping the spine and hips mobile, and encouraging proper posture through alignment and core stability.
Di Lanzo encourages us to think of movement as an investment in our future selves. By following her advice, we can enjoy better balance, more efficient movement, and reduced risk of injury as we grow older. Pilates, a low-impact, mind-body practice, protects joints, optimises alignment, and balances muscle development for healthy aging with improved balance and reduced injury risk.
Here are the three recommended exercises:
- The Glute Bridge
To perform the glute bridge, lie on your back with your knees bent, feet hip-width apart, and arms by your sides. Inhale to prepare, exhale, press through your heels, tuck your pelvis slightly, lift your hips upward one vertebra at a time, engage your buttocks, avoid overarching your lower back, inhale at the top, then exhale and slowly roll down with control. Repeat this 8-10 times, and complete 3 sets.
- The Roll Down to Plank
Stand tall, roll down one vertebra at a time until your hands reach the floor. Walk your hands forward into a high plank position, hold for a breath or two, avoid hunching your shoulders up, lift back up to a plank, walk your hands back toward your feet, and slowly roll up to stand. Repeat this 8-10 times, and complete 3 sets.
- The Seated Spine Twist
Sit on the floor, legs extended straight or slightly bent, arms out to the sides at shoulder height, palms facing forward, engage your core, rotate your torso to one side, keeping your hips level, return to centre, then rotate to the other side, and avoid leaning backward or forward. Repeat this 8-10 times, and complete 3 sets.
While these exercises are not explicitly labelled as Pilates moves, they share similarities with certain Pilates movements in their focus on core engagement, spinal alignment, and controlled movements. The glute bridge exercise, for example, is designed to build and maintain strength to support bones and joints, keep the spine and hips moving freely, and encourage proper posture through alignment and core stability.
The seated spine twist exercise, on the other hand, is designed to improve flexibility, promote spinal mobility, and enhance balance. The roll down to plank exercise builds core strength, improves balance, and encourages efficient movement.
For more precise exercise names or demonstrations, you can refer to Paola Di Lanzo's official social media channels such as her Instagram @paolasbodybarre, where she shares Pilates exercise insights and recommendations. By following her guidance, you can future-proof your body and enjoy a more active, healthier, and confident older age.
Engaging in the glute bridge exercise enhances fitness-and-exercise, as it builds and maintains strength to support bones and joints, keeps the spine and hips mobile, and promotes proper posture through alignment and core stability. The roll down to plank workout improves overall health-and-wellness by building core strength, improving balance, and encouraging efficient movement.
By incorporating these fitness moves into one's routine, one can benefit from science-backed workouts that foster a stronger, more agile body, reducing the risk of injury and enhancing quality of life in old age.
