Pilates Hour

Shelly will be exploring the Kneeling Cat in this week’s Pilates Hour, both on the Trapeze Table and the Chair. She will be providing tips and knowledge on how to prepare and efficiently execute these movements. We will review the similarities and difference to help you choose the most appropriate one for you and your clients.

00:00 - Introduction
03:30 - Considerations and Goals
23:37 - Trapeze Table Demonstration
37:34 - Chair Demonstration
47:45 - Final Thoughts
53:43 - Q&A.

This was a pre-recorded session where Shelly was live also answering questions. Here are answers to some of the questions brought up in the chat:

Q: Do you do this with osteoporosis patients with emphasis on hip hinge vs. rounding throughout thoracic spine?
A: It depends on the person. If they have good spine and shoulder mobility I will give it to them without the spine flexion part. If someone doesn't have good spine mobility that will often affect their shoulder mobility and in that case I might choose a different exercise.

Q: I often see clients begin to extend too soon. I like to say the secret to the cat is to round first, than extend. I will have them practice just rounding a couple times and then add the extension. Thoughts?
A: I see that too. Sometimes I think that happens because the pelvis moves too soon in the movement. Try delaying the movement of the pelvis and see if that helps.

Q: I have difficulty to explain a client how not to sit or move pelvis out of hips while rolling back. please advise
A: I often put my hand just in front and behind the thighs so that they can 'know' where their legs and pelvis are in space. On the Chair I will show another couple of options.

Q: How heavy would you have the springs for a beginner? On the chair? on the trap?
A: On a BB chair I use the two heavy black springs somewhere at the top - could be on the highest or second highest. Depends on the size of the client. On the Trap I usually use a short red or maybe a red and yellow.

Q: Love your use of the therabands, but wondering if you let clients go past the bars when doing cat kneeling on the trap table?
A: As long as there is control I do. Otherwise I stop them. Kind of depends on the situation. Does that make sense?

Q: How do you enhance the rotation variable—by releasing one hand or the other?
A: No, I use leverage from the two hands/arms doing two different things. The top hand pushes and the bottom hand pulls. It helps you rotate. The more you push the more you can pull with the bottom arm and spiral deeper. I hope you like it.

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Don't miss out on this opportunity to enhance your movement science and teaching skills. Register for the live webinar at https://polestarpilates.com/webinar. Polestar's #pilateshour covers various Pilates and physical therapy-related topics and is a must-attend for anyone interested in this discipline!