Hips strengths exercises for level 2 Mat Pilates – wrap, squeeze, lift and connect

As a personal trainer, I have learned how to strengthen the hips muscles like the glutes, inner thighs, quads, and hamstrings by doing squats first. And I mean all kinds of squats: sumo, jump, burpees, split squats…The rule is you always train the big muscles first. But when I became a Pilates teacher, everything turned upside down: “wait, how do you want me to strengthen people’s glutes with the Mat work without squats and lunges? Oh, ok, I see; we start with stability before introducing the squats.”

For a Squat to be effective, meaning not overworking the quadriceps, glutes, or lower back muscles, smaller muscles that provide hips stability must activate along with the core muscles. There’re so many squat exercises in the Pilates repertoire, but they come later when the hips is more stable and strong. 

The Squat is a complex movement that uses the biggest muscle in our body – the glutes, and thus is the favorite exercise that all trainers incorporate in their program for whole-body strengthening and weight loss. It is also a movement we all do whenever we want to sit down, so it is important in everyday life too.

But when the glutes ( buttocks) or the quad muscles become too strong without the supporting stabilizers, they can cause a vicious chain reaction: your lower back will suffer tightness, impairing effective breathing and weakening the hamstring, inner thigh, and pelvic floor muscles.

 Sure there’s other equipment in the gym where you can separately strengthen those muscles, and with the proper guidance, you could eventually bring back the balance in your body. But instead, wouldn’t you want to develop a harmoniously functioning body built from the ground up where all the muscles are integrated into one uniform, effective force?

I can give you the tools to do just that in today’s video.

Wrap, squeeze, lift and connect your legs to your hips and core muscles. Start to apply those connections right at the beginning from The Hundreds Pilates exercise to all your workouts, feel how butt and leg muscles become integrated when you exercise and watch your squats give you so much power that you never thought possible.

Today’s video is without accessories, but if you want to work with a magic circle or theraband, you can also check that right here.  

But let me share with you what I have learned recently. 

My teacher always said to soften, work less, breathe and lift more, but I always had this conflict in my brain between “working out” and “working less.” It took me a while and lots of Pilates sessions to understand not to move the springs when I do the equipment classes but to move my body more. I guess that’s why the Mat is challenging; there’s no support to hang on to. But when you do manage to move your own body around without the outside resistance, only then can you enter a happy marriage with the springs. 

I found this paradigm shift challenging to understand, and if you are there, I get you. It’s normal. We’ve all learned things that we need to undo. Weight training can be a wonderful addition to your Pilates when you understand how to position yourself well so you don’t overwork specific muscles.

Xo