MINDBODY 
Keeping your body moving is the key to maintaining strength and mobility as you age — a subject Pilates Instructor Heather is particularly passionate about! It’s key to preventing injuries, maintaining the quality of daily movement, and ensuring you continue to enjoy all the things that give you pleasure in life! Whether it’s cycling, getting down on the floor to play with your grandchildren, or lifting your baby without injury.
When working on strength, range of motion, and stability, mobility is really what we’re looking for when we think we need to “stretch”. Stretching doesn’t give us everything we need — what is really needed is strengthening and stabilizing to create that mobility and range of motion.
Heather’s recommendation for integrating mobility work into your everyday? Keep your body moving. It doesn’t matter how— just do it! Do a little something every day to keep your strength and range of motion. Even a few minutes of hip bridges in the morning will do it.
Or, incorporate Heather’s morning mobility exercises for a perfect start to your day.
Heather’s Morning Mobility Exercises
Perform 5 sets of each move, repeat full sequence once or twice. Keep a steady breath throughout the flow!
Arm and Shoulder StabilityLengthen and circle your arms, one at a time. Feel the movement of your shoulder blades along your back. This move builds range of motion in your shoulder joint and stretches your trunk. | |
Bird DogStart on all fours to stabilize the shoulders in the shoulder joint. Make sure your knees are directly under the hips, and that your spine is long. Extend your opposite arm and leg. Watch out for allowing the lower back to slump — pull the abdominals up and keep the lower back lengthened. Keep your pelvis as centered as possible, without shifting the hip side to side. Bring your arm and leg down, and repeat on the other side. | |
SquatsReach your seat back to bend your legs and touch your fingertips to the floor. Make sure you’re keeping your heels on the ground. | |
Knee GrabStanding tall, lift one knee up and grab the front of your shin with both hands. Pull your knee towards your chest, while keeping your spine lengthened. Press your standing foot to the floor to stay balanced. Lower your leg, and repeat on the other side. | |
Plank into Side PlankLower into a plank — make sure your hands are directly under your shoulders, and that you’re reaching back through your heels. Pull up through the lower abdominals and lengthen your lower back to avoid slumping. Slowly start to shift onto one arm to turn the body all the way to a side plank, with your arm overhead. Pull up through your feet and keep your waist engaged and lifted away from the floor in your side plank. Slowly lower your arm back down into a regular plank, and turn towards the other side. Finish in child’s pose to stretch the spine. | |
Toe SitTuck your toes and sit back onto your heels to give your toes a good stretch. In the toe sit, reach back through your heels to minimize pressure on the front part of your foot. The goal is to feel the stretch through the whole sole of your foot. Keep your spine nice and upright! Modification: If this is too much on your toes or knees, place a pillow or bolster behind the legs to support the bend of the toes. Stay in this position for 5–10 deep breaths. Inhale through your nose, and exhale through your mouth with pursed lips to engage the lower abdominals. |
WORK WITH HEATHER TO MAXIMIZE YOUR MOBILITY
“I’ve been working with Heather for many years, and I cannot recommend her more highly. She keeps our workouts fresh, always bringing in new exercises to challenge me. She’s also an amazing listener! She asks what I feel like my body needs that day and crafts a workout seemingly on the fly. I had shoulder issues from having frozen shoulder when I started with her, which have completely abated through her guidance and close attention. The same is true for the ankle I broke in 2020. It’s like having both a physical therapist and a Pilates instructor wrapped up in one! Heather is not only kind and attentive—she really knows her stuff! Her breadth of knowledge means she can provide an advanced and challenging workout, a gentle and restorative one, a workout targeting a particular area or need…she just knows so much about the body! I feel lucky to have her expertise and guidance.”
ABOUT HEATHER
Movement is imperative to our survival — Heather wants to help others move so their quality of life is the best it can be! Her goal is for each client to feel better physically, happier, and brighter. She offers a balanced, fun, and challenging mind-body workout, tailoring each session to your needs based on daily and long-term goals. When you work with Heather, you’ll experience the impact of a Pilates practice on your day-to-day activities, and leave each session with improved body awareness, mobility, strength, and confidence.
Interested in training with Heather? Contact her using the form below!
