I recently read an article in fitsugar.com, about common mistakes for Pilates Mat beginners. I couldn’t agree more with Susi May’s pointers.

The first mistake she mentioned, not going deep, has got to be the biggest. When I was doing my observation hours during my training, I watched a lot of group classes. It was refreshing to see people enthusiastic about coming in week after week, but it was disheartening to see some of them not putting the work in while they were there. I didn’t want to see them as being lazy because it could be that they just hadn’t figured out how to connect with their deep abdominal muscles.

The problem with group classes is that it really depends on the teacher giving the right cues, and lots of them. Constant reminders about scooping in the abdominals and pulling up the pelvic floor is necessary, especially for the beginners. What I like to tell my clients is to “find the challenge”. If you are doing an exercise and thinking, “wow, this is easy” you probably could be working a lot harder!

What helps me when I feel like I’m losing that connection is imagining the movement initiating from the deep core. Really focusing in on the abdominals first to bring the limb or torso to move will ensure that desired engagement.

If you are having difficulty locating the transverse abdominis, the inner most abdominal layer that wraps around the waist helping with that “flat tummy” appearance, spend some time practicing that connection before your next workout.  Lay down on a mat with your knees bent and place the palms of your hands on your lower abdomen. Take a big inhale and on the exhale think about drawing the pelvic floor up and the navel in toward the front of the spine. Try to keep that engagement and take another big inhale expanding the rib cage wide and then exhale “ha-ha-ha.” You should feel the lower and deep abdominals engage to produce those quick short breaths. That is the transverse abdominis, the cinch belt that will help keep you from bulging the muscles outward when you do core work.

Once you get used to finding and engaging the deep core easily you begin to understand a lot more of the Pilate curriculum and it will actually make the exercises more challenging! The key to exercising effectively is to know what muscles to engage and to keep the ultimate goal in mind.