🌊 Summer Strong Pilates Series: Find Your Power in Motion
As the days get longer and the sun shines brighter, our bodies are called to move more freely, explore the outdoors, and say yes to new adventures. Whether you’re catching waves, hiking trails, or playing a spontaneous game of pickleball, your Pilates practice can help you feel strong, mobile, and centered in everything summer throws your way.
Welcome to Summer Strong, an 8 week Pilates series inspired by popular summer sports. Each week, we’ll focus on a different activity—like surfing, tennis, kayaking, or cycling—and integrate movement patterns that support the strength, flexibility, and control you need to fully enjoy them.
This is not just about sports—it’s about moving with purpose, building functional strength, and creating a connection between your Pilates mat and your active life.
Whether you’re an athlete, a weekend warrior, or simply someone who wants to feel good chasing the sun, this series will help you:
- Build core stability for balance and agility
- Strengthen your joints to reduce injury risk
- Improve posture and breath to boost endurance
- Restore mobility and length in tight areas
🏄♀️ Week One: Surf’s Up – Pilates for Surfers
Even if you’ve never paddled out to catch a wave, this week is a powerful way to train your core, shoulders, spine, and balance.
Surfing demands a unique combination of:
- Core control for stability on an unstable surface
- Spinal extension for paddling and wave spotting
- Shoulder strength and mobility to paddle efficiently
- Lower body balance to stand tall on the board
✨ Pilates Focus This Week:
- Prone Extension Work: Think Swan, Breast Stroke Prep, and Dart—these build spinal strength and open the front body.
- Shoulder Mobility and Stability: Using resistance bands and bodyweight to train rotator cuff muscles and scapular control.
- Core Activation: From the ab prep to obliques and side planks, you’ll fire up your center to prepare for pop-ups and balance.
- Standing Balance Work: Simulates the dynamic control needed for surfing.
🔥 Why This Matters:
Even outside the ocean, this movement combination supports anyone who wants better posture, upper-body strength, and core-powered mobility. It’s especially powerful if you sit often, or if you feel tight across the chest and shoulders.
🌺 Your Takeaway:
This week’s surf-inspired Pilates classes will leave you feeling strong, open across the chest, deeply connected through your core, and more confident on your feet. You don’t need a board—you just need your mat and your inner strength.
Ready to ride the wave of summer strength? Let’s move like surfers, breathe like athletes, and stay grounded like Pilates pros.
Stay tuned next week as we head to the court for Tennis & Pickleball Power!
Mary Jo Training
