Callanetics Part 1: Warm Up Exercises
September 27, 2021
Warm-up exercises should not be neglected, since before starting classes it is necessary to warm up the muscles and activate blood circulation. These exercises will help tone the muscles and make the skeletal system more mobile.
Exercise 1 – Warm up
- Sit in a chair with armrests or a backrest that you can lean on.
- Leaning on the armrests or the back of a chair, rise.
- It is important to keep your back straight and raise your chin higher.
- Exercise relieves tension in the buttocks.
- Do 40 times.
Exercise 2 – Warm up
- Straighten and spread your legs, shoulder-width apart.
- Raise your arms up and hold as high as possible.
- Draw in your stomach, feel that you have become a few inches higher.
- Bend your knees and stretch your arms forward, as if you want to reach something.
- Bend forward and hold this position for a minute.
- Without changing position, move your arms back and at this time stretch your chin and neck forward strongly.
- Move your arms forward again, and then back again.
- Repeat this exercise 5 times.
Exercise 3 – Strengthening the Shoulders
- Straighten, raise your arms to the sides to shoulder level and turn your palms up.
- The more you turn your palms, the more you will feel the muscles working.
- Move your arms back without effort, as if wishing to connect the shoulder blades.
- Move your shoulders gently. Try to touch your back with your fingers.
- Don’t bend your elbows. Do this exercise 100 times.
- Correct execution of this exercise straightens the shoulders, raises the bust, and relieves muscle tension between the shoulder blades.
Exercise 4 – Waist Exercise
- Legs slightly apart.
- The right arm is extended upward, the left is on the outside of the left leg (not on the hip!).
- With as much force as you can, extend the right side of the body and arm up (this first simple phase of the exercise is not shown in the picture).
- The buttocks are tucked up, the pelvis, like a model, is moved forward.
- Hold in this position and only after a minute tilt your left shoulder as much as possible to the left side. The back is tense. Perform inclinations 100 times with an amplitude of several centimeters (50 to the left and 50 to the right). Do not balance with your hips, but diligently extend the right side of your body.
- With this exercise, you will not only reduce your waist, but also get rid of full hips.
Exercise 5 – Leg Stretching
- Don’t be alarmed when looking at the picture. You will do the same, first on bent knees, gradually moving to straight legs.
- We start the exercise by bending forward (on bent knees) and touching the palms with the floor.
- With your palms on the floor, pause for a minute, and then gently grab your legs as low as possible.
- Lower your shoulders and hide your head.
- Feel your back muscles stretch.
- In the same position, gently move your entire body a few centimeters towards your legs.
- After completing about 20 movements, place your left hand on the calves of your right leg above the ankle.
- Stretch your back and thigh muscles until you count to 20.
- Now rest, and then, placing your palms on the floor, arch your back like a cat. Repeat the same on the other leg.
Exercise 6 – Neck Exercise
- Stand with feet shoulder-width apart with your shoulders relaxed.
- The abdomen is pulled in, the buttocks are tense, the pelvis is again, like a model’s forward, the chin is on the chest.
- From this position, very slowly and gently move your head to the right, while pulling your chin up.
- Hold on in this position, counting to 5, then smoothly return to the intermediate position and slowly move your head to the left.
- Repeat 5 times in both directions.
- This is by no means as easy an exercise as it might seem. It requires a lot of stress.
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