As a BOOM MIND instructor, you are tasked with carefully selecting exercises that help your participants meet their goals. The sample exercises provided may or may not be suitable for your group. Apply risk-versus-benefit exercise selection principles to optimize safety and effectiveness.
To integrate yoga, Pilates and athletic stretching effectively in BOOM MIND
- Choose yoga postures that increase strength, balance, mobility, and stability. The control, focus, and mindfulness at the core of yoga will enhance the benefit of each pose.
- Choose Pilates exercises that focus on body awareness and core conditioning. The foundation of Pilates is the quality of movement, controlled breathing, and body alignment to build a stronger core and better posture.
- Incorporate fitness conditioning and flexibility exercises to complement the yoga poses and Pilates exercises. This will balance the overall training benefit to help your participants achieve a strong and healthy body.
These are the most common starting positions for yoga and Pilates based exercises:
- Standing: Feet together or hip-width apart with the core engaged. Back, shoulders, neck and head should be in a neutral position and knees are bent slightly – not locked.
- Seated: Upper body is in a neutral position. In certain poses, hip or leg placement may be adjusted.
- Supine: Face up positioning.
- Prone: Face down positioning.
- Tabletop position is on hands and knees. Hands are placed shoulder-width apart and aligned under shoulders. Knees are placed hip-width apart and aligned under hips
- Plank: Hands are placed on the mat directly in line with the elbows and shoulders. The core is engaged and hips are in a neutral position.
General Format Design Tips
If you are teaching a 30-minute BOOM MIND class, a five minute warm-up block may be sufficient for preparation. If you are teaching a 45-minute BOOM MIND class, your warmup may be up to seven to eight minutes. Try to create a simple, short, sequential flow of movement from the end position of one exercise to the start position of the next one.
At first, it may seem overwhelming to know how to link all of these principles to lead a safe and effective Pilates block, but with practice and perseverance, both you and your participants will grow in understanding and strength.
Remember to keep your blocks simple. You may only need three to four exercises in a five minute block. Think of what flows bests from exercise to exercise while maintaining overall symmetry and muscular balance as each block compliments the others in the full SilverSneakers BOOM MIND class.
Risk-Versus-Benefit Exercise Selection
The following exercises may put your participants at risk for injury. Follow safety guidelines when designing movement blocks for your MIND class.
- Avoid sustained inversions, or any sustained position with head below heart level. Avoid holding inverted postures or forward flexion for extended periods of time, including forward bends or folds.
- Do not program poses that bear weight directly on the neck. Weight-bearing, inverted poses are not recommended for the BOOM MIND class.
- Do not force stretches or twists. The concept of “playing with edges” is common in stretching. Participants should “feel” the stretch, but it should never produce pain.
- Try to avoid overuse of a joint or muscle group. Limit repetitive movements or sustained positions that can cause unnecessary joint or muscle pain. Design movement blocks with muscle balance in mind.
- Avoid repetitive forward or backward bending at the waist. Limit repetitions or modify lever length for movements requiring repetitive extension or flexion of the spine to decrease stress on the lumbar spine.
- Avoid repetitive and/or excessive weight-bearing movements forcing wrist hyperextension. (Be mindful of the amount of time spent in plank position or give an option to be on elbows.)
- Avoid repetitive or sustained flexion of the knee past 90 degrees. (e.g., exercises such as grand pliés and deep squats which can cause undue stress on the knees.)
- Avoid activities that reinforce a rounding of the upper (thoracic) spine (kyphosis) or hunched, collapsed positions that exacerbate poor posture. Be aware of participants “hunching” while attempting to touch toes from a standing or seated forward fold. The use of props may be effective in relieving the rounding/hunching and reinforcing length and elongation.
- Avoid hyperextension of the neck. This action can potentially compress the vertebral arteries and interrupt blood flow to the brain. When lying down, place adequate support under the head to keep the forehead slightly higher than the chin.