The Hip Twist

5 Hot Tips to Ignite your Hip Twist and Swimming Exercises

Hey there –

It’s been a rough couple of days on the Mat, my friend!

At the time of this writing, March MATness lands us on everyone’s fave, the Hip Twist or Hip Circles.

Tomorrow brings another doozy, Swimming.

You’re in luck!

I’ve got some hot tips on these nasty little exercises. Make them favorites-in-training!

The Hip Twist is a perfect way to meet people.

Way back in 2011 I met one of my favorite Pilates peeps and #marchMATness founder, Benjamin Degenhardt at a Pilates event hosted by another Pilates bestie, the Pilates Nerd Queen herself!

Little did I know this meeting would teach me about green screens and get my Hip Twist ready for its closeup.

Yup, that’s me doing my best Benjamin-doing-Hip-Twist impression – needs work I know.

1. Consider the Hip Twist as an elaborate Teaser 2.

The best way to pull yourself off the ceiling about the Hip Twist is to take your mind to a happy(er) place.

The Teaser 2, which you’ve completed just moments before it’s time to Hip-Circle-it-up has many of the same elements as the dreaded Hip Twist.

Keep the lift in the trunk of your body and change your lower-lift to a modest circle at first.

Remember all the lift in the body that’s required to move the carriage for Frog+Circles on the Reformer? Well, now is when you need it.

Oh, Gravity! (shakes fist at the heavens)

2. How are those hands back there helping me??

Use your hands on the Mat behind you for the Hip Twist to your best advantage. You’re spot on to look for the assistance this position can give you.

Oh Stomach Massage Series, where are you now? Keeping your lift when the hands hit the Mat can be problematic.

Try this: Reach back and don’t touch.

Now you’ll discover what should hold you up and how your arms placement can assist you.

3. Don’t let your body get dragged away by a pair of circling legs.

You’ve all seen this exercise done with huge circles at the expense of everything else.

Try out my rule of balancing out your forces: the part of the body that’s just (in this case) sitting there doing nothing, should be doing all the work.

Use your circles to challenge how lifted and above-it-all (and Joe-Pilates-arrogant) your body can be.

How did I adjust my bad attitude toward Swimming?

Swimming on the Mat

Why, by making a T-Shirt of course!

Nothing motivates my Swimming more than being in a Mat class. Every teacher will make me swim for much longer than I ever do myself LOL

So at home I have Jaws for my inspo.

I created this image for March MATness 2017 when I simply hated this exercise.

Now in 2021, it’s not great, but I don’t really hate it. I view it as a project to work on.

Yup, add it to the list, right?

And remember, it’s gonna be a great workout. Do the nasty exercises and then move on. We have other exercises.

4. The premise of the Pilates method is THE best Swimming hack I’ve found.

Whoa, don’t get all crazy and whip out the premise of the method right here in the middle of the Mat!

Yes.

Joe Pilates literally has your back on this one. At the beginning of many a Pilates workout, you begin lying down.

The Mat especially gives luxurious support to all of the back of you.

Use the previous exercises (Teaser and the Hip Twist) well.

These 2 exercises lie you down on the Mat, “ironing” out the backline of you along the Mat over and over again.

Not to mention you’ve done it earlier in the workout: Hundred, Roll Up, Roll Over, One Leg Circle, etc…

Take a moment to use the Mat behind you.

Use your muscles, your opposing forces to elongate the back of you.

This is the challenge of Swimming, right? To keep the back long in an extended position. Not easy to do.

Once you feel you’ve memorized the feeling of elongating your back against the template of the Mat, turn over onto your stomach and prepare for your Swimming.

Be the Mat…and then flip over.

Now without the Mat behind you, find the same elongation, as much as you can.

Start slowly, trying to duplicate and then maintain the length of the back of you as you start to swim.

See how you do.

5. Watch beautiful movers to better your own execution.

My acting school was holding auditions for the role of the Bawd in Shakespeare’s Pericles. I was in the midst of reading and my teacher plucked the script from my hands:

“Whore isn’t quite at your fingertips, Andrea.”

Yup, instead I was cast as Marina, Pericles’ daughter who gets kidnapped by Pirates and sold to a brothel.

Much more my speed…

And it’s no secret, Swimming is not in my wheelhouse either. It’s okay.

I feel the same way about Swan Dive, actually – hmmm… coincidence?

It’s helpful to find another body to watch – a body that understands and coordinates well in the exercise. That often helps my body to get the idea of what I’m after.

Meet Christina, my Swimming inspiration:

This video shows a Swimming that is streamlined like a jet. I do not feel like a jet when I do this exercise.

So I watch, I do my exercises and I try again.

Oh, reeeeeeeeaaachhhhh… yes that feels better.

Try these hot tips and share your success in a comment below.

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