Catfish – the perfect exercise to start working on your Summer Body with

There is no time like the present. Getting a jumpstart on your summer body is as easy as setting your clock forward adjusting to daylight savings time. It is a no-brainer, there are more hours of daylight now, so this is the time to seize your desired metabolism. By the time you are ready to dust off your lounge chair, you will be a fat burning machine while relaxing poolside.

I talk about this thing, ‘metabolism’ a ton when I teach, but some of you may be scratching your head saying, ‘what the heck is she talking about?’. It is pretty simple and undeniably magnificent. Simply said, the food you eat converts to fuel for energy, it is stored in your cells and absorbed in your blood. Muscle burns more calories than fat. Work hard and efficient to get a stronger body and your internal system will be at work for you. Yep – 24/7 you are burning calories, even when you’re resting. All you need is a few times a week doing a high-intensity workout like the ones I teach at Pilates Platinum. Compound exercises (an action which incorporates more than one muscle and joint moving at once) blocked together in a seamlessly orchestrated routine, specifically targeted to fatigue muscles, spike your heart rate and create a fitness experience that will leave you exhilarated and excited to come back for more.

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Catfish, one of Pilates Platinum’s essential moves, is one of my favorite exercises. It produces an immediate result and serves as an excellent full body warm up, additionally, it ignites your system’s metabolism. Catfish blends the upper body stabilization of a plank, with hip flexion, that you would perform during a squat.

  • Catfish is a compound exercise that gets the body sweating from the get-go. To perform follow along below.

 

  • With straight arms lightly grip the high bars on the Megaformer, this will begin to fire your triceps and sexy upper back muscles.
  • Position shoulders about one inch behind wrists while aligning the top of your head with your tailbone (your goal is to maintain length in your spine through the whole duration of each repetition).
  • With your legs together, lift your heels high so your toes are the only part of your body on the carriage.
  • Starting with a flat back with knees just under hips begin the slow press backward into an incline plank position.
  • You are then offered, (sometimes highly suggested) option to add a push-up, which forces you to focus even more on stabilizing your core while giving your arms that little extra smooch.
  • Tuck your pelvis up, pull your navel into your spine and begin to pike your hips up and away from the floor.
  • Once your back has reached table position again start pulling your knees towards your hips without moving your shoulders.

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And don’t forget to breathe. Our muscles and cells need oxygen just as much as we need food and water. Sounds like a piece of cake right? Haha. Well, most of you already know all it takes is one repetition to start feeling that shaky burning magic.

Here at Pilates Platinum, we like to keep you on your toes, not just physically but also mentally. Be prepared to be challenged with some variations on your favorite exercises to get different results. Like a slight rotation at your hips during Catfish to add that slim toned waistline to your summer bucket list. Sign up for a class to learn more variations and challenging ways to take your exercises to a whole new level!


 

Fitness Teacher & Food + Health Strategist – Jessi Piha

Jessi is native to California and grew up living and enjoying all of its beauty, surfing the coves in Malibu, hiking the trails in Topanga Canyon, and roller skating the boardwalks of Venice Beach, she was on the go-go-go then and still keeps it moving today. It is no coincidence that she has chosen to dedicate her path in life to the field of health and wellness.
Jessi’s fitness background includes certifications in Pilates through the Physical Mind Institute, Body Balancing Contrology, Lagree Fitness, NASM (National Academy of Sports Medicine) for personal training and now rounding out her career with a Certification in Optimal Health Wellness and Sports from LMU. She has also worked as a personal chef, has competed in and won trophies at 4 NPC figure competitions.
She’s been published multiple times and is a contributing author for Beyond Yoga and Mind Body Green. She was asked to contribute a chapter to an Amazon best-selling book Real Talk, Real Women:100 Life Lessons from the most Inspirational Women in Health and Fitness. Early 2016 Jessi launched The Food Athlete where Jessi is specializing in nutrition for anyone and everyone, because “we are all athletes” she says. Inspiring, creating and helping people discover their best selves is what this fitness, foodie addict says she was put on this Earth to do. Whether in the form of teaching physical movement or helping to discover a new mental approach to food strategies, her method is always centered on the balance of wellness as a lifestyle.