Michela Pilates

PILATES BALL SERIES 🎾

A small ball. A big challenge.

This flow targets your obliques, outer thighs & glutes while challenging your balance and core control.

The ball creates just enough instability to make these classic Pilates movements feel completely different.

Save this one for your next Pilates session. 🤍

Try THIS with your Pilates Circle 🔥

One simple, original setup.
Your arms, shoulders, core & posture will feel it.

Kneeling, hinge slightly forward from the hips and place the Circle between your elbows and upper back.

Now think:

✨ Squeeze the Circle gently with your elbows
✨ Keep your shoulder blades stable and anchored
✨ Engage your core to support the forward position
✨ Keep your chest open and your torso lifted
✨ Grow taller through the crown of your head
✨ Create length through your spine while maintaining control

🔥 You’re working your triceps, shoulders, upper back, deep core and postural muscles 💪 all at once.

The goal isn’t to squeeze as hard as you can.

It’s about creating tension + control + length at the same time.

Small movement.
BIG work. 🔥

Save this one and try it in your next Pilates session!

Where do you feel it most: arms, shoulders or abs? 👀

🟠 Standing Ball Pilates Flow

Looks like fun… right? 😏🟠
But don’t be fooled. 🔥

We start in a semi-squat … and we stay there.
Legs bent, thighs engaged, glutes working… all while keeping the lower body strong and stable. 💪

Then comes the fun part. 🟠✨

We let the imagination take over and play with the ball while challenging the upper body: rotations, side bends, arm movements and more.

All while keeping the spine long, the posture aligned, the core engaged and every movement controlled.
Pilates principles, but with a little more flow. 🧘‍♀️

And after 10 minutes of burning legs…
we add lunges + balance work. 😅🔥⚖️

Because balancing on tired legs?
Way harder than it looks. 🫠

So yes, we played with a ball. 🟠
We laughed. We moved. We had fun.

But we definitely worked. A LOT. 🔥💪

Would you try this Standing Ball Flow? 👀

No gym.
No fancy equipment.
No mat.
No excuses.

Just the Italian mountains, my bodyweight, and a little creativity. 🇮🇹

One month of vacation doesn’t mean one month without moving.

I’m not chasing performance on vacation.
I’m simply maintaining what I’ve built all year.

Consistency beats perfection. Every single time. 🤍

Do you keep training on vacation? 👇
✅ Yes, always!
🏖️ No, I take a complete break.

A tiny mountain village in Italy, a small outdoor fitness park… and a little imagination. ⛰️🇮🇹💪

That’s all we needed.

Vacations don’t have to mean doing less—they can simply mean moving differently.

This workout wasn’t about performance or having the perfect equipment. It was about making the most of what we had, spending quality time together, and having fun.

38°C, a wasp sting halfway through the session 🐝🔥… but we kept going anyway.

The funniest part? I wasn’t the only one working hard! 😅

Staying perfectly still and gripped on my back took a lot of balance, body control and core strength. Luckily, my training partner is an incredible gymnast… and she nailed it! 🤸‍♀️🔥

Movement doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to be part of your life.

The best training partner I could ask for. 🤍

No Reformer? No problem. 🤪🔥

You can recreate that sliding, lengthening, full-body challenge at home with nothing more than a small ball.

✨ Stability.
✨ Control.
✨ Shoulder strength.
✨ Deep core activation.

The secret isn’t the equipment.
It’s how you use it.

Keep the shoulder strong and active.
Reach long through the body.
Move with control, not momentum.

Suddenly your mat workout starts feeling a lot like a Reformer session.

Would you try this at home? 👇

You don’t need MORE Pilates exercises. You need BETTER Pilates. ✨

Because the quality of your movement starts before the first repetition.

One of the biggest mistakes I see in group classes is rushing into the movement before understanding the setup.

In Pilates, the details matter:
✔️ shoulder position
✔️ alignment
✔️ breathing
✔️ control
✔️ precision

Quality always comes before quantity.

Before we move faster, we need to move better.

In a group class, my role is not only to demonstrate exercises, but to teach you how to feel and understand your own body. That’s why I spend so much time explaining, cueing, and giving you tools to self-correct.

When classes are bigger, I cannot physically adjust every single person every single time—but I can help you become more aware, more independent, and more connected to your movement.

So listen carefully, take your time, use the mirror as feedback (not for vanity 😉), and remember:

Pilates is not about doing more exercises.
It’s about doing each exercise with more intention. 🤍

Everything starts with the setup. ✨

If you’re wondering why your toes matter… this is why. 👣

One of the biggest mistakes I see isn’t the exercise itself —> it’s rushing the foundation.

With both heels resting on the ball, don’t think about balancing first.

Think about creating a stable base.

👣 Press your toes firmly into the floor.
🦵 Soften your knees.
🔥 Feel your legs switch on. (Yes… the shaking is part of the process! 😉)

Your toes aren’t just there for support; they’re helping you create stability from the ground up.

From there…

✨ Connect to your center.
✨ Lengthen through your spine.
✨ Find your alignment.
✨ Keep breathing.

Once your foundation is solid, everything becomes easier.

Add arm movements. 💪
Challenge your balance. ⚖️
Explore new movement patterns. 🤸‍♀️

As long as your alignment stays true and your center remains connected, you can let your creativity flow.

That’s what Pilates is all about.

It’s not about making the exercise harder.

It’s about making the body smarter.

✨ Preparation creates freedom.

Nobody was injured… only our dignity. 😂🙈

The Magic Circle had an exit strategy… 😭🚀

Wait for it… 👀

——

A little explanation, because this is actually a serious Pilates exercise. 😊

This variation is usually done without the Magic Circle. I added it here as a feedback tool to help my clients feel alignment and control through the movement.

The goal is to train your nervous system to recognize where your body is in space, so you can go deeper into the movement without losing alignment or collapsing at the hips.

The Magic Circle is not meant to be squeezed.

It simply provides gentle feedback to help you maintain a strong line from knees through hips, torso, and shoulders while the core stays engaged and the quadriceps do most of the work.

Control over depth. Quality over quantity. ✨

🔥 Why challenge balance after leg burn ?

After a few minutes of leg burn, the body is no longer relying on strength alone.

Fatigue changes everything.

That’s exactly why balance work becomes so powerful in that moment.

When the muscles are tired, you can’t “cheat” stability anymore — you have to find it through control, alignment, and deep core activation.

That’s where the real work begins.

The shaking is your nervous system adapting — recalibrating coordination, stability, and control under fatigue. That’s learning in real time.

🔥 Burn the legs
⚖️ Challenge the balance
🧠 Train the nervous system