Get Your Fitness Goals All The Way Together With These Black Woman-Led Pilates Routines
For many of us, working out and staying active is a top goal for maintaining a healthy lifestyle and reaching our fitness goals. However, making time to get our bodies moving during the day, may feel like an exercise of patience all in itself.
Life’s demands are never ceasing. From our jobs and education to our children and relationships, there’s always something that could take our attention away from hitting the gym or rolling out our mats at home to get our heart pumping and muscles flexing. But who says that every workout has to be a grueling one- to two-hour body-building session?
According to a study by the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, just 20 minutes a day of exercise can be significantly beneficial to your mind and body. And with classic forms of exercise like Pilates becoming more accessible and increasing in popularity, you’ll be able to turn those setbacks into reps before you know it.
Pilates is a form of exercise that focuses on developing strength, flexibility, balance, and coordination through a series of controlled movements. With exercises typically performed on a mat or with specialized equipment, such as the reformer, pilates puts an emphasis on proper alignment and posture, breath control, and smooth, flowing movements that help target the abdominal, hip, lower and upper back, and inner thigh muscles; giving you an all-around burn that hurts so good.
It’s basically the love child of yoga and strength training.
Most notably re-popularized by chief hot girls Lori Harvey and Normani, Pilates is a good way to shape your booty, sculpt your abs, and tone those arms, all while fitting into your schedule.
To help get you started, we’ve shared a few Black woman-led exercises to get you to your fitness goals in 20 minutes or less.
Micki Price Havard
GRND. Pilates by Jharde
Issa Welly
Alexa Idama, Low Impact Fit
PilatesBodyRaven
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Featured image by Prostock-Studio/Getty Images
Aley Arion is a writer and digital storyteller from the South, currently living in sunny Los Angeles. Her site, yagirlaley.com, serves as a digital diary to document personal essays, cultural commentary, and her insights into the Black Millennial experience. Follow her at @yagirlaley on all platforms!
ItGirl 100 Honors Black Women Who Create Culture & Put On For Their Cities
As they say, create the change you want to see in this world, besties. That’s why xoNecole linked up with Hyundai for the inaugural ItGirl 100 List, a celebration of 100 Genzennial women who aren’t afraid to pull up their own seats to the table. Across regions and industries, these women embody the essence of discovering self-value through purpose, honey! They're fierce, they’re ultra-creative, and we know they make their cities proud.
VIEW THE FULL ITGIRL 100 LIST HERE.
Don’t forget to also check out the ItGirl Directory, featuring 50 Black-woman-owned marketing and branding agencies, photographers and videographers, publicists, and more.
THE ITGIRL MEMO
I. An ItGirl puts on for her city and masters her self-worth through purpose.
II. An ItGirl celebrates all the things that make her unique.
III. An ItGirl empowers others to become the best versions of themselves.
IV. An ItGirl leads by example, inspiring others through her actions and integrity.
V. An ItGirl paves the way for authenticity and diversity in all aspects of life.
VI. An ItGirl uses the power of her voice to advocate for positive change in the world.
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Rihanna Talks Shedding Expectations And Finding Balance As A Mother
Since becoming a mother in 2022, Rihanna has defined parenthood by her terms and hopes to pass that sense of autonomy on to her children.
For Vogue China’s April cover story, Rihanna shared her perspective on raising her two sons with A$AP Rocky, and how she hopes to preserve her children’s uniqueness, devoid of societal expectations.
"The most beautiful thing...is that [children] come into the world with their own individuality and sincerity, without any logic or conformity,” she told the publication. “Which usually makes you feel that you must fit into a certain group."
The “Work” artist, known for her trendsetting style and captivating persona, expressed her desire to support children in fully embracing their individuality and encouraging them to be whoever they want to be. "It's really beautiful to see and I want to continue to help them navigate that and make sure that they know they can be whoever they want to be,” she says.
She continues, “They should embrace it completely, because it's beautiful, and it's unique. I love them just that way."
From shattering music charts to shaking up the beauty industry, Rihanna has forged a path that has since created the “dream” life we see today. One that she says has made her parents proud of.
“I’m living my dream,” she continued. “My parents were very proud of that because they just wanted me to be happy and successful. So, I think the key thing is to find some kind of balance. Yes, balance is important. Do this and you get the best of both worlds. You can write your own life the way you want, and it will be beautiful. Sometimes, you just need to let go of everyone’s expectations and start living your own story.”
Rihanna, who shares sons, RZA, 23 months, and Riot, 8 months, with rapper A$AP Rocky, recently shared her vision for expanding her family in the future in Interview Magazine.
When stylist Mel Ottenberg asked about the number of additional children she hoped to have, Rihanna replied, "As many as God wants me to have.”
"I don't know what God wants, but I would go for more than two. I would try for my girl,” she adds. “But of course, if it's another boy, it's another boy."
Featured image by Neil MockfordWireImage
