Joseph Pilates Magic Isometric Circle

The story was told by Romana Krysonosky, many years ago, while she was teaching us about all the smaller accessories that Joseph Pilates developed that he had an old beer keg in his studio. A student on the reformer whose knees were misaligned needed help to engage her adductor/inner thigh muscles. He walked over to the keg and simply pulled off the metal rim around the top, wrapped some cloth around two sides and voila the 'magic circle' was born.

Over the years we have produced many different Magi Circle workouts.

The first one focused on the arms, abs and inner thighs and the last one includes exercises while lying on the floor, standing and sitting.

The most profound exercises, however, are the ones for the neck which don't appear any where so I want to share them with you. For those of us who care that the skin in and around our neck not give away our age use your magic circle to perform the following;

1. Front of the neck
Place the handle of the Magic Circle on the center of your forehead. Place 4 finger tips of each hand on the opposite handle and gently push towards your head using the muscles of your neck to resist. Hold for 2 seconds and release. Repeat this 10 times.

2. Side of the neck
Place the handle of the Magic Circle on the right side of your head above your ear. Gently push towards your head with your right hand using the muscles of your neck to resist. Hold for 2 seconds and release. Repeat this 10 times on each side.

3. Back of the neck
Place the handle of the Magic Circle on the center of the back of your head. With both flat hands gently push towards your head using the muscles of your neck to resist. Hold for 2 seconds and release. Repeat this 10 times.

4. You may also repeat all these positions with the Magic Circle resting against the wall.

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