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Have you ever had a choreographed exercise that was harder to follow than an advanced math class?
‘Everyone has been to a class – it could be Pilates or step aerobics or dance – where you get a little confused,’ says fitness instructor Gemma Folkard. ‘Don’t worry, it’s actually good for you.’
Yes, the big bonus is that you are training your brain, just like your body. That’s why Gemma, founder of Shape Pilates, teaches what she calls ‘Neuroblast Pilates’ to ensure her students strengthen their muscles as well as their minds.
“Any movement on the mat, but especially Pilates, where the choreography requires you to memorize and perform complex sequences of movements, can significantly improve your cognitive function,” she says.
Gemma explains that her intricate Neuroblast Pilates bicep and glute sculpting is also a challenge for the brain. ‘You often have to interpret and adapt movements, and transition smoothly from one movement to the next [known as flows] requires quick thinking. Neuroblast Pilates is a very effective way to connect mind and body.’
Fitness instructor Gemma Folkard explains how her intricate Neuroblast Pilates-sculpting biceps and glutes also challenge the brain
At the same time, the need to remember complex information stimulates the memory centers in your brain. When practiced regularly, Neuroblast Pilates can help improve both your short-term and long-term memory by strengthening neural connections and even creating new connections.
And of course, physical activity has innate benefits. “You get more blood flow to your brain,” says Gemma, plus you improve your balance, coordination and spatial awareness. And crucially, she says, it’s not all work and no play. “It’s fun, too.”
Here, Gemma demonstrates two of her Neuroblast Pilates flows – a seamless transition between movements – which are great for your back, glutes, abs and those all-important brain cells.
The first stream
1. Boost your stability
Kneel on a mat and rub your hands together until you feel some warmth. This increases proprioception – your brain’s sense of the spatial position of different parts of your body, crucial for good coordination.
Coordination and proprioception are crucial to daily life. What may seem simple, like avoiding obstacles while walking down the street, require spatial awareness and become more difficult as we age. Practicing these skills can slow cognitive decline and keep us feeling capable and youthful.
Then come onto all fours, knees under hips and heels of hands under shoulders. No drooping torsos allowed. Straighten left arm and right leg – so that left hand is extended in front of you, touching mat, and right foot is extended, toes touching mat.
You are already working the left and right sides of the brain. Slide both back to the starting position, then out and in. Your right arm is working hard to stabilize you – keep the right elbow soft.
2. Improve your balance
Begin in a stretched position as practiced in the previous movement, the opposite leg and arm extended. Then lift the extended arm and place the fingertips on the forehead – as if you were saluting. Your shoulders should be square. Then lift the opposite leg and bend your knee so that your thigh is horizontal, in line with your torso, and your foot points to the ceiling.
Then curl under you, round your spine, pull your head and elbow toward your knee—making a little ball—and extend your arm and leg back out. The knee stays bent. And repeat—on both sides. There’s a lot of balance involved here! This is great for the brain, because balance requires it to process sensory information quickly and efficiently.
Activities that challenge balance stimulate several areas of the brain, including those responsible for motor control, coordination, and sensory processing. This stimulation can improve overall cognitive function by keeping these brain areas active and engaged.
3. Challenge your memory and coordination
If that’s not enough for your brain (it’s not), we’ve got more to add. Extend your left arm and right leg. From here, bring your left arm down to your hip, while your leg also drops.
Next, lift your leg, swing your arm back so it is extended in front of you, bend your arm and bring your hand to your forehead as if you are saluting, while bending your knee (at a right angle, so that your calf and foot are perpendicular to each other.)
Then curl under you, pull your elbow to your knee, then lift and stretch. And go again, find your flow. You train your abs and your concentration and focus train your brain!
Then curl under you, pull your elbow to your knee, then lift and stretch. And go again, find your flow. You train your abs and your concentration and focus train your brain!
If that’s not enough for your brain (it isn’t), we’ve got some more to add. Extend your left arm and right leg. From here, bring your left arm down to your hip, lowering your leg as well. Then lift your leg up, swing your arm back so it’s extended in front of you, then bend your arm and bring your hand to your forehead as if you were saluting, bending your knee (at a right angle, so your calf and foot are perpendicular to each other.) Then curl under you by pulling your elbow toward your knee, then lift up and extend.
And go again, find your flow. You train your abs, and your concentration and focus train your brain!
Next, lift your leg, swing your arm back so it is extended in front of you, bend your arm and bring your hand to your forehead as if you are saluting, while bending your knee (at a right angle, so that your calf and foot are perpendicular to each other.)
Then curl under you, pull your elbow to your knee, then lift and stretch. And go again, find your flow. You train your abs and your concentration and focus train your brain!
The second stream
4. Cheer up!
To get more oxygen to the brain: We start this flow by standing on the left side of your yoga mat, with your feet in line with your hips and your hands folded in front of you.
Lift your right heel and then go into a wide side lunge. As you bend, that knee should be over your middle toe. Hinge at the hip so that your back is at a 45-degree angle. Bend deeply so that you stretch your inner thigh.
Then jump back to your starting position. Jump down, jump up! Your left leg is supporting you. Root it down like a nice sturdy tree trunk. Feel your blood pumping? Great! And repeat on the other side.
5. Time for a cross-pattern flow to get both sides of the brain working
This is beneficial because cross-pattern exercises involve movements where limbs cross the midline of the body. These types of exercises engage both hemispheres of the brain and have multiple benefits for brain health.
This includes stress reduction through distraction (concentration helps with this), processing speed and the ability to move smoothly in different directions.
Once you have mastered the side lunge, we introduce a cross pattern flow. Step back to your starting position and lift your right knee so that your thigh is horizontal, and touch that knee with your left hand.
Then we take that same leg behind us – point your right toes toward your left buttock – and tap your left hand on your right foot. Then bring your right leg back forward to the starting position – and lunge to the side. Jump back up, lift your right knee – and tap with your left hand.
Does it get easier? You’re working your hips, glutes, and quads. You’re also stimulating both sides of your brain, strengthening the neural pathways between them, so you’re building resilience in both your mind and body.
Congratulations on completing your first Neuroblast Pilates workout. You’ve earned an A-star!
* More from Gemma Folkard can be found at: and
