I have struggled for many years of my life trying to find a form of movement and/or exercise that I liked and could enjoy, not just go through the motions for the sake of exercising.  I also have struggled on and off with weight and currently have some areas of pain in my body.

I took dance as a young girl and thought that maybe I would enjoy pilates having never tried it before.

Nikki was absolutely wonderful. She was so encouraging, thorough, reassuring, and energizing to work with. It was truly a pleasure to feel my muscles move.  Nikki is delightful and I hope to work with her again at some time in the future. I thank her for helping me feel excited about truly moving again.

May light, laughter, and love surround you.
Peace,

Amy B.

1. What am I trying to accomplish and

2. What are the steps needed to get to that ultimate goal?

I will sit with my eyes closed and SEE my body MOVE into the position. In my mind I am really GOOD at using all the body mechanics and in such perfect form! Oh if only my reality was the same.

So after slowing down and closing my eyes, I begin to visualize a LIGHTBULB over my head. I start to get some light coming in and filtering down to the body where the mental awareness of my body mechanics are making better sense. The light may be dim at first but as I take it through the above process, it becomes brighter and brighter until the LIGHTBULB “POPS” into an

EXCLAMATION POINT! By George, I think I’ve got it!!!

The Exclamation Point will be challenged when I do the intermediate or advanced form of the same exercise. So my process will begin again. But that is what I love about Pilates; endless challenges.

I would also like to share my MOMENTS that I try to stay alert to throughout my day.

1. Ah-Ha Moments; that is the light bulb turning on and creating an awareness to be focused on at that moment.

2. Hurrahhh Moments (sense of ahhh in that moment); when my body really feels the ah-ha. Mind and body are working well as a team.

3. Ha-Ha Moments (I try for as many as possible); these are moments that come from the belly laugh which is a sneaky way to find and work the transversus abdominus!

4. Duh Moments; when I will gently tap the side of my temple saying “why did this take me so long”.

5. At the end of all this comes a big TA-DA Moment of pure joy. I like to throw my arms into a big “V” and look up in wonder as I say out loud “TA-DA!.

6. AHHHHHH MOMENT- A time to be quiet and release my thoughts….But just for a moment.

Scottie Johnson

]]> http://www.pacificnwpilates.com/blog/impressions-from-a-pilates-student-the-mind-body-connection/feed/ 1 http://www.pacificnwpilates.com/blog/how-refreshing/ http://www.pacificnwpilates.com/blog/how-refreshing/#comments Sat, 17 Oct 2009 02:48:06 +0000 Leslie Braverman http://www.pacificnwpilates.com/blog/?p=729

On Friday, he taught “Pilates for Men” this was really fun, and of course, John was the perfect person to teach this workshop since he helped to develop the programming for it with STOTT PILATES. On Saturday, he taught “Pilates for Men on Reformer,” A workout with the mini flex ball and “Athletic Conditioning on the V2 Max.”

Two of everyone’s favorites were on Sunday: “Pilates with Props” and “Cardio and Core on the Mini Tramp.” We would highly recommend this two STOTT PILATES workshops; they were really fun. However, make sure you order really good trampolines if you wish to offer this to your students. John recommended the Professional Urban Rebounder.

If you took the workshops, feel to comment about your experience and tell us what you learned!

John Garey and the Cardio Tramp attendees!

This was emailed to us and we thought others might be interested!

Six months on I have learned a lot more about Pilates, its benefits and limitations. One thing remains consistent in that it is unpopular with men. I do hear more openness towards it and a better understanding of what it is but there remains an unfortunate reluctance to participate. I started Pilates to improve my flexibility and to engage in a new practice that would drive me to challenge myself to think differently and learn new skills. I believe I have been very successful on both fronts. I’ve found some measures of flexibility which show me how much I have been able to improve my hamstring flexibility but more important than any measure is the feeling I get after working out. I come away with a feeling of lightness in the back of my legs up through my back which is wonderful and it illustrates to me I had no idea how my inflexibility felt. This is akin to the feeling of the frog that is being slowly boiled and doesn’t recognize the gradual increasing of the water temperature.

The biggest surprise for me came the morning after I started playing indoor soccer again after a gap of several years. I expected to be extremely stiff and too my surprise I felt great with no stiffness at all. Now that doesn’t mean I am in great shape, aerobically the soccer kicked my butt, big time! I had hoped I could use jump boarding to maintain my aerobic fitness but I’ve concluded I need to do more aerobic work beyond Pilates. The other disappointment is that my left knee was unable to take the strain of twisting and turning and so that’s the end of my indoor soccer season. If I had started Pilates 10 or even 20 years ago I would have learned that the biomechanics of my knee movement puts strain on the outside of my knees and I wouldn’t have worn away the meniscus on the outside of my left knee. I did not realize Pilates focuses on proper biomechanics as well as developing strength and flexibility. I can only look back at what might have been had I started Pilates earlier!

Back to my observation that men are not engaging more actively in Pilates, given my experience above, this is disappointing as learning how to use your body more effectively could be a huge benefit to young athletes and in reality all of us. I was encouraged listening to a radio interview with one of the Portland Trailblazers staff that Brandon Roy will be focusing on Pilates and Yoga this summer. Brandon wants to develop the ability to be stronger and tougher and was looking to do more weight training and instead the Trailblazers coaches have convinced him to focus on strengthening his core and improving his agility. I expect to see an even stronger and faster Brandon Roy next season.

As for myself, I’ll keep on working on my Pilates practice and keeping my female classmates amused, I hope I’m not slowing you down too much. Maybe I’ll be successful in convincing one or two male friends but if I don’t it will be their loss and I’ll continue to enjoy my all female company.

I would love to hear your views why Pilates is not more popular with men or why you enjoy it and what you have got out of it.

Andy Robbins

 give you the tools and the techniques for a great workout at home or on the road! 

Each of these workshops involves a unique piece of equipment that will either provide resistance, challenge your balance or help release tension. Check out the listings below:

1. Wobble Cushion Workout with Melanie! June 27th 12pm-1:15pm
   $35 which includes the wobble cushion or $25 for just the workshop (must bring your own wobble cushion)
2. Flexband to the Max with Traci! July 25th 2pm-3pm
   $35 which includes flexband and STOTT PILATES DVD, or $25 for the workshop and bring your own flexband.
3. Yamuna Body Rolling Balls with Jean! Aug. 15th 12pm-1pm
   $35 which includes the Yamuna calf rolling ball, or $25 for the workshop and bring your own Yamuna Calf Ball.
4. Travel Workout with Tubing Kits with Leslie! Nov. 7th 12pm-1pm
   $60 which includes the J-Fit Tubing Travel Kit, or $25 for the workshop and bring your own kit.

Call the studio for more information and to sign-up.

Hi all!  I have a great client who struggles with on and off lower back sensitivity.  She is concerned that her issues will put a damper on her gardening this spring (we live in Chicago, and we take our warm-weather activities very seriously!)

Can you recommend some postural suggestions that might allow her to continue gardening, pain-free?  Also, we would appreciate exercise recommendations to prepare her for the beautiful summer garden months?

Many thanks.

Salle Huber

Hi Salle-
Thanks so much for your inquiry. Here are some suggestions for your client:

1. Work in neutral spine as much as possible. Often what irritates our back from a gardening session is the constant bending over or staying in a flexed spine position for too long. When weeding or preparing the soil, try to squat down as low as possible while maintaining a neutral spine and pelvis. If squatting is uncomfortable, buy a kneeling pad, but again try to work with a neutral spine while on the knees.
2. Vary your activities. There is always a lot of work to be done at the beginning of the gardening season. Tilling the soil or adding compost or fertilizer to the soil. Weeding or removing old plants to get ready for the new. etc. Instead of spending two hours preparing a plot, spend 30 minutes doing that and then switch to another activity like pruning trees or watering. Then go back to the more labor intensive activity. Often, we get so involved in whatever activity we are doing that we spend too much time in one position and that will irritate the back.

In terms of exercise ideas, definitely working the core muscles, (abs, glutes, spinal muscles etc) will allow your client to remain more pain free during her gardening activities. Try adding in some squats or some waiters bows to see if she is able to maintain a neutral spine in a squat position. Waiters bow is a core exercise where you sit on the edge of the cadillac or a couple of reformer boxes (in other words a slightly higher seat than a normal chair) The feet should be firmly planted on the floor though. Have your client hinge forward from the hips maintaining a neutral spine.

Certification student, Patricia Sinclair, demonstrates the waiters bow

The arms can reach forward slightly as the spine hinges forward. Once there is

Standing upright, before hinging to return to bench

enough weight in the feet, the client should be able to stand up. Then reverse the waiter’s bow to sit back on the edge of the cadillac or the boxes. These movements should be performed slowly with control so that no momentum is necessary and there should be no change in the spinal alignment as the client shifts from sitting to standing. Using the pelvic floor, transverse abdominals and multifidus muscles are essential to doing this exercise with control and fluidity.
Using a squat to get down close to the ground or to lift plants or heavy objects can help prevent strain to the back muscles. Again, make sure the abdominals are engaged and use an exhale to perform the lift or the difficult part of the movement. Check out some other great exercises in this article by Leslie Braverman; Pilates and Posture

Patricia demonstrates a good neutral spine while squatting to lift a pot.

Taking periodic breaks to stretch is also a great way to check in on your body and make sure you are not over doing things. Gardening can be a true delight, but it is important to gage your strength and endurance so that you can enjoy your garden throughout the growing season!

This is primarily because Pilates requires attention. It is not a mindless exercise. You can’t do Pilates while doing something else, like reading a book or watching television, and if someone tells you that they do, they are fooling themselves.

Deep at the heart of the this technique is the principle that quality of movement is far superior to the quantity of movement. So, at any given time, a student may be thinking about their body alignment, the way in which they move a limb, sensing if the movement is being generated from the appropriate group of muscles, and many other personal corrections that he or she needs to think about to conduct the exercise in a more coordinated and balanced fashion.

In order to make profound change using an exercise technique such as Pilates as the channel, one must learn new movements or “motor skills.” A motor skill, is a highly coordinated movement that allows for investigation and interaction with the physical and social environment (O’ Sullivan & Schmitt 1994 in Motor Control).

Motor skill involves learning new strategies for sensing as well as moving. Generally, there are three stages to learning a new motor skill: understanding what change has to be made, experiencing what adjustments have to be made to implement a change, and making the change automatic.Learning new motor skills takes time and, in most cases, requires guidance through each stage.

A qualified pilates instructor should be able to direct you through each of these phases in order to help you reach many of your exercise goals. Tools that your instructor will use to help you with motor change will include helping you understand how your body moves, improving your attention and awareness skills and providing you with feedback.

Adequate practice time is also needed to build new motor skills. Each time a signal passes through a series of synapses, the synapses become more capable of transmitting the same signal in the future. If pathways are facilitated enough, memory of that signal is created and can be recalled to program future movements (Gyton 1981).

So, real change through exercise, like pilates, requires getting correct information in order to facilitate a desirable change, building new movement patterns by becoming more aware (this occurs by getting consistent feedback), and having enough time to practice the new movement pattern.

So, next time you think to yourself, “Pilates is hard!” You will know why.

There is a carriage in which one can sit, kneel or stand on and which glides back and forth. On the underneath side of the carriage or wheels which allow it to glide and 5 different springs which create resistance to work against.

Resistance can be created for the arms or legs in various positions by either placing the hands or feet on the footbar (the bar at the front) or by putting the hands or feet into the straps. Depending on the exercise, all parts of the body can be used to either move the carriage or to stabilize the body against resistance that is very light or very heavy.

 In this particular exercise, the student is rotating her spine against resistance when she turns to the left, using her obliques, to create the rotation.

 The focus of an exercise, muscularly, can change depending on the amount of resistance (number of springs). For example, In this next exercise (pictured below), the student is pushing the carriage in and out with her arms. If the weight is lighter, then it takes more effort to control the position of her back to maintain a plank position, if it is heavier than it becomes more challenging for her upper body.

    This remarkable piece of equipment also allows you to use the straps to work the upper body and legs while, simultaneously, working the abdominals to create length of the spine. Seen here, the arms are working but also the spine is rounding into a deep curve.

The reformer also allows you to build strength and flexiblity by controlling the carriage in a standing postion. Imagine trying to keep the carriage pressed out and bending forward (as seen below) on very light spring weight! This exercise is a great workout for the muscles on the inside of our legs and challenges flexibility of the hamstrings, coordination and balance!

You could select a DVD or find a workout online that you like, but the problem with that is you don’t receive any feedback about how you are doing the exercises and with pilates, feedback is paramount!

Instead, find a reputable instructor in your area (see my recent blog about finding a good pilates intructor) and ask he or she to select a Pilates DVD that is appropriate for your fitness level. Then purchase a small package of private lessons with that instructor in order to work on the exercises highlighted int he DVD. Especially if you have an injury or other special condition, it may be really important to make sure that your pilates technique is being evaluated; in some cases, your instructor may suggest that you omit certain exercises that are taught on the DVD.

Over the last several months, some of my students have chosen this option when they didn’t have the financial means to come to the studio every week. This method has also worked well for students that travel alot. In some cases, these students have continued to supplement their training with group classes while others have simply worked at home and then come in once a month to get their routine changed and their technique reassessed.

This solution requires discipline, but it can be an excellent alternative to getting out of shape or losing interest in your workouts when money is tight. Ask your instructor to provide challenges for you to meet and things for you to work on by the next appointment.

Another idea is to look for studios in your area that offer lessons with Pilates apprentices. These are pilates teachers-in-training that have completed all their course hours but have not completed their examination. In many cases, these students will teach you privately at a highly discounted rate, and they are often observed by a seasoned professional. Check out pilates centers in your area that train students to become certified instructors and offer this as an option.

Here is a link to STOTT PILATES Licensing Centers located throughout the world:

http://www.stottpilates.com/education/centers.html

Each of these locations has an Instructor Trainer available. Licensing centers train students to become STOTT PILATES teachers, so these are some of the most elite studios in the industry, and many of them offer discounted lessons with apprentices.

If none of these locations are convenient for you, check out the Instructor Finder search for other certified STOTT PILATES instructors that are near your area at:

http://www.stottpilates.com/finder/infosearch/infocustomerconfirm.lasso

Good luck!

Specifically, “the core” is describing the joints (articulation of two bones), ligaments and muscles that stabilize the rib cage, middle and lower spine, sacrum and pelvic region. When we exercise, “the core” refers primarily to the muscles that control or stabilize this region.

Imagine your trunk, specifically the region from your ribcage to your pubic bone, as a three-dimensional cylinder. If you wrap a large sheet of paper around your trunk, you would have the sides of the cylinder. Then imagine, if you could put a top on the cylinder just under your rib cage and a bottom on the cylinder underneath your sit bones and pubic bone (as if you were sitting on it.) This is the area that is your core.

The core muscles around this region need to co-activiate in order to create and maintain intra-abdominal pressure. That’s seems technical, but mostly what it is saying is that all the muscles in this region that are close to the bones need to work together to create the right amount of pressure to create stability in the trunk. This stability is important because without it your joints and discs are allowed to move too much. Too much movement at any particular joint will create unwanted sheering and will not allow the loads of weight bearing and movement to be transferred between the trunk, pelvis and legs effectively.

Now, imagine you are a long distance runner and every time you move your legs to take a stride, one or two parts of your spine move more than the other parts. In essence, you “give” too much at one or two joints thus creating a lot of friction and sheering at these regions. Over time, these joints will begin to break down, and you may end up with spinal degeneration (i.e. facet syndrome, spinal stenosis, degenerative disc disease).

The primary muscles of your core (that make up the imaginary cylinder) are the pelvic floor (the bottom of the cylinder), the transversus abdominis (the front and sides of the cylinder), the diaphragm (the top of the cylinder), the multifidis (the back of the cylinder) and some of the deep fibers of the psoas muscle.

Learning how to use these muscles correctly during exercise will help develop your core strength and minimize injuries to your spine and pelvis. Cool, huh?

Stay tuned for more information about core stabilization and exercises that help you strengthen it most effectively!

1.) What are the instructors credentials? Is the instructor certified to teach pilates, and if so, how long and intensive was their training? Unfortunately, at this time, there are no state or national requirements necessary to be considered a pilates instructor. Some training programs are done over weekend while others require hours of training and a thorough examination.

2.) On the first day of your lesson, does the instructor have you fill out a questionnaire and follow-up by asking you further detailed information about your history, concerns and goals? The instructor should make a point of ensuring that the lesson that he or she is giving you is about your needs.

3.) During the class, is the instructor clear, focused and able to guide you through exercises using a variety of cues (verbal and visual)? Do you find that you are confused most of the time during the class or unable to follow along with the class easily? Your instructor should be able to conduct the class in such a way that is challenging but also encouraging; confusion only leaves students feeling frustrated.

4.) Is the instructor able to modify exercises and be adaptable to the students’ needs in the room? Good instructors will be able to help each student in the room and give suggestions to a student that is unable to execute an exercise properly; the use of a prop can often help a student achieve success and work up to the full version of the exercise.

5.) Is the instructor professional? Does he or she begin class on time? Does he or she seem courteous and maintain consistent behavior towards students?

6.) Is the instructor knowledgeable and portray him or herself as a fitness expert? Likewise, does the instructor know his or her limitations? It is important that he or she knows when to seek the advice of another professional, if necessary.

7.) Overall, following the class, does your body feel good? Do you feel inspired and encouraged to continue doing pilates? It is important that you feel that your instructor’s personality, teaching style and energy is right for you.

I started doing pilates while dancing as a student in New York City at the School of American Ballet during the summer of 1988, and it is still the only kind of cross training I do. I’ve tried yoga, I’ve tried running, I’ve tried weight lifting, but none of them have stuck.

Pilates has been used by dancers as a method of improving technique and helping to rehabilitate injuries for decades. In fact, famous clients of Joseph Pilates include Martha Graham and George Balanchine, two of the most influential people in American dance history. Because of this, generations of dancers have studied pilates since the 1940’s.

So, what makes Pilates so useful to dancers? And can these concepts be applied to others?

Tracey Carboneau of Bouand DanceCompany

When Joseph Pilates worked with students, it is said, that he worked with everyone as an individual and, in fact, he had many of his students that were dancers work in a parallel position versus in a turned-out (externally rotated) position. His logic, likely, was to try to counter the work that dancers normally do (often in an externally rotated position) and provide more balance to the muscles fibers of the legs that get overworked by always being shortened in one way. So, while it may be assumed that the idea of turning out the legs is what makes pilates useful to dancers, on the contrary, it seems it is the idea of balance that is more important.

I remember when I first started doing Pilates it felt strange and awkward, to try to keep my legs in a parallel position. In fact, I had to look down at my feet sometimes in order to see if my feet really were in that position. I started to feel new muscles working- my adductors felt sore in a new way, and my quadriceps were really weak in parallel positions, especially when asked to jump or balance in a deep lunge. And strangely, my turn-out improved, and I felt stronger while dancing then ever before! I remember thinking, at the time, how odd it was that my legs would get stronger, be able to go up higher and externally rotate more easily by working on the opposing muscle groups.

Today, I find this is true with clients. If I focus on creating balance in their overall movement, they find improvement happens in their other activities. For example, if I work with someone that is a golfer, I try to provide them with a workout that balances their body. In other words, if he or she always hits the ball from one direction, I make sure they do a lot of spinal rotation in the other direction when they do pilates, and, inevitably, their golf swing improves!

Another reason, I believe, that pilates is such a useful training system for dancers, is that it asks the dancer to do movement that is efficient and full of ease. Just as with dancing, one must condition him or herself in a way that does not create the look of strain. This is untrue in other training systems, like weight lifting, where, often, the focus is on how much weight can be lifted and power, versus the quality of the movement that is being created. Even a male dancer that has to lift his partner has to be able to do this with ease and grace. This means that the power he has in his body must be gained using technique that is, simultaneously, coordinated, rhythmic and expressive. For a dancer, having power exclusive of these other factors is meaningless.

Scott Trumbo and Cate Powers of Bouand DanceCompany

Consider this same concept for other athletes, and the same is true. The greatest basketball players, golfers, skaters, swimmers and runners, all share this same quality. Their movement looks utterly effortless, coordinated and beautiful when done well. Granted Michael Jordan isn’t paying attention to the same kinds of details on the basketball court that Mikhail Baryshnikov is paying attention to in a ballet, but I would bet that the level of concentration, attention to detail and skill is equivalent. If a dancer is unable to execute his or her pirouettes well, he or she is going to think about changing any number of things to correct the problem. Perhaps the way he or she is taking his foot of the floor is effecting the direction of the turn, the dancer will have to consider this change and then work to integrate it into the mechanics of the turn until it becomes natural to do. The same way that a basketball player may need to alter the timing of his throw or how he or she releases the ball from his hands in order to consistently throw the ball in an accurate direction.

What I realize as a pilates teacher is that the idea of training your body to be able to do things with precision and ease is a skill that everyone can use. I believe, human beings were designed to use their body that way. In a pilates class, I ask my students to do the same thing I would ask of myself as a dancer: to pay attention to the quality of the movement, the rhythm, dynamic and genesis of it.

With this point of view, an exercise like “Footwork” on the reformer becomes quite demanding. A student not only has to think about the placement of his or her feet, but the timing of the movement, the alignment of the knees while they bend and straighten, the position of their back and the recruitment pattern and quality of the muscles that are at work to either stabilize some parts of the body or create effortless, coordinated movement with others. Finally, can all these things be integrated so that the movement is done as efficiently and easily as possible.

Pilates, for me, will always be a remarkable conditioning method, because it conditions me like a dancer. It incorporates all the subtle distinctions of training my body as an artist that must take care with the placement of my hands, feet, eyes and head while incorporating the power and control of an athlete that must jump, turn and have fluid, exquisite control.

I taught the whole 12 days of Pilates Workout to 10 lovely women for New Year’s Eve! Of course, we did have to celebrate afterwards with champagne and treats. What a fun and healthy way to celebrate the arrival of a new year.

Pacific NW Pilates wishes you a happy, joyful and exciting 2009!

Here are several tips for helping you learn how to use your abdominals (instead of other muscles) while doing ab exercises (sometimes called crunches or sit ups)

Step One:

Re-educate your body to learn how to find your abdominals without recruiting other, more dominant, muscle groups.

Often when one has weak abdominal muscles, the hip flexor muscles (the muscles at the front of your hip) and back muscles will overwork. Remove the additional challenge of holding your legs in the air, and instead, cue your hips and back to relax.

To do this, place a thick pillow on the ground in front of you and drape your legs over the pillow (or arc). Then actively tell your back and hip muscles to “let go.” You may notice that your back falls into a slight curve so that there is a space between your back and the floor. See if you can maintain this curve during your sit-up and still keep your back and hips quiet! When you do this correctly, you should feel that your abdominals are working more effectively.

Step Two:

The second step is to see if you can do the same thing with your legs up in the air in a supported position. You could do this by placing your legs over a ball (this will be harder since it is an unstable surface). If you need a surface that provides more stability, put your legs over a coffee table or other surface.

Step Three:

The last step is to see if you apply this to having your legs in the air without support. In this position, your hip flexors will have to work in order to hold your legs up against gravity, and your back may need to be placed firmly on the floor (instead of having a curve in it), but your back should still not be working and, overall, you should feel that there is more balance between your abdominals and hip flexors.

Once you have this skill, you should be able to apply it to other abdominal exercises that require more complex movement with your arms and legs.

Good luck.