If your back is tight and achy…try a Pilates Tower class

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The Pilates Tower classes are some of our most popular classes for good reason.  The Pilates Tower classes give you an amazing all over body work out that leaves you feeling stretched, lengthening and more mobile in your spine.  The Pilates tower looks like it sounds.  It is a metal tower-like structure that has various springs attached to it as well as a wooden bar called the push through bar.

The tower’s various springs and structures are designed to support your body and give your body feedback during exercises.  What this means in plain English is that you can do movements that strengthen and stretch you body and specifically your back without straining!  One of my favorite examples of this is the Roll Down on the tower.  The springs of the roll down bar support you so that you can use your abdominal muscles to do a very controlled roll down to the mat and back up.  For many people this task would be impossible without the support of the equipment. And why would you want to do this exercise?  This exercise strengthens you core muscles and at the same time stretches the usually tight muscles in our back, leaving your back feeling amazing!! Check out the video below showing this exercise( I often call it the anti-sit up exercise!!)

Another favorite exercise of mine on the Tower is called the leg springs series.  Does the thought of lying on your back and holding your legs up in the air scare you?  Is it hard for you to straighten your legs in this type of position because your back and hamstrings are soo tight?  (picture..)

The leg springs have a strap that your foot rests in and they are designed to help you hold your legs up in space while you are lying on your back, without straining!!  Why is this important?  This position allows us a very effective way to strengthen our back and core muscles in a supported way and at the same time helps us create more flexibility in the backs of our legs.  When our core muscles get stronger and our muscles lengthen and stretch in a balanced way.. our body feels better and moves better on a daily basis.  Check out the video below where I talk about and show a few of the leg spring exercises.

If you are one of the many people who suffer from a chronically tight, achy back you will not be disappointed with a Pilates Tower class. We’re  guessing you’ll walk away wondering how an exercise class can be such an effective workout and leave your back and body feeling so amazing.  Most people find themselves asking,” Why did I wait so long to try that??”

Try a complimentary class today!!

 

Do you know your T-Score?

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trent1Sharing this blog today written by Trent McEntire of McEntire Pilates.  Trent has been sharing his discoveries and method with those seeking to overcome their own movement limitations for 20 years.  As someone that became a professional dancer after rehabilitating his own severe movement restrictions established at birth due to Cerebral Palsy, Trent McEntire understands how the quality of life is affected by how well you can (or can’t) move your body. 

The 44 million people with either osteoporosis or low bone mass represent 55 percent of the people aged 50 and older in the United States, according to the International Osteoporosis Foundation. Pilates exercises can help to reverse the effects, but how do you really know it’s working?

The best way to measure risk of Osteoporosis is through a bone density test. A bone density test uses X-rays to measure how many grams of calcium and other bone minerals are packed into a segment of bone. Areas of the bone typically tested are in the spine, hip and forearm.

How to Read a T-score?

tscoreResults of a bone density test provide a T-score, which indicates how your Bone Mass Density (BMD) compares to that of a healthy 20- 35 year-old. By age 30, a person’s bone density is at its peak and should ideally be maintained at this level throughout their life. As BMD decreases from this peak density, the risk of fracture increases.

The T-score is in units of standard deviations (SD) and determines whether your bones are more dense (+) or less dense (-) than those of a 20-35 year-old adult. A score of -2.0 can indicate that the person has Osteopenia, a precursor to Osteoporosis. At a level of -2.5, the diagnosis based on the T-score is Osteoporosis.

When I work with my clients, I encourage them to know their T-score, so that I can use the results as part of my assessment. The T-score also serves as a measurement tool to identify how a person is improving throughout the program. When a client that I have been working with brings in a doctor report that states their bone density is increasing, it’s an amazing experience!

If you’d like more information about Bone Density testing, click here.   If you know your T-score, or if you have a bone density test scheduled in the near future – please bring in your scores so we can add them to your file!   

Adults need recess too!!

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playRecess in school is something that most of us would not question.  We know that kids need to move and wear off some energy in able to sit still and get their learning time in.  Can you imagine trying to make a 7 year old sit at a desk for 3 hours or 4 hours at a time without being able to get up?  Do you think they would learn very much or get very much study time in?

Why does this theory of needing movement time and even fresh air and outside time change as we get older and enter adulthood?  Who made the rule that you should be able to sit for long periods of time and get all kinds of work done when you reach a certain age?

There are some adults who have careers and jobs with built in movement time and that is amazing.  I’m guessing many of these people don’t even realize how helpful it is as far as their body’s health to be able to naturally move throughout their day and not have to sit in one spot. They probably don’t realize how movement and even outdoor time can help them be more productive, happy and healthy.

deskIf you are one of those people who has a career that involves sitting anywhere for long periods of time I’m guessing you know how hard it can be on your body. You probably have felt the achy back, sore neck and shoulders and just sluggishness we feel when we don’t move on a regular basis.  So what do you do about it?  How about some planned recess time?  Recess time as an adult could be just about anything like:

  • Walking down the hall to get a drink of water
  • 2 or 3 minutes of stretching or movement at your desk
  • Desk Push Ups
  • a walk outside on your break or lunch time

Need some more ideas on how to add movement time into your life?  Check out our Office Pilates Series designed to give you ideas on how you can incorporate more movement into your daily life even if you are sitting at a desk!!

Pilates is not only an exercise method, it’s a language!

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Book-15There are days when I’m teaching a new client, I say something and they just look at me as if I were speaking a different language.  And then I realize…I am speaking a different language.  As a Pilates instructor, the language and phrases I use to describe movement and to get people to do and feel what I want in their body, are not typical phrases you hear in day to day conversation.  If you are new to the Pilates language I thought I would create a list of some of the most common types of phrases I use  and explain them in normal English!

pilatescuesArticulate
Pilates is very spine focused and we often are trying to “articulate through our spine”.  What does this mean?  Instead of just landing on the mat in one big chunk, you are going to slowly roll down bending through your spine and between each vertabrae in your spine.

Belly to Spine
This cue is often used to remind a student to engage their transverse abdominus.  A common cue in Pilates is to imagine pulling your belly button toward your spine to find the engagement of our deepest layer of abdominal muscles.

Melt through your spine
This is another imagery cue.  When you are rolling down I often use this cue to encourage clients to slowly and with control articulate their back to the mat (instead of just quickly crashing down).

Tuck your tail
Maybe you didn’t know you had a tail?  I often talk about tucking your tail or sticking your tail out behind you in attempts to get clients to move their pelvis into either a posterior or anterior tilt.  Of course you have to pretend like you have a tail to make this one effective!

Big expansive inhale
 This one is pretty descriptive and is kind of what is sounds like. I’m usually asking you to slowly inhale so much that you can feel your rib cage expands in all directions.

Create length in your low back
I often make statements like create length in your back, or your leg, or even your neck.  The Pilates method focuses on learning to use your muscles to decompress your spine and even your limbs so that can move with more ease and efficiency. These cues are used to encourage you to think about what you are trying to create in your body and figure out what muscles you need to engage to do it.

Are there other terms that you have heard in Pilates that you think are part of the Pilates language?

 

 

 

Appreciate the body you have!!!

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As a Pilates teacher I get to work with lots of different bodies that have lots of different things going on and I wouldn’t have it any other way.  There is nothing I love more than being able to help some one figure out how to use movement to empower their body and to truly inspire their life.  I love the challenge of putting myself in my client’s body and then giving them suggestions on how they might move to most benefit their body.

One of the biggest benefits of my teaching time is truly the inspiration and insight I get from working with clients whose bodies don’t feel great.  When I say don’t feel great, I’m not talking about having a tight back or a just not feeling your most energetic self on any given day.  I’m talking about being in constant chronic pain 24/7.  Can you even imagine?   I can tell you that if I get a slight headache or a kink in my back- I am irritated, whiny and just plain unhappy.  I can’t imagine putting on a happy face and living life with chronic pain.  Many of my clients actually do Pilates to minimize chronic pain. The clients come in, grateful for the opportunity to practice Pilates, and appreciative of their bodies, regardless of the pain.

My thoughts?   I want everyone (who is not in pain)  to know how lucky and amazing it is to have a body that can move and bend and twist without pain.  I want to tell everyone to quit worrying about the weight on the scale, the size of your clothes and just start moving your body.   The benefits of movement are so much more than burning calories.

I hope you’ll take a little time to appreciate the amazing body you have!  Take some time to truly appreciate all the wonderful things you can do with it and give yourself a break when it comes to criticizing yourself!

Move first in the morning!!

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As a Pilates teacher I often am up bright and early to teach classes and clients.  I try to make it a point to get to the studio early enough that I have a little time to move a little myself before I start teaching, so that I’m a little more awake in my brain and body.  Sometimes I forget how great this early morning movement time is for my body….until there’s a day when I don’t have to teach bright and early.  On a weekend or day off when I am not up moving around first thing during my day I often have a moment mid morning or mid day when I realize that my body just feels “creaky”.  And by creaky I mean my body feels tight, I’m not moving with as much ease as normal and my energy levels are not as high as normal.  That’s when  I have that realization that I skipped my morning movement time!  So I take a few minutes (yes that’s it…maybe 5-10 minutes tops if I have the time) and I move my body in a variety of ways.  Usually I do something as simple as:

  • rolling through my spine with Pilates roll ups and rolling like a ball
  • I do some extension exercises like swan
  • some sort of gentle side stretch

The difference in how my body feels is kind of amazing.  So my suggestion for you is to play with a morning movement routine!  It doesn’t have to be complicated and you can do it in your pajamas or maybe before you even get out of bed.  Find some simple movements you can do each morning to wake up your body and try to make a habit of it everyday.