3 reasons to take your Pilates practice to a Paddle Board!

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SUNP0035It’s summer in Iowa and there’s nothing I love better than getting outside and moving!  One of my new loves is doing my Pilates Mat Work on a stand up paddle board! Besides the fun of being outside and on the lake there’s a few things about it that really keep me coming back for more every time I do it!

1. Control and concentration … One of the things I love about the Pilates mat work is that once you start to learn the sequence of the exercises and the exercise technique you can really fine tune as you practice them. But like anything that you do over and over again I feel like it is also easy to just go into “automatic” mode when you already know an exercise and not give it your all.  The paddle board takes care of this.  In order to not fall off of the board you have to use the utmost control and concentration to do the exercise correctly, in a balanced way and at your working level!

2. Can you say core work?   Yes I know Pilates is always core work but there is no cheating on the Paddle Board!  When you find yourself fighting for balance, engaging those core muscles is the key to finding it!

20150807_191919(0)3.  Summer Arms.… The paddle board challenges your body in a way that you have to use everything to stabilize (which is what we want in Pilates… whole body engagement and work!). Every time I do my Pilates mat sequence on the paddle board I realize the day after how much I had to use my triceps to help stabilize my shoulders and my body on the board. (in a good sore kind of way..)

Want to try out paddle boarding but a little hesitant to go out on your own?  Join Rivercity Pilates on August 19th at the Terry Trueblood Recreation Center in Iowa City at 6pm for our free Life Inspired Paddle Boarding event.  You can rent a board or bring your own if you have one.  We’ll go out as a group and play on the paddle boards.  Do as little or as much as you want!  We’d love to have you join us!!

#PracticeWhatYouTeach: “Not Working out in the Studio Guilt”

scenery3Without even realizing it most days I find myself taking my Pilates practice outdoors.  As a Pilates teacher and studio owner who often ends up spending 8 plus hours at the studio I think that being able to take things outside allows me to get away from my work environment and have some “me time”.  After a full day of teaching the last thing I want to do is stay at the studio and workout. Not because I don’t love the studio or not because I don’t feel like moving, but more so because I need a change of scenery! Many days I come home from the studio wanting to take a walk, play with the kids outside and some days I just throw a blanket on the deck and do some mat work.

I was reflecting on how I used to feel a little guilty (ok a lot guilty!) about this.  As a studio owner and an instructor I used to believe that for me to be a good example for my clients I needed to be working out at the studio or taking classes or sessions at the studio on a regular basis.  Then I started looking at it in a different way.

scenery1I hear from my clients all the time…”I know I could do this stuff on my own, but I don’t.  It’s hard to get motivated to do it at home.  There’s something about coming to the studio that keeps me more committed and keeps me excited about doing it”.  Just like me they need a change a scenery!  The change of scenery gets them away from their day to day environment and into a space that allows them to focus on themselves, enjoy some “me time” and get their movement time in.  I get it…the studio for them is like the outdoors is for me.

If you are an instructor who has ever dealt with “not working out in the studio” guilt I’d love to hear from you!  What did it take for you to realize that being a great example for clients doesn’t have to happen in the studio walls?  Where do you go for your “me time”?

 

 

Practice What You Teach: Learning to not worry..

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When people first learn that I am a Pilates instructor or that I own a Pilates studio I often find myself having conversations about fitness programs and working out.  I tend to be a listener first, so many times I find myself just taking in what they are saying.  Many times the conversation ends up being about the latest fitness program or plan, fitness or weight loss goals, or even what is considered the correct amount of cardio and strength training per week for a person.  I think many people would be surprised to know that what I’ve discovered is that I personally am not a “workout fanatic”.  I very rarely plan workouts and I really don’t love to work to the point of extreme soreness or pain (ever…!).  I do LOVE to move, movement is part of my life and you will find me including a lot of movement in each day.

This past year has been eye opening for me as I blog weekly about my own Pilates practice. I’m finding that I’m blogging a lot more about movement in my life than I am a particular workoutaha moment.  My career as a Pilates teacher has allowed me to create a life where movement is just part of what I do and who I am and I don’t even really think about it!  The “not really thinking about it” part was kind of a “a-ha” moment for me this week!

You see I almost never plan ahead a workout such as a walk, a Pilates workout, a bike ride, play time with my kids, jumping on the trampoline,etc…yet I do those things on a daily basis without even giving it a second thought! Even better than not ever truly planning ahead for it is that I don’t worry about it!  Yep that’s what I said…I don’t worry about it!

So many times I hear clients talking about missing their workouts, needing to get back on track and finding something to get them moving more.  I can sense just from their tone that this concerns them, they’ve spent some energy worrying about and probably created some unnecessary stress in their life. Sometimes I even start to question myself and think is there something wrong with me that I’m not worried about that stuff? I mean I am a fitness  professional…shouldn’t I  be worried about my own exercise time and stats, my weight fluctuation, my minutes of cardio, etc.?

And then I remember back when I was younger and that stuff mattered to me.  I used to force myself to do at least 30 minutes of cardio (that I didn’t really enjoy) every day just because that’s what someone told me I should do. (I easily do that now but I don’t even think about it because it’s something I enjoy!)   I used to only do the entire Pilates Mat sequence or take a class to do Pilates because I thought that was what you were supposed to do.   I used to jump on the scale and then have positive or negative reactions because of the 1 lb difference from the day before.

aha3I’m not exactly sure at what point in my life I quit “worrying” about my fitness workouts and just made movement part of my life…but I’m glad I did.  Life is crazy, chaotic and stressful enough without spending my time and energy worrying about trying to control things that in the days end really don’t matter.  I love that my Pilates journey has brought me to this place of “not worrying” about my physical fitness and I love that I get to help others who may be on a similar journey.  This reminds me as a Pilates teacher that even though it is important for me to know the Pilates movements, know how to adjust bodies, know how to modify exercises, and know how to progress clients… there are often lessons much bigger and more important that I get to teach.

Pilates in the Pool!

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I have a confession…. summer can be a difficult time for me to fit in Pilates workouts. When the weather warms up, I typically add more outdoor activites to my fitness routine. Biking, paddle boarding, and hiking tend to trump my usual weekend schedule at the studio. Add in vacations, social events, and the occasional weekend road trip, and there is little time left for my favorite classes. If I am not planful, my Pilates practice can easily fall by the wayside.

If you are like me and find it difficult to make it to the studio in the summer, consider adding a little Pilates to your favorite outdoor activity! Try a mini-Pilates workout before heading out on your morning run, practice your Pilates breathing before your next bike ride, or try some paddle board Pilates!

I recently decided to fit some Pilates in while enjoying some time at the pool. It was the perfect way to fit a little Pilates in to my day without giving up time at the pool. From a therapeutic standpoint, exercising in the pool offers the benefits of both bouyancy and resistance. But most importantly, it’s fun!

If you have tried Barre classes at Rivercity Pilates, then you already have experience with several options for translating the traditional Pilates matwork to a standing routine. If you are new to trying Pilates in a different environment, consider trying a few of my favorite Pilates exercises in the pool.

  • Chest expansion – inhale as you press your arms back and open your chest, exhale as you bring arms back to the water surface. For an added challenge, grab a pool noodle to use in place of the roll down bar usually used in tower class.
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  • Mermaid – again, grab a pool noodle (or a kickboard) if you have one, but feel free to try this without any props. Inhale as you press down with one hand and elongate in to a side bend. Exhale as you return to upright standing.
    mermaid1
  • Standing leg kicks – think side leg kicks in a standing position. Hold on the edge of the pool or a railing for support, or challenging your balance by standing a few inches away. Try sweeps, battement, developpe, rond de jambe, hot potato, and bicycle. For added challenge, try sidekicks using pool noodles or floats to perform the whole series floating (sorry, no pictures of this experiment!). Add in some single leg pumps from the traditional chair repertoire while you are at it.

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  • Rolling like a ball – this one takes a little experimentation and a pool noddle or two, but it’s a fun one to try! Experiment with placing pool noodles under your knees and possibly around your back. Start with small rocks and gradually increase the range of your movement. Most importantly, have fun!

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Have you tried Pilates in the pool? If so, tell us about your favorite variation.

~Shelley Mockler

 

Practice What You Teach: Pilates on the Water

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What could be better than beautiful summer weather, getting out in nature and movement?  Twice this week I got to go play at the lake and do some stand up paddle boarding! The paddle boards are a fun way to cruise around the lake, but also stable enough you can pretty much do the entire Pilates Mat sequence on them!  The added instability is great for fine tuning your form and having to use your center to balance!  During our monthly Life Inspired gathering this week we played around doing both Pilates and Yoga on the boards and it was a blast!  Here’s a few pictures from the evening!

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Balance, balance, balance…

Saw with our paddle as a group
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Check out Dick’s great plank (only 9 weeks
after shoulder replacement surgery!!)		 Right before I fell in as Julie was guiding
me through a yoga pose
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Nancy was doing Pilates and Yoga in the canoe!! Rolling Like a Ball!! My favorite!
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Roll Ups with a beautiful
view of the sky!		 Mountain Pose is a lot more
work on a paddle board!

 

Practice What You Teach: Is Perfection required?

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It was a busy week.  After having the first month of summer off, my husband was back teaching this summer which simply means for us there is a little more juggling schedules when it comes to kids activities and kid care throughout the week.  This is really no big deal, but the first week of adjusting schedules is always a little more hectic and crazy.  This just happened to start on the first of the month (which is always a busy time from a business standpoint as we are doing our monthly newsletter, payroll, and lots of other first of the month tasks) and to add to the fun we had a pretty big event planned at the studio on Friday night.  So..by the time Saturday morning arrived, I barely had time to think about my movement practice this week, let alone write a blog about it!

Luckily I had an hour break after my morning clients and my 9 am Return to Life Mat class and I decided just to work out and see if anything came to me! First of all, let me tell you I really kind of wanted to do a Reformer workout (no particular reason…it was just what I was feeling like.)  But… I was also feeling a little tired and uninspired to teach my morning mat class so I decided the best thing I could do is to do my mat work.  As a teacher I find that doing the Pilates work in my own body before I teach is often enough to help “inspire my teaching” and simply helps remind me of the work and the feel of the work that my students will be doing.

Before I started, I decided I would just flow through the work letting my body do what it knows how to do. In my mind I was telling myself…Just move and don’t worry about what it looks like or doing things perfectly! So that’s what I did.  I put on my favorite Pandora station, and ran through the entire mat sequence from Footwork to Pushups with Big Twist thrown in at the end!   The whole workout took me about 25 minutes and I had two takeaways definitely worth talking about.

imperfect1. Moving is more important than perfection!  As a Pilates teacher I spend so much time teaching people to move better, that I think I forget sometimes that it’s the movement itself that is so effective as a health tool not the perfection of the movement.  As long as you are being safe in your body and not injuring yourself the best thing you can do is just show up and move!

2. Flowing movement and breath without breaks means you are getting your heart rate up and sweating (at least for me).  I felt “worked” when I got done but honestly more than that I felt kind of refreshed and definitely more energized for the rest of my day.  As a teacher this reminded me of the importance of working toward more flowing workouts with clients where ever they are in their body.  The concept of flowing movements in the Pilates method definitely ties together all of the concepts you learn in your Pilates practice and is a great way to keep challenging your body in a safe way.

Hope you had a great week and had some time to sneak in some mindful movement time into your life whatever you had going on!    As always I would love to hear from you and what you’ve been doing in your personal practice!  What did your movement time look like this week?  What did you take away from from your movement practice?