My arms aren’t long enough!!

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It never fails, when I’m teaching the transition in between Backstroke and Teaser on the Reformer to drop a spring at least one client tries the exercise and when they can’t quite do it the first or maybe even the 20th time they say,” I have really short arms. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to do that.  My arms are just not long enough!”

If you have ever said this or something similar in your Pilates class I have some good news for you.  The good news is: Your arms are long enough.  Very rarely does your physical size or shape effect your ability to do a movement, but what does effect it is your mind!  Note: this doesn’t mean your body size and shape doesn’t effect how you do a movement it means it doesn’t generally effect being able to do a version of that movement in your body!  Without even realizing it we put limitations on what we can do based on previous experiences, based on what other people have told us or based on the stories we create in our head!  I want to be the first to tell you there are no limitations on what you can accomplish with movement if you open your mind to the possibilities.

Now, don’t get me wrong- just changing your thought process probably won’t immediately change your ability to do something, but over time I promise it will.  If you whole heartedly believe in yourself and practice that movement adjusted to where your body is right now…eventually you will get there.

I would love to hear from you on this topic!  What does it feel like when you finally do something you’ve been working towards?  What advice would you give others who get frustrated when they can’t seem to do something right away?

Practice What You Teach: Appreciating the Hundred

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100_0I’ll be the first to admit that the Hundred is not my favorite Pilates exercise.  My body or my brain doesn’t ever go, “Wow, I feel like doing my Hundreds!” It’s not like Rolling Back or Short Spine that I find myself craving to do if my body is tight or just needs to move more.  But, I was reflecting this week on how I do really appreciate the Hundred as an exercise and all the things it teaches me on any given day.  Here’s a few of the things that I appreciate and keep me doing it (even though it’s not my favorite!):

1.  Everything is engaged and working in a balanced way: I feel like the Hundred is a shining example for putting all of the Pilates concepts and ideas into one exercise that takes just a minute or so.  Moving from your center, whole body engagement, coordinating breath and movement, concentration, control, persistence….you need them all to get through this one exercise! Even if I do just this one exercise…I feel the work!

2. Check-in Tool: I’ve found that I often use the Hundred exercise as a tool to check in and see how my body is feeling on any given day.  Because the Hundred is an exercise I do most of the time in my Pilates workouts, I have done the exercise thousands of times in my lifetime.  I know where my working level usually is, I know how my body likes to compensate for my imbalances and I have a good sense of what my body normally feels like during the exercise.  So when something feels different, slightly unbalanced or maybe just tight I can usually feel it as soon as I start.  For example, if my hamstrings and low back are feeling tight I usually adjust my working level of my legs and bring them up to 90 degrees with flexed feet so that I can start to lengthen and stretch them.  Then I use that awareness to add other things into my workout that day to try to focus on stretching and lengthening what is over-tight that day.

hundreds3. Feeling Progress: Again, because I consistently do this exercise it easily allows me to feel when I am changing things in my body and making progress.  Some thing are obvious like noticing if my working level of my legs is more challenging or making it through all 10 breaths instead of 6 or 7 and other things can be more subtle.  As an example, I have a tendency to shorten my left side and I can always feel this in the Hundred. When I shorten I feel like I am putting more weight into my left hip and then have to correct by shifting weight into my right hip and lengthening my left side waist.  Lately I’ve been finding that I don’t have to make this correction as often and naturally I’m finding and maintaining the balance in my body better- yeah for progress!

I would love to hear what you have to think about the Hundred!  Do you love it, hate it? What are your takeaways from this exercise?

 

Why every Fitness Instructor should study Pilates!

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pilates2When I started my Pilates journey I was a certified personal trainer who had just discovered that I really loved being part of peoples’ health and fitness journey. Very early in my fitness career I found myself feeling like I didn’t know enough. I found myself hungry to learn more about movement and how the body worked so I could help educate others on how to use movement as a tool in their health care system. When I stumbled upon Pilates I was introduced to an amazing world of educated instructors who inspired me, who taught me Pilates exercises and most importantly taught me the fundamental concepts of movement and how to start using those fundamentals to create efficient movement and balance in my body (and eventually my clients bodies).

I realize that not all fitness instructors want to teach Pilates but I truly believe that if fitness instructors would take some time to study Pilates in their own body and learn just some of the basic movement concepts we teach in Pilates they would find themselves having a whole new toolbox to teach whatever type of movement or class that they teach. That toolbox of being able to teach safe, effective movement would create less injuries, more retention( ie clients sticking with it!) and overall happier clients.

Just as an example here are a couple of fundamental Pilates concepts and some insight into how incorporating these into a body can affect just about any type of movement:

  • Core Engagement : Learning how to properly engage your deep abdominal muscles (transverse abdominus) and how to initiate body movement from this engagement is a skill that so many people have not been taught to do. Even if they’ve read about it or think they know how to do it…if they haven’t practiced it on a regular basis while doing a variety of movements they are probably not doing it!   So many people think if they do a typical “ab” exercise like a crunch or a sit up enough times that will strengthen their core…. this is usually not the case. As a movement instructor just being able to teach and cue your clients on how to find this engagement can completely transform how they move and how their body feels!!
  • Body Alignment: Our bodies are so amazing and are designed to work most efficiently when in alignment. Our bones when in alignment are designed to give us a support system that allows our muscles to work in a balanced, efficient way. Unfortunately, most of us fall into poor posture and poor alignment patterns and we often don’t even realize it. And even when we realize it we don’t know how to bring ourselves into alignment and what it should feel like. Having a fitness instructor who can gives you cues on how to bring yourself into alignment and how to move in alignment will help create balance in your body, prevent injuries and help you get the most out of every exercise and movement you do.

art-pilatesBeing able to teach movement and incorporate teaching skills like proper core engagement and body alignment is not necessarily an easy thing to do. As an instructor it takes not only knowing the concepts but also knowing how to use your words and your physical cues to best guide your clients. And just like it takes practice to learn how to do those skills in your body -it takes practice as an instructor to learn how to incorporate that teaching into every workout or session you are instructing.

If you are a fitness instructor who is looking to learn more I would love to hear from you. As a Pilates teaching studio we offer lots of options designed to help teachers at all levels and experience expand their movement knowledge. I believe in the power of mindful, educated movement and want to help as many people as possible spread that amazingness with others!!!!

Check out our Pilates Teacher Training page here or contact us today to schedule a complimentary session today!

Practice What You Teach: Hip Hop Pilates & a Proud Mom moment!

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IMG_8208My absolute favorite movement experience this week was taking Duane Lee Holland’s Hip Hop Groove class with my 7 year old daughter Aubri.  Like most 7 year olds Aubri loves to dance, do cartwheels and handstands, jump on the trampoline and do just about anything where she is active.  When we’re home she will spend hours listening to music, creating her own choreography or “shows” as she calls them and of course performing them for my husband and me.  Many days the two of us just put on music and dance and often she coaches me and teaches me a dance.  To me, this is how movement should be – creative and fun!

I have to admit that even though I love to move like this at home in the privacy of our house, I’m usually the last person you would find doing something like dancing (especially hip hop dancing) in any sort of public location! Somewhere in my life I started believing that dancing wasn’t really my thing and that I was way too uncoordinated to dance (especially in public, in front of people who might think the same thing). So for many years I’ve avoided it! Which really has made me feel like a little bit of a hypocrite. I mean I have a whole life and business built around teaching people to empower their body through movement and I was nervous and avoiding dancing in public because of what I might think others thought when they saw my dance moves!

This leads to one of the wonderful things about having children- they teach you a lot about yourself.  I really believe in leading by example and so in my heart of hearts I knew that I wanted be a good example for my daughter of loving yourself, being willing to try new things and being willing to get outside your comfort zone. So last week I put myself out there and tried Hip Hop Groove Class with Duane…and it was super fun, a great workout and no one laughed or made fun of my dancing abilities(at least in front of me!)

A mother who radiates self love and acceptance actually vaccinates her daughter against low self-esteemWhen I had the chance to take another class and bring Aubri with me I knew it would be a great experience for her.  Not only would she get to meet a professional dancer and learn from him, but she would have the chance to be in a room full of women who were being vulnerable enough to try something new, dance and move their bodies, and just plain have fun moving.  I also had a super proud Mom moment when we got to the portion of class where Duane added in the beginning of the Pilates Mat sequence and I looked over to see Aubri doing all of the exercises with great form and control! I love that she is learning Pilates in her body and will have that practice that she can incorporate into the rest of her life.

I want to thank Duane for bringing his love of movement and dance to the studio and creating such a supportive, non-judgemental atmosphere for everyone to learn and move. Also a big thank you for all the women that showed up for class that night and just enjoyed the experience, moved their bodies and had fun!  Just by being yourself and trying something new you helped shaped my daughter’s ideas on what movement can look like and how it should feel…. fun!!!

 

Practice What You Teach: Picking up Nerf bullets with my toes!

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One of the many bonuses of being a Pilates teacher and working with bodies day in and day out is that you become very aware of your own body, it’s alignment and how it functions.  Over the years one of the areas of the body that really stands out to me as so important (but often neglected) is our feet.  The function of our toes, feet, and ankles are so important to how the rest of the body moves yet we often don’t even think about them unless they hurt or have lost some of their function.

Lately I’ve been noticing in my own feet how my pinky toes are often collapsed in and how I just don’t have the strength, flexibility and movement in them as I do my other toes.  So I’ve made a conscious effort to use movement to change that!  Joseph Pilates created a couple of pieces of equipment, specifically the Toe Gizmo and the Foot Corrector that are really great for working on adding strength, flexibility and functionality back to the feet and toes.  But I know myself and honestly it’s too easy for me to forget to get these little pieces of equipment out and use them as regular as I would like, so I’ve been doing a few simple things( that require no equipment) and have been trying to incorporate them into my life.

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See how the pinky toe doesn’t move as much!

1. The first one I’m just calling: Spread your Toes. Just like it sounds I have been challenging myself to periodically throughout my day spread all of my toes( especially my pinky toes) and then relax them and repeat at least 5 times.   I’m trying to make it a point to do this whenever I sit down.  As a Pilates instructor I honestly don’t sit for very often, but I do drink a lot of water throughout my days and take plenty of bathroom breaks where I of course sit…so most of my Toe Spreading time happens during these breaks! (Just what you wanted to know right?)

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Max is snoozing away as I work to pick up that Nerf bullet (not that easy!)

2. I try to pick things up with my toes(and specifically my pinky toes).  This most often happens when I’m running around at home picking up after my kids and pets.  Luckily we seem to have an abundance of things to pick up like Nerf bullets, dirty socks, hair ties and random dog toys laying in the middle of the hallway that are perfect for challenging me.

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The Original Foot Alignment Socks (or Happy Feet Socks!)

3.  I’ve been trying to wear my Happy Feet Original Foot Alignment socks around the house more and even to bed to help stretch and realign my feet and toes.  I’ve tried a lot of different toe spreading socks and equipment over the years and these are my favorite because the are comfortable enough for me to wear around the house or to bed that I actually use them on a regular basis and hence can feel and see a difference in my toes and feet!

4.  I am also trying to just be aware of how my whole foot and all my toes are working and moving during all of my Pilates workouts.  It’s kind of fascinating to me(#pilatesnerd) how many times I was catching myself not using my pinky toe and outer foot and how much that awareness can change the work of an exercise or movement.

Do you have any favorite foot, ankle or toes exercises that you incorporate into your life?  I would love to hear about them in the comments!

 

 

Pilates in the Garden

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It’s summer and if you are like us you have been getting outside more than ever to plant your garden, pull weeds  (can I hear some groans…), mow the lawn and water those beautiful flowers!  In this month’s client inspired video we give you some tips on how you can incorporate your Pilates practice into your outdoor time. Everyone likes to multi task right?