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Pilates Travel Tips and our best travel workouts!

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hotel PilatesWhether you travel on a regular basis or are just taking a summer vacation, you can take your Pilates with you easily!  There are so many exercises you can do just about anywhere with just your body or a small prop that you can keep up your core strengthening, body lengthening, strengthening and balancing Pilates workouts just about anywhere.  Here’s some simple tips to remember when traveling and some links to our favorite exercises for the road!

1. Pack a few small,lightweight props like a Theraband, a small 4 inch ball, or a magic circle so you have plenty of exercise options!

2. Remind yourself that doing something is always better than nothing!  You are probably not going to do a full hour Pilates session in your hotel room and that’s OK!  Just doing a small sequence of exercises or even some of your favorite stretches will keep your body feeling happy and healthy!

stretch3. Get creative!! Workouts don’t just have to happen on a mat in your room or at the fitness center. Go for a walk and enjoy some new scenery and add some off your favorite exercises in along the way!  Use a park bench to do some tricep dips or take a towel and lay in the grass and do some of your favorite Pilates exercises!   Try some Pilates in the pool!

4. Mix in mindful movement throughout your day.  Vacations and trips are often disruptive of our regular schedule and that’s to be expected.  Try to add little bits of movement in throughout your day and pay attention to how your body feels.  Stretch when you need to stretch, walk when you’ve been sitting too long and pay attention to your posture!

Here’s a quick list of some of my favorite travel mini workouts and exercises:

My Favorite Things Pilates Mat Workout (no props)

Resistance Band Pilates Mat Workout

Intermediate Pilates Mat Workout

Wedding Arm Magic Circle Workout

All Levels Mat Workout

Magic Circle Workout for Home

Side Leg Kick Workout

If you have a favorite travel workout, let us know!    We’d love to add it to our list.

 

Add an occasional private session to spice up your Pilates practice….

I love small group classes.  I love teaching them and I love taking them! I am a firm believer that every movement experience you have is a chance to work on your own movement practice, learn new things about your body, and just plain keep your body healthy.

What you’ll find in a small group class setting is that instructors will be guiding the whole class through a movement, watching bodies and giving cues that everyone can benefit from, and making sure that no one is doing anything that might be unsafe in their body.  From a learning atmosphere there is so much benefit to this type of atmosphere where students are empowered to explore their body’s movements, listen to cues, and adjust to find what works in their body.

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If you are someone who normally takes group classes I want to suggest that every once in awhile you take a private lesson.  I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised and excited by the things you can learn!

By taking a private session every 3 or 4 months you’ll find your instructor can help you find some things in your movement practice that you can focus on and practice in your small group classes.  This fine tuning session can really help you to keep progressing and working your way toward any movement goals you may have.  It’s a great chance to ask questions about exercises that challenge you or maybe you don’t feel like you are doing quite right.  And if you are feeling  a little “blah” about your Pilates practice, some individualized tips can really add new life to your practice and leave you inspired to keep working on things!

Occupational Pilates

I recently read an article all about occupational Pilates.  Never heard of it? Neither had I, but as I read the article the name made perfect sense.  The article was specifically talking about a Pilates instructor (Marcia Polas) who was working with bartenders and teaching them how to stand and move their bodies more efficiently so that they weren’t hurting in their bodies after working all day (or night).  It then went on to talk about how she was also working with firefighters and had created a specialty niche of teaching people based on their jobs.

Here’s her definition:
I call myself an Occupational Pilates teacher. What does that made-up title mean? It means I work with clients based on how they use their bodies (“instruments”) to do their job. My areas of specialization include the hospitality industry pros (bartenders/baristas/chefs/FOH), performing artists (actors/dancers/musicians), movement professionals (Pilates and yoga teachers) — I’ll take on anyone with a physically rigorous job, including now the job of living in New York City!

IMG_6137As a Pilates instructor I can tell you I consider all the Pilates I teach as occupational Pilates! Whether you are a stay at home Mom, a fireman, or sit at a computer all day – the Pilates work is designed to keep your body strong, flexible and balanced so that you can live the rest of your life to it’s fullest, without limitations.  I really believe that one of the most important reasons to practice Pilates is so that you can learn to take care of your physical body in a way that improves and inspires the rest of your life!

Often when clients have chronic tightness or pain in their body I start exploring not only how their body moves during their Pilates session but also the types of movements (or sitting) they do throughout their life on a regular basis.  By looking at the whole picture of what they do on a regular basis I can bring awareness to habits that might be contributing to muscle imbalances and strain in their body.  We can then relate what we are doing in the Pilates studio to how it can help them in their day to day movements.

If you are looking for more than just a workout from your exercise program I would encourage you to give Pilates a try.  Most Pilates devotees will tell you that the mindful movement and exercises they learn in Pilates have had an effect on everything they do in life.

 

 

Butt-watching at Pilates?

IMG_6675Today’s blog starts with a client story…. A client was doing her her long stretch on the reformer and I cued her to reach through her left heel more and engage her left butt. She adjusted and then when she transitioned to the next exercise (Down Stretch) and was getting set up I said the cue again as I could see that she wasn’t engaging her left gluteus muscles and I wanted her to find the balanced work in this exercise. She laughs and says,”Really? How can you tell that? Are you looking at my butt?” My answer was,”Yes, of course I am. I’m looking at muscle engagement in your whole body as you are are moving which includes your butt!”

After teaching movement for 16 years sometimes I forget that not everybody looks at bodies like I do. Part of teaching the Pilates method of exercise is helping clients figure out what it means to create balance in their body and do balanced movements. By giving cues and instruction to clients on how to work more efficiently and more balanced you help them figure out how to notice and adjust in their own body without you always having to tell them.

If you are contemplating wanting to teach Pilates and this concept seems foreign or maybe complicated…..don’t worry you’ll learn how to do it!  When you go through workshops we’ll look at different bodies doing different exercises and talk about what we see and how we could help that person do the exercise better in their body. You’ll learn about what to look for and really how to become an observer of movement and muscle engagement. As you integrate your own personal practice time, with observation hours and practice teaching hours you’ll have plenty of chances to look at bodies and figure out how to hone this skill of observing and then cueing to create balance! I promise by the end of the program you won’t think twice about looking at someone’s butt while they are moving!!

SHhhhh…….I have a Pilates training secret…

IMG_3316I have a secret that you may not know if you don’t know me that well. If you are a regular client of mine you may have figured this out already. I think it’s OK and actually encourage my clients to not always give 100% in their workouts!!

Let me explain. First let me just say that I know how challenging Pilates can be. When you are giving 100% and paying attention to every little detail of your alignment, engaging your core and staying balanced….it can be intense! When I’m teaching you and you’re giving it everything …I can feel that work! If you work with me on a regular basis you know there are times I’ll “ask” for that effort more often than not and you always do your best.

BUT…if you work with me on a regular basis you’ll also find there are times when I specifically don’t ask for it. There are days when I really believe that the most important thing you did for yourself that day was to show up! Not because I don’t think that you can do the work, but because I truly believe that not every movement experience needs to be an all out 110% effort kind of movement session to be an effective part of your movement practice.  There are some days when a little extra stretching and breath work will allow you to reconnect with your body, de-stress and just plain feel better than if we did your most challenging Pilates Mat workout. (And even if you are not working at 110%…I guarantee you are still working! You are still strengthening, gaining flexibility and working on maintaining a strong balanced body!)

When I say some days, I’m talking about the days when it would have been so much easier just to shut the alarm clock off and go back to sleep instead of coming to the studio, the days when you had a really stressful day at work and would much rather have a glass of wine than go to your Pilates session, or maybe the day when you are feeling a little sore and would love to just take another few days off. Even on those days I truly believe that doing something movement wise (even if it’s at 75% instead of 100%) will make you feel better and keep you and your body much happier in the long run!

2exerciseAs an instructor I really try check in with my clients and tailor their workouts to what their body and their life needs on any given day. You might wonder does this mean clients aren’t getting the most out of their workouts? Absolutely not! The way I see it, by tailoring workouts to the person(and their life on any given day) I’m encouraging clients to show up more often, listen to their body more often and create a more regular movement practice in their life.  I call it balance!

Life is about balance and that includes your movement and workout sessions. I hope that next time you’re considering skipping your movement time you’ll think about this and maybe decide to just do something….. Listen to your body, move it in a way that feels good to you and be proud of yourself for making movement a part of your life!!

My Introduction to Pilates

IMG_3509Hi!  My name is Max.   One week ago, my new Mom and Dad picked me up and drove a long ways in the car to North Liberty.   I wasn’t sure about these people, but after hours and hours in the car, we got to North Liberty and I met my new brothers and my sister.  They only have 2 legs, but they seemed to like me a lot.   I think I have a pretty cool family.  My human Mom is a certified Pilates Instructor.   I’m not sure what that is but it must be a big deal because she goes to work every day and stays a long time.   My human brothers and sister go to school every day, but my Dad has been home with me most every day since I got here.

On Friday, my Mom told me that she would teach me what she does, and that I could be a Pilates Puppy.  I’m not sure I want to be a Pilates Puppy but I love my Mom and she gives good snuggles so I decided to go.  When I found out what time we had to leave to go to Mom’s studio (Rivercity Pilates) I wasn’t sure I wanted to go anymore.    Mom goes to work just after light comes thru the windows.   Usually she throws me back in bed with someone in my family when she goes to work, but today, I got in the car with her.    I’m not sure if I like the car either.   It makes my stomach do flip flops.

max3We didn’t have to go very far, and then we got to the studio.   What a place!!  First I saw the retail space.    There was a couch and a beanbag chair, I could learn to like them.

Mom had to turn on all the lights so we went in another room.  My feet slid all over the place in that room.   Mom told me to be careful, but my feet kept sliding out from under me.    I’m not sure I like wood floors.   Mom put my bed in that room.   There were a bunch of black things on the floor — Mom called them mats.   I jumped on one to see what would happen.   It was really soft.   I liked it.   I posed really pretty and Mom took my picture.    Maybe this won’t be so bad.

 

MaxThen the door started opening and people started coming in.    They stared at me, and some of them petted me a little.    When they got on the things my Mom called reformers, I decided to take a little nap.  What they were doing didn’t look that fun to me.  On and on my day went.   It seemed like I would just get into a good sleep, and then people were moving around the studio and some would leave, and more would come in.  People who do Pilates seem to come in all shapes and sizes.  Some of them scared me when they wanted to hold me. Don’t they understand that I’m like 9 inches tall and they are like giants?   Sometimes I’m scared.    No two sessions were the same though, so I really haven’t figured out any of the Pilates exercises yet.   There were never more than 4-5 people there at a time, but they were doing some things that I have never seen humans do!  Mom had a few minutes of breaks to snuggle and take me outside, but since she was busy, I tried to catch up on sleep so I could go out in the back yard when we went home.

IMG_3516I try to have my naps taken by the time my human brothers and sister get home from school.   I started waking up, but Mom said we had one more student.  Really Mom???  I’ve been good all day! Pretty soon the person came.   She talked with me before she got on the Pilates machine, and I thought she seemed ok.    I had to stretch my legs, so I ran around the studio a bit.   I fell down a few times, and those black mats tripped me a couple of times too.   Mom put me on the mat with her student.    Wow, this lady lets me try to chew her hair!    She was laying on the mat, so I had to get a better look.   I walked around her, and on top of her and she sneaked some petting in.     I might learn to like Pilates.

I walked back to the end of the mat, and when I did I saw another dog in the mirror.   I have to find out about this dog.   I jumped down — and when I did, the dog went away! I stood on the black mat, and if I jumped a little I could see the dog.   I woofed and woofed, but it looked right back at me. I grrrrrrrd.  The dog wasn’t scared.  Mom came and got me and put me in my bed.   Doesn’t she know I slept all day?   I jumped around some more, and the lady on that mat figured out I wanted to go home! She told my Mom that she’d have to leave so Mom could take me home.   In my next blog, I’ll show you my favorite Pilates exercises!