Shoulders (knees & toes...knees & toes...)

When I started training with the Pilates Institute (PI for short!) the focus was on, naturally, the TA(Transversus Ab)..now as the training has deepened and my brain storage has released more space for me to take a bit more info on board...its also about the shoulders. Your core is your torso, think of a dot to dot drawing and draw a line from your right hip up to your right shoulder, across to your left shoulder, down to your left hip and across to your right hip...this is your core, your powerhouse.




Nearly everyone has a shoulder issue, even if they dont know about it..during class its common for someone whos done just 2 - 3 classes (who came to pilates to strengthen their abs...nothing else..) to say they have a tight neck or shoulder, as if it was secondary to wanting tight abs... just on Monday night one lady is a teacher and spends her time bending over desks at the primary school, her muscles between the shoulder blades are weak, and the muscles at the base of her neck are tight..having a massage will help release..but the problem reoccurs unless you regularly move and exercise and strengthen the muscles to permanantly address the problem.
So Ive been leafing through the good old Alan Herdman books, he is truly my best Pilates book author..dont be put off by the models used in the books...some of them are elderly in Pilates Plus for the over 50's, but the exercises treat conditions that we ALL have no matter what our age, its a shame it says 50plus on the cover, but then he does excel in Rehab Pilates for injuries, and slowly slowly (catchy monkey!!) is the way to ease tight muscles to release..

So have attached a couple of scans from a couple of his books for shoulders...please do them everyday, twice a day....takes 10 minutes of your time, maybe do them at a set time each day so you know its PS time! (pilates shoulder!) once at 9am once at 3pm, or once at 3pm once at 10pm..whatever suits your day! But do it for your shoulders, please release them (let them go....tra la la...) and make them softer but stronger so the muscles do what they are supposed to do, support your shoulder blades and your arm movements, not tighten up and cease to work efficiently..other muscles then start to do the work and cause even more problems..thats another story!

If the type on the pics is hard to read tell me and I will let you know what they say ..!

PILATES RETREATS...

Pilates Retreats...

Oh my word, if you can, click the link below, awesome luxury..at a price..but thinking about this retreat idea, my mate Julie who's doing the Matwork training course with me, is up for the idea of getting together to offer a Pilates Retreat , hopefully next year if we can find a resort to do it, or may start a Pilates retreat weekend over here including massage/facials etc good food, good vino and good company...plus Pilates morning and evening..preferably in the open air and even trying out a Reformer machine...nice time to be had by all...its on the agenda!

NOVEMBER 2009 - COMO HOTELS AND RESORTS

How tired am I ?

Did another 3 hour workout today at the leisure centre in Carn Brea...Body Combat, attack, Jam & balance...now Balance is a mixture of Yoga & Pilates, and although I love the music and the flow, its a killer if you have a bad back as most of the moves are advanced...and gthey change the routine every 3 months so you dont get bored, fair enough, but most of the ladies in the classes are going to get relief from back pain, or have issues that can only really be resolved with a balancing of the musclesd in their body, bettering their posture, and thats Pilates...in a nutshell...now if I get up in time tomorrow(Sunday) Im off to a Body Balance class, and will ask the teacher for a modification for one of the moves as its tough on the back and I dont want to do that move...DONT TRY THIS AT HOME!!!! But its lying on your back, both legs straight in air, (abs in of course...) now slowly lower both legs to the right and hold, back slow to centre then opposite side, hold, repeat..ouch...if theres no modification then Im sitting it out and will not be going back, may even revoke my membership as Im going less and less now and doing Pilates more and more and seeing it makes more sense to do Pilates, and you get a great workout once you progress further and use the Circle, bands, ball and even the Reformer, but thats next year!

PostureMinder Business on your Computer!!

Found this on a great Physio shop website that I get some of my course books from..wondering if it actually works, bit more research needed first I think, but what a great idea to have on the computer/laptop to remind you to have a break, and check your posture as well...


PostureMinder Business Edition Downloadable Version

Pilates on a Monday night....rocking!!

Yep, what can I say...just when I thought that it would get quiet and was worried about numbers maybe dwindling and hoping the leaflet drop and ad in the recent Parish Tram would work...the 3 hours of busy classes, back to back,...I worry about nothing sometimes....just ask my mum, shes the same, we are so alike, I blame her entirely!!! Anyway, where was I...yes, a new girl for 5.30 class who had a bad fall from Horse a while ago, has screws, bolts etc in her left leg below the knee, and she kept up, she did well, and hopes to come back for 2nd class on Thursday at 6pm, would be awesome if she did...shes a young chick and was fit before the fall, so knows the value of looking after her body, as she cant ride at the moment and cant do any other type of exercise, Pilates would be ideal for her.
Told her she will be amazed as she gets stronger just what she will be able to do, as have heard so many great stories of people doing pilates, getting stronger, better backs, shoulders, knees etc, taking them to a different level they never thought possible...its just awesome to hear! I hope that she will be able to get back on a horse in the near future if she sticks at it.
The usual madness at 6.30pm, love the group madly, they all make me smile and work so hard, just 3 mins into the class and you can see the focus and concentration on their faces, quite right! No ginger cat wandering in this week, I expect shes sniffing around the harbour looking for a cute doggie called Hamish...(thats another srory for those who dont know what Im on about..)
At 7.30 class, Sarahs friend, Karen came along for her 3rd class, shes picking it up quickly, and she bought a friend along this time too, plus Laurens cousins came back, they're young, slim pretty and blonde (im not that jealous!!) great class...they loved the pilates circle...
They all look asleep in this pic!! but are working hard, honestly!

Thursday 6pm , a new class will start, already have interested folk, Sally & Jo, (Thelma & Louise in disguise..) are coming , 2 in a week, go girls!!! and a new girl coming too....Vicky, driving in from Threemilestone..I also think Sally and Lisa are coming too, Nick Williams sisters, live in the village, they are a laugh as well, so I dont expect the class to be a quiet affair..
so, now just catching up on a bit of admin, having a cold pear cider that I think my other halfs mum left for me on the doorstep, bless her (makes me look like an alkie!! I dont drink at all!)
just spoken to my chap in Spain, hes away until Wednesday working on his Kitchen, its sooooo hot over there, 42 degrees...roasting he is....again...Im not THAT jealous! My ankles would just swell up in that heat, would be an unattractive nightmare!
Ok, signing off, going to bed..tomorrows another day, going to local leisure centre class at 9am, a class called Body Balance, used to LOVE it, until it hurt my back and realised its not that great, but theres a lady that goes who's got a bad back and I'm trying to entice her (its an uphill struggle but Im not giving up!!!!) to the bright side...Pilates....x

Who is your Pilates Teacher trained with???

Last night a mate popped over to say Hi, he has a bad back, though doesn't like to admit it! (what is it about blokes??? ) He has done Pilates for a couple of years, twice a week, so by now you would've thought he would know Neutral spine, about posture, maybe even what type of posture he is plus other things taught by a properly trained Instructor I won't go into now...and that his back issues would've been eased by now...not got worse...so I asked if he knew who his Pilates teacher did their training with...and how many there are in a class...no he doesn't know who the teacher is trained through and theres usually about 20 in a class...can you hear those alarm bells ringing already?
Have persuaded my friend to come along to a 1:1 in my house..as feel that he has almost no TA connection, and is not at an advanced level as he has been led to believe..
So, folks out there doing a large Pilates class....ask your teacher questions, do they know their posture types...who did they train through, was it in a weekend??? You cannot learn Pilates in a weekend, its just ridiculously impossible, there far too much to learn, even after 2 years theres still loads to learn and workshops to attend, you will always be learning...have even heard of someone who is a fitness instructor who is teaching pilates to a load of people just by taking moves from Pilates books...dangerous and and inconsiderate to those in their class...bad backs are caused this way, not made better by the method that the majority of clients go to Pilates for in the first place! This gives Pilates a bad name, and makes us Pilates teachers so incensed..
Thankfully things are changing and Pilates teachers HAVE to be Level 3 trained by Dec 2009 in order to teach in a Gym/Fitness centre...but I have found out that theres a company who have weekend courses that train Pilates to a Level 3 standard thats legal!!! But read the small print...it has to be advertised to all the clients that you cannot do this type of Pilates if you have a bad back....now...who doesn't like admitting that they have a bad back??? And who wants to improve their torso, mainly abs? Yep...blokes hate to admit theres anything wrong with them, will be economical with the truth and want a toned tum, as do women too, but they are more aware of their body and will not do something if it hurts , well, that's if they have any sense! So I guess that keeps me and Physios in business then...just send them along when you've hurt their backs in your class....
Oohh, shes ranting again.....!!