I had a very interesting experience this morning while running through some Pilates.

I have taken some time away from training over the last year or so to focus on other things and have just recently started again. I could feel myself getting stiffer and losing a lot of my former fitness. I remember when I first started learning Pilates, almost eight years ago now, and how stiff I was in my legs, hips and back. The Roll Up was a real struggle! Each time I rolled up I felt like I hit a wall as far as my flexibility was concerned, i was very excited when I could touch my toes:) It took a long time for me to make gains in my flexibility.

When I began training again recently, I was pretty much as stiff as I was when I first started. What was interesting though, and I thought worth sharing, is that it has only taken me a couple of sessions to regain about 80% of the flexibility that it took me years to gain the first time. There are probably various physiological reasons for this, but what I found most interesting was my thinking. When I first started, I ‘knew’ that I wasn’t flexible, that I couldn’t move very freely. It was like the my mind also hit a wall when thinking about moving beyond where I could already, I had trouble picturing it. But this time around, I remembered what it felt like when I could move further. This time I ‘knew’ that my stiffness was temporary.

What came as a bit of a shock to me was that I realised when I first started training, I actually hated my body for being so stiff, weak and uncoordinated, whereas now I don’t. I know that my body can do so much more if I just give it the right attention. I actually loved the feeling of moving and wasn’t at all put off when I hit those strength and flexibility walls. Instead of frustrations they felt more like challenges, and I was working with my body instead of fighting it, and hating it for all it’s flaws.

So my thought was that despite all of the physical reasons for how we can best gain strength and flexibility. Perhaps enjoying our bodies and their movements are the best foundation on which to build true health. After this occurred to me, I started listening more to what people were saying when they spoke about fitness, about going to the gym etc. The words ‘punish’ and ‘kill’ and ‘die’ are disturbingly common. There seems to be a common view that we have to fight our bodies to make them healthy, but surely that thinking in itself is unhealthy. Improving your health and fitness should be a rewarding journey, not a battle.

I’d love to read your comments on this.

Yesterday I attended the Continuing Professional Education (CPE)seminar for Romana’s Pilates teachers held in Sydney.  The venue was great, we spent the day at the Bangarra Dance Theatre right down on the harbour.  I arrived at 7am and even though I have seen it many times before, I have to say it was a pretty impressive sight walking around the harbour, looking at the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge as the sun was rising.  I had to snap a couple of shots. 

The day itself was just what I needed.  Reconnecting with other teachers and having the opportunity to watching some very strong and flexible people doing their thing!  We were lucky enough to have Juanita Lopez there for the day.  Juanita is a Level 1 Pilates Teacher Trainer based in Chicago.  This is the second time that I have been to a seminar taught by her.  I thoroughly enjoy the way she is able to effortlessly combine her instruction on how to teach with advice on how to maintain your our personal health, fitness and enjoyment of Pilates as a teacher.   

The seminar was hosted by the Pilates Method Studio in Surry Hills who also put on a fantastic lunch.  The day was sunny and gorgeous and we all sat out on the pier watching groups of people walking over the top of the Harbour Bridge, jelly fish in the water and all the lovely yachts, ferries and other ships sailing by. 

During the day I was flipping back through my notes of past seminars.  I found it interesting to notice that each time I go to a CPE seminar I take less notes but seem to learn more.  When I first started teaching I remember  hearing my teachers talk about how important it is to understand an exercise in your own body to be able to effectively teach it.  I also heard more experienced teachers say that until you had been teaching for at least 5-10 years you were still a baby in terms of your understanding.  I have just reached the 5 year mark, and I have to say, I am just starting to understand how clever and truthful both those statements are:)  The Pilates Method is a form of physical exercise that requires a great depth of understanding.  The more you understand the movements through your own experience, the better equipped you are to help others, and the more fun you will have at pilates parties!

I bought myself a copy of The Pilates Body (by Brooke Siler) quite early on in my Pilates study.  I have found it to be an invaluable resource.  There are a lot of books on Pilates out there at the moment, but I haven’t seen any that compare to this one for quality, content and practical application.  The Pilates Body begins with clear, useful information about the Pilates Method and its principles.  The exercise lay out is clear, easy to follow and successfully delivers quality Pilates. 

The Pilates Body covers the entire Mat work series.  It caters for complete beginners through to advanced level practitioners.  Each exercise is presented with clear written instructions and easy to follow pictures.  The exercise models are in very good shape, are very good at Pilates and offer a wonderful example of how each exercise should be performed.  My favourite part of the book is the fantastic little cartoon pictures in the top corner of each page, giving you tips on how to imagine what you should be feeling while performing each exercise.  Those little pictures helped me so much with my own workouts, and also gave me a lot of ideas I could pass on to my clients when trying to explain exercises.  A good visual image of what you are trying to achieve, that engages your imagination, makes your workouts more effective and a lot more fun.

The Pilates Body is a resource that you will refer back to again and again and I have found that the better I get, the more I get out o this book.  I highly recommend this book to anyone who is teaching Pilates, taking classes, thinking about taking classes or doing it by themselves at home.

You can buy a copy of The Pilates Body from Amazon (click on the link below) or your should be able to pick one up in any good book store.    

The Pilates Body: The Ultimate At-Home Guide to Strengthening, Lengthening, and Toning Your Body–Without Machines

Consistency with exercise is the only way to ensure you get good results and the only way to make those results last.  Unfortunately for most of us, consistency is also the hardest thign to maintain wen it comes to exercise.  I have certainly struggled with this over time.  There are 3 simple tools that I use to help me stay consistent with my workouts.

Breathing is a fundamental of the Pilates Method.  Unfortunately, the breathing also seems to be one of the things that many people find the hardest to do well when they workout.  Does any of this sound familiar to you?

• When you concentrate on the movements you stop breathing
• If you think about your breathing you stop moving
• You have trouble coordinating your breathing with the exercises
• You can’t pull your powerhouse in and breathe

When I start working with people for the first time I tend not to focus too much on their breathing.  This is how I was taught, and through experience, I have seen this approach work very well.  One reason for this is that you will eventually remember to breathe.  I haven’t seen anyone pass out because they were thinking about their powerhouse so much they forgot to breath.  I have, however, had people think so much about their breathing that they completely forget about their powerhouse!  Another reason is that when you are worried about your breathing you stop thinking about everything else.  That is why focusing on the breathe is a tool used in meditation.  So if the breathing is one of many things that you are struggling with, drop it in the beginning.  Focus on your powerhouse, then pick up your breathing.   
 
When you first start learning to move your body with control and precision, thinking too much about your breathing can get in the way.  But once you have started to gain control, using your breathing will lift your workouts to a high level of beautifully balanced, functional control, that will feel free and strong.  
 
When you first start working with the Pilates Method, I highly recommend that you don’t worry too much about your breathing.  When you start to get comfortable with the movements you can then start paying attention to what feels natural.  You will start to feel a rhythm to the way your body is moving and when it feels right to inhale and exhale throughout the exercises. 
 
The next step you will find useful is to pay attention to the dead spots.  Be aware of all the places in your movements where you stop breathing and are holding your breath.  Try to get rid of them.
 
Once you can comfortably be aware of your breathing and keep moving, there are a couple of general principles that will help.

1. Breath in and out through your nose. 

A great anecdote I once heard from Romana Kryzanowska was that Joseph Pilates used to say the nose was for breathing and the mouth was for eating and kissing!  Your nose is for breathing, and being able to maintain exercise without opening your mouth is an indicator of your fitness level.  The better your stamina, the more workload your body can sustain without needing to gasp for air.

2. Inhale at the point of exertion
 
This can be a tricky one to understand in terms of practical application.  Often it may feel like the wrong thing to do.  But you will find that as you move through the Pilates Method and your strength, flexibility and control improve, what felt like the point of exertion to begin with will change.  This is something that I suggest you play with.  Just remember that your breathing should flow with the exercises.
 
3. Exhale when your chest contracts, inhale when your chest expands.
 
The movement of the rib cage will effect how much air you can get into, and out of your lungs.  The movements of Pilates are designed to assist the functionality of the body, so when you roll forward, exhale, when you lift up tall, inhale.  Allow the flow of air in and out of your lungs to correspond with the natural movement of your body.
 
 
In your everyday activities, just remember that when you are slouching you can’t breath well.  Sitting tall with an open chest allows a good flow of oxygen through your body, and will help with your levels of vitality.
 
So take a deep breath, smile, and breathe again!

This exercise is brilliant.  It works your abdominal muscles, your breathing, your co-ordination, your back and leg strength and your upper back flexibility.  It engages your whole body, and when done correctly is good for your whole body.  If you aren’t familiar with The Hundred click here for some pictures and a description on how to perform the exercise.

The ideal position for The Hundred is to start with your body completely flat on the floor, then raise your legs 2 inches off the ground and lift your head so you are looking at your toes, keeping your back flat on the ground
 
There are a couple of ways to approach The Hundred.  In his book, Joseph Pilates says to begin, in the ideal position, with 20 movements and gradually increase this until you can do 100 movements.  I was taught to start with the full 100 movements but to modify the position with those who lacked the strength for that ideal position, or carried injuries.  I think there is benefit in both approaches, and unless you have an injury it is good to try both.  If you are doing a modified version of the exercise it can be very easy to get comfortable with it and not challenge yourself to improve when you should.
 
Today, the usual approach to The Hundred is to your head up and you legs straight in the air, held at or above a 45 degree angle.  If you have any kind of injury, if you lack strength, or if you are very stiff, you may have various modifications.  The most common ones are bending the legs bent and/or keeping the head down. 
 
There are many tips that will help you improve your position and I recommend you take a look at the section on The Hundred in my ebook on the Basic Pilates Mat for those.  But there is one thing that will help you improve the results you get out of The Hundred every time, regardless of whether you need to modify the exercise or not. 
 
Every single time you perform this exercise, start in the position that is as close to the ideal as you can get.  Every single time you do The Hundred find the position that challenges you the most.  If you usually have bent legs try holding them straight for as long as you can.  If your legs are straight, feel the place where your back arches off the floor and hold your legs just above that point.  If you can’t hold your head up for the whole exercise, start with your head off the ground and hold it there as long as you can.  Every time you put yourself in The Hundred position, look for the most challenging position.  If you stay there for as long as you can and only modify it if you need to you will find your strength improves rapidly.

A friend of mine went to a Pilates class at a gym the other day and had the interesting experience of being told, a fair way into the class, that she could ‘attempt the Hundred if she wanted to’.  I wanted to write about this because her experience is not uncommon.  There seem to be a lot of Pilates Instructors out there, and consequently a lot of their clients, who are under the impression that a person has to build up to being able to do the Hundred.  If you are being taught this way, or doing workouts yourself this way, you are being seriously cheated out of the great experience that Pilates can offer. 
 
In the Pilates Method the Hundred is an exercise that is done right out of the gate, you don’t mess around, you get straight into it.  In the Mat work it is the first exercise, in the Reformer it is second, right after the footwork series.  The Hundred is such a brilliant exercise for helping you get centered and bringing your focus into your body. 
 
You have to concentrate on your breathing, which is fundamental to any good workout, wake up your abdominal muscles, which is fundamental to any good Pilates workout, and co-ordinate your breathing with your body movements, which is fundamental to good health.
 
A lot of people aren’t strong enough to hold the full position for long, or even at all in the beginning, but that is no reason to not start with it!  There are several very simple modifications that you can do which means the Hundred can be done safely but still makes you work.  You can even do this exercise with your head and feet on the ground!  It has been my experience that most of us underestimate what our bodies are capable of.  This doesn’t mean that we should all go out and try doing back flips (I definitely don’t recommend that), but your body has to be challenged if it is going to improve.  It’s as simple as that.  The Hundred is one of the initial exercises that sets the rhythm for the rest of your workout, so move, breath and enjoy it!
 
Pilates is about strength and freedom of movement, developing grace, control and true health and fitness.  Don’t let yourself miss out on that!  So if you are already enjoying the benefits of starting your workouts with the Hundred good for you, and if you aren’t, ask yourself or your teacher why!

When I first moved to Tasmania I went along to a Pilates class at a gym.  The guy teaching the class told us during The Hundred that we should aim to engage our deep core muscles but keep the surface abdominals relaxed.  I was horrified!  If you are doing The Hundred well it isn’t possible to do that, and even if it was, why would you want to?  The Hundred is an exercise that strengthens your abs, so why leave half of them out?
 

Many Pilates instructors today have become distracted by the idea of ‘isolation’, with some so focused on the idea that Pilates strengthens the core muscles they have forgotten what it should be doing for the rest of the body!  They are teaching people, and being trained to teach people, to try and engage just one muscle, or group of muscles, and no others.  ‘Isolation’ is only a great tool to use if you understand that your body’s muscles never function in isolation. 
 
The fundamental approach of body movement that I learnt is that the weak muscles are isolated and made stronger in Pilates because you pay close attention to the whole movement of your body.  When you achieve a full engagement of all your muscles, making sure your position is square and your movements are even and controlled, your weaker muscles will have to learn to pull their weight.  The core muscles are strengthened so well because they are the centre and support of all the movements.  That is how muscles are isolated and made stronger through Pilates.  If you train your body by trying to engage just one part and nothing else you are not training it to function as a whole, which is what you need it to do for everything else in your life.    
 

When I was first training to be a Pilates Instructor, whenever my teacher was asked what a particular exercise was good for, she would often reply that it was ‘good for the whole body’.  Pilates is for the whole body. 
 

If you are persistent with this approach to working out, you will transform your workouts from something ordinary into real body changing experiences.  Using this one simple key you will be able to change your body fast, improve your posture, increase your muscle tone and experience the dramatic changes that Pilates is famous for.

Pink Sneaker Shoes

Since my little girl Evie has started walking I have been looking around for some shoes that will protect her feet and allow the to move.  All that I have learnt as a Pilates instructor has led me to the conclusion that putting children’s feet straight into hard soled shoes isn’t a good idea.  Hard, stiff soled shoes don’t allow the muscles of children’s feet to develop well and I feel it is most likely contributing to bad postural and movement development.  The feet are made up of many bones and muscles and are designed to move so as to be able to negotiate uneven ground. 

All that said, I am very excited to have found some great little shoes made by a company called Beautiful Soles.  They are basically leather shoes with a soft suede bottom.  I think they are fantastic and a great way to protect children’s feet without hindering their development.  These pink sneakers were my most recent purchase.  All my dealing with them have also been great.  They are very freindly and proffessional which is awesome.

If anyone has any information about shoes for adults along a similar line I would be really interested to hear about it.  Shoes that protect your feet but have really flexible soles.