Pilate On

I’m hosting a Pilates Party, much like an Open House, on September 10th to welcome my new Pilates Reformers, and you.  Come and try a free class, watch a demo and pop a party balloon for your chance to win a free five class pass. I’ll also be more than happy to answer any questions you have about Yoga, Pilates or Fitness.

Plus… its a party, so I promise some lovely non alcoholic bubbly, or lemon water, and a healthy indulgence of my favourite treat, but you’ll have to come to see what it is.

Space is limited to five for the free classes, so do let me know via email sarah@loewenbehold.ca, or phone (250)733-0763 if you would like a spot.

Saturday, September 10th, 2011

2838 Gregory Road, Shawnigan Lake, BC

Free Sampler Classes (30 minutes each)

Pilates Reformer – 10 AM and 2 PM

Pilates ARC, and Small Apparatus 11 AM and 3PM

Reformer Demonstration – 10:30 AM and 2:30 PM

Check out my ad in the Shawnigan Times:

Loewen Behold – August 28 _78-1

Pilate on!

The first time I walked into a studio full of Pilates equipment, I was afraid. One look at all the racks, ropes and springs and I was quite sure I had walked into entirely the wrong place.  I had no idea it would change my life.

I’m not a fan of acres of expensive equipment, preferring simple outdoor putsuits, and I don’t like anything with a guru type of focus, so it still surprises me that I love Pilates as much as I do, but its because it works. Initially designed for patients in hospital beds. Pilates exercises focus on strengthening the core, the abs and back in a way no other exercise does. The full body functional movements are all about quality, not quantity, and the results are profound.  Atheletes and the average Joe (Pilates inventor – Joe Pilates) can benefit from Pilates.

For more on the benefits of Pilates, and how it was developed, please check out Balanced Body’s About Pilates Page.

You can practice Pilates Matwork in the comfort of your own living room, but I have to tell you that I am so jazzed about working on the Reformer that I recently purchased five of them. I am super stoked to be offering Reformer classes in my very own funky studio this fall.

I’ll be posting my schedule here on my website, but by all means if you’d like to know more send me an email at sarah@loewenbehold.ca

Pilate On!   Classes start the week of September 6th.

I looove fitness toys. At least the ones that work. I figure whatever gets you moving, from boot camp to belly dancing, is a good thing. They add variety, as well as an element of fun, and can also make movements more functional in terms of improving our ability to do every day things.

At the same time, I have seen all too many exercises bikes functioning as clothes hangers. And let’s face it pretty much every garage sale on the planet features some sort of near-new-all too-fabulous, and often ineffective exercise device. How many Thighmasters can there be?

I sometimes look around the gym and add up the environmental impact of all the equipment and activity. A huge hunk of metal and paint for every body part. Fans blasting and TV’s blaring over the sounds of the treadmills humming. I often can’t help but wonder if there is a better way.

My new mini studio (formerly my garage) has forced me to be creative in a small space, and so I was thrilled to discover the Mini Stability Ball by STOTT Pilates.  My new participants are loving them.  Okay I think they are hating them, but because they are working so hard.  Its the ultimate love hate relationship.

For only $10 bucks and almost no space, you can have your own dymanite abdominal training tool. Its not quite as versatile as a full sized stability ball, but is easier to use. I highly recommend it – small, cheap and amazingly effective.

If you want more on how to use it, just ask!

Why waste time doing endless crunches in multiple directions, when you can target all of your abs and back muscles with this one exercise? The plank is one of my favourite abdominal exercises, because its effective, time efficient can be done anywhere, even in my office or at the end of a run.

Harlie demonstrates.

Be sure your elbows are directly underneath your shoulders and try to keep your shoulders away from your ears. Maintain neutral neck alignment. Keep pulled up out of your shoulders, place your weight above your knees, and without sticking you bum up in the air, or letting it drop, lift the hips.

This exercise can be done from the three levels shown; but it is essential the body remain level like a blank and that the hips are in line. If you feel the hips and back sagging even an iota, come down, adjust and do the slightly easier level. Remember to breathe, and try holding for a minute. Once you can do 3 times one minute, progress to the next level.

Once you can do all levels easily, talk to me. There’s more!

Level 2

Level 3

There are so many reasons why I am such a fan of this exercise, the Dead Bug.  It works every layer of your abdominal musculature in a way that helps protect and support your back, and doesn’t strain your neck.  It’s forms the foundation of many Pilates movements, so mastering the Dead Bug is the key to great abs.

You need to start in neutral spine and then one at a time lift your legs, maintaining a 90 degree angle at your knee, so you’re feet don’t drop, as shown above.

Sounds easy, right?  The tricky part is maintaining your spine in the neutral position without flattening your back. You must contract the deepest layer of your abdominals inward, a sort of sucking the belly button in and up feeling. You can make the exercise less challenging by bringing the knees closer to your chest, and significantly more difficult by taking your knees further way, BUT if, as you move your knees away, you feel your belly button lifting, you have gone too far. The key is to find the position where you have to work to hold, but you can maintain for a minute or more.

Its harder than it looks.  You can test your ability to hold neutral by placing a partially filled blood pressure cuff under the small of your back and then watching to see if the arrow moves.  This gives you great immediate feedback about your ability to hold the position using your abs, and is a really great way to increase your motivation.  It’s surprising how tough this really is.

Once you’ve mastered the basic movement, you can add variations, which include lowering one leg, or taking both arms over your shoulder and then slowly lowering one or both overhead without letting your rib cage move.   And if you’re looking for a myriad of ways to increase the challenge, you’re ready for Pilates.  Just ask…

There are many variations and levels of the Dead Bug.  This one begins with both feet flat on the floor, abs in neutral. Maintain the 90 degree angle at the knee and lift one leg, then the other. One at a time return legs to the starting position, and continue cycling this movement while maintaining neutral spine.

If you don’t have a blood pressure cuff, you can check your ability to hold your abs by using your hands.  Take the fingertips of both hands, push them into your belly button so the back of both hands are touching and then move them 3 – 4 inches out from your midline.  Ensure you truly use the tips of the fingers, and maintain enough pressure you can feel tension in your ab muscles.

The key is to try and keep the tension symmetrical and even throughout the cycling leg movements, again easier said than done.  This version is a little easier than the pure dead bug, and is a great way to build strength for the upcoming more challenging variations.

A blood pressure cuff can be an excellent way to test your abdominal strength as it provides excellent feedback on your ability to keep your abdominals engaged.  If you’d like to know how,  just ask.

Maintaing a neutral spine is truly the foundation of every other strength training exercise. The basic premise is to maintain your natural neutral lower back curve, while contracting the abdominals inwards, as this is the safest and strongest position for your low back.

To find neutral begin by lying on your back with knees bent. Roll your belly button up towards the ceiling and feel your low back curve get larger, then contract your tummy muscles and flatten your low back into the floor. Now rock back and forth a few times until you can find a comfortable place somewhere in between.

From here contract your abdominals inward toward your spine without flattening your back, sort of like the sensation of sucking in your stomach, but be sure not to hold your breath.  You are now engaging the deepest layer of your abdominal wall, which acts like a built in support belt for your spine. Its from this position with abdominal muscles pulling in, that you should initiate all other exercises.

Performing this inward contraction will build your muscles functionally to assist in the activities of daily life.  When, you’re lifting groceries, kids, or participating in your favourite work out, think abs in and up – neutral spine. 

More on how to challenge your abs in this position coming up.

Positioning the spine and neck correctly is an essential foundation for Pilates, as well as most weight training exercises, and can be a great way to avoid neck pain through improving posture.

The idea is to glide (rather than tuck) your chin in, while at the same time lengthening the back of your neck.   Sometimes it helps to place your thumbs on the base of your skull and gently pull up. You will feel your neck lengthen and your chin move in slightly, but be careful it is somewhat subtle, not as extreme as I show here.

Also avoid the chin jutting up syndrome demonstrated above.  While this looks a bit silly lying down, people often do sits-up with their neck in this position, craning to lift themselves up, eyes on the ceiling. Take the time to position your head and neck into neutral first, and then hold throughout the exercise.

To improve posture practice the chin glide, back of the neck lengthen movement while lying down and standing up, and even more challenging, several times a day – like while sitting in front of the computer right now. 

That’s my word for New Year’s Fitness gimmicks and fads, and it best expresses my feelings about said gimmicks and fads when the vowels are drawn out making it sound a lot like giiiiiiifaaaaaaw. 

I go crazy at this time of year when even my closest friends, who have been subject to my endless rants about how to achieve true lifelong health and fitness, still feel irresistibly compelled to purchase some trendy piece of fitness equipment destined to become a very expensive clothes rack, or worse yet start some ‘special’ three month fast guaranteed to take off pounds fast.

So I ask myself why, and maybe you can help me, but I think like pretty much every thing in our society we want the quick fix now, especially if we can buy it.  Peter Senge, writes about sustainable change in his recent book The Necessary Revolution.   He talks about how our addiction to short term easy fast fixes often keeps us from dealing with the deeper cause of a problem or issue, but that truly sustainable change only comes from dealing with the fundamental root issue which usually requires more initial effort, hence, we avoid it.

Yes… every year on January 1st, millions of us embark on countless new diets.  We purchase reams of useless and bizarre exercise devices (for lack of a better word), and we allow ourselves to be talked into gym memberships, signing contracts in our moment of weakness, binding us to monthly dues for years to come.  Yes, we spend billions and billions on quick fixes, which ultimately don’t work.

There really is another way, but it means we need to look at how we live our lives each day and commit to making healthy change.  The good news is this method endures.  Its effects are viral, touching all aspects of our lives and those around us positively, and it costs far less than all those listed above. 

This year I am dedicating this blog to providing you with information, gleaned from my twenty year career as a fitness professional, and hopefully inspiration, to assist you in creating long term effective, sustainable health and fitness changes in your own life.  Remember though, you won’t find any giiiiifaaaw here.

Here’s to real change in 2010!