Back Pain is something that affects way too many people these days! According to the American Chiropractic Association, back pain is the fifth most common reason for all physician visits in the US, and the most frequent cause of activity limitation in people younger than 45 years old.
In fact according to the AMA, 70 to 85 percent of all people have back pain at some time in their life. Yikes, what a staggeringly high number of people, and I suspect that unfortunately, these numbers are probably going up rather than down!
As one of those in this majority, who suffers with congenital back issues, I have spent most of my life actively doing things to help keep my body strong, fit, and flexible. I have discovered over the years, that there are some things my body loves to do, and other things that are guaranteed to cause me grief. And what I have learned is that the more I exercise and stay active, generally, the better my back feels, and the happier and healthier my whole-body is.
Let’s face it, when your body hurts, it’s under stress.  While some muscle tension is good and appropriate to maintain posture and help us move around, overly tight muscles create unnecessary stress and too much tension which unfortunately can lead to back pain. When any of the bones in our body are held too tightly together by muscle contraction, or misalignment, freedom of movement will be restricted and over time, with the inability to enjoy free and easy movement, poor posture and pain can be the result. It’s no secret that stress causes tension…Â
Discover how to reduce neck pain, and back pain with Pilates breathing techniques.
Continue reading ‘Reduce Back Pain: The Benefits of Breathing as Taught in Pilates’ »
Tags: Back Care, Back Pain, Breathing, Breathing Exercises, Breathing Techniques, neck pain, Pilates, Pilates Exercises, Reduce Back Pain
Posted in Articles, Back Pain, Breathing, Exercise and Fitness, Pilates-Teaching Tips, Uncategorized by Aliesa George on August 19th, 2009.
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In my opinion, everyone who is teaching Pilates should have an opinion on this topic! And each of our answers (and the exercises we choose to incorporate into a workout program) might be slightly different. That’s ok, as long as the end result is positive for the client, and enough thought has gone into program development that the Pilates system is being utilized to it’s maximum potential to get great results!
The new teachers who have completed the Centerworks Pilates Teacher-Training Program, occasionally will ask questions, like the ones in this post, as they are faced with the challenge of creating quality Pilates programs. I am always happy to share my perspective and insights with them, to help develop good teachers with great critical thinking skills.
They, in turn, have been kind enough to allow me to post some of their questions and my replies, so that other Pilates teachers and trainers might benefit from hearing my thoughts on working with different clients and issues, and perhaps also practice developing great critical thinking skills to create the best Pilates workout programs possible.
I hope you find my thoughts and information below helpful to continue developing your skills as a well-qualified Pilates professional!
Continue reading ‘Developing a Workout Program for a Pilates Client with a High Hip and Short Leg’ »
Tags: Pilates Exercise Plan, Pilates Workout Program Design, Pilates-Teaching Tips
Posted in Pilates, Pilates-Teaching Tips, Uncategorized by Aliesa George on July 13th, 2009.
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“I have a question about a client with Attention Deficit Disorder, ADD. She takes medication for it and sometimes it works better than others. I try to minimize distractions in and around the studio and I try to be very clear with my queing.  Is there something I could be doing to focus her? Your thoughts on that would be very helpful.” — Susan
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Great question! Personally, I haven’t worked with a client who’s told me she’s ADD and on meds, but I’ve had numerous clients with distraction issues – whether it’s from chronic pain, emotional, work-related, or they just have that personality of wanting to be doing anything but exercise!
In my experience, doing a consistent Pilates program should help improve her focus over time, but there are definitely some things you can do to assist.
Continue reading ‘Teaching Pilates To Clients with Attention Deficit Disorder’ »
Tags: Attention Deficit Disorder and Exercise, Pilates Training and ADD, Teaching Pilates
Posted in Exercise and Fitness, Pilates, Pilates-Teaching Tips, Uncategorized by Aliesa George on April 23rd, 2009.
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This Foot Care Question was just submitted to my inbox by Nicole, thought perhaps there are others out there searching for answers on how to alleviate foot problems and curious to know if exercise might help.
“I have some problems with my feet. Hyper mobile forefoot and hypo mobile mid-foot with some posterior tibular tendonitis.”
“I was wondering if there are foot care exercises I could do to help?”
Thanks for your question about exercises for your feet. It is impossible for me to give you specific exercises that I think would be beneficial without actually having a chance to see you, work with you, and evaluate your feet.
Based on your comments about the problem, I do have some thoughts about what I would look for, and I am confident that yes, there probably are some specific foot fitness exercises that you could do to help improve your feet.
Continue reading ‘I Have Foot Problems – Are There Foot Exercises that Can Help?’ »
Tags: Foot Exercise, Foot Fitness, foot problems, Pilates, Pilates training program
Posted in Exercise and Fitness, Foot Care Tips, Pilates-Teaching Tips, Uncategorized by Aliesa George on April 17th, 2009.
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Designing safe and effective Pilates training programs that are client-specific, goal-oriented, and help improve whole-body health is the primary function of a great Pilates teacher. You can know lots of good exercises, but it’s the subtle changes, adaptations, or order for workout sequence that help your clients get the results they are looking for from their Pilates program.
The Pilates program outlined here was designed by an Apprentice Teacher and is being used as an example for a critique on designing effective Pilates programs.
This blog posting is meant to assist Pilates teachers, and especially new Pilates trainers with assistance in thoughtful and safe exercise selection to design safe and effective workout programs. I do not recommend that you precisely follow this program, but analyze the program and my comments and suggestions – then use this information to help develop your critical thinking skills, make good exercise choices, and design great Pilates programs for your clients.
As a more-experienced teacher, I enjoy helping the students in my teacher-training program develop their critical thinking skills. It thought there may be other new teachers out there who would find this information useful.
Continue reading ‘Beginner Pilates Program Design – No Neck Flexion’ »
Tags: Pilates Teacher Education, Pilates Workout, Pilates Workout Program Design, Pilates-Teaching Tips
Posted in Pilates-Teaching Tips, Uncategorized by Aliesa George on April 14th, 2009.
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