We are only limited by our imagination when it comes to modifying exercises to challenge the body.  When I teach Pilates I do not add “toys” to distract from the work, but to enhance the understanding of how to tweak the body and improve Pilates technique.

When using a foam roller, magic circle or any other prop the goal is to find, feel and fine-tune muscle activation for better stabilization or movement so that when you get back to doing the “traditional” exercise without the prop you will be able to do it even better with all the right muscles working!

I thought it would be fun to see how many different ways I could find to use the Foam Roller for the Pilates Mat Roll Up exercise.  I have one or two ways I always use it when I teach a Roller-themed Mat class, but was confident that there were probably a lot of other ways it could be used.  So I grabbed my roller and a piece of paper and plopped myself down on the mat to play.  With about 5 minutes of thought, and about thirty repetitions (it was a nice Ab workout!)  I came up with 10 different ways to use the Foam Roller for the Roll Up. 

If you’re looking for FUN, variety and a new challenge, here are some tips so that you can use a prop with a purpose.  Use these techniques to get a great Pilates Roll Up… Try these 10 Foam Roller Fitness strategies, and let me know what you think!

Exercise Variations:  10 Foam Roller Fitness Strategies for the Pilates Roll Up in Mat Class

1. Between the Hands #1 – Hold onto the middle of the Foam Roller firmly with both hands.   The roller will “stand” on end in the start and finish position with the arms overhead.  (This will limit the range of motion for the arms and shoulders as the arms go overhead, because the end of the roller will hit the ground.)  Lift the arms up and reach the roller (held vertically) to the toes.  Roll back and as the arms reach overhead.
2. Between the Hands #2 – Hold onto the ends of the Foam Roller for a wide grip to change the stretch for the arms and shoulders.  As you roll up, roll the Foam Roller along the legs twirling from your fingertips to reach out to your toes, if you can, roll it over your flexed feet for a nice stretch, before rolling it along the thighs to return to the mat.
3. Between the Inner Thighs – Place the Foam Roller on its end, so it’s held vertically in space, and squeeze the inner thighs against it to hold it in place.  This will limit the range of motion as you roll up, so Roll Up until your head touches the roller, then roll back down.
4. Between the Inner Thighs And Reaching to the Feet – Same as #3 above, but when you’ve come up to the roller, pick it up with your hands and reach it to your toes, as you roll backwards, place it between your inner thighs and squeeze, then finish rolling back to the mat.
5. Between the Ankles – Place the Foam Roller on its end and squeeze from the inner thighs to the ankles to hold it vertically in space.  Roll up and reach the arms past the roller, roll back and continue to squeeze the ankles against the roller, being sure the inner thighs are squeezing and the feet and Foam Roller stay firmly planted on the mat.
6. Between the Feet – Place the ends of the Foam Roller between the feet.  This will put you in a wider “straddle” stance for the exercise.  Keeping the legs on the mat, and the Foam Roller held firmly between the feet, execute the Roll Up exercise.
7. Lying Supine – Lay on the Foam Roller with the full length of your spine against the roller.  Legs straight and together if you can maintain balance.  Legs apart and knees bent if you need help with balance and control, or find it difficult to keep the low back against the roller.  Do the Roll Up without falling off the roller! (this can be a wonderful prep exercise for the full Teaser on the Reformer – when the legs drop below the body, and you still have to get the back down to roll up.)
8. Under the Heels – With the legs extended out straight and together, place the Foam Roller under your heels.  Without locking the knees, keep the legs firmly pressing down against the roller.  Do the full Roll Up exercise.  (The heels on the roller will have your feet 2-3 inches off the mat for the entire exercise.  The trick is holding them still here, not lifting and lowering the legs from the roller.)
9. Behind the Knees – This makes the exercise a little easier; if you’re low back muscles are tight.  Allow the knees to stay bent and gently against the Foam Roller as you roll up.  Once you’re up, sitting on your butt, straighten the knees to reach to the toes (calves and feet will be up off the mat.)  Bend the knees to put the feet back on the floor, then roll backwards to the start position.
10. Behind the Upper Back – This will give you the opportunity for some thoracic extension as the arms reach overhead (similar to the Arm Reach over the Barrel Exercise.)  Place the Foam Roller horizontally across your Mat somewhere in the mid to upper back – the bottom of the shoulder blades can be a good starting point.  As the arms reach over head, allow the upper back to “back bend” over the Foam Roller, lift the arms, curl the head  and shoulders up, and Roll Up to reach for your toes.  Roll back and backbend over the Foam Roller to reach the arms overhead in the starting position.

Would I do all of these in one workout?  Heaven’s NO!!!  Pick one of these ten options and play with it for a day, or a week’s worth of training, then pick another variation and try it.  Heck if you only used one version a month – you’ve now got almost a year’s worth of ideas to challenge your Pilates Roll Up exercise and we’re only playing with ONE toy!

Some of these Foam Roller Fitness variations will make the Roll Up exercise easier, and some variations might make the exercise more difficult.  Enjoy a challenge for your Abs, your arms & shoulders, legs, hips, thighs, and feet, depending on which variation you choose.

I would love to hear from you after you’ve played with your Foam Roller and experienced these fun Foam Roller Fitness variations for your Pilates Roll Up.

• Which of these 10 versions makes it easiest for you to do a good Roll Up?
• Which version gives you the biggest challenge?
• Which one do you LOVE the most?

Don’t have a Foam Roller Yet?  Click here to Get ONE NOW…

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Looking for more Ideas to Incorporate the Foam Roller Fitness into Your Workouts?

Join Aliesa for these two upcoming online workshops!

• Foam Roller Fitness –Exercises Tips & Core Training Techniques, May 29^th, 2013 at 8-10pm CST
• Pilates Teachers TELE-CHAT: Foam Roller Training for Pilates Pros, June 5^th at 8-10pm CST 

Click Here To Get Details and Register NOW

The post Foam Roller Fitness: 10 Fun Ways to Use a Foam Roller for Your Roll Up Exercise in Pilates Matwork appeared first on Centerworks.

Awareness is such a cool thing!  We all know the world is a little warped when it comes to looking at physical beauty.   Our perception on beauty and perspective needs a serious mind shift.

Models in magazines are itty-bitty, making us regular-sized gals feel like the curves that we’ve got or the “meat on our bones” makes us ugly and gives us the perception that we’re “fat.”   Or worse, that without breast implants, Botox, or other beautifying surgeries to change how we look, we’re not pretty.

Maybe we were teased growing up about our freckles, dimples, color of our hair, how our legs looked….
I can remember in Junior High having to scoot around in the lunchroom because one of the popular boys was always making comments  about my butt!

What we see in ourselves and what others see in us is sometimes is quite different.  I recently wrote an article about Features vs. Flaws.  Take a moment and think about what you see when you look at yourself?

• Do you see the things in yourself that make up your beauty?
  (Features – Physical, Mental, Emotional, Spiritual)
• Or only the things that you think are “wrong” with you?
  (Flaws)

Shift Your Perspective to See Your Beauty

As a fun exercise to become more aware of your perspective about your body and what makes you beautiful, unique and special on the inside and out,  find a friend and take a few minutes to each write down on a piece of paper what you “see” when you look at yourself.  Then have your friend describe how they “see” you and write down on a separate piece of paper what they have to say about the beautiful qualities that make up YOU.   Swap and share with your friend what you “see” in them.   Compare the notes on what your perspective is, and what theirs is about you to see if you’ve got a warped perspective, or your personal beliefs about your beauty are truly in-line with your beautiful self!

When you discover what others “see” in you that you might not be noticing, it can help shift your mindset and create a healthier perspective for you “see” and believe the beauty of your true self.

Check out this very cool video from Dove, which helps to illustrate this mind shift beautifully!

The post Beauty and Perspective appeared first on Centerworks.

Shakes and smoothies are great, but if all you are drinking is concentrated fruit juices it’s more of a sugar shot than a healthy meal.   And adding a couple of scoops of protein powder to your breads, muffins, or pancakes can be an easy way to pack more protein into an otherwise carb-laden treat.

So how do you find a healthy and tasty protein powder supplement for your shakes and smoothies?

It involves A LOT of label reading, (and a few taste tests!)

Since discovering that I have numerous food allergies, finding a protein powder supplement that isn’t filled with a bunch of ingredients or additives that I can’t eat has been a real challenge.  And if I can find anything that is safe for me, most of the time it ends up tasting like cardboard.  If something doesn’t taste great – why waste time eating it?

I don’t recommend products often, but I’m down to the bottom of my jar of favorite – good tasting, safe and healthy protein powder and thought maybe somebody else out there is looking for options and might want to give this product a try.   It’s vegan, it’s raw, it’s “Gluten-Free”, and it’s a complete protein.  With only 1 gram of sugar and 15 grams of protein I’m a happy girl.  Gluten-free is great, but most gluten-free products are still filled with ingredients my body can’t tolerate!  And since I’m trying to pay closer attention to limiting my sugar intake to avoid a diabetes diagnosis, the protein to sugar ratio on this product is great.

There are 3 flavors available:  Natural, Extreme Vanilla Plus, and Extreme Chocolate Plus.  They all have slightly different nutritional values and ingredients, so the ratio I mentioned might be different depending on the product – read the labels to compare.  I’ve only used the natural, but am thinking I’ll be ordering all three this week so I’ve got choices and can try the other flavors too.

If you’re looking for a little extra, easily digestible protein in your life, give these Warrior Food™ Protein Powders a try.  They might be available at your local health food store (they aren’t in my area) so I’ve included the links below if you’re interested in trying these tasty protein powder supplements.

I’m placing my order NOW – can’t wait until my new flavors arrive…   Have a Healthy & Happy Day!

The post Finding a Healthy AND Tasty Protein Powder Supplement for Your Shakes & Smoothies appeared first on Centerworks.

Whether I’m going to do Pilates equipment work, Pilates Mat work, go out for a walk or run, lift weights, play racquetball…any activity… using a foam roller can be a quick and easy way to ensure you’ve got the right things turned on to support your body and train healthy movement habits.

Of course there are a million fabulous exercises you can do with a Foam Roller, and while it’s not a traditional “Pilates” piece of equipment, it certainly can enhance your Pilates workouts.  If you’re not yet a die-hard Pilates enthusiast, foam roller training can give you a somewhat similar eye-opening experience to see, and feel, just how much more you can be doing with your core to improve balance, support, and control for your body.

3 Benefits of Incorporating Foam Roller Exercises into Your Workouts

1. Exercising on a foam roller helps improve body awareness and proprioception for the deep muscles needed for great spine stabilization and support.
2. You can’t cheat…  You get instant feedback (by losing your balance and falling off the roller) when the right muscles aren’t working to support you.
3. Working on the foam roller as a warm up before Pilates, Yoga, Weight Training, Walking, Running, or other workouts will help deepen the mind-body connection to access muscles for efficient work and release so that you can find and use them more effectively during your more vigorous activities.

This is definitely one fitness toy that I think everyone should have available at home.  Whether you want to use it for a warm-up, a workout, or to relax, massage, and release stress at the end of the day, it’s an easy tool to incorporate into your weekly wellness workouts.

Don’t have a Foam Roller at home, and wanna get one right now so you can play?  Click here to get your Foam Roller NOW.

Interested in learning some of my favorite Foam Roller exercises to improve balance, body alignment, and help strengthen your core for healthy movement habits…  Grab your Foam Roller and join me for the upcoming May Webinar – on May 29^th.  Foam Roller Fitness –Exercises Tips & Core Training Strategies for Healthy Movement Habits.

The post 3 Benefits of Using a Foam Roller Warm-Up for Your Workouts appeared first on Centerworks.

The 3 Bears Strategy for Pacing Your Pilates Workouts

How are exercise speed and healthy movement related?  This is an interesting topic of discussion for Pilates training.   What’s the best speed for pacing your Pilates workouts?  What speed should we be executing the exercises in our workout?  Is it good or bad to work slowly?  And is it possible that we might be moving too fast to really get the best benefits from what we’re doing?

Based on my training and understanding of healthy movement habits, our ideal goal is that regardless of the pace or speed of our movement, it should be done with the correct amount of control and coordination using the right muscle groups in the correct sequence for biomechanically correct function.

That sounds long and technical, so the short answer is move with the right muscles working and you’ll stay healthy!  Move at a pace (either too fast or too slow for you to control and use the right muscles) and there’s a good chance that you will recruit other muscle groups that ideally should not be involved in the work, thus training your brain and body to recruit the wrong parts to do the action.  Generally speaking, the body is very forgiving…  we can do things wrong for a very long time and not experience any ill effects.  But sooner or later, there’s a very good chance we can end up with a new ache, pain or injury from these inefficient movement habits.

One of the fabulous reasons to start as a Pilates student “working the system” and utilizing all the Pilates equipment, rather than just doing the Matwork exercises, is the help and support that you get with the assistance of the springs on the Reformer, Chairs and Cadillac.  This “extra” help (or work) depending on the exercise allows you to work at a pace that is natural for your body to figure things out.  You can learn to relax the muscles that need to let-go a little bit more, and activate the ones that need to do the work more easily. As you get stronger and more confident with your new muscle habits, the pace of your movement will naturally begin to pick up.  But because you are conditioned to move slowly, you may need a little extra “cueing” to remind you that it’s OK to move faster!

Regardless of whether you’re working on the Pilates equipment, doing Matwork, or any other type of physical activity paying attention to your pace can significantly change the benefits of what you find, feel and focus on during your workouts.

I’m going to coin a new term and call my Pilates Pacing Plan the “3 Bears Strategy.”  Instead of porridge, “too hot, too cold, or just right,” like in the children’s story, it’s MOVEMENT – “too slow, too fast, or just right.”

From my perspective – the pace of movement for Pilates will be dictated by several important factors:

1. Your level of experience, beginner, intermediate or advanced.
2. Your body awareness and ability to coordinate breathing & movement
3. Your understanding of healthy movement habits, form & function, muscle activation and work & release

Think about it this way, a healthy basic Pilates student who is familiar with the beginner Mat exercises  might need 45 minutes to 1 hour to complete a workout.

An intermediate student will require the same amount of time to complete their Mat workout.  They are doing more exercises in the same amount of time.  In order to accomplish this feat, the speed and pace of their workout has to increase.

At a more experienced level, progress to the Advanced Matwork, and if you’re really blazing trails, you can add in all the advanced exercises AND reduce the amount of time for your workout down to perhaps 30 minutes!

How long does it take to do the Basic Mat exercises, based on Pilates experience?

Here’s how it looks:

• Basic level student = 45 min to 1 hour to complete the basic Mat exercises
• Intermediate student = 20-30 minutes to complete the basic Mat exercises
• Advanced student = 10 minutes to complete the basic Mat exercises

The exercises are the same, what’s changed is the pace.

I think this is a nice thing to keep in mind.  As a teacher it can help you judge the “level” of your students.  Just because they’ve been doing Pilates for 10 years doesn’t automatically make them an “Advanced” level participant.  There are other factors to consider – health status, injuries, limitations, personal goals, body awareness, mind-body connection…  (A 3-5 day a week Pilates student for 10 years will be at a much different place (and pace) than a participant who is only doing 1 day a week of training, and a 2 day a week student will be at a different place too.)

Does Your “Level” Really Matter?

What do you think about this?  Is it important for you to be an “Advanced” level Pilates student?  Does it bother you to think about all the time you’ve invested and you’re still a “beginner?”  Heck there have been days (and years) since I’ve been a Pilates teacher when I know just doing the basics is in the best interest of my body.

Honestly, I don’t care what “level” my clients are at.  What I do care about is how well they are able to execute the exercises in their workouts to obtain the maximum benefits for their personal health improvement.  If that means it’s best for them to stay at a slower pace and just focus on the basics – AMEN, we’re doing great things for their body!  If things are going well, and I see that when I challenge their pace that they can maintain good form – I know it’s safe and appropriate to step it up a notch and move faster.  Perhaps breathing patterns will need to change too as they get more comfortable with moving at a brisker pace through their workouts.  (This starts freeing up time in the workout and allows progression and focus on new goals & exercises.)

Zippy-Skippy Advanced Pilates workouts…  Are for injury-free, healthy bodies with lots of experience!  In my almost 20 years as a Pilates teacher, and in training Pilates teachers – the clients that have come thru my door to learn Pilates and improve their health haven’t been 100% healthy!  While my long-term goal is always to assist them in progressing as far as they can safely go, not everybody should strive to work at an “Advanced” level.  That’s not to say you never learn an “Advanced” move.  But a couple of “Advanced” exercises in your workout doesn’t mean you’re necessarily and “Advanced” student.  Might ruffle a few feathers with this comment, if your views are different, I can respect that.  I prefer to work at a safe and appropriate pace (if that means fewer exercises done extraordinarily well  at a little slower pace– I believe in the long run it’s more conducive to improving health than pushing past your limits, going at breakneck speed and getting injured.)

What Is The BEST Pace for Your Pilates Workouts?

How do you find that sweet-spot…  Not too fast, not too slow, but just right?  Well, it may be a moving target (pun intended!).  As you progress and gain confidence in your skills it should feel natural to move at a brisker pace.  If your movement becomes less precise, sloppy, or out of control when you go faster, your body is not quite able to work at that pace, slow down for a bit, and then work back up to a faster pace.

It’s easier to work at your own pace with Private training because there’s nobody else to “race” against.  And Pilates training isn’t a race-to-the-finish sport anyway.

In group classes, it’s the instructor’s job to find a pace that is appropriate for all participants.  (Optimal if group classes are “leveled” to appropriately challenge clients for both exercises and pacing.)  If there is a wider discrepancy in the level of your group class participants, it is still possible to encourage good pacing.  Your more experienced participants might get in 8-10 reps, while a less experienced student does 3-5.  In my book, this is perfectly fine to keep everybody moving safely.  Cuing that it’s OK to work at your own pace and not worry about the number or reps you get done before we switch exercises is helpful to train participants to listen to their body and move accordingly at an appropriate pace for them today.

Learn your exercises and be aware of what it takes to “do it well” first.  What muscles need to be working, what has to let-go, when should you inhale and exhale to help your movement “ride the breath” as you focus more on speed and pacing?  With this awareness, mind-body connection, and information under your belt it will be easier to pick-up-the-pace, and find the sweet-spot for the speed of your workouts to get your pace “just right.”

Pace Is Important

“Too Slow” and you’re actually making it more difficult to move.  “Too Fast” and you may be using momentum instead of the right muscles (hurling instead of curling on exercises like the Roll Up and Neck Pull in a Pilates Mat class…)  Find that “Just Right” pace and you can enjoy easy, effortless, well-executed movement to maintain strong muscles, mobile joints, and keep your body health and fit.

The post Exercise Speed: Pilates Training – The Value of Pacing Your Pilates Workouts appeared first on Centerworks.

Perspective: How We Look and Feel About Our Body – Men vs. Women

This cartoon came across my Facebook stream last week, and while it’s good for a laugh, it also gets right to the point. This man and women quickly demonstrate the differences between the male and female perspective when it comes to what we think and feel about our bodies.  While this mind-body mindset to evaluate our features and flaws might not ring true for everybody.  I suspect that for the majority this cartoon does a good job of showing where we stand if we took a physical self-appreciation survey.

It’s not right or wrong to view yourself from either perspective, what I’d like for you to contemplate is: Are you aware of (a) which perspective do you view yourself from, Flaws or Features?  And (b) is this view of yourself serving your healthy-highest good as motivation to do what you need to do to take care of your body and maintain excellent whole-body health?

There needs to be some sort of balance between these two extremes.  There are some things we can change about our physical self, and some things that just make us unique and special.  If our view is warped, we can negatively affect our self-worth, and self-sabotage our health efforts because as hard as we try there’s always some BIG flaw that we focus on.  It can be difficult to see past the flaws and celebrate the features.

On the flip side, if what you see when you look at yourself  is not anywhere close to reality, and you don’t see anything that needs improvement there is zero incentive to make any changes in your lifestyle to bring your outer-self to the point that it actually matches the features you see.  By not acknowledging any of your flaws you place yourself at serious risk for health issues, injuries, and even an early death because you’re oblivious to things that really do need to be addressed.

It’s time to give our bodies a break, and embrace who we are, the good, bad and ugly.  Learning to love and accept both our features and our flaws can help us keep our health improvement goals in perspective truly focus on things that we CAN do something about, and learn to embrace the things that are beyond our control.  Sure you can pay someone to give you new features…but with every nip & tuck, there will be something else that stands out that you might think needs to be “fixed.”  What needs to be “fixed” first is how we feel about our self – our Mind-Body Mindset!

A slim and sexy body is great, but it’s not the only thing that defines health and beauty.  A beautiful person is someone who loves themselves regardless of their size, shape, or appearance.  THIS is a healthy attitude, and with the right mindset and appreciation of our physical form, we then are in the right place to begin exercising, and making health improvements and lifestyle changes to help us look and feel even better!

Your perspective matters!   Click here to take a short (7 question) survey on the Mind-Body Mindset: Flaws vs. Features.

The post Features & Flaws: The Mind-Body Mindset appeared first on Centerworks.

The image of Tigger in Winnie the Poo just popped into my mind!

How great does it feel to have a smile on your face, and a little “spring” in your step.  As kids, we run, jump, hop, skip and play!  But as we get older it seems these normal physical activities seem to fade and become distant memories of things we used to do, but aren’t in our vocabulary any longer.  Too many hours sitting behind a desk, poor shoe choices and lack of time spent maintaining the strength and flexibility of our feet, ankles, calves, hamstrings and perhaps whole-body. 

Challenges to our good health that occur as a result of weak feet and poorly supported arches are flat feet, ankles rolled in, or rolled out, heel pain, Achilles tendonitis, plantar fasciitis, and many other foot pain problems.  A factor in whether we’re able to keep our feet healthy and pain-free can be how well we’re using and strengthening the soles of the feet.

Our arches are just that ARCHES, they should be lifted (like a little mouse-house) under the sole of the feet.  When I was a teenager, a big part of why I had foot pain and ankle problems was because my feet were flat.  My arch muscles were weak and poorly developed even though I was running, jumping and doing gymnastics and dance, the muscles of my feet weren’t really doing their job to support me!  I didn’t know how to use my feet…  Fast forward 40 + years, and I now have an ARCH!

Since the arches of our feet are muscles, they are something that can be strengthened, lifted and improved, just like every other part of the body.  If you’re willing to put in a little time and effort you can keep your arches in shape for that lovely little “spring” in your step!

When new Pilates clients get started, a lot of the time they experience foot cramps with all the pointing and flexing we do with the feet during a workout.  For many of these clients, this is something they had issues with before they started; it just becomes more obvious to them as they’re doing their workouts when they have to stop what they’re doing and walk off a “cramp.”

Generally speaking here’s what I notice:

People who have foot cramps typically have stiff ankles and weak feet. (And many also have very tight hamstrings!)  When the foot cramps, all they want to do is relax it.  (And they would be happiest not to ever do any type of exercise or activity that might cause it to cramp again!)

But the problem with the “avoid using it to keep it from cramping” theory is that by never using the muscles along the sole of the foot, the arches will continue to get weaker and the ankles and toes stiffe, which will send you farther in the wrong direction for healthy and happy feet!

We’ve got to use the feet, ankles, arches and toes to strengthen the arches, ankles and toes!

I know this sounds redundant – but it’s the truth.  Your core muscles won’t get stronger without working them, so how do you expect your arches to stay lifted without doing some targeted strengthening for your feet?  Orthotics are a handy crutch for lifted arches from outside your body, and there will be some changes in how the muscles of your feet work with this assistance, but isn’t it better idea to improve your support from the inside by actually strengthening the muscles of your arches so that your own muscle tone helps to keep them lifted!

There are so many great ways you can work on improving the strength and flexibility of your feet!  If you’re healthy and fit; running, hopping, skipping and jumping rope can all be great activities not only for strengthening your feet but you’ll get in some good cardio exercise too.

There are lots of simple exercises in the Fantastic Feet book.  The Terrific Toe Series and all the different variations of Pointing & Flexing the feet can help you start strengthening the soles of your feet without any additional stress or impact.

If you’re a Pilates student – all the Reformer exercises where you point and flex – Footwork, Running, Stomach Massage, and so many other exercises give you the opportunity to be non-weight bearing but work against the resistance of the springs is wonderful!  A great thing to progress to is using the Jump board on the Reformer!  With the Jump board, you can practice your “rebounding” and foot/arch strengthening with a little impact, but not quite as much as full weight-bearing yet.

And if you’re looking for something not quite as intense as jumping/hopping on the floor, a rebounder trampoline can be a nice piece of equipment for home-training to work on footwork and jumping to strengthen your feet.

Some people prefer to teach exercises with a “relaxed foot.”  It’s a choice…  I’m a fan of an active foot!  Whether your feet are pointed or flexed, or perhaps you’re using a monkey toe, prehensile grip with your toes.  To strengthen and lift the arches – active feet will help keep the muscles along the soles of the feet strong, fit, and flexible.

Keep a little spring in your step, and maintain strong, lifted arches by actively training your ankles, arches, and toes during your weekly workouts.  Pick the level of activity that’s appropriate for you to get started, and add a few extra exercises into your workouts to help activate and lift your arches to keep your feet healthy.

The post Put a little “Spring” in Your Step to Strengthen Your Feet appeared first on Centerworks.

For those of you reading this article who are unfamiliar with the term, historically this rod has been surgically implanted along the spinal column to treat scoliosis.  Once you’re spine has been “shored up” with a rod, there is no longer movement at those vertebrae.    For these clients everything that is needed to maintain normal “healthy” movement of the spine and ribs becomes moot.   All the great benefits of Pilates posterior lateral breathing for elongation of the spine to maintain healthy posture has to be re-thought and re-taught because try as you might, the ribcage and spine won’t be moving.  That doesn’t mean the muscles along the spine aren’t active – we still need to maintain good strength and support.  But everything becomes quite different from a cuing, exercise selection and exercise safety standpoint.

This leads me to recall the last experience I had with a Pilates class participant and a fused spine…

Many years ago, I subbed an Intermediate Pilates Mat class at the gym I was working at.  “Assuming” all my students were healthy, because not one of my participants piped up before class when I asked if there was anything I needed to know before we started, I proceeded to teach a moderately paced high intermediate level mat class.  Some of the exercises we did that day included the Advanced One Leg Circle with a Twist, Rolling Like a Ball, Open Leg Rocker, Saw, Rocking Swan, Corkscrew with a twist, Neck Pull, Seal…It was a pretty dang good class!

The next day when I was chatting with the regular instructor, she said, “was Mark in class yesterday?”  (not his real name…)  Since there are never very many men in class, “Mark” was easy to identify!  Yes, he was there.  And then she said, “Isn’t in amazing that he can move so well after his accident.  He broke his back and has a full rod up his spine!”

I was horrified!!!!! Knowing all the exercises he had done in a group class that I would have NEVER had him do if I’d known more about his health history!  Mark survived the experience, and didn’t really want to have “limits” placed on the exercises he should and shouldn’t do.  This is fine if he’s the one making all the decisions, because it will be his own fault if he gets hurt.

But if you’re paying a professional for advice to keep you safe, healthy and injury-free, it can be wise to pay attention and take heed of what you’re being told.  Personally, attending a group mat class would not even be an option if I had a chance to vote.  There are so many better exercises choices that could be made for him, and too many Matwork exercises to modify.

It’s our job as Pilates teachers and health experts to educate you on the ins and outs of making wise exercise choices.  If you actually understand why you’re doing something, or why you need to avoid particular exercises from a safety standpoint, there’s a better chance you’ll be compliant, and learn to listen to and respect your body for better health!

With that said, I’ve also got to say, that if you don’t like the recommendations you’ve been given as guidelines by any health professional, it’s always more than appropriate to seek out a second, third, fourth….as many additional professional opinions as you need to feel confident that the path you’re on is most appropriate for you.

I’ve chosen to share this “scary” story in my own Pilates teaching experience to illustrate a point.  If you have a healthy body, healthy movement involves appropriate sequential articulation thorough the spine from the tailbone to the base of the skull.  By maintaining the appropriate balance between strength and flexibility we can maintain  both healthy movement habits and whole-body health.

But if segments of your spine are fused or you have a rod spanning multiple segments, movement may not be as important as stabilization for your back.  In fact, forcing movement may only cause the segments above and below what’s been fused to become overworked, unstable and lead to the need for additional surgical “shoring up.”  And I’m sure more pain and the need for additional surgeries is NOT the goal of your exercise program.

If you’re a participant in the exercise classes of life and happen to have back pain,  a fusion, disc problems, scoliosis, osteopenia or osteoporosis, a Harrington rod, (or ANY other physical, or medical health condition) PLEASE do not keep this information private.  Your instructors are there to ensure you have a fun, safe and enjoyable experience.  Without the right information we as teachers and health professionals cannot use our expertise to make the best choices for you to leave your class or training session healthier than you arrived!

And if you happen to be a Pilates teacher, Yoga teacher or other fitness professional and find yourself facing a similar situation as I did, but your participants are kind enough to tell you what you need to know before class begins…  If you know you can keep everyone safe – dive in and do your thing!  If you have even a hint of fright, or feel out of your league to handle the situation or know what exercises someone can do safely and which may cause harm, err on the side of caution, and ask them NOT to participate today.  Refer these eager-to-exercise “special-needs” clients to the most appropriate classes, or better yet, encourage one-on-one training with a teacher who has the skills, knowledge and expertise to best meet their needs.  (This person may even be you, just not in a group class situation!)

Personally I would rather disappoint, (and earn the respect) of a client by turning them away from class and referring them to a safer program, or more qualified professional because it’s in their best interest, than risk having them get hurt.

Please take note, this little exercise safety announcement today is not meant to piss anybody off, but is in the interest of ensuring that everyone, regardless of your current health status, has the opportunity to enjoy and embrace improving their health and fitness.  Everyone CAN and should learn to develop healthy movement habits with the right exercises that are most appropriate for you!

Stay Safe, Respect & Listen to Your Body – Be Wise and Be Well.

The post Exercise Safety in Pilates Class and Beyond appeared first on Centerworks.

Have you ever experienced pain somewhere in your body not from an accident or a hard work out, but over time a little ache here, a bigger pain there.  It’s nothing big enough to “worry” about or to make any changes in your lifestyle or exercise program, and then… one day, suddenly it seems you’re incapacitated and unable to keep up the facade that nothing is wrong.

It’s time  to face the fact that there really is something going on that you need to pay attention to, find a solution for and take action to change so you can get your good health back.

I received this question from Wendy about toes and leg pain and thought there might be other folks out there who would be interested in my response.

A Question About Toes and Leg Pain:

“I’m researching, yet not finding much info on how your toes have an impact on your thighs.  Do they??? Because I’ve had leg pain (not foot pain) but just recently noticed my toes are unable to crack when I bend them and I feel like I need to crack them. My thigh pain has been very debilitating.  And I know it’s an odd question, but I’m starting to see a connection between my thighs and my toes.  So could you please tell me if my toes could be causing such stress to my middle half?  Thank you so much.”  Wendy.

Aliesa’s Insights & Answer:

Hi Wendy, I’m sorry to hear that you’ve been struggling with leg pain.  There most definitely can be a connection between what’s happening at your feet with your toes and how it affects your legs.

Toes and leg pain, back and leg pain, hip and shoulder pain, neck and ankle pain, knee and foot pain…  With pain anywhere in our body it can be a chicken or egg dilemma –problems could have started at your feet and the resulting pain (at the moment) is farther up the leg.  Or there may be posture, core support and hip mechanic’s issues that are affecting the legs and working down to the feet.  You are correct in noticing that there is a connection between your feet and your thighs.

I’m going to make a broad, general statement on this subject of addressing body parts that hurt:  In my experience as a Pilates expert, foot fitness and functional movement specialist there is never just ONE thing that needs to be addressed when something in our body hurts.  Multiple factors contribute to our problems, and there will be multiple factors that need to be addressed for a long-lasting solution.

As an example: If your knee hurts and you only do knee exercises, you’re missing out on the important component of how moving your knee relates to your foot and your hip.  The best way to insure whole-body health is to be sure that you’re doing whole-body exercises that don’t just work your parts and pieces individually, but also integrate to develop the relationships between the parts that are required for healthy movement. (This is one of the BIG reasons I’m a fan of Pilates, and incorporating Pilates-principles into all your fitness and daily life movements.)

Posture and alignment changes at your feet and toes can dramatically affect the rest of your body.  How you sit, stand and walk can change based on how well the muscles and bones in your feet are working to support you.  If things are a little “off;”  if you’ve ever experienced a foot, ankle or leg injury; if you know you have a strong dominant side and weaker side; the types of shoes you wear (flip-flops and strapless/backless shoes are only hurting your health) …all of these can affect the health of your toes, feet and whole-body over time.

If you remember that song we sang as kids, Dem Bones… “The toe bone’s connected to the foot bone, the foot bone’s connected to the ankle bone, the ankle bone’s connected to the leg bone, the leg bone’s connected to the knee bone, the knee bone’s connected to the thigh bone, the thigh bone’s connected to the….  And it goes on to connect the bones all the way to the top of our head!

Yes, everything is connected!

Muscles, bones, tendons, ligaments and fascia all play an important role in holding us together.

Back to your question…  It’s not important that you can “crack” your toes.  But what is important is that the mechanics of how you sit, stand and move is looked at closely to see where the muscle imbalances are that need to be “tweaked” for your body to be in better alignment, to find and recruit the right muscles for healthy movement, and to help reduce or eliminate the stress that is being placed on the parts of your body that are currently experiencing pain.

I suspect there are parts of your body both below and above the pain that are affected (and/or are a contributing factor) to why your body hurts.  If your thigh hurts and you choose to ignore the pain hoping it will go away, maybe it will, but there’s a better chance that it’s only going to get worse and in time will affect both your knees and back.  And if all you do is focus on exercises to stretch or strengthen the  “thigh” this still probably won’t address the real issues that need to be taken care of to get to the root of the problem.

The best starting point is to see your doctor to rule out any medical issues that might be contributing to your pain, and get clearance/approval to safely start an exercise program.  If your doctor determines that it’s not a medical issue, but a functional one, getting started with a good coach or mentor and the right training program and exercises to improve your posture and develop better healthy movement habits can be the next step in retraining your body to develop the right healthy movement habits to reduce pain and improving your whole-body health from your toes, to your thighs, to the top of your head.

To keep ALL the parts and pieces of our body working, (and working well together) we’ve got to develop better body awareness, get the right support in the right places, have a good balance of both strength and flexibility, and understand the finer points of form and function for Healthy Movement Habits.

Interested In Improving Your Healthy Movement Habits?

I am offering some exciting new online training programs to mentor clients virtually who can’t make it into the studio to work with me one-on-one, but are serious about making some improvements in their Healthy Movement Habits to transform and align their mind and body for better health.

A limited number of spots are available in my next online program.  If you are interested in more information about this opportunity to work with me via the web, please apply for a complimentary Healthy Movement Habits Discovery Session. This will give us a few minutes to discuss and discover what your biggest challenges are for a healthy, active, pain-free life, and what you can do to get started and take control of your mind, body and movement habits to achieve wellness success.  A limited number of appointments are available to speak with me, and I request that only serious applicants apply.  If you are ready to dramatically improve your health & fitness apply now for your complimentary Discovery Session and we can explore what the best next step is for you to improve your whole-body health.  Click here now to apply by filling out a brief Health Assessment survey.

The post Toes and Leg Pain – Is It Connected? appeared first on Centerworks.

If you have scoliosis, asthma or other physical/health challenges that have contributed to limited lung and rib movement, or a muscle imbalance through the upper back, these conditions can create tension, stress and changes in your posture.  Becoming more conscious of your lungs and practicing one lung breathing can be a great exercise for you to improve posture and reduce stress, tension or pain.

But even if you DON’T have any health challenges, there’s a really great chance that you have one lung that is stronger, or more dominant than the other, and you might not even realize it!  While it might not be a big deal now… Over time, you may accumulate new aches and pains because other muscles in your torso (core, back and shoulders) respond to the breathing imbalance creating a domino effect that can leave you wondering why you now hurt even though you never had an “injury.”

Our posture and muscle habits for balanced body development will only get better if we take action and train the body.  Good breathing habits both stretch AND strengthen our system for better posture and better health.

Here are 3 Easy One Lung Breathing Exercises You Can Practice to Strengthen Your Lungs as You Improve Balance, Posture and Health

Alternate One Lung Breathing with a Partner

One Lung Breathing is best started with a partner.  This extra sensory feeling from your partner can make it easier to feel each side of your lungs and will help you begin to alternate sides. It’s normal for one side to fill easier than the other – however the goal is to develop equal strength and movement on each side while you alternate breathing into each lung.

• Have your partner place their hands on your back ribs; tap on the back ribs with the fingers to indicate which side should fill with air.
• Take 8-10 breaths (or more) alternate filling the right lung and expanding the right side of the ribcage, and filling the left lung and left ribs.
• Switch partners and repeat the exercise.

One Lung Scarf Breathing

• Use a Winter scarf. (Cloth works better than a sweater knit)
• Wrap the scarf around the bottom of the ribcage.
• Hold both ends of the scarf in your right hand, gently pulling the ends to the right front corner.  This will give you leverage to focus on filling the LEFT lung with air.
• Take 3-5, up to 10 deep breaths on this side, then switch and repeat.
• Hold both ends of the scarf with the left hand, gently pulling to the left front corner, to focus on breathing into the RIGHT lung.

Note which side is easier and which side is more challenging.  As needed, repeat on the weaker side to improve it.  Ideally, it should feel the same and be easy to take a deep breath on either side.

One Lung Turtle Breathing

You may find it easiest to practice one lung breathing when you are on your stomach and your back is open to the free space.  Visualize being a turtle and filling one side of your shell with air.

• Take 5-10 or more deep breaths focusing on filling into one side of your “turtle shell” at a time, and alternating sides.

You can practice One Lung Turtle Breathing in any of the following positions:

• Child’s Pose
• Seated in a chair, bent forward with your chest on your thighs
• Draped forward over a Fit Ball
• On your Stomach draped over the Pilates Spine Corrector / Arc Barrel
• On the floor with several pillows under your belly and hips

Finish your one lung breathing exercises with 3-5 deep two lung breaths.  Strive to  feel an equal amount of air filling both lungs at the same time.

By becoming conscious of your dominant and weaker lung for breathing and practicing one lung breathing exercises, you can significantly improve your posture, body alignment and muscle balance for better health to look good and feel great.

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Click to read the other articles in this breathing series:
Better Breathing Habits to Improve Posture and Reduce Pain
Two Simple Breathing Exercises: Improve Posture and Be Well
A Simple Exercise To  Develop Better Breathing Habits with Exercise
Using Percussive Breathing Techniques To Reduce Neck and Back Pain

The post One Lung Breathing: Creating Balance for Better Breathing and Posture Habits to Look Good and Feel Great! appeared first on Centerworks.