education

Who Me? How I Became a Pilates Instructor

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Polestar Educator Cindy Kneiser explains how a new career in Pilates worked for her! Who me? The question came toward the end of a private Pilates session with the instructor that I had been working with for about eight years. We were almost done and I was doing mermaid on the reformer.  I knew she had asked me a question, but it seemed so out of the blue that I couldn’t process it. Thinking I must have heard her incorrectly I asked her to repeat her question. Maybe I did hear her correctly. That is when I asked, “you think I should become a Pilates teacher?” I had been working in technology sales for more than ten years and was getting very bored. My current position was winding down and I hadn’t started looking for anything else. At the same time, I was seeing a career psychologist to help determine what I should do next. Just the same it never dawned on me to leave the corporate world. Then, a personality profile that I had completed with the psychologist showed that I would make a good teacher. Of course, I thought. You don’t work in technology sales without being able to teach clients why the new expensive tech solution is something they need when none of their competitors are spending money on it. But, did that mean I could teach people why Pilates could help them stay strong and flexible while enhancing their ability to do just about any other activity they were interested in doing? Light bulb in a handWeeks passed and I kept going to my two private Pilates sessions every week. My instructor brought it up again. I questioned her about why she thought I would be good. It turned out she was seeing the same things that the personality profile showed. I started to connect the dots and thought this might be something to consider. I did a little research into different teacher training programs and quickly decided that if I was going to do this I wanted to be comprehensively trained from a school that qualified for PMA certification. I wanted to make sure that I was well qualified to teach; I was going to do this right. Sidewalk chalk that says "You Got This" on asphalt. Even though I live in Philadelphia, a major metropolitan area, there were not many options. I had long believed in the therapeutic healing properties of Pilates. It made sense to me that a school founded by a physical therapist would take a scientific approach to Pilates. My logical mind liked that. This led me to Polestar. It was also the school that my teacher had been trained by. I considered other schools and really wanted to find an option that would not require a hotel or long drive. In the end, I chose Polestar and took the training in Burlington, VT. It was a long drive, but it was also where my husband grew up and his parents still lived there.  In the end, I did have a long drive, but I would not have a to stay in a hotel. The training was intense.  I was surprised by how much there was to learn.  After all, I had been doing Pilates for 8 years.  I thought for sure I knew how to do the exercises.  Turns out it takes a lot more than knowing the exercises to be a Pilates Instructor.  In addition to learning how to cue and formulate a workout, Polestar takes the time to make sure you understand why you are doing what you are doing not just how to do it.  A lot of time is spent prompting the student to think through their decision-making process to ensure that when they graduate they can work with people in an effective manner that helps them reach their fitness goals. The educators and mentors truly care about the students in a way that makes you feel like family.  As I planned my Pilates career and determined that I wanted to open a studio I knew that I also wanted to work with Polestar to bring Comprehensive Teacher Training to the Philadelphia area. In the fall of 2017 it became a reality. Now I am the instructor asking my clients to consider becoming Pilates teachers. Surprisingly I have not missed the corporate world.  It used to be that every couple of years I would get bored with my job and start looking for something new or different.  Now, I truly believe that I have found what I was meant to do.  Several years have passed and rather than becoming bored, I have become more obsessed and engaged with Pilates and the Pilates community. Visit our Course offerings to explore how you can become a Pilates instructor! Click here for Course offerings Learn more about Polestar Educator Cindy Kneiser and her studio at WashCrossPilates.com

Running into Runner’s Knee? The Science Behind Injury, Prevention and Treatment

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Discovering the science behind the injury and how to prevent and treat PFPS.

Many of our online followers have been asking us about patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS), more commonly known as runner’s knee.  What is it?  What exercises can prevent it?  What exercises can treat it?  With the abundance of conflicting information on the internet, finding answers to these questions can feel like a wild goose chase. We called on Juan Nieto, Polestar educator and co-founder/master trainer of Runity, to shed some light on the science behind runner’s knee and what you can do to prevent and treat it. Among runners, lower extremity injuries are very common– up to 79.3% of runners will experience these injuries, about half of which occur in the knee (Van Gent et al., 2007).  Patellofemoral pain syndrome, also called anterior knee pain syndrome or runner’s knee, describes an overuse disorder that occurs in the patellofemoral region and results in pain behind or around the anterior knee.  The causes of PFPS can vary widely due to the complex interactions between intrinsic anatomic and external training factors (Collado et al., 2010).  In other words, runner’s knee describes the symptoms of a painful knee injury, not the cause of the injury.  The cause is subjective and depends on the runner’s anatomy, strategy, and training. Searching the internet to find specific exercises for your runner’s knee will produce a mixed bag of results due to the subjective nature of the injury.  Depending on whether your injury is associated with vastus medialis/vastus lateralis imbalance, hamstring tightness, or iliotibial tract tightness, the best exercises to treat it will vary.   What can you do to prevent runner’s knee?  According to Juan, there’s no standard set of exercises to prevent the injury since it depends on the person and their movement strategy.  When choosing exercises, it’s important to pick exercises that bring relief and do not flare up pain.  The only true method of prevention is to make sure that the tissue capacity of the runner is bigger than the workload.  In other words, the runner has to be fit enough to run the distance they want to run and allow the appropriate resting periods in between to let the tissues recover.  Additionally, technique retraining could reduce the amount of ground reaction forces that the runner is receiving, meaning they can run the same volume but reduce the workload for the tissues. If you already have runner’s knee, what can you do to treat it?  Again, there’s no magic routine to treat the condition because causes vary.  The best thing you can do is see a movement specialist who can conduct a proper assessment and use sound clinical reasoning to design an exercise plan, test it out, and modify it as necessary to settle on a final selection of exercises that create gradual, positive adaptation (strengthening) without irritation.  If you have runner’s knee, it’s important to remember to avoid irritative exercises and to try to resist running too much too soon.  Most importantly, KEEP MOVING!  Movement heals and having positive movement experiences throughout the body will quicken the healing process for your injury. Want to learn more about efficient, pain-free running?

Trending Superfoods: Just a Passing Fad?

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Science Reveals the Truth Behind Turmeric

With the modern cultural shift towards good health and nutrition, a few questions keep popping up: Should I take dietary supplements?  Do they really work or do they just end up passing through the body?  If I eat a healthy diet, why would I need supplements?  What’s the deal with turmeric?  Dr. Brent Anderson and Dr. John Lewis discuss these questions in a recent Pilates Hour webinar and shed light on the truth behind dietary supplements, what we should look for in them, and the amazing effects that they can have in preventing, managing, and even reversing chronic diseases.  They also review the latest research around curcumin, the primary medicinal compound found in turmeric, which is found to have potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.   Dr. John Lewis is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.  His research includes several significant studies related to nutrition, exercise, and dietary supplements, and he has implemented his findings in his lifestyle by exercising regularly and eating a whole-food, plant-based diet for over 20 years.   In a 12-month pilot study, Dr. Lewis studied the effect that a dietary supplement, aloe polymannose multinutrient complex (AMPC), has on Alzheimer’s patients.  The results are mind blowing:  46% of patients showed statistically and clinically significant improvements in cognitive and immune functioning, along with reduced inflammation within 9-12 months.  The rest of the patients maintained their levels of cognitive and immune functioning– no one got worse.  Anecdotally, there were rapid responders who, within 3 months, already showed improvement.  Caregivers of the patients noticed that their patients were saying and doing things that they haven’t done in years.     So to answer the question: Do supplements really work?  The answer is YES, and they produce incredible results by helping the body heal itself.   The Truth About Turmeric and Curcumin   Turmeric is a trending root that has been used in India for thousands of years as a spice and as medicine.  In its ground-up form, it is the spice that gives curry its bright yellow color.  In medicine, studies have started to back up what Indians have known for a long time: turmeric contains compounds called curcuminoids that have significant medicinal properties.     Curcumin, the main curcuminoid in turmeric, has very powerful anti-inflammatory effects and is a potent antioxidant.  Its healing effects are far reaching; here are only a few of the diseases and conditions that benefit from curcumin:
  • Alzheimer’s
  • Parkinson’s
  • cardiovascular disease
  • cardiotoxicity
  • cancer (liver, pancreatic, breast, colon, lung, prostate, brain, leukemia)
  • inflammatory bowel disease
  • allergies
  • bronchitis
  • arthritis
  • asthma
  • diabetes
  • psoriasis
  • multiple sclerosis (MS)
  • metabolic disease
  • cataract formation
  • colitis
  • renal ischemia
  • nephrotoxicity
  • AIDS
  • gallstone formation
  • lung fibrosis
  • cerebral injury
  • epilepsy
  • microbial infections
  Take a more detailed look at some of the top scientifically proven health benefits here.     Just eating turmeric at every meal is not enough, as the curcumin content of turmeric is just around 3% by weight.  Most of the studies proving the medicinal benefits of turmeric use extracts that contain mostly curcumin itself, with dosages usually exceeding 1 gram per day.  Eating enough turmeric to get this much curcumin is unrealistic, so if you really want to experience the full effects, you would need to take an extract that contains significant amounts of curcumin.  Unfortunately, curcumin is poorly absorbed into the bloodstream, but nature gave us a solution to this problem in black pepper.  Black pepper contains piperine, a compound that enhances the absorption of curcumin by 2000%.  We’ve also learned that curcumin is fat soluble.   If you want to take full advantage of turmeric’s anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, use a supplement that has high levels of curcumin, take it with either a few whole peppercorns or a black pepper supplement, and consume it with a fatty meal.  How else can you get curcumin and other nutritional goodness into your diet?  Learn how to make the perfect smoothie with Dr. Lewis in this  video featuring Dr. Brent.

Can Pilates Help with Incontinence?

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No one would argue that problems surrounding incontinence and leaking are embarrassing to talk about. Even Polestar® instructors have reported leaking during classes and chuckle it away as best they can. Why does this occur? How can Pilates professionals remedy these leaks? Brent D. Anderson and Christi Idavoy sat down for Pilates Hour to discuss their research on movement for incontinence. In this context, we are referring to stress incontinence; when you leak as a result of pressure on your bladder from exercise, sex or other strains. This intra-abdominal pressure is regulated by the pelvic floor. You can train it with more than just Kegel exercises. By identifying certain patterns, the pelvic floor can be conditioned to protect against untimely leaking. Unfortunately, many are confused on how the pelvic floor ought to contract. There are 3 main types of contractions:
  • Volitional Contraction – deliberate contracting of the pelvic floor and surrounding tissue.
  • Mechanical Contraction (Elasticity) – Contractions resulting from the pressure of regular breath.
  • Spontaneous Contraction – the pelvic floor’s natural elevation when standing.
Pressure measured on Pilates routines
In one study, researchers found that out of 45 women observed in the resting supine position, 45% (20) of participants pushed the pelvic floor down rather than up. By skillfully using an intra-vaginal pressure transducer they were able to measure the pressure being applied to the pelvic floor. Brent and Polestar graduate Hadar Shwartz also found about 45% of participants applied the same pressure to the pelvic floor when they observed over 250 women in the supine position. When asked what to do about relieving tight pressure in the area, Christi said to relax. She recounted that she had too much tone in the pelvic floor, and as a result, was not able to have a vaginal birth. Her colleague Pamela Downey, adjunct professor of Physical Therapy at the University of Miami, recommended her a particular squat exercise. First, assume a deep squat with the support of a pole or door frame. Slide down into the squat while holding your support. Next, allow your pelvic floor to relax as best it can without forcing it. All the while you visualize slow release of that tension. Brent stresses that our patterns of behavior can routinely fool us into applying pressure or support in places where there ought not to be. For example, how the pelvic floor may be hypertonic from a lack of support on the anterior abdominal wall. To simulate that missing pressure he suggests using Kinesio Tape to pinch and crease the wall to simulate that missing pressure. You can do the opposite by performing diaphragmatic breathing, relieving and dispersing the pressure. You may not admit it, but we can learn much about movement when we address the less sanctified functions of our bodies. Above all, remember it is perfectly natural. How often do your clients report incontinence issues? Have you had success cuing clients on pelvic floor movement? What do you recommend for stress incontinence? Let us know on social media with #IamPolestar and #PelvicFloor.