Pilates

Discover 4 Surprising Benefits of Pilates

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Pilates is celebrated for its ability to sculpt and strengthen the body. Core strength, improved posture, and ability to lengthen and tone muscles are just some of the effects that come from a regular Pilates practice. In this article, you will discover four lesser-known, surprising benefits of Pilates.

A deeper understanding of the multifaceted benefits of Pilates can enhance your Pilates experience and further benefit your practice and teaching. When you understand Pilates’ potential to influence the body in these ways, you can also use it more effectively for rehabilitation, mental, and physical health.

1. Pilates for a Healthy Mind

Pilates requires you to focus intensely on your breath and the movement of your body. It’s no surprise then, that fans of the method promote Pilates as an excellent way to achieve greater body awareness and mind-body connection. These effects are not merely anecdotal. There is scientific evidence to back up the zen-like state achieved through mindful movement. A recent government study revealed a link between mindfulness and Pilates, and how the Pilates method can improve the psychological well-being of its practitioners. The PMA website says: “Concentrated and focused breathing initiates the relaxation response and reintegrates the nervous system for receptivity.”

Chemically, Pilates also appears to act on the brain and body by shifting it into a homeostatic state, as well as stimulating the brain’s frontal lobe, the area responsible for memory and creativity.

2. Pilates for a Pain-Free Existence 

While the positive effects of Pilates on brain function and mood are important, repertoire exercises also have the potential to “move the mind.” This in turn can have a significant impact on the way the body functions. As teachers, understanding this can be particularly useful, especially with regards to client rehabilitation. Dr. Brent Anderson, physical therapist and CEO of Polestar Pilates, explains that physical pain can be a manifestation of emotional trauma. Pilates, through emphasis on mind and body integration, can reveal the emotional rather than structural issues responsible for physical pain. According to Dr. Anderson, “perception influences motivation in movement.” So your feelings about your body and your capacity for movement can have a significant impact on physical pain. In his experience, exercises that incorporate the whole body create an “almost meditative state for the patient, enhancing body awareness and exploring new movement opportunities without pain.”  Using Pilates equipment to challenge the body can radically shift perception of limitations and prevent one from bracing in anticipation of discomfort. This ultimately helps reduce pain during everyday activities.

3. Immune Booster and Detoxifier 

While most people might associate the key benefits of Pilates with defined abdominals, a brief look at the origins reveals far-reaching potential to heal various systems within the body. Joseph Pilates refined his exercise system while he interned on the Isle of Wight in World War I and used it keep the prisoners fit. Conditions in the camp were poor, yet when influenza struck England the campmates were unaffected.While Joseph’s assertions that this was due to his training regime may be an urban myth, the potential of Pilates to support and improve immunity through its effects on the lymphatic system now have some scientific evidence. According to lymphatic system specialist Katharina Hesse, Pilates movement helps drain the lymphatic system and detoxify the body by mobilizing joints where lymph nodes are located and by stimulating the area around the navel, another site for lymph nodes.  Pilates can also have a positive influence on the digestive system because of its massaging effect on the organs and the unique way it moves the body in all different planes. Exercises like single leg stretch on the mat or stomach massage on the Reformer are great examples of how Pilates can aid the digestive system and encourage detoxification.

4. The Benefits of Pilates for a Long, Strong Life

We all know about the weight-bearing benefits of Pilates, but did you know that challenging the body in this way is essential for skeletal health? Osteoporosis, the degeneration of bone density that can occur as we age, is a major health concern in the older population. This is particularly significant given the fact that over-65 is the fastest-growing age group in the country. Age UK predicts that nearly one in four people in the UK will be 65 or over by 2040. Rebekah Rotstein, a Pilates for osteoporosis specialist, explains why these exercises are so important for strong bones: “Bone is dynamic tissue, like muscle, that strengthens in response to forces it has to resist. Gravity is one such force, and working against gravity is what we refer to when speaking of “weight-bearing exercise.” 

The Controlled nature of Pilates movements and the ease with which tension can be modified makes Pilates ideal for older people to weight-bear safely and effectively.

Balanced Body Inc’s. Ken Endelman explains how Pilates teaches control and stability. This is “crucial for older adults as it can help them improve much of their functional movement, including balance and posture.” The focus on balance, posture and alignment can help prevent older adults from falling, which is the main cause of fractures. Yet this emphasis on creating a strong, stable skeleton through movement should not only apply to the elderly. Rotstein, who herself was diagnosed with osteoporosis at the age of 28, champions Pilates as excellent for younger people, particularly as an accompaniment to exercise programs such as weight-training. The emphasis on correct alignment means that when performing movements under load, the forces are distributed evenly through the pelvis and spine. This makes Pilates a safe and effective way to boost bone health. Experts like Rotstein maintain that if you do this, you will reap the rewards for years to come.   

If you found these benefits of Pilates insightful, please share with your social network or Pilates peers!

Blog Written by Moss Pilates London @Polestarpilatesuk

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Fascia in Pilates

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Chances are you’ve heard about fascia and its importance in the human body – But how do we take this information and apply it to our training sessions with clients? – Kate Strozak

Fascia is a connective tissue that runs continuously throughout the entire body. According to the International Congress of Fascial Research, the fascial system:

“…consists of the three-dimensional continuum of soft, collagen containing, loose and dense fibrous connective tissues that permeate the body. It incorporates elements such as adipose tissue, adventitiae and neurovascular sheaths, aponeuroses, deep and superficial fasciae, epineurium, joint capsules, ligaments, membranes, meninges, myofascial expansions, periostea, retinacula, septa, tendons, visceral fasciae, and all the intramuscular and intermuscular connective tissues including endo-/peri-/epimysium.

The fascial system surrounds, interweaves between, and interpenetrates all organs, muscles, bones and nerve fibers, endowing the body with a functional structure, and providing an environment that enables all body systems to operate in an integrated manner.” 

Some in the field also propose that bone is calcified or mineralized fascia. Fascia is an important communication network in the body that communicates via photons. Its depth and function is remarkable!

Being aware of what fascia is and where it is located is a great start to incorporating our understanding of it in movement education and science.

Have you also ever wondered why continuously stretching what you think to be muscle tissue doesn’t consistently yield results in you or your clients?

Perhaps it’s not the muscles that need impacting but a fascial restriction that is producing sensations of tightness, restriction, or rigidity. How do you address this? I propose a whole body movement integration session with manual therapy, movement, or a combination of the two.             

Some schools of fascial-based modalities advise long, sustained holds to facilitate fascial releases. Other modalities might advise movement-based techniques to promote tissue gliding and release. I’d recommend trying both and seeing how your client responds. Every body is different, so some people might respond better to one technique over another.            

An example of a sustained hold would be a supine stretch over the ladder barrel where you can facilitate release of tissues in the front of the body by sustaining the position and breathing for 5 minutes.

The ladder barrel could be too extreme a range of motion for a client, in which case lying over a bolster, foam roller, or even on the ground might be more ideal. Make sure that your client is comfortable and isn’t feeling an extreme pull or tension anywhere. An example of a movement based fascial release could be book openings where you’re rotating into the position and rotating from the position in order to facilitate a release of tissues on the front of your body.             

Fascia runs continuously throughout the depths of the human body, so how can we impact those deepest fascial tissues? As Joseph Pilates intuitively knew, breath!

Practicing 3 dimensional, natural breathing that embraces the movement of our rib cage and diaphragm is perhaps the most accessible way to influence the fascial system. Applying your breath to sustained holds or to movements will help reap more benefits from your intervention.            

As one final thought on fascia and its role in movement, our tissues respond to the loads and demands we place upon it.

When we palpate and feel “tight tissue,” it might be there for a very good reason and not meant to be broken down or released. For example, our IT-bands. Our IT-bands have the tensional strength to lift a 2-ton car. In the human body, IT-bands support stability in the lower limbs and pelvis, help with knee tracking, and more. More so than releasing IT-bands, we could help people by addressing their methods of stability and their strategies for movement.            

If you’re looking for more information on fascia there are great resources out there. The International Fascia Research Congress offers yearly conferences, many massage therapy modalities focus on fascial tissue, and you can find all of the latest research on fascia utilizing research databases such as pubmed.

Interested in Learning more? Try our Online Course:

Subtle Energy and Pilates

Read Kate’s Blogs on the Nervous System, Healthcare and Expanding your Movement Potential

You can find Kate on instagram @katestrozak 

Why are Pilates Chairs so Different in Design?

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You might have noticed that there is a big difference in the widths, heights, and depths of different brands and models of chairs, which lends itself to confusion when learning the Pilates chair repertoire and difficulty when deciding which chair to purchase. The great news is, you can choose your preference based on the outcome you’re looking for!      

 The dimensions of the chair affect the physics of movement. Some chairs, such as Stott’s and Balanced Body’s combo chairs, are noticeably higher from the ground and narrower in the seat. The benefit of this is that they are easier for people who are restricted in low sitting mobility to utilize the chair for exercises such as double leg pump/seated footwork. With this additional height, you’ll also notice that they align with the height of most Cadillacs, which can provide extra support with exercises such as swan or lateral flexion.

Have you noticed the distance between the pedal and the seat of the chair?

This is very important to consider when you’re doing exercises such as reverse swan and teaser when you’re seated on the chair and reaching back to the pedal. Having a shorter distance means that the spring tension will support you sooner in the exercise. On the flip side, having a greater distance between the pedal and the chair when doing swan will place less demand on the degree of your spine extension. 

Lower chairs can be helpful when doing exercises such as forward lunge/step up. You have less distance to travel vertically if your chair is lower to the ground. A lower chair also means less distance between your client and the ground, which can lend itself towards increased comfort and stability. Having deeper chairs can be helpful in exercises such as reverse swan and teaser because you’ll have more surface area to support your back.

In a nutshell, there are a few important variables to consider when using the chair and these variables will impact the experience of an exercise for us and for our clients and patients. In my dream studio, I would have one chair of every brand and model, although I recognize this would make group classes impossible! Try a variety of exercises on each chair before deciding on the make and model of chair that would best serve you and your client/patient population.

Become a Pilates instructor with Kate in Chicago: Comprehensive Pilates Teacher Training In Chicago, Cleveland, and St.Louis. Learn from one of the best to get the credibility you need to catch the health care wave. Follow Kate @katestrozak

No Pain No Gain? Ingredients for the Perfect Fitness Recipe

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No pain, no gain?  Polestar educator Karyn Staples PT, PhD, NCPT discusses how cross training, moderation and epsom salt might be crucial ingredients for the perfect fitness recipe.

When You Don’t LOVE your Exercise Anymore

It’s been nearly two months since you resolved to get more exercise. You started with the best intentions. You went to the gym. You were going to run your first race.  But then your knee started to bother you. Or maybe it was your foot, your hip or shoulder. And the exercise didn’t seem so great anymore. The motivation to move is gone. It’s easy to become a couch potato.

What symptoms indicate that you need to see your doctor? According to Karyn Staples, PT, PhD, and lead physical therapist at ProHealth Physical Therapy and Pilates Studio, if you have pain while you’re at rest, pain that wakes you up in the middle of the night, or pain that lasts more than three days, it may be time to see a doctor.

“It’s normal to have muscle soreness twenty-four to forty-eight hours after exercise. If that soreness maintains the same intensity, and does not get any better seventy-two hours later, then you need to see your doctor.”

Staples explained, “It’s normal to have muscle soreness twenty-four to forty-eight hours after exercise. If that soreness maintains the same intensity, and does not get any better seventy-two hours later, then you need to see your doctor.” ProHealth offers Pilates-based physical therapy for those with a doctor’s referral.  What does Staples recommend for pain after exercising? “The first thing is to take an Epsom salt bath,” she said.  “When you next exercise, do a workout that is less intense. Walk instead of run. Lift weights that are less poundage.”

Karyn also recommends cross training at least once a week. “When you’re sore, if it’s purely muscle soreness from running too hard or too long, you want to do something that moves in a different way. Go through the range of motion for your joints, in a restorative yoga class, full body conditioning class, or a Pilates class.”

Pilates classes or private lessons create better movement.

Pilates classes or private lessons create better movement. How? “Pilates works on awareness of your body movement, working on the local stabilizing muscles. When we workout, we work the large global muscles—the ones that take you from Point A to Point B. We need the local stabilizing muscles to maintain the body in alignment so that the global muscles can do their job,” explained Staples.

One client, Emily, takes weekly Pilates lessons. “I don’t have an impressive physique or any great athleticism, and Pilates is perfect for me. Before Pilates, I would start exercise, and I would reinjure my knee and have to quit. So last year, I began private Pilates lessons. I was doing well, so I added in bike riding and weights at the gym. I feel so much stronger. I have less pain than when I started,” said Emily.

Besides working the local stabilizing muscles, Pilates works on balance. Karyn Staples said, “Balance is twofold—so that you don’t fall over, and balance in the body to decrease asymmetries. When one side is stronger than the other, your body will tend to use the stronger side.”

“Pain is an indication that we’ve chosen a poor movement strategy”

You might hear “No Pain No Gain” at some gyms. “Pain is an indication that we’ve chosen a poor movement strategy” said Staples. Pilates is never supposed to hurt.

It’s hard to love any exercise that hurts.  And Staples recommends finding movement that you can enjoy. “It should be fun. That way it’s not a task that you are dreading. There’s a lot of research on emotions. Negative emotions attached to something mean that we will have a negative experience.”

Staples told the story of one patient, a woman training for a marathon. She had pain in her knee while running, and it got worse to the point where she couldn’t walk. She started in Physical Therapy at for Illiotibial Band Syndrome. The Pilates-based therapy was so effective, that after she finished, she continued with Pilates once a week. She’s had a marked improvement in her running, pain-free for months. She calls Pilates her “favorite hour of the week.”

“In 10 sessions, you feel better, 20 sessions you look better, 30 sessions you have a completely new body.” – Joseph Pilates

Join Karyn in the upcoming Comprehensive Pilates Teacher Training in Atlanta, GA

Educator Highlight: Christi Idavoy

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Christi Idavoy has dedicated her life to movement.  As a young dancer and philosophy student at NYU she found an instant affinity with the science and practice of yoga.  The Himalayan Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy in NYC was Christi’s second home as she studied the traditions of Swami Rama from 1999 – 2001.  On a voyage to share her passion for yoga as a healing art she moved to Costa Rica where she taught yoga and furthered her studies as a graduate student at the United Nations University for Peace.  In 2005 she stumbled into a Pilates studio in San Jose, CR where she started her career as a Pilates instructor. 

Today Christi has lectured and taught yoga and Pilates in many Latin American countries thanks to her role at Polestar Pilates Education.  When she met Polestar founder, Brent Anderson in 2009, she knew she had found the organization that would allow her to bring together her passion for international relations and development with her career as a movement practitioner.  With her extensive experience as a Polestar Senior Educator, Ambassador, and Examiner Christi is a truly a “teacher’s teacher”.

Polestar: What do you love about teaching Pilates and owning a studio? 

CI: The thing I love the most about teaching and owning a studio is building a conscious community.  We come together from different walks of life to do Pilates and then realize that we have the most fundamental values in common: we value our health and happiness and want to take responsibility for it.  

Polestar: Where did you take your training and who was the educator?

CI: I took my Polestar training in Miami at the Polestar Center with Brent and Shelly in 2010.  My first Pilates teacher training was in Costa Rica in 2005. 

Polestar: What are your current Inspirations?​  What do you love about them?  

CI: My current inspirations are found in nature: seeing the movement of the elements and finding the correlations between the human experience and the environment.  I love feeling connected to creation and my movement practice allows me to realize that the inherent order found in nature is also within.

Polestar: Why Pilates?  How did you find the practice?  

CI: Honestly, I wasn’t interested in Pilates until a studio owner in Costa Rica offered to subsidize my training because she needed instructors.  I was already teaching yoga and dance so teaching came pretty easily.  I fell in love with Pilates once I realized the subtle power of the springs.  Intuitively I explored the spring tensions, going from heavy to light, searching for that sweet amount to feel supported without all the extra “work.”  My goal was to “float” on my yoga mat and slowly, my Pilates practice gave me just that.  I realized that the more floaty experiences I had in the pIlates environment, the more I was able to transpose that feeling onto the mat without the springs… Magic! 

Polestar: What do you hope to convey in your teaching?

CI:  I hope to convey connectivity, relationships, the bigger picture, feeling vs. thinking and developing intuition and self love through the practice. 

Polestar: Where would you love to vacation?  

CI: Bali!

Polestar: What is your favorite quote?  

CI: That’s a hard question!  Lately it’s, “Certain things in life simply have to be experienced – and never explained. Love is such a thing.” – Paulo Coelho 

Polestar: Describe your movement style?  

CI: Creative and inquisitive.

Polestar: What is your favorite apparatus or favorite way to move and what do you love about it? 

CI: I love all of it!  I really love moving my spine in every possible direction and relationship to gravity because when the spine is mobile everything else falls into place.  I really love the spine corrector and ladder barrel in conjunction with the tower bar on the trapeze table, chair and reformer… LOL!  ALL OF IT

Polestar: What are you reading or learning about?  

CI: I’m re-reading The Untethered Soul and continuously working on mental hygiene.  Harnessing my energy to manifest my soul’s desire one day at a time.  When it comes to movement, I’m really exploring the breath and the pelvic floor. After becoming a mother and having a traumatic birth experience that ultimately lead to a c-section, I’m very interested in breathing and moving to clear away scar tissue and restore the fascial system.  I’m also diving deeper into plant medicine and medicinal essential oils.  I’ve been experimenting with my family and am really amazed by the gentle power of plants. 

Polestar: How does Pilates inform your profession?  

CI: Pilates reminds me of the order in it all.  I like to think of my life as my profession, my life is my work.  Life is chaotic.  Pilates keeps it orderly! 

You can follow Christi on Instagram @christiidavoy

Educator Highlight: Deborah Marcus

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We interviewed Polestar Educator Deborah Marcus! From Dancer to Pilates Instructor, Educator and Studio owner, read on to meet one of the best!


Polestar: What do you love about teaching / Pilates / Owning a Studio?  Where did you take your Training and who was the educator?
 
DM: I love being an agent for another person’s discovery of their own self efficacy.  Pilates is the perfect tool for this.  
 
I meandered into the Pilates world in the 1980’s New York City via teachers like Andre Bernard and Jean Claude West while pursuing a career as a dancer and choreographer.  I moved back to my hometown, San Mateo, CA after my first daughter was born and opened a studio, now called Movement Refinery Pilates.  I found my way to the Polestar Teacher Training in 2008 where I studied with Sherri Betz in Santa Cruz, CA.  It was an eye opening and transformative experience for which I am forever grateful!   
 
Polestar: What are your current inspirations?   What do you love about them?
 
DM: Many things inspire me every day: my clients who never give up, all quadrupeds, birds that fly solo and birds that fly in groups, human acts of bravery and kindness.
 
Polestar: Why Pilates?  How did you find the practice?
 
DM: The continuum between assisted to resisted movement, closed chain to open chain, breath as a tool….these and other pathways inherent in the Pilates studio repertoire allow an individual to find her/his way from pain and dis-function to movement ease and function at any level of fitness.  Personally, Pilates has eased my way through this journey before and after multiple surgeries.  But what originally attracted me to Pilates was the specificity of the movement forms.  I have to go back to my experience as a dancer trained in the style of Anton Decroux.  It was incredible movement training that gave me an appreciation of how form and function are intimately intertwined in the health and well being of every human. 
 
Polestar: What do you hope to convey in your teaching?
 
DM: The most powerful thing you can do for your own progress is to be in the moment.  Easier said than done!
 
Polestar: Where would you love to vacation to?
 
DM: Antarctica and Japan.  I have a second  cousin who moved to a village deep in the Alaskan wilderness.  I’d love to visit her.
 
Polestar: What is your favorite Quote?
 
DM: I don’t have one.
 
Polestar: Describe your movement style?
 
DM: Depends on the day and the place.  Somewhere between sensuous and sharp, like the precision in a Bob Fosse jazz number .  I recently had a Watsu treatment and I loved giving up to that movement state.
 
Polestar: What is your favorite apparatus or favorite way to move? What do you love about it?
 
DM: I enjoy the Chair.  It takes up so little space and gives you the biggest bang for your buck with regards to gravity.
 
Polestar: What are you reading or learning about?
 
DM: I just finished Haruki Murakami’s surreal 1Q84.  Another great read from him is What I Talk About When I Talk About Running: A Memoir.  Right now I’m half way through Aroused: The History of Hormones and How They Control Just About Everything, by Randi Hutter Epstein.  
 
Polestar: How does Pilates inform your profession?
 
DM: Pilates as a profession is evolving on every level.  The opportunity to learn more is always there thanks to organizations like the PMA, Polestar Continuing Education, and Balanced Body to name a few.  I also am grateful for the privilege of being a Polestar Comprehensive Educator where I get to share my expertise gathered during many years of practice and learning from talented teachers.  And, of course, teaching is learning.  It never stops!

Deborah Marcus is Currently a Polestar Educator and the owner of Movement Refinery Pilates Studio in San Mateo, CA.  Check out her post “Helping and Healing Through Pilates“

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