Polestar Life

Pilates is for Every Body

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When you imagine a Pilates aficionado, you probably think of a young, thin, healthy and physically active human. I am none of those things.
Please Allow me to change that preconceived and incorrect notion.  Pilates, also known as Controlology, was actually designed to be rehabilitative. I’m 50 years. I am obese. I exist with an autoimmune disease called myasthenia gravis, which causes severe muscle weakness. I have had this disease since I was 14 years old. As you can see I am not your typical Pilates aficionado. I was introduced to Pilates by my physical therapist, Emelia Brogna. She felt Pilates was a perfect fit for me because of the reformer helps you complete movements which is a real issue for me because I have a hard time completing the movement because my muscles get so weak and fatigued. I had no cell memory of certain movements because my body has had this condition for so long. As my physical therapy sessions were coming to an end, Emelia suggested I meet Arica Bronz, who is one of the amazing Pilates instructors at All Wellness.
Together, Amelia and Erica designed a program for me to start with very simple stretching and range of motion movements. In discovering how my muscles worked, we were able to design a program that would help improve my core strength and my balance. Emphasis on balance because I have been known to fall and I am not able to get up without help.
In 2015 I started a clinical trial drug that helped increase my muscle strength. We all knew it was a temporary fix. we seized the opportunity to try to make the most of this new strength and build up as much strength and muscle as possible while we had the chance. Use of the reformer, the Trap table, some stretching with bands and sitting on a Yoga ball has increased my flexibility, strength and endurance in ways you cannot imagine. I am a person that couldn’t even sit up from a laying position. I can now do a modified Pilates program. There are things I can do that were unimaginable for me two and a half years ago. My posture is much improved. My breathing is easier. I have better range of motion. The flexibility I have gained is immeasurable. What I am trying to say in this rambling statement is simply this, Pilates is for all abilities, all sizes, all ages. Programs can be modified for your physical needs, if need be. Think outside the box and you may just discover your body can do things that were once unimaginable.

~ Roseanne Lathbury, All Wellness Client and Lover of Pilates

Originally posted at All Wellness, Polestar Host Site, Physical Therapy and Pilates Studio. Roseanne Lathbury shares her experience with Polestar Educator and Physical Therapist Arica Bronz.

Do you have a Polestar Pilates Success story or Testimonial?  We would love to share it! – Email: info@polestarpilates.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.

The Art of Communication

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As a society, our daily practice of emailing, texting and small-talk requires us to make room for focused intention and study of how we communicate as movement instructors. As health care professionals we are tasked with speaking with very diverse clients concerning intimate subjects, their bodies.

 Polestar’s communication model is based on neuro-linguistics, and we are fortunate to work with two physical therapists who are also NLP practitioners, Alastair Greetham in London and Dr. Helen Masin in Miami. We recently invited Dr. Masin to discuss how best to connect to your clients through meaningful communication during our monthly webinar series, Pilates Hour.
Naturally, you modulate your speech differently when speaking with friends versus colleagues in the workplace. Reflect on the last time you visited your doctor. Whether a good or bad exchange, think of the language your doctor used to understand your reason for visiting. What, besides language, did he use to connect with you? Do you feel like he listened to you?
Connections require that you build rapport with your client, ensuring a smooth, respectful conversation. Certain non-verbal forms of communication are best utilized here. Posture, tonality, speed, pacing, and use of silence help establish a relationship with the client. Let the client know that a nonjudgmental, patient audience is hearing them. This then lays a better foundation for two-way communication. If a patient tells you he is having “trouble with back pain,” you may want to use that same language when you confirm what they said: “so you’re here because you have trouble with back pain?”. Allow them to go deeper in detail with how they are experiencing it. Ask for clarification when you need to.
“listen with three ears”
Dr. Masin says to “listen with three ears” when you are with a client. This skill, active listening, calls for attention not only to what is being said, but also to what is not. The inflection in someone’s voice, their gestures while speaking, and their manner of speaking all factor into building rapport. If your client is soft spoken, it may help ease them to adjust your volume to theirs. If they are sitting, you should sit. By empathizing with the client in this manner, you are also showing the client that you understand their ailment as they experience it.
Creating a meaningful connection with someone could be tricky depending on his or her background, which is why active listening and rapport building is crucial to effective communication.
Another way to ensure rapport is understanding cultural diversity. This runs the gambit from ethnicity, to sexual orientation, to religious beliefs, and so forth. Above all, avoid assumptions! The simplest way to assure you’re addressing your client appropriately is with an introduction.  You can play with what you say so long as you provide them the space to answer and then to confide in you. Remember not to negate what your patients say, listen and build rapport with them. Done correctly, these methods help break down some of the walls people instinctively place between each other. You may make mistakes, but you will get better at it with practice.
Have you tuned in to Pilates Hour yet? Be sure to bookmark this page to stay up to date for the next webinar to gain more insights on professional development, research, and much more.

Does our Perception of Movement Influence our Health?

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I recently listened to a great lecture by Sharon Kolkka in New Zealand about the “Biology of Perception.”  Her delivery and content really made me reflect on my own teaching style and effectiveness.  For years I have been interested in the power of perception as it pertains to my clients having a successful movement experience.  The power of a successful movement experience always seems to trump any physical measurement of strength, torque, flexibility, balance or body aesthetics.

Sharon stated that when we create positive thought we move out of our limbic or primitive brain.  The primitive brain is responsible for fight, flight and fright and when chronically stimulated it can be responsible for slowed metabolism, depression, and eventually chronic fatigue.  Every time we create a positive movement experience for our clients, their paradigm shifts more towards positive and pure thought.  Positive experiences are thought to happen or to be processed in the pre-frontal lobe.  Not only are we happier when we spend more time in the pre-frontal lobe, but research shows that time spent in the pre-frontal lobe can lower blood pressure, increase the release of healthy neurotransmitters, and decrease cortisol levels. It can also lead to improved weight management, increased energy levels, and decrease the risk of heart disease, cancer and auto-immune diseases.

This leads me to a simple conclusion about the way we teach Pilates or any movement for that matter:

Mastering effective communication skills and focused flow in an exercise program resulting in a positive movement experience can do more to influence an individual’s perception of their abilities than any perfectly executed exercise.

Unfortunately, many of us have learned movement techniques from supposedly great teachers who overuse negative cues and use only rudimentary communication skills. The best exercises taught with negative reinforcement can be more detrimental than the poorly taught exercises with positive language skills. Our ultimate objective should be to have both, the precision in the movement instruction and the mastery of delivery.

Communication tips for the movement teacher:

  1. Record yourself teaching a class or a client and listen to the language that you use.  Is the language constructive with clear objectives of what you want rather than what you don’t want?
  2. Begin each session with a clear intention to “Do Good”. This is a phrase I repeat in my mind before seeing a client or teaching a class.  It is more about “doing good” than “looking good” or being perceived as a good teacher.
  3. Look for signs that the client is responding to your cues.  Find the balance in a class that provides challenge and success.  Pay attention to the little barometers along the way that let you know that the client is having a fun and successful movement experience.

At the helm of Polestar is Brent Anderson, PhD, PT, OCS. Brent is a licensed physical therapist and orthopedic certified specialist with more than 20 years of experience.

Based on his extensive background in rehabilitation and movement science, Brent elaborates Joseph Pilates’ mind-body work through the Polestar curriculum by developing tools for critical-reasoning and applying supportive scientific research. He also infuses the integral role of psychology and energy systems on motor control and motor learning.