Before we jump to the workout let’s lay out our plan for the next 3 weeks. After all, making plans and setting realistic goals is the most important step to success.
Anastasiya
Bikini Body Rescue – Get Swimsuit-Ready in 3 Weeks
Summer is here! Are you ready to pull out your bathing suit and head to the nearest swimming pool or pack your suitcase for a paradise getaway? Of course, you spent the last couple of months getting ready for this season, right? Oh, you haven’t? To tell you the truth, I haven’t either. Between selling … Read more
Teaching Pilates for Healthy Backs: Interview with Rebecca Leone
Back injuries are the most debilitating and at the same time common injuries of the modern society. Poor body alignment, sedentary lifestyle as well as inefficient body mechanics contribute to the fact that about 80% of adults experience lower back pain at some point of their lives. Eliminating or preventing back pain is one of the top reasons why people start doing Pilates.
Modern research proves the efficacy of the Pilates method to treat and prevent back pain. However, findings published by Professor Stuart McGill of the University of Waterloo in Canada show that traditional core strengthening exercises that involve loaded spinal flexion can and will eventually lead to back injuries. To learn more about professor McGill’s teachings please read Pilates for Healthy Backs: Teach Safely, Work Out Wisely. That is why it is important to teach Pilates (or any other fitness modality for that matter) with safe spine flexion techniques in mind. This is the only safe way to gain all the benefits of Pilates and enjoy a pain-free back.
Today I am talking to Rebecca Leone, a Pilates educator whose mission in life is educating the Pilates community about safe spine teaching techniques. So open your scratchpad or Evernote and start taking your notes as you listen to this interview. There is a lot of information to digest!
In this podcast we will discuss the following questions:
- What makes Pilates a valuable tool in protecting the spine?
- How to teach Roll-Up (and other exercises with trunk flexion) safely.
- 5 best Pilates mat exercises to teach proper core engagement in a safe way.
- Exercises in the classical Pilates repertoire that should be eliminated completely to protect the spine.
- How to use the principles of safe spine teaching to strengthen and protect the spine.
- how to cue core activation without overengagement of Rectus Abdominis or Transverse Abdominis
Pilates for Healthy Backs: Teach Safely, Work Out Wisely
For over a decade Pilates has been deemed a viable method for treating chronic lower back pain that can be compared in effectiveness with physical therapy. Several studies were focused around measuring the effectiveness of the method as compared to other forms of exercise or no exercise at all.
- A Pilates-specific exercise program produced a significant decrease in lower back pain and disability as compared to usual care (visits to healthcare professionals and general recommendations) over a 12-month follow-up period (study published in the Journal of Orthopedic & Sports Physical Therapy, 2004)
- Certain populations of people are more likely to benefit from a Pilates-specific rehabilitation program. The factors that might predict the effectiveness include the duration of symptoms, body mass index and range of motion of the trunk and hips (the Journal of Orthopedic & Sports Physical Therapy, 2012)
- Clinical Pilates produced similar results in treating symptoms of lower back pain as general exercise (Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 2012)
- A Pilates-based rehabilitation program with the focus on body awareness, breathing, movement control, posture, and education is an effective way in treating and preventing chronic lower back pain (based on the responses of 30 Australian physiotherapists, published in the Journal of the American Physical Therapy Association, 2013)
There is still a lacking number of clinical studies that give a thorough overview of Pilates as a method to treat back pain. Some of the results are conflicting and it can be safely assumed that conflicts arise from the different styles of teaching Pilates.
However, if you go to any Pilates studio you will find a growing number of people who ascribe their back health to a regular Pilates practice.
Pilates Video: Connect to the Core
This short Pilates workout is designed to help you connect to the deep core musculature. This connection is the cornerstone of a successful practice and a healthy injury-free body. No matter what your fitness level is, take 15 minutes to tap deeper into your core and find the mindful body-brain connection that will transform your practice and your body. This 15-minute Pilates workout will teach you to
- engage all of your core muscles (and not just your abs),
- do head floats (ab curls) without strain in your neck and shoulders,
- strengthen your lower back muscles and protect yourself from chronic lower back pain;
- use your core to correct muscular imbalances on both sides of your body.
How to Run a Profitable Pilates Business with Gina Axelson
If you like eating ice cream does it mean that you know how to make it from scratch?
I know it seems that ice cream has nothing to do with Pilates but I beg to disagree. If you love Pilates then you can compare it to eating the most delicious ice cream. As a teacher you probably also find pure joy in teaching Pilates, educating clients about better body mechanics and spending your free time learning and becoming a better instructor.
However, in order to be a successful instructor you need to have clients; you need to grow your business whether as an independent contractor working at a studio or as a studio owner.
Teaching Pilates is like eating your favorite flavor of ice cream, it comes natural to you. But building the business aspect of your Pilates career is like trying to fix that ice cream from scratch. You need to have the recipe, the tools, the ingredients and the time that is required for this job.
A lot of instructors believe that if they are great teachers then the business aspect of Pilates will take care of itself. The clients will simply come pouring in through their doors and every satisfied client will feel an unquenchable thirst to share the joys of Pilates training with his/her friends. The reality is often quite different from this movie-perfect scenario.
Real Pilates instructors often find themselves scrambling for clients, they can’t decide what equipment to invest in to bring the highest profit, their business fluctuates during the year, they have trouble keeping good Pilates instructors on staff or have to deal with clients who are not consistent with their payments or showing up on time.
Gina Axelson
Today I am talking to Gina Axelson, the creator of the Profit with Pilates training course for Pilates professionals. She is a fully certified Pilates instructor, a former studio owner and an amazing Pilates business coach. When she opened her first studio over 12 years ago she made all the usual mistakes of a new Pilates business owner.
I felt overwhelmed, like I was spinning my wheels, and even though I was making “ok” money (charging only $45 for a private lesson if you’d believe that!) I was unfulfilled teaching day in and day out and just getting burned out.
After opening a second much larger studio, Gina was forced to make some changes to ensure the health of her business. She has studied with the best business consultants to find surprisingly simple ways to grow her business without getting overwhelmed. The result?
I was able to build a Pilates studio with several instructors teaching there where I could teach as much or as little as I wanted. That income generated allowed me more time for my family, to start another business and take better care of myself.
After realizing that she wasn’t the only Pilates business owner struggling to bring her business to fruition she decided to open a consulting business teaching Pilates instructors how to have a successful business. The results of her coaching were phenomenal so she created an online Pilates business training program to help the instructors who were dealing with the same problems that she once had.