Pilates and the Life Lesson of Body Awareness

Solid yoga and pilates practices that produce results are all about body awareness. I’m not talking about the kind of surface body awareness that tells you when you are feeling the burn. Yoga and pilates require a much deeper body awareness; a level of concentration that demands you shut out all external stimuli and focus inwards on every vertebrate, the mechanics of each working muscle, and the skeletal alignment of each position. It’s about mastering both body control and mind control: Once you’ve achieved that, you are capable of pushing yourself to new levels for the maximum benefits these two practices provide.

In my latest pilates reformer class at In Balance Yoga and Pilates, I have amped up the intensity of my workout with exercises that require a great deal of control and concentration. I’ve added advanced exercises such as the triangle leg extension supporting my body weight on the foot bar while extending one leg out to the side and extending my working leg against the resistance of the carriage. This leg and core exercise was physically demanding. To do it correctly required my complete concentration but it’s one of those exercises that will put you on the fast track to results. Another advanced exercise I’ve incorporated into my pilates reformer routine is the triceps push up using the foot bar for support as I extend my legs pushing against the resistance of the carriage while doing a triceps dip. The core work really kicks in as I come up to a forward fold position keeping my stomach muscles and chin curled in. The more I work with the pilates reformer, the more confident I become in my abilities. I am learning to trust the machine and my physical strength and coordination as I challenge my body in positions and exercises that seemed unnatural or intimidating at first. Take for example the standing pilates V upper body exercises done on the tower with using hand held springs for resistance. When I first tried this exercise, I thought I would fall face forward onto the carriage. In time, I’ve learned to control my balance using my core muscles while working my upper body in the series of exercises with the hand held springs.

Like anything in life, you get better with practice. Pilates and yoga are no different in that regard but they do teach us a lot about ourselves. The confidence in my physical abilities empowers me in my daily life. When something seems challenging, I remind myself that I am capable of more than I initially imagine. When I feel like I’m losing my stamina, I’m mentally exhausted, or unmotivated, I remind myself that I can push forward just as I have in my yoga and pilates practices. I do have it in me to dig deeper. So as I leave my pilates reformer class to go forth and face the day, I take with me that same mind and body control to tackle any challenges life may bring. I feel like “a peaceful warrior” as we like to say in yoga- trained in the art of awareness to seize this day and make it count.

Going with the Yoga Flow

As a yoga practitioner, I’m partial to Yoga Flow-I like working up a sweat and the pace of the poses keeps me interested. Time flies in my yoga flow classes; when it’s over, I feel like I’ve pushed myself just enough.  In a recent Vinyasa Yoga Flow class taught by Christine Northcote at In Balance Yoga and Pilates, I met a woman named Barb who practices at least three times a week. Barb is a long distance runner who was suffering from inflammation. She took up yoga as a way to incorporate stretches and stress relief into her lifestyle but soon found that yoga was actively reducing the amount of inflammation in her body. This unexpected health benefit has made Barb a true believer in yoga. Barb is a die-hard fan of Christine, in part because the instructor has designed her class for yogis of all levels.

With most poses, Christine offers several versions (levels of difficulty) and you choose just how far to push yourself.  She is an attentive instructor who constantly makes her rounds in class offering adjustments to her students and checking for proper form. Barb, who was used to running miles for exercise, discovered that standing still can be equally challenging to the body.

Yoga is about the mind-body connection, about strengthening and sculpting, but there are so many side benefits that we don’t think about: the ability to train your mind to be quiet and present; the improved quality of our breathing and the health benefits deep breathing brings to the organs and tissues; the removal of toxins from our lymphatic system strategically stimulated by yoga poses; the circulatory benefits of inversion poses (head stand, shoulder stand, back bends, hand stand etc.,)

Unlike any other group exercise, yoga is an individual practice in a class environment.  Each of us practices at our own pace. We take from our yoga practice what we need on any given day. On this day, my legs were tight from my four mile run the day before and I was able to stretch and lengthen my quads, hamstrings, and hip flexors through Christine’s floor stretching series. Also, I’ll admit that my ego (yes I know we are supposed to check our egos at the door) was in need of mastering the headstand. Christine taught us a great technique against the wall (the standing L) to strengthen our upper bodies in preparation for head and hand stands.

Unlike other forms of exercise, each yoga class brings different gifts to your mind and body. As the practitioner, you take what you need on a given day.  Right now, I’m in need of a good spine stretch after writing for several hours on a deadline at my computer, so off to yoga I go.

Pilates Reformer Combo Workout: More than Meets the Eye

If I could equate the functionality of the Pilates Reformer to current pop culture, I’d called it the Transformer of fitness. (You know the toys and characters of those action films that morph into various devices.) Remember the tag line: “Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye”? My recent combination workout on the Pilates reformer carriage and tower revealed just how much the Reformer is capable of transforming itself into a multitude of fitness tools.

Instructor Karen Burris at In Balance Yoga and Pilates guided me through the Reformer combo workout on the carriage and on the tower in a powerful body sculpting, strengthening, and stretching routine that can be amped up for an intense workout or modified for rehabilitative purposes. Using two reformer machines, I switched back and forth between exercises on the carriage using the pulleys to standing exercises using the springs of the tower. Now let me explain the difference between the two: The movable carriage uses pulleys that work bilaterally; the tower is used for standing movements as well as unilateral movements and offers a wider range of exercises in a controlled environment.

Here’s a sampling of my hour long workout: I started on the carriage doing “around the world” abs then jumped onto the fixed platform of the neighboring Reformer and grabbed the bar attached by two springs and did standing arm triceps and biceps work. Then, I returned back to the carriage and in a plank position with bent legs I did the “mountain climber” (killer core work) then back to the tower for teasers using a bar attached to springs overhead. Next, a return to the carriage for leg circles, which really targeted my back upper thighs, an area that’s hard to isolate and work. This, followed by another switch to the tower for leg squats using the springs. I could give you a play-by-play but at this point, you get the picture. All of this back and forth kept my muscles guessing what was next. It also kept my form in check because of the great deal of concentration required to switch gears constantly.

Why combine the carriage and the tower into your Reformer routine? Both compliment each other in regards to the technique and power required to do these exercises. The tower limits “muscling thru movements” with its control and efficiency. Using the carriage and pulleys, the five springs can be adjusted to accommodate beginner to advanced movement. Doing both the spring-loaded carriage and the tower ensures your movements follow the six Pilates principles: centering, concentration, control, precision, breath, and flow.

The combo Reformer workout mixes it up for a full body workout that tweaks your muscles in different ways. Incorporating the tower also gave me new, effective exercises such as the short spine massage, long spine massage, and bridge to stretch and strengthen my lower back.  I will say that I was in awe of the instructor knowledge required to operate the tower; Tower springs are set at one level of resistance but there are a lot of adjustments required on the part of the instructor in terms of safety clasps, bar positions, and hand pulley positions. Unless you are familiar with the many different tower settings, it can be overwhelming to set yourself.

So back to my Transformer analogy-hey if I can look anything close to Megan Fox (she plays Mikaela Banes in the Transformer films) then sign me up and keep those combo workouts coming!

No Pain No Gain….No Longer

Sometimes sitting still requires the most self-discipline, but it’s in sitting still, that the body does some of its best work.  On Sunday, I took the Yin Yang Yoga class  with instructor Brian Friedman at In Balance Yoga and Pilates and experienced a different kind of workout that seemed counter intuitive to the feel-the-burn, no-pain-no-gain premise of exercise. As my Pilates Reformer Instructor Karen Burris likes to say “Exercise shouldn’t hurt; it should feel good.” In other words, you should be able to wake up the next morning and move all of your body parts without popping an ibuprofen pill.

I’ll admit that the Yin Yang Yoga class challenged my patience more than my physical stamina but precisely because this is a restorative practice meant to stretch the deep connective tissues. In Yin Yang Yoga, I did several poses all designed to stretch the spine, and connective tissues in the core and legs. Because each of the poses is held three minutes, the hour and a half class involves about a dozen poses.

We started off with the mermaid pose lying on my back with the arms and legs bent towards each other in the letter C.  This was a great way to loosen up and get into the rest of the poses. At first, I felt frustrated by the slow pace of the class since I am used to Flow Yoga but as my body began to loosen up, I realized Yin Yang was just what I needed to supplement the more taxing aspects of my yoga practice.  The body needs restorative stretches for greater mobility and stability just as the body needs cardio for a healthy heart and weight bearing exercises for bone density.

Yoga and Pilates are workouts that connect the mind and body where you leave class feeling exhilarated physically and restored mentally.  As Shari Nein, owner of In Balance, says, “Exercise isn’t something to be endured. It’s to be enjoyed. It shouldn’t be a time to zone out like running on a treadmill.”  The idea of No Pain No Gain is all wrong and it turns people off to exercise. Who wants to subject themselves to self-inflicted suffering? Why start an exercise program that only seems like a chore? Pilates and yoga dispel that myth by showing you a kinder, gentler way to work out the body for health and well-being.

I look forward to my yoga and Pilates classes as “me” time; I don’t think of either practice as an exercise class. At the end of my yoga practice, I reward myself with final rest-that 5 to 10 minutes of meditation guilt free where my mind lets go of the day’s stresses and I focus inward. My Pilates practice leaves me feeling flexible, strong and peaceful, not exhausted and angry.

During a recent private Pilates Reformer class with Karen Burris, we started talking about this concept that the body needs to suffer in order to gain the benefits of exercise.  She says that in a classic Pilates class, most repetitions are no more than 10 to 12, but if you are doing them correctly with controlled good form, they are effective and you will see results.  After years of buying into the No Pain No Gain philosophy of exercise, eroding away my cartilage on the treadmill, Stairmaster, and in aerobics class, I reject the notion that exercise has to hurt to work.  I still desire a lean, toned body, but I’ve discovered a better way to get those results-in the yoga and Pilates studio instead of a gym.

Cardio or Core? Pilates Delivers

This week, I did two very different Pilates workouts at In Balance Yoga and Pilates-Pilates for cardio and Pilates for core.  I got a great cardio workout on the Pilates Reformer during my private training session with Karen Burris. The following day, I took a Pilates Mat class with Leslie focused on abs, legs, and stretches: two very different classes using the same Pilates principle.

I’ve discovered that whatever my workout goal may be on a given day, Pilates delivers. On the Pilates Reformer, I used the jump board attached to the foot bar as a platform to do a series of intense spring jumps, gallops, and squats designed to get my heart rate up while lifting three pound free weights in a series of arm toning exercises.

You hear a lot of hype about the importance of cross training to keep the body from adapting to its exercise routine. Real results come from keeping the body guessing about the next physical challenge.  Pilates is perfect for cross training because the possibilities are endless: mat classes can be abs intensive or incorporate a lot of legwork. Leslie’s Wednesday Pilates Mat class at 12:15 uses resistance bands in a series of core exercises and stretches that allow you calibrate your own workout intensity by increasing or decreasing the resistance.  (similar to the spring concept on the Pilates Reformer machine where resistance can be increased or decreased)

Pilates, whether done on the mat or on the reformer, is equally challenging but in different ways. I think both play a distinct role in body sculpting and physical fitness. The Pilates Reformer is about fluid, controlled movements (hint-you’re out of control if you’re slamming the moveable carriage into the footbar).  With the Reformer, you’re working against the resistance of springs while Pilates on the mat uses your body and the force of gravity as the resistance challenge.  For a full body workout, I turn to the Pilates Reformer. For a more abs-focused workout; I hit the mat for Pilates exercises.  Both are low impact but high intensity-much kinder to my knees and joints than pounding out my requisite four miles on the treadmill.  At my age, I need to go gentle on my cartilage because collagen is in short supply.

Vanity motivates me to exercise but a healthy heart from cardio and good bone density from weight bearing exercises are going to keep me alive. Pilates on the mat and on the Reformer are among the best anti-aging antidotes around that don’t involve plastic surgery, Botox, or dermal fillers ( though I’m not above the aforementioned-if only Pilates could stimulate collagen production). But hey we all know that there is no magic bullet in the quest for health and longevity. When it comes to fighting the forces of gravity, Pilates is my body’s fiercest warrior, keeping everything tight and in its proper place, so I’lll see you on the mat or the machine, at In Balance Yoga and Pilates.

My First Pilates Reformer Class–Conquering the Learning Curve

I have a Pilates reformer machine at home, a gift (actually a hand-me-down from my father-in-law to) that has sat in my upstairs workout room for over a year collecting dust.  This apparatus would taunt me daily as I ran on my treadmill staring at the idle reformer and feeling guilty about not taking advantage of its known transformative, body shaping potential.

My procrastination, I justified, was the result of being so far behind the learning curve that it seemed self-defeating to even try it. I’ll just stick to what I know–get in, do my workout, and get on with my day. Besides, I told myself, I don’t have the time to fit one more new thing into my schedule. ( I feared sacrificing a challenging workout while learning the basics of the Pilates reformer.)

The day after taking my first private Pilates reformer class at In Balance Yoga and Pilates, my sore muscles have exposed my flawed logic.  My instructor, Karen, (perfectly toned and sculpted) is proof positive of the reformer’s body shaping powers. In my first class, Karen showed me basic legwork and abs work on the Pilates reformer.  Ten minutes into the class, I was working up a sweat.

For the sake of full disclosure, I am not a complete Pilates novice. I am familiar with the concept because I have taken Pilates mat classes over the years. I understand the Pilates’ principle of precise, controlled movements to strengthen the core, and the degree of body awareness that Pilates requires to produce results.  As my instructor Karen says “You don’t power through these exercises mindlessly.” Pilates requires a great deal of concentration. The exercises are meant to flow as you focus on core movements, the area between the lower ribs and the pubic bone- keeping your tummy tight, belly button sucked in, your spine properly aligned, and your breathing synchronized with the movements.

The Pilates reformer challenges your muscles in ways that free weights cannot. The sliding carriage and pulley system provides for an endless range of exercises to hit all areas of the body. Different springs provide varying levels of resistance so as you build strength you can make each exercise more challenging.

My favorite Pilates reformer workout was the standing lunges and squats on the carriage while lifting five-pound free weights. I was able to work my legs and tone by tush while sculpting my biceps, triceps, and shoulders. The moves packed a lot of punch and I feel it today in my bum, quads, inner and outer thighs and arms.

In just one workout on the Pilates reformer, I was surprised to learn that there are so many different ways to work the body on the reformer- exercises can be done lying down, standing, sitting, or kneeling.

In Balance offers a professional, client centered practice and Karen, my instructor, gave me her undivided attention to make sure that I was doing each exercise with the correct form.

In my next class, Karen is going to show me how to get a cardio workout with the Pilates reformer. So,  when I workout at home, I’ll be on my Pilates reformer, staring at my idle treadmill feeling smarter for finding a way to combine cardio and toning in one powerful workout that produces lean muscles and a healthy heart.

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