Why is so great about Pilates?

There is something great about coming in for a workout and lying down on your back to begin. It's not so intimidating when you know you're going to go thru a progression of exercises that start with you in supine (lying on back), to seated, to kneeling and you will ultimately finish with a standing exercise. It's refreshing to know what to anticipate and that your body will catch up to the idea that you're in for a workout. What other form of exercise does this? None.

Why is Pilates performed in this fashion? Lying down a flat surface helps you to find your boney landmarks and get you into a neutral pelvis. Neutral pelvis is when the pelvis is neither in an anterior tilt or posterior tilt. In other words, the tail bone is in line with the mat rather than tucked or arched. Whatever the pelvis does, the rest of the spine has to follow which is what makes it so important and why Pilates has become associated with great posture. When we find the "connection to our powerhouse", we are engaging our core muscles and doing this while we are in a neutral pelvis. Thus, we teach the body to maintain this position on its own.

This is why Pilate’s enthusiasts generally appear taller and stand with such confidence. We don't have to constantly think about engaging our core because practicing Pilates with consistency makes this automatic. I hear people say that they just need to "stand up straight" or "pull there shoulders back", but let's face it, we have enough on our minds. Who can remember do that 24/7? It's not likely unless your body has been trained to do it.

There was a lot of controversy surrounding Classical Pilates and whether it was performed in neutral pelvis. Some Pilate’s practices got a bad rap because the information was misinterpreted and people thought it was to be performed in a "flat back" position. In other words, the pelvis was tucked under so there were no natural curves in the lower back area. This is why Pilate’s teachers are now so specific about where your body should be when you begin learning the practice. If you are training your body to be out of neutral, this can cause pain and misalignment of the body. Thus to get into a good position, I always begin my class the same way.


Lie down on your mat with your knees bent, arms long by your side. Breathe fully and deeply into the side and back of your lungs. Feel the back of your head heavy, and your shoulder blades imprinting on the mat. Breath into your ribcage and feel the back of the ribs touch the mat and your tailbone long and heavy. Draw your naval in and up and you are ready to begin.

My First Blog

Pilates is what I do everyday and what I know best.  I teach it, practice it and am constantly wondering if I'll ever actually make a good living doing it.  Yet it is something I'm so addicted to, I just can't imagine doing anything else.  If you're wondering what Pilates is, let me briefly tell you what I tell people on a daily basis.  Pilates is a lot like Yoga on equipment.  It is a total body workout that focuses on core training with 4 major principles, strength; stretch; stamina; and stability. What kept my interest, and believe me this is no easy task, is how much fun it is when you practice it regularly and how good you feel afterwards.

I got into teaching Pilates thru Personal training.  And although I have always been intrigued by fitness, I have not always been fit.  It was when I was in college and I no longer had my Mom to cook me healthy meals, and no cross country practice after school, that I realized I too could gain weight.  And it took more than gaining 20 lbs for me to realize I desperately needed a change.  It was the lethargy I felt and depression that soon followed.  I was not motivated to do much of anything and I really hated my reflection.

Working out with weights started off as a mission to tone and trim my body, but after getting into a routine and seeing the pounds shed off, I was quickly hooked.  I have realized that I have an extremely addictive personality, and this was one addiction that I could be proud of.  I made new friends and people looked at me differently and treated me differently at the gym and outside of the gym.  It made perfect sense for me to get a certification in Personal Training.

I made a career of Personal Training for about 5 years and was slowly introduced to Pilates.  I remember the first time I heard the word was from my Mom.  My parents had just gotten back from a week vacation at this Spa called Rancho La Puerta in Tecate, Mexico.  Thye always came back looking refreshed and re energized after a week there.  My Mom was so excited to share with me one of the floor exercises she had learned in her mat Pilates class.  It was the half-roll down and she mimicked the German accent of her instructor as she demonstrated how to "roll down one vertebrae at a time."    at the time I had only just begun personal training and "core training"  was not so in vogue as it is now. 

I taught Pilates at this Health Club for a couple years until I craved more knowledge and started researching more comprehensive training programs.  It was then I learned that just as there are democrats and republicans, there are classical Pilates teachers and contemporary Pilates teachers.  And unfortunately, they both believe they are better than the other and usually don't get along very well.  I chose the program that I believed to be the best in the valley of the sun, which is Power Pilates.