just a quick note to say a big congratulations to our new Advanced and Diploma Mat Instructors. The practical assessments on Saturday where of a very high standard.

Now you know what I am going to say next !! now that you have reached that standard DONT lose it by not practicing — in Pilates ‘we need to sweat the small stuff ‘ all those small details of hands / feet –  core connections – and we can only do that by consistent practice.

So guys please please keep the practice up and maintain that standard – dont make it just a one day exam wonder !!

Keep an eye on the post – Certs and Diplomas on the way

Again well done

Regards Joyce and all at BODYFIRM

Just a quick note to all the recent Graduates of the Reformer 1 course. I must complement all you guys who sat your assessment the quality of your work was fantastic.  So heres wishing you all the very best of luck with your new skills ! 

Also a big contrats to the Level 2 Refomer Graduates – as you are aware the learning curve between the levels is quite steep – and again you did not disappoint the quality of your personal performance of the sequence was wonderful – again I wish you the very best of luck with your new found reformer skills 

yours Joyce

-Joseph Pilates, letter to clients, 1939

Good morning every one Happy Wednesday — have you managed to move this week ? 30 minutes of Pilates every day will not make you feel better, help with the activites of daily living (ADL’s) but will give you 30minutes to your self. where your mind can unwind and for that brief moment you will feel fully connected

So come on find some space and time and just a few flowing movements to open your joints, your muscles, your heart , your lungs and your mind …  get moving

Namaste to you all today

Joyce

“This is the equivalent of an “internal shower”. As the spring freshness born of the heavy rains and vast masses of melting snows on mountains in the hinterlands cause rivers to swell and rush turbulently onward to the sea, so too will your blood flow with renewed vigor as the direct result of your faithfully performing the Contrology (Pilates) exercises.” Joseph H. Pilates

Come on folks join a Pilates class and get the blood flowing, improve circulation, improve flexibility and most importantly improve your quality of living !!!

Give us a call or find your local Pilates Instructor and get moving

Health and wellness from controled movements

A few well-designed movements, properly performed in a balanced sequence, are worth hours of doing sloppy calisthenics or forced contortion.

And the above heading is a direct quote from her, and is the topic of a letter written by Susan Pepper of Swissbody Pilates Academy.

Recently  Susan and I spoke  on this very topic – that students / instructors are not training with Pilates daily and in some instances are not upkeeping their skills by attending further workshops / courses. The end result is instructors who are not developing their own internal stamina, not developing the technique within their own bodies and as a result end up having very little understanding of this wonderful method and its expansive range

Below is a letter Susan has published and has kindly allowed me to reproduce for you. During our converstation Susan told me of the huge reaction received regarding its content mostly from like minded professionals who agree and understand that Pilates is not fitness but a method a system that we must nurture within our selves and within our profession in order to encourage  the public to become our clients and participate in this wonderful system – this expression of all that is strong and healthy

Joyce The PROGRESSIVE Pilates Academy @ BODYFIRM Studios

Dear Pilates Colleagues,

Happy New Year to you all!

This time last year we were all wondering how the financial crisis would affect us. It seems that most of us survived and some of us came to the end of 2009 with the same growth in income as any other year. What is the secret of the success of those who continue to grow their client base? What are they doing that keeps new clients coming but, most importantly, what encourages the old clients to come back year after year?

I was watching a film on television recently and this was part of the dialogue:

« Do you do Pilates? »

« No, what’s that »

« Oh it’s expensive stretching »

If your Pilates training was a good one, this probably made you laugh. I did, but then I got extremely worried. Is this how people see Pilates? What are the teachers teaching? Is this what we want people to think of this wonderful physical training?

Another comment that I heard from a recently trained Pilates teacher stands out in my mind:

« I would like to follow courses for advanced Pilates exercises on the equipment where you don’t have to be an acrobat to be able to do the exercises »

What do teachers want?

Do we want to teach Pilates (the exercises taught by Joseph Pilates) or do we want to teach « expensive stretching »?

It’s easy to teach expensive stretching.

It takes time, years of personal training, teaching experience and continual training to understand the Method so as to teach Pilates!

There is no harm in breaking down the exercises so that they are more accessible to all, or adapting the exercises for specific client needs. This is part of « adapting the method to the client and not the client to the method ».

The risk is that Pilates teachers no longer do or know the original exercises. They don’t know how to train healthy, fit bodies into even healthier and fitter bodies. We’re not talking acrobats, just fit and strong people who want to challenge their minds and muscles. Achieving the hardest Pilates exercises can be seen as the measure of extreme well being.

Have you ever asked yourself why there are so few men in Pilates studios? Why the average age of most Pilates clients is between 35 and 40?

Lolita San Miguel wrote: “One of the biggest dangers in Pilates are teachers who don’t have teachers”

So if we love our job and want to encourage new clients (young and old, men and women) to come to us and stay with us year after year what can we do about it? CONTINUE TO STUDY!!! Train your own body (Lolita San Miguel says daily), do classes with other teachers regularly, go to continual education courses with experienced teachers and yes, learn the advanced equipment work and no, it is not only for acrobats. Once you learn where the strength comes from to do these exercises and how to do them properly, you will open new horizons for yourselves and your clients and we will no longer hear comments like: « Oh, Pilates is expensive stretching ».

Let us all stand together to uphold the quality of the Pilates Method. In this way we will all have work forever.

With love and passion

Susan Pepper

Pilates and the Professional Sportsman

Tour de France

My response to this terrible misconception: “You choose to question the wisdom of sporting professionals who play international rugby, NFL and premier league soccer, not to mention members of GAA county football and hurling teams, Olympic athletes, Tour de France cyclists, professional golfers etc, the majority of who consider Pilates to be an integral part of their overall training regimes.

Exercising in a gym can be great for building strength and muscles, but top sports coaches and trainers understand that Pilates helps their elite athletes achieve greater postural balance in their bodies as well as considerably reducing the incidence of injury and pain.

So, if it works for the professionals, why are there still a few ‘Weekend Warriors’ who cannot see the benefit of this excellent system of movement?

The Simple Facts about Pilates and Men’s Health
I don’t have the answer to that question, but I would like to present some Simple Facts about Pilates and Men’s Health that show there is more to Pilates than meets the eye.

In addition to helping men who suffer the occasional twinge or knock from sporting activities, regular Pilates workouts can help build resistance to some very serious health conditions that affect men as well as greatly improve your overall health and quality of life.

Just take a look at Joseph Pilates, the founder of  Pilates techniques, he was still teaching and training in his 80s.

Meet ‘The Reformer’
If you are a man who thinks working on a mat is not tough – then let me introduce you to The Reformer; a customized piece of Pilates resistance equipment.

Working with the principles of Pilates and resistance, a Reformer Workout tones muscle and helps to create a masculine streamline shape while simultaneously improving posture, stability, flexibility, mobility and co-ordination. The beauty of a Reformer workout programme is that it works your body as a whole, unlike individual exercise machines that can be found in a gym.
As I have stated in earlier blogs, Pilates works to create a balanced body – right left, front back.

Pilates provides:

• – Improved Stability
• – Increased Mobility
• – More Fluency of Movement
• – Better Co-ordination and
• – Greater strength

– All the components required for living injury and pain free.

So, in terms of  physical workouts, Pilates offers men an opportunity to build a better-balanced body with more strength and muscular endurance and create a flexible masculine shape.

Pilates and male medical conditions
Erectile Dysfunction
At BODYFIRM Studios we see the Pelvic Floor as essential part of both male and female health. Most men do not realize how important their Pelvic Floor is to their overall health. However, we have in the past had men referred for PF (pelvic floor) work to aid with Erectile Dysfunction.
Prostate Cancer
In more recent times with the apparent increase in the incidence of Prostate Cancer, Pilates has been acknowledged as a movement system that can play a big part in helping men fight the possible onset of the disease.
Deterioration of the Pelvic Floor has been cited as a contributing factor to the contracting of prostate cancer. By working with Pilates movement, becoming aware of Pelvic Floor activation and strengthening, the risks of contracting prostate cancer can be reduced.

Want to give Pilates a go?
Pilates is a movement system that has much to offer men looking improve their fitness. It is a programme that combines both mat and resistance machine exercises with great results

So, come and give it a go.

I think you’ll find you can be man enough for it…

Joyce

——————

Click here to book a course or learn more about what Pilates can do for  you.

Call Bernie on 018684600 if you have a specific Pilates query.

——————-

Images courtesy of www.freedigitalphotos.net . Tour de France Photograher Tom Curtis Worker waistcoat – Photographer: Suat Eman

The PROGRESSIVE Pilates Academy

Mat and Reformer Pilates (assessment based ) Course Schedule August to December 2010

MAT WORK Course schedule____

PPM1. PROGRESSIVE Pilates Method Mat Instructor Level I & II

Cost: €750 course material DVD & exam included 3 Day intensive course for qualified movement instructors i.e. yoga, fitness,personal trainer, dance etc  New for 2010 1 day teaching module

EXTRA DATE

Hosted by the Killashee Hotel & Leisure Club in Kildare

bookings through Deidre Webster 045 981600 @ Killashee

or BODYFIRM studios 01 868 4600

Dates: Aug 31st/Sept 1st/2nd Tue/Wed/Thur – Times:9-5.30pm

Teaching module Fri Oct 29th 9-3pmExam Sat Oct 30th 9am start

(these dates are held in Dublin @ BODYFIRM studios)

___________________________________________________________

Dates: Sept 17th/18th/19th Fri/Sat/Sun – Times:F/S9-5.30pm Sun 9-4pm

Sept course Teaching module Fri Oct 29th 9-3pmExam Sat Oct 30th 9am start

____________________________________________________________

Dates: Oct 8th/9th/10th Fri/Sat/Sun – Times:F/S9-5.30pm Sun 9-4pm

Oct course Teaching module Fri Nov 26th 9-3pm/Exam Sat Nov 27th 9am start

____________________________________________________________

PPE2 PROGRESSIVE Pilates Method Intermediate Up Skill for PPE level 1 instructors

November  2010

1 day intensive course for qualified Level 1 instructors taking Pilates to the Intermediate Level

Dates: Nov 13th – Times: 9am-5pm

Exam: Jan 2011 tba

Cost: Fan member €295 – Non Fan member €325 Comprehensive course manual / DVD  & assessment included

________________________________________________

REFORMER  Course schedule____

PPR 1PROGRESSIVE Pilates Method Reformer Level 1  Group Class Instructor 10 hr intensive

September 2010

Course material for beginner / improver group reformer class programming suitable for Mat Level I/II instructors- new teaching module

Dates: Sep 10th/11th Fri/Sat  – Times: Fri 2pm-6pm Sat 11am-6pm – Exam: 12th Nov

Cost: Fan Member €375 – Non member €400  (Comprehensive course material & exam included )

______________________________________________

PPR 2 PROGRESSIVE Pilates Method Level 2 Reformer Group Class instructor

October 2010

1 day intensive for Reformer qualified level 1  instructors

Dates: Oct 15th – Times: 9am-5pm

Exam: Jan 22nd 2011 

Cost: Fan Member €295 – Non Fan member €325 Comprehensive course manual & assessment included

__________________________________________________

First, let’s start with what Pilates is not!!! Pilates is not exercise. That is to say it is not exercise in the traditional sense.

Pilates is a movement system or technique, with its essence in postural balance. Pilates choreography or a sequence of flowing Pilates movements work the body uniformly to bring it back into alignment.

Joseph Pilates (1880/83 – 1967) Joe was still instructing in his 80s

Developed by Joseph Pilates (Joe Pilates) in the early 1900s, it has in the past been described as the ‘thinking person’s exercise’ because of its focus on movement with precision.

By performing each ‘Pilates exercise’ mindfully we can create a body that is strong and ‘in balance’. The increased muscular endurance achieved through Pilates workouts has a functional carry over that assists us in the Activities of Daily Living (ADL’s).

Combining the concepts of core control, spinal elongation and focus, each wonderful movement is bolstered by a relaxed flowing breath that unites body and mind.

Pilates movements with names such as Elephant, Snake and Open Leg Rocker Seal can be performed on either a mat or specifically designed Pilates machines with equally exotically names like The Pilates Reformer, The Pilates Trapeze, The Pilates Wunda Chair.

‘Exercise sessions with Joe were not meant to tire, but rather to invigorate’

While Pilates was designed for and traditionally taught on a one-to-one basis on specific Pilates equipment and machines in dedicated Pilates studios, most people today participate in group Pilates mat work classes, which are now held throughout the country in church, school and community halls, gyms and other health and fitness facilities.

Joyce

If you have any questions about Pilates or would like to learn more about our training, phone us at 01 868 4600, or drop us a line to training@bodyfirmpilates.com

Related Posts

How does Pilates differ from exercise?