Pilates: Know Before You Go

Greetings, Blog Friends!

I've been addressing these posts to the Pilates novice. My hope is that if you've not tried Pilates, you'll give it a try. If you're terrified of trying Pilates, I alluded to the fact that you should absolutely do your homework when searching for a teacher, and that you should take a few private lessons with a well-trained teacher prior to joining a group class.

I'm including a link to a fun news clip from this past weekend, featuring my mentor teacher, Rael Isacowitz, and my friend, the amazing Lisa Hubbard. In it, Rael makes mention of these two things, namely being afraid to try Pilates for the first time, and the fact that finding a well-qualified teacher is paramount to your enjoyment of and success in Pilates.

As I've mentioned, it took me many years of research, study, practice and teaching to find what works for me. My earnest hope is that you will TRY Pilates. It rocks SO MUCH and makes you better at everything else you do. Please let me know if you have specific questions regarding the work. I am a teacher; I thoroughly enjoy answering questions!

Before I close, there is one other thing Rael mentions in this clip: Pilates was invented by a man, originally only for men! Stay tuned - there are some surprises coming up in June (just in time for Father's Day)! You'll going to hear from more men who do Pilates!

Happy practicing!

P.S. Click here for some of Rael's videos available on Amazon, and here for Lisa's!

Pilates: Like Yoga, Only Different

If You're New to Pilates or Yoga, This One's For You!

In last week’s post, I introduced you a brief history of Pilates, and what you might experience in the first 5-10 minutes of your first lesson, and I promised that in this post, I’d continue in that vein. However,I have been hearing the same question quite a bit this week, and think it would be best addressed at this time.

The question is:  “Pilates is like yoga, right?”

Well, yes and no.

Yes, in that apples, like oranges, are fruit, have skin and seeds, are in similar biological classification systems, may grow in the same climate, but usually don’t, and in most circumstances, the two fruits are quite compatible. They are very different, but are both very nice.

No, in that their history and the purpose for practicing each is very different. I often explain that yoga is a sacred practice that has been around for thousands of years, and it is primarily focused on using the body and mind to pursue and open to the spiritual. Pilates has only been around since the early part of 20th century, and it's primary focus is on the mental controlling the physical.

When discussing Pilates and yoga, they tend to be lumped into the same classification system, which is that of mind-body exercise. More on that in a later post. What you need to realize is that the history of each method is vastly different and though they share similarities in movement and benefits, at their “core”, (great word, huh?!), they are as different as an apple and an orange. Practicing either method should be based on personal preference and the needs of the individual. Both practices are valid, beneficial, and very enjoyable, but they are not the same, and can have very differing benefits.

The following are some things to think about if you're new to Pilates or yoga.

When you’re exploring the methods for the first time, it is very important to consider safety. Both methods are like swimming: Neither should be attempted by yourself or in a crowded class the first couple of times you practice. If you didn’t know how to swim would you jump into the deep end of an unattended swimming pool and hope for the best? Along the same lines, would you jump into the same pool in the middle of a really crowded class with only one teacher present and no lifeguard and hope for the best?

I am speaking from personal experience. I am a student of both Pilates and yoga, but a teacher of only Pilates. I have also been teaching for almost half my life, and spent a portion of that time teaching in physical therapy clinics where I worked with patients who had been injured in both methods. I’ve been injured in both methods. I’ve also been tremendously helped by both.

The key to success in both modalities is research, especially when you’re starting out. There are a myriad of different schools of thought in both the yoga and Pilates communities. I researched and practiced several different methods of Pilates before I became certified to teach. I kept up my studies and research, and realized a few years into my career that there were other teachers and methods that resonated more with me, and felt better for my body, so I pursued studying with those teachers and practicing those methods.

The same goes for yoga. I've studied and practiced several methods and enjoy and benefit from some more than others.

In closing, each discipline is beautiful and beneficial and both are a great compliment to any fitness regime. Practicing one or both will give you so many rewards. Do your research. Invest in learning and in your health and you’ll reap the benefits. Be safe, be smart and be strong!

An Introduction to Pilates

When someone enters the studio for their first Pilates lesson, they often quickly become quite overwhelmed. Most new students enter the studio with absolutely no idea of what they’re getting into. This means I need to begin the first lesson by trying to make them feel as comfortable as possible in an environment akin to a sadomasochist’s “playroom.”

Wide eyed, people enter the Pilates studio and ask if it is a torture chamber. Well, yes, it does look such. Leather straps. Metal frames. "Safety" chains. Beds with bars...

The equipment cannot be explained without telling you about the man behind the magnificence. The following is an abbreviated history of the life of Mr. Pilates. I will add some links below to his two books, which are really manifestos. Yes, manifestos. I should write a manifesto. That would be interesting.

Joseph Pilates

Anyway, Joseph Hubertus Pilates was born in Monchengladbach, Germany in the late 1880’s (for those of you wondering, that’s about 70km, or an hour and some change, on the autobahn according to Google Maps at the time I checked, from the town where Heidi Klum was born!.). He had rickets and asthma and was a sickly child, who was told he’d never amount to anything physically. 

He decided to prove everyone wrong, and began studying ancient forms of Greek fitness, Roman gladiator training, wrestling, marital arts, boxing and gymnastics. He joined the circus with his brother in a Roman gladiator act. He toured with said circus, and was captured and put in prison camp during World War 1. 

Based on his aforementioned studies, he had developed a series of mobility exercises, which he performed for daily physical maintenance. These exercises were the foundation of modern mat work. 

The guards in the camp saw him performing his daily exercises and put him to work with the injured soldiers. These men were unable to do his exercises, and though he manually assisted them at first, it was too waring a thing to continue. Thus, the modern equipment was formed from the hospital beds, springs and traction equipment being used by the injured.

So there you have it. Quick and painless introduction to Pilates equipment and history; the primary things I cover with new students on their first visit. In the next post, I’ll give you the second part of what we would discuss with you on your first lesson. It involves fire and liquor.

-- Amie Avi, Pilates Instructor

Faithful Readers

Hello to all of Erica's faithful readers!

My name is Amie Avi. I mostly teach Pilates these days, but have done about every job one can do in a health club or a restaurant, and would have preferred to play those roles on TV.

In the following few posts, I'll be introducing you to Pilates. Posts unrelated to Pilates may follow. I'm looking forward to getting to know you, and to sharing with you all about something I really enjoy. Please leave questions or comments below, and Erica and I will do our best to respond.

All that said, let's crack on, shall we?

Though Pilates has become a bit more ubiquitous since I first started teaching, thirteen years ago, it is still synonymous with circus acts, knife-throwing, and oddly-named cocktails. It is an odd-sounding word, and most people have no idea what Pilates is.

I will never forget the evening I overheard a hapless, yet blindingly attractive, membership sales representative at a gym where I taught, explaining to a prospective member that Pilates is the American form of yoga. (With his model-esque smile, even I might have believed it, but that’s beside the point.)

Pilates is not the American form of yoga. It also does not involve jumping through hoops of fire, (though working with certain Pilates apparatus called the “Magic Circle” conjures up such images), and is not an obscure liquor native to a Baltic State.

In the next few posts, I’ll introduce a bit of the history of Pilates, why it rocks so incredibly much, and why everyone from competitors in the octagon to octogenarians should be doing Pilates.

Cheers and peace,

A.