Custom exercise plans just for you!

Holiday Fitness in Santa Barbara.

The Holidays can be very stressful and energetic time of year.  Its important to remember to continue to exercise as you would normally, and even more so if you are looking to trim off a few pounds before those big holiday get togethers.  Or just to make room for a Holiday meal. What ever the reason Kristen at Santa Barbara Pilates and Fitness can create a well balanced exercise plan to help meet your health and body goals this Holiday Season.

Just give us a call and we’ll create a Holiday work-out plan just for you!

(805) 563 – 8065
Toll free 1-888-927-9300

Happy Holidays 2011.
Santa Barbara Pilates and Fitness.
Pilates – TRX – ROM – Bosu – Gyrotonic – Cardio – Personal One on One Fitness

Joseph Pilates and the History of Pilates

What’s all the fuss about? Pilates seems to have burst on the scene out of nowhere in the last 10 years. After decades as the workout of the elite, Pilates has entered the fitness mainstream. What’s the fascinating store behind how Pilates began, and why the recent “overnight success”? Here’s a brief look at its history.

How Pilates Began

Joe went to England in 1912, where he worked as a self-defense instructor for detectives at Scotland Yard. At the outbreak of World War I, Joe was interned as an “enemy alien” with other German nationals. During his internment, Joe refined his ideas and trained other internees in his system of exercise. He rigged springs to hospital beds, enabling bedridden patients to exercise against resistance, an innovation that led to his later equipment designs. An influenza epidemic struck England in 1918, killing thousands of people, but not a single one of Joe’s trainees died. This, he claimed, testified to the effectiveness of his system.

After his release, Joe returned to Germany. His exercise method gained favor in the dance community, primarily through Rudolf von Laban, who created the form of dance notation most widely used today. Hanya Holm adopted many of Joe’s exercises for her modern dance curriculum, and they are still part of the “Holm Technique.” When German officials asked Joe to teach his fitness system to the army, he decided to leave Germany for good.

The Pilates movement gains in popularity – from Europe to the U.S.

In 1926, Joe emigrated to the United States. During the voyage he met Clara, whom he later married. Joe and Clara opened a fitness studio in New York, sharing an address with the New York City Ballet.

By the early 1960s, Joe and Clara could count among their clients many New York dancers. George Balanchine studied “at Joe’s,” as he called it, and also invited Pilates to instruct his young ballerinas at the New York City Ballet.

“Pilates” was becoming popular outside of New York as well. As the New York Herald Tribune noted in 1964, “in dance classes around the United States, hundreds of young students limber up daily with an exercise they know as a pilates, without knowing that the word has a capital P, and a living, right-breathing namesake.”

His students begin to teach

While Joe was still alive, only two of his students, Carola Trier and Bob Seed, are known to have opened their own studios. Trier, who had an extensive dance background, found her way to the United States by becoming a performing contortionist, after fleeing a Nazi holding camp in France. She found Joe Pilates in 1940, when a non-stage injury pre-empted her performing career. Joe Pilates assisted Trier in opening her own studio in the late 1950s. Joe and Clara remained close friends with Trier until their deaths.

Bob Seed was another story. A former hockey player turned “Pilates” enthusiast, Seed opened a studio across town from Joe and tried to take away some of Joe’s clients by opening very early in the morning. According to John Steel, one day Joe visited Seed with a gun and warned Seed to get out of town. Seed went.

The second generation of Pilates teachers

When Joe passed away in 1967, he left no will and had designated no line of succession for the “Pilates” work to carry on. Nevertheless, his work would remain. Clara continued to operate what was known as the “Pilates” Studio on Eighth Avenue in New York, where Romana Kryzanowska became the director around 1970. Kryzanowska had studied with Joe and Clara in the early 1940s and then, after a 15-year hiatus spent in Peru, returned to renew her studies.

Several students of Joe and Clara went on to open their own studios. Ron Fletcher was a Martha Graham dancer who studied and consulted with Joe from the 1940s on, in connection with a chronic knee ailment. Fletcher opened his studio in Los Angeles in 1970 and attracted many Hollywood stars. Clara was particularly enamored with Ron and she gave her blessing to him to carry on the “Pilates” work and name. Like Carola Trier, Fletcher brought some innovations and advancements to the “Pilates” work. His evolving variations on “Pilates” were inspired both by his years as a Martha Graham dancer and by another mentor, Yeichi Imura.

Kathy Grant and Lolita San Miguel were also students of Joe and Clara who became teachers. Grant took over the direction at the Bendel’s studio in 1972, while San Miguel went on to teach Pilates at Ballet Concierto de Puerto Rico in San Juan, Puerto Rico. In 1967, just before Joe’s death, both Grant and San Miguel were awarded degrees by the State University of New York to teach “Pilates.” These two are believed to be the only “Pilates” practitioners ever certified officially by Joe.

Other students of Joe and Clara who opened their own studios include Eve Gentry, Bruce King, Mary Bowen and Robert Fitzgerald. Eve Gentry, a dancer who taught at the Pilates Studio in New York from 1938 through 1968, also taught “Pilates” in the early 1960s at New York University’s Theater Department. After leaving New York, she opened her own studio in Santa Fe, New Mexico. A charter faculty member of the High School for the Performing Arts, Gentry was also a co-founder of the Dance Notation Bureau. In 1979, she was given the “Pioneer of Modern Dance Award” by Bennington College.

Bruce King trained for many years with Joseph and Clara Pilates and was a member of the Merce Cunningham Company, Alwyn Nikolais Company, and his own Bruce King Dance Company. In the mid-1970s King opened his own studio at 160 W. 73rd Street in New York City.

Mary Bowen, a Jungian analyst who studied with Joe in the mid-1960s, began teaching Pilates in 1975 and founded “Your Own Gym” in Northampton, Massachusetts.

Robert Fitzgerald opened his studio on West 56th Street in the 1960s, where he had a large clientele from the dance community.

Joe continued to train clients at his studio until his death in 1967, at the age of 87. In the 1970s, Hollywood celebrities discovered Pilates via Ron Fletcher’s studio in Beverly Hills.

Where the stars go, the media follows. In the late 1980s, the media began to cover Pilates extensively. The public took note, and the Pilates business boomed. “I’m fifty years ahead of my time,” Joe once claimed. He was right. No longer the workout of the elite, Pilates has entered the fitness mainstream. Today, over 10 million Americans practice Pilates, and the numbers continue to grow.

source: http://www.pilates.com/BBAPP/V/about/origins-of-pilates.html

The Santa Barbara Pilates Studio is at it again!

Santa Barbara Pilates and Fitness has devised several new Pilates and non Pilates based classes for the beginner all the way to the most advanced . From $40 per hour for Group Pilates classes to $25 circuit classes there is simply no better or more affordable way to get an intense but well supervised work out. Come join us for the following classes offered only at the Santa Barbara Pilates Studio. The only Pilates Studio in Santa Barbara to include the Full body Cardio Workout of the ROM with all Classical Pilates Sessions!

New Pilates Group Sessions

Complete Pilates Workout. Including all apparatus! This is the equivalent of a Duet session except we will no longer require you to have a duet partner! Just show up at your assigned time and workout. Your price is the same. Your workout is not canceled if your partner cannot show, you will just be alone with your instructor. So make the best of that!.

* 1 hour Classical Pilates on the Reformer, Cadillac, Chair & ROM. All clients must have previous Pilates experience. Call to sign up and reserve your workout schedule.

o $40.00.

New Pilates Jump Board Classes

* Half hour Jump Board Reformer classes offered at the following times. See Studio Calendar

o Cost = $25.00

New Bosu Madness

* 1 Hour Class featuring Pilates Mat, and the Bosu balancing platform. Balancing, jumping and getting your heart rate up while having a great time . Also includes some Cadillac and Stability Ball with weights. Come join us. Have FUN and you won’t even realize you’re working out!!
Call to sign up and reserve your workout schedule.

o Cost = $20.00

New Express Lunch Special

*

40 min express workout on Reformer/Cadillac/Rom/Bosu See Studio Calendar
o

Cost = $20.00

New Pilates Circuit Classes!*

* Circuit 1 includes exercises on the Mat, Bosu, Cadillac, Foam Roller & Stability Ball.
* Circuit 2 adds Reformer exercises for the beginner.
* These classes will help you build core strength, increase flexibility and improve balance. And with the ROM cross trainer you will experience full body cardio increasing your strength and stamina.
* Don’t miss this opportunity to get an incredible Pilates workout at a great price!

* Circuit 1 = $15.00

*Note All Circuit Classes offered only if 4 or more participants have signed up. See Studio Calendar. Call to sign up and reserve your workout schedule.

Full Body Cardio workout with the incredible ROM machine ! ( 10 Minutes )

ROM

Santa Barbara Pilates Studio now offers a full body cardio work-out with (ROM)
Range of Motion Machine

These classes offer a great new opportunity to experience the fun and body changing workout these classes can offer you.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Pilates reformer machines are popular on the market for those that are serious about pilates and perfecting their form and skills. These machines are designed to get you into those tricky positions comfortably and with ease. A pilates workout with a reformer is guaranteed to show results and strengthen your entire body head to toe.

Pilates was created in the early 1900s, but has received a popularity boom since the late 90s. Madonna reportedly does pilates daily, as well as many other famous celebrities. It has been proven to greatly enhance ones body and mental state. Stress reduction is a big plus, because with less stress you will become a happier and more efficient being.

A reformer is a machine that actually looks intimidating, however, they make pilates much more simple and easy for you to do. Pilates reformers are designed to tone muscle without adding manly bulk to a feminine form. They also allow for proper control, form, and contraction of specific muscle groups. Reformers are designed for those that are extremely serious about Pilates and intend on making it a lifelong hobby.

Buying a reformer is a pretty large purchase. They usually cost over $800, and high quality ones can cost as much as $2,000. Working out with a Pilates reformer is different from using other machines, or using the floor as your “machine”. With a reformer you get better balance, form, and technique. All of which are crucial elements for the Pilates workout.

Of course, with any exercise machine there are many types of Pilates reformer machines. A workout with any of these is designed to improve your health and fitness. One of the most popular types is a multifunctional reformer that combines several aspects of pilates into one machine that works for all of them. Other machines are special for certain types of pilates, and others are for advanced users. Its easy to find one for you and your body goals!

The benefits are obvious, yet some people do not realize how powerful the usage of pilates can be for your entire body and mind. When working out with a pilates reformer you can expand your pilates regimen and go beyond what you would in any pilates class! Working out with a reformer will allow you to be stable, and contract and focus on new muscles groups you may have never used.

Closing Comments

Pilates reformers combines everything from pilates and other muscle toning exercises, and puts them into a machine that allows you to perform those moves successfully and with proper form involved. Pilates reformers are important for all users that are serious about pilates.

By Chris Channing

Pilates – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pilates, pronounced /pɪˈlɑ:ti:z/, is a physical fitness system developed in the early 20th century by Joseph Pilates in Germany.^[1] As of 2005 there are 11 million people who practice the discipline regularly and 14,000 instructors in the United States.^[2]

Pilates called his method Contrology (from control and Greek -λογία, -logia), because he believed his method uses the mind to control the muscles.^[3] The program focuses on the core postural muscles which help keep the body balanced and which are essential to providing support for the spine. In particular, Pilates exercises teach awareness of breath and alignment of the spine, and aim to strengthen the deep torso muscles.

[edit] History of Pilates

German born Joseph Pilates designed a system of exercise based on aerobics and yoga postures of Surya Namaskaras.

Pilates was formed by the part Greek, part German Joseph Pilates during the First World War with the proposal to improve the rehabilitation program for the many returning veterans. Joseph Pilates believed mental and physical health are essential to one another. He recommended a few, precise movements emphasizing control and form to aid injured soldiers in regaining their health by strengthening, stretching, and stabilizing key muscles. Pilates created “The Pilates Principles” to condition the entire body: proper alignment, centering, concentration, control, precision, breathing, and flowing movement.

Joseph Pilates wrote two books concerning the Pilates method, Return to Life through Contrology (1928) and Your Health: A Corrective System of Exercising That Revolutionizes the Entire Field of Physical Education (1934).

[edit] Principles

Pilates claimed his method has a philosophical and theoretical foundation. He claims that his system is not merely a collection of exercises, but a method developed and refined over more than eighty-five years of use and observation.

According to practitioners, the central aim of Pilates is to attempt to create a fusion of mind and body, so that without even engaging the mind, the body will move with economy, grace, and balance.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Breathing

Joseph Pilates believed in circulating the blood so that it could awaken all the cells in the body and carry away the wastes related to fatigue. For the blood to do its work properly, he maintained, it has to be charged with oxygen and purged of waste gases through proper breathing. By this standard, if you stop breathing during exercise, there is an error in your practice. Full and thorough inhalation and exhalation are purportedly a part of every Pilates exercise. Pilates saw forced exhalation as the key to full inhalation. “Squeeze out the lungs as you would wring a wet towel dry,” he is reputed to have said.^{[citation needed]} Pilates breathing should be done with concentration, control, and precision. Proper and effective breathing, practitioners assert, not only oxygenates the muscles, but also reduces tension in the upper neck and shoulders. Pilates breathing is described as a posterior lateral breathing, meaning that the practitioner is instructed to breathe deep into the back and sides of his or her rib cage. When practitioners exhale, they are instructed to note the engagement of their deep abdominal and pelvic floor muscles and maintain this engagement as they inhale. Pilates attempts to properly coordinate this breathing practice with movement, including breathing instructions with every exercise. Joseph Pilates stated, “Even if you follow no other instructions, learn to breathe correctly.”^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Centering

Pilates called the very large group of muscles in the center of the body – encompassing the abdomen, lower back, hips, and buttocks – the “powerhouse.” All energy for Pilates exercises is said to begin from the powerhouse and flow outward to the limbs. In other words, the Pilates technique asserts that physical energy exerted from the center should coordinate movements of the extremities. Pilates felt that it was important to build a strong powerhouse in order to rely on it in daily living. Modern instructors call the powerhouse the “core”.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Concentration

Pilates demands intense focus. For instance, the inner thighs and pelvic floor may be assessed when doing a standing exercise that tones the triceps. Beginners are instructed to pay careful attention to their bodies, building on very small, delicate fundamental movements and controlled breathing.^{[citation needed]} In 2006, at the Parkinson Center of the Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, Oregon, the concentration factor of the Pilates method was being studied in providing relief from the degenerative symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.^[4]

[edit] Control

Joseph Pilates built his method on the idea of muscle control. To him, that meant no sloppy, uncontrolled movements.^[5]

[edit] Precision

Practitioners assert that every movement in the Pilates method has a purpose. Every instruction is considered vitally important to the success of the whole. To leave out any detail is believed to forsake the intrinsic value of the exercise. The focus is on doing one precise and perfect movement, rather than many halfhearted ones. The goal is for this precision to eventually become second nature, and carry over into everyday life as grace and economy of movement.

A qualified Pilates instructor is expected to understand the technique well enough to adapt it to the real-world capabilities of his or her students. Students with physical disabilities, for example, should be given a Pilates regimen intended to improve their methods of physically compensating for their ailment.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Flow or efficiency of movement

Movement is expected to be kept continuous between exercises through the use of appropriate transitions. Once precision has been achieved, the exercises are intended to flow within and into each other in order to build strength and stamina.

[edit] Flexibility

A controlled experiment^[6] gives some support to claims that pilates enhances flexibility.

[edit] Use

Traditionally, Pilates is performed using a machine, classically known as the Pilates reformer, which provides exercise resistance to build strength, develop proper alignment and posture, and increase flexibility. Presently, however, mat Pilates, which does not make use of the reformer is becoming increasingly popular. In the absence of the reformer, an individual’s core strength is garnered as resistance to increase flexibility and further develop the core muscles.

[edit] Precautions

Pilates during pregnancy can be a highly valuable and beneficial form of exercise, but the use of Pilates in pregnancy should only be undertaken under guidance of a fully trained expert.^[7]

[edit] Legal action

In recent years the term “Pilates” worked itself into the mainstream and, following an unsuccessful intellectual property lawsuit, a US federal court ruled the term “Pilates” generic and free for unrestricted use.^[8] While this ruling prevented artificial restrictions on the use of the term “Pilates”, it also permitted many untrained or under-qualified practitioners to capitalize on the name. Consumers may face extensive and conflicting information about what Pilates really is, how it works, and what credentials they should seek in an instructor.^[9]

[edit] Certifying organizations

Several of the students of Joseph Pilates who opened their own studios eventually created organizations to teach and certify their own interpretations of the original work.

• Stott Pilates – largest full-service Pilates organization worldwide
• Physical Mind Institute – Eve Gentry – New Mexico
• Kathy Grant – New York University
• Lolita San Miguel – Puerto Rico
• Ron Fletcher – Los Angeles
• Romana Kryzanowska – director of Joseph’s original studio location after Clara retired under the name of Healite. Later sold to Sean Gallagher.
• Bruce King – NY
• Mary Bowen – Northampton, Massachusetts
• Robert Fitzgerald – NY
• Pilates Method Alliance (PMA) – an umbrella organization attempting to standardize certifications.

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

• Pilates Trademark Case Judgement US District Court – Southern District of NY : Opinion 96 Civ. 43 (MGC) – October 2000
• Physical Mind Institute (2004). Anatomy of Pilates : The Physical Mind Institute. Sante Fe, N.M.: Physicalmind Institute. ISBN 978-0970530615.
• Blandine Calais-Germain (1993). Anatomy of Movement. Eastland Press. ISBN 978-0939616176.
• Pilates, Joseph (1928). Pilates’ Return to Life Through Contrology. New York, NY: Presentation Dynamics (December 31, 1998). ISBN 978-0961493790.
• Stanmore, Tia (2004). The Pilates Back Book: Heal Neck, Back, and Shoulder Pain With Easy Pilates Stretches. Gloucester, MA: Fair Winds Press. ISBN 978-1931412896.
• Andrew Biel, Robin Dorn (2005). Trail Guide to The Body. Boulder, CO: Books of Discovery. ISBN 978-0965853453.
• Daniel Lyon jr.. The Complete Book of Pilates for Men. Harper Collins (2005). ISBN 0-06-082077-2.

Pilates

Pilates is great for building core strength and stability because the focus is on muscular balance and using your deep, stabilizing muscles that act directly on your spine, pelvis, and shoulder blades. Keep in mind that there is a learning curve with Pilates; it is essential to take the time to learn the basics. Give yourself 4 or 5 times of trying it before you decide if it’s for you; it often takes that long before it all comes together and you start to feel like your body is actually doing what you want it to do.

What is Pilates?

Before this question can be answered, it is helpful to know about the man who created it. Joseph Humbertus Pilates was born in 1880 near Dusseldorf Germany. He had numerous health problems as a child including rickets, asthma, and rheumatic fever. He became obsessed by his afflictions and determined to overcome them. As a teenager, he became very active and participated in gymnastics, skiing, and skin diving and became very interested in studying the musculature of the body. His studies also included Eastern forms of exercise including yoga and karate. He merged these experiences to create “The Method”. Pilates called it Controlology which is a precise series of exercises designed to develop the body uniformly, correcting incorrect posture and revitalizing the body, mind and spirit.

In 1912, Joseph moved to England where he became a boxer, circus performer, and self-defense instructor. When World War I started, he was incarcerated as a German national and an enemy alien. While in prison, many inmates followed his method and he continued to perfect it. They found that they were unaffected by the influenza epidemic and realized some greater health benefits from this work. Joseph decided to find a way to help those in the prison camp who were disabled by other wartime diseases. He removed the bedsprings from the beds and attached them to the walls allowing them to exercise while lying down and remain stable yet strengthen their muscles without worsening any injuries.

When WWI ended, he returned to Germany to continue to develop his work, but he left again in 1926 when his ideals clashed with the new German regime. Joseph immigrated to the United States. Along the way, he met Clara, a nurse, who became his wife. They became friends with Max Schmeling, a boxer, who led them to New York. It is here where they opened a “physical fitness studio”. He was warmly welcomed by the New York dance community, and his method quickly became part of the dancers’ training as well as being used to rehab injured dancers.

Joseph Pilates died in 1967, and most of the original instructors he trained have also passed, but the basics of his work have not changed. He wanted his work to benefit the masses and not only an elite group of individuals. He states that the exercises need to be done exactly as written in order to achieve a fit and balanced body.

In 1945, Joseph published his exercises. He prescribed 34 exercises to be done faithfully four times per week; he promised that after three months, your body would return to an ideal physical condition with renewed mental vigor and spiritual enhancement. Exercises can be done on a mat with no equipment (known as matwork); this is the most typical and most accessible form. Exercises can also be performed on a Reformer or a Cadillac machine; this is usually done on a one-on-one basis with a qualified instructor and requires a strong foundation in the matwork exercises.

The reason Pilates seems to have “suddenly appeared” in the past few years is that prior to October 2000, the Pilates name was patented and trademarked by the owner of the New York based Pilates studio. However, in October of 2000, a New York Federal court that Pilates was associated with a type of exercise so the name could no longer be monopolized. This opened the doors for others to provide training and take advantage of Joseph’s work.
Benefits of Pilates

Pilates is a functional form of exercise; it trains the muscles of the body to gain strength in the way they were designed to perform.

Breathing – Pilates has a very specific method of breathing that helps to purify the body, reduce stress, and build endurance

Core strength is one of the most important benefits because all movement starts from the core. When your core is strong, your limbs can move without adding excess strain to your spine and also helps improve balance and coordination.

Strengthens opposing muscle groups – this allows the entire body to function more efficiently and leads to improved flexibility

Improves kinesthetic awareness – this means you have a better sense of where your body is in space. Spatial awareness and core control help improve your functioning in daily activities, prevent injuries, and facilitate rehabilitation.

Stress reduction – the application of mind over muscle is an important concept in Pilates as well as other mind body exercises. This has been shown to help reduce stress.

Disease prevention – his fellow inmates experience this during the influenza outbreak. When the mind is trained to listen to the body, it is more capable of identifying and dealing with stresses that may eventually cause disease.
More:

* Armchair Pilates
* Core/Functional Training Information and Resources
* Frequently Asked Questions about Pilates
* Mind/Body Training
* Pilates Resources
* Stability Balls
* What Pilates Does for You: Results from the Lab

source: http://www.nwhealth.edu/healthyU/getMoving/pilates2.html

I hear concerns after people start Pilates they don’t feel as sore after their workout as compared to when they go to the gym . They wonder why… When first starting Pilates you are asked to connect more with your body, find muscles that you might not have known were even there. So in the beginning the process is designed to teach you how to use you body and your breath to complete the exercises that Pilates has created.

Give it time, you will feel new and old muscles come alive.

Sam Lamiroy is Britain’s top male surfer being crowned twice as British Surfing Champion at the O’Neill British Surf Championships in Devon and in 2007 Sam won the UK Pro Surf Tour. He has been a star on the world circuit for seven years.
How doe he stay in shape? “Yoga Pilates seems to be the ideal thing for me”To thoroughly warm up the spine, using surfing related movement patterns as well as learning about body mechanics is hugely beneficial when taken to the water.

Performed on the floor, on the beach or where ever you go, Pilates exercises lengthen and strengthen the deep core muscles of the body. These stabilizing muscles hug and protect our bones, thereby improving balance and preventing injury — both essential for healthy surfing

Lamiroy “I spend a lot of time traveling and sitting on airplanes, which makes me get really stiff – it’s handy to have a routine to fix it. I guess it’s partly psychological and partly physical, to make you feel like you’re doing something.”

“I have a very broad training scheme. Yoga Pilates seems to be the ideal thing for me. As the name suggests, it’s a mixture of yoga and Pilates. I find Pilates can be too dance-oriented and technical, and yoga is a little too static for my lifestyle. Yoga Pilates is the perfect medium – it’s really good at strengthening your core muscles and helps to fire up your nervous system.

“It’s difficult to emulate the movements that you do in surfing, so all you can do is practice with things like skate-boarding and tennis to try to work the muscles. It’s all focused on keeping your muscles active but at the same time keeping them smooth. If you build up muscles too much, they will get in the way of your surfing.

“I am trying to get in the water as often as possible in preparation for this month’s Highland Open contest, which is one of the biggest in the world. I try to surf as often as I can and top up my fitness with a bit of cycling, running and just general exercise. Last night I played some football with friends.

“Day to day I try to eat very healthily: lots of fresh fruit, vegetables, lean meat, chicken and fish. During the competition I tend to eat very little because I’m quite big for a surfer. On a competition day I eat only a couple of bananas and drink some Red Bull and plenty of water because I find if I eat too much I get really sluggish. I don’t drink can after can of Red Bull but a little bit helps sharpen my mind, giving me the right level of focus: not over-excited and not bored.

“On the whole I don’t take any supplements since I don’t really get run down. When I’m not in the freezing cold sea, that’s when I tend to get ill”.

“At the heart of it, it is important to have a nice, healthy, balanced lifestyle. Some people accuse me of not training enough but I don’t think spending about eight hours a day on a bicycle is particularly good for anyone either. It doesn’t have to be back-breaking work. “Yoga Pilates seems to be the ideal thing for me”. “I can do it anywhere in 15 minutes”.

Sam Lamiroy is appearing at the O’Neill Highland Open by Swatch from April 23-30.

Engage your core like never before improve your performance with Pilates today

written by PalmBeach

read more | digg story

The 39-year old actor, who wants to look toned for his next role, has ditched the dumbbells and hit the yoga mat.

“He hates the gym but is enjoying the calming exercises of yoga and Pilates,” a source was quoted, as saying.

Craig vindicated himself in his first outing as James Bond in Casino Royale by not only putting up a fine performance but by muscling up.

The torture seen in his last 007 thriller, when he was strapped in a seat less chair and kicked repeatedly, got every mans attention and requires an incredibly strong pelvic floor – something that Pilates is famous for. Not only does Pilates prevent injury but it also improves sex.

Source :The Times of India

Professional golfers see the advantage of Pilates

Pilates is catching on among professional golfers. Rich Beem did a lot of Pilates leading up to his win at the 2002 PGA Championship win over Tiger Woods. New York Times reports Tiger does it to. Rocco Mediate ditched the weights and does Pilates to preserve his back.

Randy Myers, who has worked with scores of PGA and LPGA players and is now director of fitness at the Sea Island Resort in Georgia helped develop the GolfPilates Program at the PGA Resort in Palm Beach Gardens FL. “Bench-pressing 100 pounds 10 times will develop strength, but not the type that has any correspondence whatsoever to how far you hit a golf ball,” In fact short tight muscles hinder your golf swing.
Sean Cochran, Phil Mickelson’s personal trainer, said the Pilates technique (initiating movement from the core) is increasingly being incorporated into the mat and weight-lifting exercise regimes used by elite players—even by Mr. Mickelson.

Camilo Villegas, the studly young Colombian esteemed by PGA Tour groupies for his tight shirts and britches, is also a known Pilatean and endorses Hole in One Pilates
Dave Phillips, the co-founder of the Titleist Performance Institute in Oceanside, Calif., notes that the best golfers have strong, stable lower bodies and flexible, mobile upper bodies. Their swings progress from the lower body to the trunk, the shoulders and lastly the arms. To duplicate that sequence, amateurs usually need the most work on their glutemous muscles and their core. Lacking strength and flexibility in those areas, they compensate by using their arms, which is a primary cause of slicing. Pilates targets the core and develops functional strength needed to play well.
“People struggle really hard at golf and don’t get better because they don’t address the physical side,” Mr. Phillips said. “Their bodies just can’t do what a good swing requires them to do.”

written by PalmBeach

read more | digg story

Unlike the 2004 and 2000 seasons, when May-Treanor was fighting injuries leading into the Athens and Sydney Olympics, this year, the tour’s winningest players in the world have incorporate Pilates into their training program and are completely healthy.

Leading up to the 2008 Olympic Beijing games this dynamic team won everything in sight The dynamic duo trained hard day in and day out and became virtually unstoppable in their quest to defend their title as the best in the United States Of America and world. They are in tip top shape and looking forward to clinching the gold once again in the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics Games. To get ready to compete against the best in the world their trainers developed a progressive hybrid training program that included plyometric exercises, stretching, isokinetic work ( that gets our fast twitch muscles going) free weights, strength maintenance and their favorite Pilates. Pilates has become the exercise of choice of the best in the world as a way to develop a strong core, prevent injury and enhance overall functional performance. Trainers around the world spin Pilates to address the functional and sports specific needs of their clients. Kerri Walsh “My favorite core workout is Pilates, which covers the entire core area. Pilates is a must do exercise for volleyball we need to have very strong core muscles (abs, back, etc) and Pilates is the very best workout for this. I love it!

May-Treanor “I lift twice a week focusing on building strength in my legs, squats, cleans, straight legged Deadlifts etc. with my trainer Tommy Knox. I also do Pilates twice a week with the fabulous Lauren Rauth” on the Pilates Reformer, Cadillac, Chair ,Barrel and mat “I love it! It’s trial and error through they years to see what works best for you, and I think I finally found the combination. I feel good.”

In the off season I spend minimal time on the sand. Jogging twice a week in the deep stuff so that when January comes its not such a shock to the body. In January, Kerrie and I start the steady climb of working out five times a week, lifting twice a week at fast twitch, Pilates twice a week, playing on the sand five days a week.

May-Treanor “I started Pilates to strengthen my core.” Finding the right balance in your training program is the key to success. “I’ve been feeling healthy, finally finding what works for my body”.

Beach volleyball is a sport that trades itself on the combined image of athleticism and sex appeal, but the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens featured the sport like never before. Sexuality and athletic skill become completely intertwined making beach volleyball one of the most popular sports of the Olympic Games. This is partley do to the fact that the women wear bikinis and the men wear muscle-baring tank tops.

In an interview USA beach volleyball gold medalist and Pilates enthusiast Kerri Walsh said, “If people think we’re sexy because we wear this, let them watch, think we’re sexy and enjoy that part of it, and then see that we’re also dynamic athletes as well.”

Both Misty and Kerri are amazing athletes and great role models. Their reach consistently exceeds their grasp as the go for the gold once again. They are living life to its fullest and through them all of us can experiencing what it means to be the best that you can be.

May-Treanor “Did you see ESPN The Magazine? How RAD is that? INSAINE! Just to open up the magazine and see Misty and I in there with that class of athletes — Peyton Manning and Derek Jeter, Dwyane Wade, Landon Donovan and Maria Sharapova. It was so awesome. I’m so excited about it. It’s great to be a part of the Gatorade family. I don’t know the other athletes. I mean, I’ve met a few of them randomly here and there, like Landon and his wife do Pilates at the same place I go to, but other than that, I am just always rooting for them behind the scenes, so to see us all together like that was great. It makes me so happy. I love it!”

You Go Girls and continue to make all of us in the USA proud to be an American

written by PalmBeach

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