Pilates Postures

Never Say Never

2011-09-17T11:22:00.000-07:00

Well I was caught doing something I said I would never do again - yes.. run. After many injuries effecting, knees, psoas, hamstrings and calves, I just didn't think running was worth the rehab afterwards. So I announced to everyone who was listening that I would never run again. A wise women (yes you Jacquie), told me to never say never. Well I was certain I would never be tempted again. During one of my long walks I ran up a hill. Thats all it took - I was craving the feeling you get after a good run. I have been secretly running for about 3 weeks and was caught by one of my friends running down the same path towards me. Of course he yells as he runs by my "I though you weren't running anymore". So now I am coming clean. I am sticking to running 5 - 6km for a month and see how it goes - so far to good. I have been very ridged with stretching after warming up for 5 minutes and stretching completely after my run. Today I realized why I love it so much. The Niagara Region is so beautiful especially on a day like today. Its cool out no wind and the air feels and smells so clean. All of us from Niagara are so blessed to have the amazing paths, trails and parks available to us. Not sure if I'm up to competing again but I will never say never again.

Ringing in 2011 with Strength and Determination

2011-01-01T13:43:00.000-08:00

Wow, its 2011 already. A new year with new beginnings - How Exciting. So many great ideas and plans for the year ahead. Many of us decide this is the year we are going to eat right and get fit. But, how are we going to stick to it this year? Something happens in February and all our great ambitions start falling to the wayside. How do we stick to it??? I think I have a plan that may just work.

Think of taking care of you body like a job. You have to go to your job to make a living so you can maintain your lifestyle. But what were to happen if you fall ill? All of a sudden your lifestyle changes. A drop in salary not to mention extra cost incurred for medical expenses can be very devastating.

Many illnesses can be avoided by maintaining a healthy lifestyle. With a little bit of organization and planning, healthy eating and daily exercise can easily be part of your lifestyle.

Join fitness classes. Going to the same classes each week help you keep motivated by the other members in the class. Don't think you have to do it by yourself. Recruit friends or family members to join you. Never make excuses - there are no valid excuses to stop. If your goal is to start running this year, join a running group to get you started. If there is a sport you want to try, do it. The only think that is stopping you is you.

To find a variety of fitness classes visit http://www.pilatespostures.com

Pilates Postures provides small classes for all levels. Everything from Pilates classes, Fusion classes and TRX classes. Sign up online to reserve your spot.

Tips For The Holidays

2010-12-14T09:18:00.001-08:00

Its a busy times of year. With extra shopping to do and getting together with collegues and friends leaves less time to fit in exercise and concentrate on your diet. Here are a few tips that may help to avoid those extra pounds. Before every meal, drink 2 cups of water. The water will fill your stomach and you will be less hungry and eat less. When choosing what to eat at parties or restaurants, fill your plate mostly with vegetables and fruit. You won't feel so weighted down and bloated. Try to avoid appetizers with puffed pastery or deep fried. These bit-sized treats are packed with fat. Before every alcholic drink, have a cup of water. You will drink less and you will keep hydrated. Before you go out, spend at least 20 minutes doing some Pilates exercises. Guranteed, you will have more energy for the event ahead. Go out, enjoy yourself, just be aware of what you are consuming and keep exercising to keep up your energy level.

Benefits of Pilates

2010-11-28T15:35:00.000-08:00

Pilates is more than a workout program it educates the mind. The biggest benefit of Pilates is personal awareness.

As I teach my classes or train my private and semi-private clients, I sometimes feel like a broken record repeating to lift the pelvic floor, engage the transverse muscles and stablilize shoulders. The reason I do this is for my clients to gain core strength even when they are not in class. When clients ask me what they should do when they are not in class, I tell them to lift their plevic floor and engage their transverse muscles when they are driving in the car - or stuck at a red light. Paying attention to ones posture with the knowledge of how to stabilize their shoulders engage abs and maintain a neutral spine and pelvis, will help them obtain better posture and prevent injury in everyday activities. Think of a tree - the strength is not in the limbs but in the trunk. If the trunk is not strong it will surely fall over. Well, exactly the same applies to human beings. If the core of our bodies is not concentrated upon, then this results in our bodies becoming tight in certain places and weak in others. This will result in injuries due to the drawbacks of certain occupations or our chosen form of exercise.

Pilates is not all you need to do. It should definately be part of you lifestyle along with a cardio program and healthy diet plan. I recommend at least 30 minutes of cardio 3 - 4 times weekly along with a healthy meal plan that includes raw food daily (ex. a big salad and fresh fruit).

The Big Move

2010-09-11T09:06:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow I am participating in The Big Move Ride for Cancer. The money raised goes toward the new Walker Family Cancer Facility the Niagara Region located at 4th Avenue, St. Catharines. I am riding 50km with an old friend of mine. We both know people currently fighting cancer. The courage of these people is overwelming. If you would like to donate to this worthy cause, you can sponsor me online at https://www.bigmovecancerride.com/Pledge-a-Rider/Rider’s-Pledge-Page/ID/401/
There is a BBQ after the ride and everyone is welcome. Hope to see you there.

B-Vitamins - What they do

2010-06-18T03:50:00.000-07:00

The topic of Vitamins and Minerals is so confusing to so many. We wonder if we should take supplements or if our diet is supplying all the vitamins we need. Today I will write about the B-Vitamin complex, defining what the vitamin does for us and why we need it. I will also provide foods that contain this vitamin. Then you can decide if your diet is covering your body's need for Vitamins.

The B-Vitamin complex is a group of eight water-soluble nutrients that are important for creating energy and keeping muscles healthy for physical activity. B Vitamins make new red blood cells, create new proteins, and help repair muscle tissue. B-vitamin complex consists of thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, Vitamin B6, pantothenic acid, biotin, folate and vitamin B12.

If you have a high intensity fitness routine, you may need to double your intake riboflavin and B6 (Woolf & Manore 2006). High-intensity activity (more than 12 hours per week) may increase levels of homocysteine, an amino acid biomarker for heart desease that can be lowered by settinbg sufficienbt amounts of folate and vitamins B6 and B12 (Joubert & Manore2008)

A clinical deficiency in the B vitamins that assist with red blood cell production, may result in anemia, imparing the ability to transport oxygen throughout the body. This impact endurance athletes most. It can take about three months before the first signs of anemia are detected, so its a good idea to get adequate intake levels earlier rather than later in the training process. (M. Moon 2010)

Good sources for B Vitamins include whole grains, leafy greens, beans and peas, fish, lean poultry and meat, eggs, low fat or nonfat dairy.

B Vitamin deficiency will hurt performance, but there is currently not enough evidence to say that supplementation may improve it (ADA 2009).

The next vitamin on the list to discuss in Vitamin D. I would love to hear you comments or suggestions. Follow my blog to learn more.

More on Stretch or Strengthen

2010-06-08T04:43:00.000-07:00

Continuing the topic of my last blog, I would like to explore other muscle groups to stretch or strengthen.

One muscle that get very tight on many people are the upper trapezius. When you see someone walking around with their shoulders raised to their ears - chances are their Upper Trapezius is very tight. Many people hold their stress in this area. In between the 2 shoulder blades are the Rhomboid muscles. Chances are these muscles are weak if your upper traps are tight. An excellent exercise to strengthen the Rhomboids is bent over rows with a flex band or weights.

To execute this exercise, stand with legs together, knees slightly bent and your upper body flexed forward at the hips. Hold your dumbbells in your hands with your arms long and infront of your body. Inhale to prepare. Exhale as you pull your elbows back and slightly squeeze your shoulder blades together while trying to draw them down you back. If you feel pressure in your neck, your weights may be too heavy and your upper traps are taking over. You should feel your muscles between your shoulder blades (rhombiods) engaging without discomfort in your neck area.

To stretch your Upper trapezius, bend your right elbow and place your hand against your back. Grasp your right wrist or hand from behind with your left arm and pull your right arm to opposite side. Tilt your head to the left bringing your left ear towards your left shoulder. Hold for 10 seconds and repeat on the other side.

My next blog will explore the Pectorial muscles and the middle and lower trapezius.

If you have any questions or comments regarding this blog please email me at info@pilatespostures.com

Stretch or Strengthen

2010-05-21T10:15:00.000-07:00

There is always contraversal conversations regarding strengthening or stretching muscles. One study says to stretch while the next article you read tells you not to. I think I have the answer. There are muscle imbalances due to some muscles taking over others resulting in one muscle be tight while another one being weak. For example, your glutes may be weak causing you hip-flexors to take over causing them to be tight. If you find you have a difficult time lifting and lowering your legs in a supine position, you more than likely have very tight psoas muscles (hip flexors) and not so strong gluteus muscles. Solution: Strengthen glutes and stretch the psoas.

An excellent exercise to strengthen the glutes is the Shoulder Bridge. Lying supine with legs hip-distance apart, spine and pelvis neutral. Lift your hips off the mat resting between your shoulders. Do not come up so high your are on your neck. Then engage you glutes. Lower and lift your hips 5 times - engaging glutes deeper with every lift. I you find that your hamstrings are taking over, bring the feet closer to your glutes and engage glutes more. Eventually the glutes will take over.

To stretch our Hip Flexors: Kneel on a mat. Bring you right leg forward into a kneeling lunge position. Lunge towards your right leg resulting in stretching your left psoas muscle. To get deeper into the stretch, reach your left arm to the ceiling, slightly extend you upper back and tuck your tailbone under.

Feel free to respond to this blog. I look forward to your opinions, thoughts and suggestions.

Ellen Vriend

First 10KM

2010-04-24T14:09:00.000-07:00

Today I completed my first 10KM run. At 8.5KM I was experiencing uncomfort in my right knee and hip. I walked for about 2 minutes and then continued to complete the rest of my run with no pain. It took 57 minutes. My newest challenge is entering the Dualathon in Welland on June 26th. This is where you run 5km, ride 30km then run another 5km. I purchased skinny tires for my mountain bike and had my nefew put them on. I also purchased an odometer for my bike so I know how far I am going and how long it takes me. I think this is going to be a very useful tool for my training. Well, I'm definately on my way on running 10km on a regular basis.

Newest Challange

2010-04-15T09:49:00.000-07:00

I have been very dedicated with my running since my last post. Today I ran for 11 minutes walk for 1 - 3 times. During my last 11 minutes I started to experience stomach cramps again. I knew it wasn't dehydration as I now carry a water bottle - it was my breathing. I stopped for about 15 seconds for the cramping to stop and then started again with a different breathing pattern - I did this twice. I must have gotten it right as the rest of my run (8 minutes remaining) was pain free. My first challenge now is the Wine run. The run is in Beamsville and goes from winery to winery. I doubt that I will have wine along the way - I will save that for later. I will try 10km - its in June so I have about 2 more months to train. If everything goes well, I shouldn't have a problem. Next run is on Saturday 12/1 3times. Lets hope for no cramping. The stretches on the reformer are awsome after my run - stretches the hamstrings beautifully.

Moving along

2010-04-06T18:24:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm back at it. I have been consistantly running every other day and by the end of this month I will be running 30 minutes non-stop. Tomorrow I run for 7 minutes and walk for 1 minute and repeat 4 times. I did the same run on Monday and it was very manageable. I feel confident that by the time the Chocolate run comes around, I will be more than ready for a 10km race.

My new Pilates schedule starts next week and I am trying to finalize the schedule. I'm very excited to be gaining new clients while maintaining my current clients. I am getting ready for Saturday. I am advertising my Pilates business at Harvest Barn. I ordered new business cards - not happy with them but since I ordered 500, I guess they will do until I run out. I have my flyers made and ready to promote.

Break from running

2010-03-26T05:18:00.000-07:00

I'm back. Last time I ran I developed major pain in my hip. I was half way through my run. No fun. Luckily I have the tools to help the pain. After about an hour on the roller and an hour on the reformer my pain and my limp went away. I have been a bit leary to run ever since. I told one of my clients about it and I think we figured out the problem. When I run in between my walks, I go all out. Apparently I am not suppose to do this. I should run at a moderate pace. So today is the big day. I am going back at it and not work myself so hard. Tomorrow I am off to the Yoga conference in Toronto. I will check back in on Sunday

Running day 8

2010-03-16T13:50:00.000-07:00

Well, now that the nice weather is back so am I. I took a few days off due to time and weather. Today felt amazing. The sun is shining, next to no wind and warm temperatures. Today I ran 3 minutes and walked 1 minute 4 times, then run 1 minutes and walk 1 minutes 4 times. Looking forward to tomorrows run.

Running day 7

2010-03-12T15:16:00.000-08:00

Well, I have an excuse for not running today. I worked from 7am - 12:30 and then off to Welland for my hair appointment. By the time I got home it was raining and ugly outside. I was looking forward to it but will have to take a 2 day rest from running. No worries, I had a great workout this morning.

Running day 5

2010-03-09T13:02:00.000-08:00

Completed my run - it was tough. It was the same run as yesterday but today I had one of my big salads before the run. Needless to say, my stomach wasn't taking it so well. I still finished the run - a bit slower than the last few days. Live and learn. Tomorrow is my day off - so I will check in again on Thursday.

Running Day 4

2010-03-08T12:48:00.000-08:00

Today my running program states to warm up walking for 5 minutes, run for 2 minutes and walk for 1 minutes 5 times. Then run for 1 minutes and walk for 1 minute 5 times and then walk for 5 minutes to cool down. Total run/walk time not including warm up or cool down was 25 minutes. It was a beautiful day so I enjoyed every minute. I did notice today my hips starting to ache. Sure that I needed new shoes, I went to Runners Edge and bought a new pair of Saucony running shoe. They feel amazing. I'm sure I will fly tomorrow with no pain at all. Tomorrow is the same routine. Can't wait to start wearing in my new shoes. I can taste the chocolate already.

Running Day 2 & 3

2010-03-07T13:39:00.001-08:00

Saturday was suppose to be day 2 of running. As every program should be flexable, I adusted Saturday to fit into my schedule. So... after 45 minutes on the reformer, I instructed a class and then off to Toronto for a Lecture with Dr. Len Kravits. The Dr. was a very good presenter but sad to say the information wasn't very enlightening. I still walked away with something so the day wasn't a total loss. By the time I got home it was close to 7pm and I was famished. Off to Lina's I go for dinner, then home for a movie and bed. Sunday (today) was suppose to be my day off from running but since I missed my run yesterday I ran this morning 1/1 for 30 minutes. Ater my run I went for a very challenging Yoga class and then off to Cambridge to visit a friend. Now I'm back on track. Looking forward to tomorrow's run - one day closer to my goal.

El's Running Blog

2010-03-06T03:37:00.001-08:00

Friday March 5th, 2010

As a Certified Pilates Instructor and Personal Trainer, I must lead by example and be fit and strong. During these winter months I have been struggling with keeping up with my cardio workouts. While running on the elliptical is challenging, it is also quite boring. Last year I picked up spinning but due to foot issues it became much too painful to continue.

Years ago, I considered myself a runner – at least 10km 5 days a week. Due to improper foot wear my knees become very inflamed. So instead of taking anti-inflammatory medicine or getting better shoes (which I still didn’t know was my problem), I just stopped running. I always enjoyed cycling so I just cycled more. Every year when spring comes around I always think I should take up running again. So, rather than starting off nice and easy, I jump into it with both feet, running 5 km as fast as possible without stopping. Needless to say, my hips and knees ached for days later and would deter me from running again.

Today in one of my Pilates classes, I mentioned I was going to try to start running again following a run/walk program. One of my valued clients suggested that I train for the Chocolate Race in Port Dalhousie in August. What better motivation than chocolate. Since this was such a wonderful idea, I decided I would start today.

I am following a 3-week running program. My first run/walk program was a 5 minute warm up walk, 1 minute of running and 1 minute of walking 10 times (20 minutes) and then 5 minutes of walking to cool down. I found this very easy but more importantly I am not sore and doubt that I will be tomorrow. I also feel really good.

Tomorrow I have the same run as today. I’m already looking forward to it. Who knows maybe I’ll be run the ½ marathon in August – but will be happy with 10km.