Instructors decode the Pilates puzzle

From the Houston Chronicle:

We asked Gemma Hobbes, owner of the new Breathe Studio for yoga and Pilates in Fort Worth's Ridglea area, and one of her instructors, Jacque Crossin, to explain a few basic Pilates exercises.

The Pilates Hundred

This beginner's exercise is designed to warm up the body and make the abdomen stronger.

· Lie flat on your mat with arms by your side. Bend your knees into your chest into a "chair" position.

· Stretch the legs out at an angle. (Keep legs bent or straight up at 90 degrees to make this easier.) Raise the head, tuck the chin into the chest and begin pumping the arms up and down.

· Breathe in for five counts and out for five, until you reach 100, moving the arms up and down with each count.


The Teaser

This intermediate-level exercise works on strength and control.

· Lie flat on the mat and feel your navel sink into your spine. Extend arms over head, straight out past your ears. Bend your knees up into a "chair" position.

· Stretch the legs out to a 45-degree angle.

· Bring arms overhead, then gently roll up and reach arms toward your toes, inhaling as you go. Hold the position.

· Gently roll back, one vertebra at a time, bringing arms back over the head and exhaling.

· Repeat three to eight times.


Leg, Small Circles

This one works deep in the buttocks' muscles and increases flexibility.

· Lie on side, hips and shoulders stacked, head resting on your hand. Put the other hand in front of you on the floor to help you keep your balance. Bring your legs in front of you to a 45-degree angle.

· Lift the top leg to hip height and point toe.

· Begin "drawing" small circles in the air with your toe, stretching the leg outward. Circle clockwise five times, then in reverse five times. (To keep shoulders stacked properly, think of balancing a cup of coffee on the shoulder.)


The Seal

Good for the abdomen and to improve control. Barking as you clap your feet is optional.

· Sit on the mat with knees bent and open. Bring your hands between the knees, reach around the calves to the outside of the ankles and grab the ankles.

· With a rounded back, pick your feet up and balance on your tailbone. Clap your feet together three times.

· With a curved back, roll back to your shoulders, keeping your chin tucked. Inhale as you roll back.

· Roll forward and up, exhaling as you go, then balancing on your tailbone again. Clap your feet three times.

· Repeat the motions six times.

Bending over backwards for physical perfection

If you've ever wondered how all those honed and toned celebrities keep their bodies in perfect condition, the answer lies in a form of exercise devised by a sickly German at the turn of the last century. Rebecca Haylings finds out more from a local practitioner.

In an age where we seem to be obsessed with what we should and should not feed our bodies, it is no surprise there is a multitude of bizarre and exhausting exercise classes available to enhance our wellbeing. Each class seems to complement a certain lifestyle - aerobics for the middle-aged mother wanting a quick fix, 'spinning' for the seriously stressed and ambitious, and yoga for anybody aspiring to Madonna's svelte and stretchy body.

Many come and go - whatever happened to gliding? Even step aerobics has been given the long-awaited elbow at my gym. Our quest for the perfect physique will see us trying anything that promises fast results.

At first glance Pilates seems to be high on the fad list. Most of us don't even know how to pronounce Pilates (pee-lartays, incidentally). And many of us have seen numerous references to this elusive modus operandi - Posh Spice and Liz Hurley are said to have flattened post-natal tummies within weeks with the help of Pilates. But what is this strange new exercise and what does it do?

Well, first of all it isn't new. Its inventor, Joseph Pilates, began teaching it in the 1920s. And secondly, it really can give you the form you've always craved.

Joseph Pilates was born in 1880 in Germany and turned to physical fitness when his own health took a downward turn. In his pursuit to rid himself of frailty, Joseph developed talents in diving, boxing and gymnastics. When he moved to New York Joseph set up his own studio, and his series of exercises attracted the city's most celebrated dancers, athletes and actors.

Joseph's unique exercises balanced strength with flexibility and, for many, it was their first experience of balancing mind with body. And that is exactly what Pilates does today. It is a demystified Yoga. Harmonisation for cynics. Most importantly, it is the key to total strength and core stability.

Local Pilates instructor Fran Wakefield teaches the traditional Body Control Pilates in the comfort of a beautiful converted barn in Tidmarsh. Fran has been teaching exercise for 20 years, but it wasn't until she started teaching Pilates that she really understood how the body works.

She says: "Pilates has always been around but it has been confined to the world of dancers. Now, the more basic exercises have been adapted by Body Control Pilates. More and more people are doing pilates because it works and because it is so effective - and if it is taught well it is easy to understand. Even physiotherapists have come to understand the importance of muscle balance and how the core muscles work."

But Fran also warned that not all Pilates teachers are highly qualified. "Be careful whose hands you put yourself in." she said. "One of the first things a teacher should ask is whether or not you have any back problems, and a good Pilates class should have a maximum of 12 pupils."

During my time in her studio Fran taught me how to lengthen my body and align my posture. Each exercise is about quality and not quantity, and every Pilates student must learn how to isolate single muscles and move mindfully. Weak core muscles are, according to Fran, the biggest culprit behind mysterious back problems.

Sounds easy? Wrong! This sort of precision takes time to master, and that is what gives Pilates the edge. It isn't about sweating and body-building, it is about achieving total strength and definition and applying it to every movement you make. "I had one woman who hadn't exercised for years and she couldn't believe the change in her body," says Fran.

I am definitely a believer, and Fran's extraordinary physique and posture were enough to persuade me even before I felt the benefits.

On the downside Pilates isn't cheap (a one-hour private lesson costs £40), but group lessons are available at just £10 - much more viable if you don't share Madonna or Liz Hurley's hefty income.

My advice? Just one session will have you walking taller but stick with it and you could really reap the benefits.

Contact Fran on 0118 984 3498/ 07767 420550 or link www.pilatesmethod.co.uk

Fact file

* Pilates was invented in the 1920s by German-born Joseph Pilates. He developed his unique movements through his knowledge of Yoga, Zen meditation, martial arts, gymnastics, diving and boxing.

* He invented his first Pilates machine while working as an orderly in an infirmary. He would rig strings above hospital beds to offer light resistance to patients.

* Jennifer Aniston, Kim Catrall, Courtney Cox, Jamie Lee Curtis, Rod Stewart, Patrick Swayze and Tina Turner are all Pilates devotees.

Rebecca's verdict

The machines in Fran's studio wouldn't look out of place in the chamber of horrors. During a one-hour session Fran instructed me to perform a variety of manoeuvres on each machine (which offers a gentle resistance) as she stood above me to scrutinise my posture.

Fran picked up that my body was much stronger on the right and as a result I was a little lopsided (I already knew this so was quite impressed she picked it up). Because of this my left side was doing far less work. And this is, apparently, the sort of thing that gets worse over time and causes back problems.

I really had to concentrate on the exercises. Fran made them look so easy but as I executed each move I was made to use my core muscles in my tummy and back to keep my spine straight and help build my left side.

At the end of the session I felt pleasantly at one with my body. My posture had improved and I felt taller. Unfortunately this didn't last after just one hour but, like anything, practice makes perfect and I am determined to stop being askew.

Pilates is a hot workout that is fun and can help you shed pounds helped dancer shed pounds

In the pictures, P.J. Catalano doesn’t look like a dancer. She is very heavy, and it is tough to imagine she had ever danced or taught dance professionally. Somehow, she had lost control of her life and her weight.

“My mother had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, so I was in a pretty rough spot and going through a divorce,” Catalano says. “I was pretty unhappy and I had put on a lot of weight.”

She would try to hide the extra pounds under clothes, but it wasn’t working anymore. A mother of two, she was having trouble moving.

“It was a chore. It was difficult to keep up with the kids,” Catalano recalls.

But if you meet Catalano today, you’ll have trouble picturing her overweight. How did she make the transformation? She says she walked into a pilates studio and it changed her life.

“The weight started to drop off and I wasn’t even trying,” she says.

Catalano is now a thin, firm and highly energized version of herself.

Pilates (pronounced puh-LAH-tees) is one of the hottest workouts of the decade, though it’s more than 80 years old. It was created by German fitness guru and nurse Joseph Pilates, after World War I. His goal was to create a way for bedridden hospital patients to exercise and regain muscle strength. His system of movements involving coordinated breathing techniques has been favored by dancers for years.

Catalano studied a Detroit version of those movements.

Her teacher was Trent McEntire, a former professional dancer who was injured and started using pilates as a way to recover from his pain and keep moving. He spent 10 years developing his “McEntire Workout Method” (www.mcentiremethod. com). According to McEntire, it’s based on Pilates, but with his own movements and flavor. His goal is to deliver a workout that improves coordination and circulation, while relieving tension and stress.

“It includes a whole body workout,” McEntire says. “You work the whole body every time you come in for a session.” Those sessions last an hour and a half. They can be done solo, as a duet or in a class.

“We’re not isolating muscles, we’re integrating how the body works,” he says. “It’s to stretch and to strengthen and to give them control, which leads to giving them some empowerment so they feel good about themselves and just have a healthier lifestyle in general.”

During the session, exercisers use mats on the floor or use specially designed exercise machines.

At all times, the focus is on controlling breathing, keeping the spine in alignment while stretching and strengthening the body.

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