If you are a regular to my classes and/or read my blog articles you know I stress the importance of building balance in the body. But what does that mean?

There is a constant play of stability and mobility within our bodies. Certain areas in our body function best when strong and stable (stability) and other areas of the body function best with more range of motion (mobility).

Pilates on the apparatus (reformer, stability chair, tower, barrel, plus TRX) lays the foundation to build a highly functional body by uniquely building that balance of stability and mobility. A functional body has even strength in the muscles combined with proper flexibility of the joints.

Pilates apparatus exercises develop healthy balanced force-couple muscle relationships. Force-couple refers to the dynamic play of two opposing muscle groups, especially around a joint.

For an example: say your quadriceps (front of thigh muscles) are super tight and strong, and yet your hamstrings (back of thigh muscles)...

Are you reading this article on either your phone, tablet, or laptop? Of course :)
 
It’s time to do a quick check … Is your head tilted down in order to see?
 
If you spend a lot of time in this position (and who doesn’t these days?!), you are actually at risk for developing something called “text neck”.
 
Text neck happens when you spend a lot of time with your head forward, shoulders rounded, and your back hunched. Many of us are in this position upwards of 4 to 5 hours a day!
 
When you spend a lot of time in that position the muscles, tendons, and ligaments in the front of your neck/shoulders get compressed and tight – while the muscles, tendons, and ligaments in the back of your neck and shoulders get long and overstretched.
 
You can see how over time, this can potentially cause imbalance, pain, and real problems.
 
Especially since for every inch your head juts forward, it puts an extra 10 lbs of pressure on your neck!
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Having three teenagers brings home new colourful and strange slang language. My teens say "lit" a lot. Googling the word, historically it meant "drunk", but now means exciting or excellent. And I can honestly say Pilates is EXCITING and EXCELLENT, but definitely has nothing to do with drinking, lol. 

The article below is why Pilates is lit:

If you are a regular to my classes and/or read my blog articles you know I stress the importance of building balance in the body. But what does that mean?

There is a constant play of stability and mobility within our bodies. Certain areas in our body function best when strong and stable (stability) and other areas of the body function best with more range of motion (mobility).

Pilates on the apparatus (reformer, stability chair, barrel, plus TRX) lays the foundation to build a highly functional body by uniquely building that balance of stability and mobility. A functional body has even strength in the muscles combined with proper...

Over the past several weeks I have been exploring methods of recovery. It’s not simply about resting the body after an exercise session, but about intelligently helping the body heal and functionally move to reach healthy balance within the body.

In the first post I explain there is a constant play of stability and mobility. Certain areas in our body function best when strong and stable and other parts of the body function best when flexible and mobile.

In the second post I explore how strength training helps build the body to function optimally. I highly recommend strength training with a plan designed by a certified personal trainer, as it’s important to have a solid program and system built to work with your unique set of strengths and weaknesses. More info about training here.

In the third post I delve into stretching and self-massage.

In today's post, I am exploring step four of six of my recommended recovery methods: ways to...

Over the past several weeks I have been exploring methods of recovery. It’s not simply about resting the body after an exercise session, but about intelligently helping the body heal and functionally move to reach healthy balance within the body.

In the first post I explain there is a constant play of stability and mobility. Certain areas in our body function best when strong and stable and other parts of the body function best when flexible and mobile.

In the second post I explore how strength training helps build the body to function optimally. I highly recommend strength training with a plan designed by a certified personal trainer, as it’s important to have a solid program and system built to work with your unique set of strengths and weaknesses. More info about training here.

In this post we are going to delve into stretching and self-massage, which is step two and three of my recommended list of recovery methods.

Certain parts of the body become tight as the...

Last week I wrote an article on exercise recovery and mentioned that within the body there is a constant play of stability and mobility. Certain areas in our body function best when strong and stable and other areas of the body function best with more range of motion. I also briefly explored how six practices can help your body recover from exercise. Each week I will explore the six in more detail. 

The first practice I list is strength training, which at first may seem like a funny activity to put in a list about ways to recover from exercise. And while strength training doesn’t directly help our bodies recover from bouts of exercise, what it does do is far more important. Strength training lays the foundation to building a highly functional body. In the end this helps your body perform optimally so that it eases the demands on the body when you exercise, so less recovery is needed.

Strength training develops better force-couple relationships, which in turn creates a...

Exercise recovery is more than just resting after a workout. In this article I go over a few important practices that can help increase your body’s ability to recover from exercise.

Within the body there is a constant play of stability and mobility. Certain areas in our body function best when strong and stable and other parts of the body function best with more range of motion.

ACE Personal Trainer manual (5^th Edition) has a helpful list locating key mobility and stability areas within the body’s kinetic chain: 

• Glenohumeral (ball and socket joint where the top of the arm and the shoulder meet): mobility
• Scapulothoracic (shoulder blade attachment to upper back): stability
• Thoracic spine (upper back where ribs are): mobility
• Lumber spine (lower back): stability
• Hip (ball and socket joint where the top of the leg and side of pelvis meet): mobility
• Knee: stability
• Ankle: mobility
• Foot: stability

If you have ever taken one of my classes, you may have heard me speak...

As an experienced Pilates instructor, certified Exercise Coach and Corrective Exercise Specialist, many new clients have come to me with over-use injuries, even with a few acute injuries. While diagnosing and treating acute injuries is not within my scope of practice (that is the purpose of a medical doctor and a physiotherapist) I can help you prevent future injuries and work with your current chronic pain and over use injuries. 

Chronic injuries develop over time. They often develop from poor movement patterns. Patterns we have formed over years depending on the type of work we do, how many hours we sit in a day, how we walk and stand, and how we move our bodies with load (our bodyweight) and what trauma our bodies have experienced in the past. Every individual is unique with their own habitual movement patterns. 

However, it's guaranteed that if we don't work on fixing our patterns at a certain point incorrect movement patterns will cause pain,...