1. Hold leg in hip extension  have client focus on tone of gluteus medius .
2. Let go of leg. Observe if client is using just glut or going to their habit ( i.e. hip flexors, quadratus etc.)
3. Have them do leg lifts with a recuperation between each lift.  This prevents them going back to their habits.

Through my studies with Eric Franklin, Irene Dowd and Amy Matthews,  I have come up with a podcast of simple ways to exercise your feet.

By changing your foot fitness will change how you stand and how you use your core.  In my DancingMindBody class on Friday mornings, I start with rolling the feet on the Franklin Balls and some kind of foot exercise.  It is amazing to observe how the tone of the abdominals improves after this foot warmup.  We haven’t even done an abdominal exercise!

Sitting Around by Lesley A. Powell Click on picture to see more artwork

Sitting All Day: Worse For You Than You Might Think

There was a great radio show this week, how sitting all day can be bad for your health.

‘Our Body Just Kind Of Goes Into Shutdown

“We just aren’t really structured to be sitting for such long periods of time, and when we do that, our body just kind of goes into shutdown,” Yancey says.

When I sit for long periods of time and then standing up,  I feel my psoas and my hips tight as I stand.  It is hard work to sit up well.  It is harder on the body in the long run when we don’t.

Movement is essential to our well-being on all levels – including the neurological, the muscular, and the emotional. In our culture now, we are forgetting essential habits of movement in large part because of being less physical due to cars, computers, and TV. We believe all people should move more. When we move with awareness and a sense of pleasure, all will benefit from it.

49 W. 27th St. Mezzanine B, New York City 212-904-1399 www.movementsafoot.com

Teachers,
Movements Afoot has an exciting season planned to help you with your education.  We  have a variety courses for different needs; PMA approved Courses, Anatomy in Clay®, Balanced Body’s Pilates Arc, Somatic courses and courses about teaching.

Dr. Martha eddy is teaching 4/11 on teaching different learning styles.  She is quite familiar with Pilates.  She had worked with Mary Bowen.

I am also in discussion with Shelly Studdenberg, my teacher who helped me understand muscular imbalances and using Pilates rep to make positive changes.  We would like to have a monthly lab for teachers (2 hrs during the day only once a month) to learn how to see muscular imbalances and to make use Pilates for rehab.  Let me know if you are interested.

BodyMind Fitness Certificate Program
LOWER: April 8-11 2011: underSTANDing $450 for entire weekend

• Friday:     ReEvolutionary Legs with Dr. Martha Eddy
• Saturday:  Anatomy in Clay: Muscles of the femur and movement with Doris Pasteleur Hall
• Sunday: Pilates Upright with Lesley Powell
• Monday:  Fitness Coaching with Dr. Martha Eddy

See below for more info about each workshop
ReEvolutionary  Legs:  Evolution of Fitness from Crawling-Standing-Running
With Dr. Martha Eddy  Friday April 8 5:30-8:30 PM  $85
Early registration by 4/1 $75
The next wave in fitness takes you back to go forward. Work out w crawling, hopping, and leaping. Learn how your earliest movement skills affect your current muscular tone, posture and coordination. Practice special developmental movements to strengthen you core and activate your limbs in a safe and integrated way. Gain better alignment for walking and balance.

Anatomy in Clay®
with Doris Pasteleur Hall
Saturday 9 AM -5 PM  $275  
Early discount see dates below

Building the muscles of the body on a Maniken® model allows you to observe movement from a 3 dimensional perspective. Placing, sensing, and observing the layers of muscles will help you integrate their relationship. Going back and forth between the model and movement, we will become aware of the layering of the deep to superficial muscles.

April 9:  Femur  Early discount $250 sign up by 4/1
May 21: Shoulder Girdle Early discount $250 sign up by 5/14
August 6: Knee and Feet Early discount $250 sign up by 7/29
October TBA: Spine

PILATES UPRIGHT
with Lesley Powell
Dates: Sun   4/10/2011
 Time:  9:00 AM – 4:00 PM $200  Early registration by 4/1 $175
PMA Approved 6 cec -

Taking a stand

Pilates Upright is a dynamic workout that incorporates the training of Pilates mat with weight bearing exercises in standing. Pilates Upright gives you a new underSTANDing of the coordination of your muscles & bones in standing, which is very different from exercising on the floor

Fitness Coaching: Matching Learning Styles

With Dr. Martha Eddy  Friday April 11 1-4 PM  $85
Early registration by 4/1 $75
This is a laboratory for wellness professionals. Do you wonder how to better motivate your clients? Learn to match your style to those of each of your clients. Learn the theory of Multiple Intelligences. Get great results in motivating, dealing with complex issues and feelings, improving alignment and fitness, and activating healthy habits. Holistic fitness is important and current, be on top of the wave.

Balanced Body’s  PILATES ARC
With Lesley Powell 4/24/2011  9:30-4:30 PM PMA 4 cec
$199 plus $25 for manual
Sign up is with Balanced Body 1-800-PILATES
Create exciting new Pilates workouts with the Pilates Arc. It’s a lightweight Pilates Step Barrel and a whole lot more!

Balanced Body's Pilates Arc

Balanced Body’s  Pilates Arc instructor training includes an introduction to the history and principles of Pilates, the features, function and safety precautions for the Pilates Arc, the complete repertoire of exercises on the Pilates Arc with modifications and lectures on class order and programming in a studio or fitness setting. Whether you are an experienced Pilates professional or a beginner, this course will provide you with everything you need to start teaching Pilates on the Arc.

The Pilates Arc:

• Increases core strength and stability
• Improves the mobility of the spine
• Strengthens the upper body
• Develops balance and coordination
• Plus its fun, easy to use and provides exercises to challenge anyone from the beginner to the most advanced Pilates practitioner.

SHOULDER WORKSHOP: 
Scapular Revolution
with Lesley Powell Time:  
9:00 AM – 4:00 PM Sunday 5/22  9:00 AM- 4 PM $200
Early registration by 5/13  $175
PMA Approved 6 cec

The arms connect to the torso through the shoulder girdle, shoulder blades, clavicles and humerus bones. Each bone moves in different degrees of rotation and timing. The timing and the control of these motions are essential to a healthy shoulder. This “scapular-humeral rhythm” is like a symphony—each bone is an instrument playing a different variation of a melody.
When the shoulder girdle moves correctly, great function is invited.  Each bone of the shoulder girdle; the clavicles, the scapulae and the humerus bone, have a unique rhythm of movement to facilitate the arm moving in space.
A great scapular-humeral rhythm will invite the correct phrasing of the arm and core muscles. When you get a client to better use her shoulder girdle, her arm strength, posture and connection to the core will improve. Learn how this rhythm works and how to help your clients improve theirs.

Gait Workshop
with Lesley Powell
Dates: Sun  8/7/2011
Time:  9:30 AM – 4:00 PM
6 hours PMA approved 6 cec  $200
Early registration by 7/29  $175

We take walking for granted. When we lose the ability to walk comfortably, we lose our freedom to do things. Poor posture, lack of strength and mobility and diminishing balance skills affect our gait. This course is an introduction to how the body moves in gait and how as trainers we can plan a workout that encourages better walking skills.

We will learn observation skills about how the body moves and applications using the Pilates repertory to improve mobility and strength in relationship to gait. Applications to the Pilates repertory will also include modifications with diminished range of motion.

Section I The spine Posture is key in walking. Poor posture can affect the mobility of our hips and legs in walking. We will look how the spine moves in an ideal healthy walk. Learning observation skills about walking and simple movement exercises can help us evaluate our client’s movement patterns. Lesson plans will evolve around how to increase mobility, coordination and strength using the Pilates equipment and balance tools.

Section II The lower body This is an introduction how the lower body moves in gait. Pilates is a wonderful way to train for better tone and mobility. The coordination of our muscles is different with closed chain in standing than open chain and close chain lying prone, supine or side. Observation skills and program development will be learned to help the senior improve their gait skills.

Stand poorly with your pelvis in anterior tilt
(stick your Butt out )
Feel the tone of your abdominals.

Now stand with your pelvic over your feet and notice how the tone in your abdominals changes.

Now not all gluts are the same.  There are glutes that when you squeeze them, will tuck the pelvis under.  We want to target the glutes more on the sides sometimes with the coordination of the hamstrings.

Many clients with glut weakness compensate by tightening the hip flexors, and back.  Learn how to target the correct muscles that will change your posture, body tone and relieve your backs.

Come Swing your Butt into Action 3/5

A fun(d) raising 
Pilates class to
Swing your Butt into Action for 
St.Jude”s Children Research Hospital

with Lesley Powell Sat 3/5/2011 from 1:00-2:15 PM
Minumum $20

All checks/cash will go towards St.Jude”s Children Research Hospital.  No class cards can be used for this event.  
For donations by credit card,click here

Lesley, First, as always, how are you?  I hope wonderful is the answer!

I am confused about osteoporosis. I have a client who is 61 years old.  She loves yoga.  She loves to garden.  She has low back pain (muscular), piriformis syndrome and a tightness in her IT Band on her left side.  She also has osteoporosis in her right hip (I’m looking at the summary from her bone density test and it says “analysis of the right femoral neck reveals osteoporosis’).

At one point, she was diagnosed with osteopenia in her lumbar spine.  This current report however, indicates that the lumbar spine level “reveals a normal BMD”.

Here’s my confusion:

1. Do we as Pilates Trainers completely avoid all flexion when there is a diagnosis of osteoporosis (period)?  Or if it is localized to the hip, is spine flexion still contraindicated?
2. If there was a diagnoisis of osteopenia in the lumbar, then, after prescription treatment, this diagnosis is reversed, do we still avoid flexion?

According to this client’s doctor, no movement is contraindicated.  She asked the doctor specifically about flexion/rotation/extension of the spine & of the hip (I wrote it down for her) and her doctor said “Yes, you can do all movement, you have no contraindications”.  Obviously, I’m leery…..  Can you please shed some light and offer your advice? Pilates Teacher

One of the best resources for Pilates and Osteoporsis is Sherri Betz.

Since your client is having a combination of osteopenia and back pain,  I would work the spine in neutral and extension as possible.  Gardening can be hard on the back. She is already doing a lot of flexion and more if her form is not good.  I would also educate her about the importance of the legs of making level changes and articulating from the hip socket instead of the back.  Majority of back issues and the blowing out of disks come from lifting when the spine is in flexion.

Standing work is great for osteoporsis of the hip.  Weight bearing exercises forces a load on the bones which will increase bone density.  See post on Pilates Upright

49 W. 27th St. Mezzanine B, New York City 212-904-1399 www.movementsafoot.com

New ideas of stabilization can enhance the body without making the body rigid.  The problems of the back being hyperextended may have other reasons than weak upper abdominals.

• How does the legs organize the pelvis?
• Are the legs not doing their correct job and the back is compensating?
• The Back muscles are tight.
• The iliopsoas is tight.

When I feel well organized over my legs, my abdominals naturally engaged.  With full breath and a diaphragm that moves,  the pelvic floor and transverse abdominus can engage.  Knitting the ribs together diminishes the movement of the diaphragm

What makes Pilates Upright different is using the block.  Betweeen a workshop with Liz Koch, Marika Molnar and my studies in yoga, they inspired me to play with the block to explore balance and correct sequencing in standing.  The block shows how important the standing leg is.

New ideas of stabilization can enhance the body without making the body rigid. Past old principles of knitting the ribs together and tucking does not allow proper movement principles of walking, dancing, golf and tennis for example.  The problems of the back being hyperextended may have other reasons than weak upper abdominals.

• How does the legs organize the pelvis?
• Are the legs not doing their correct job and the back is compensating?
• The Back muscles are tight.
• The iliopsoas is tight.

When I feel well organized over my legs, my abdominals naturally engaged.  With full breath and a diaphragm that moves,  the pelvic floor and transverse abdominus can engage.  Knitting the ribs together diminishes the movement of the diaphragm.

Visualizing the multifidus helps me get back my flexion in my ribcage of a neutral spine.  We have a skeleton at the studio that suppose to move.  Seeing the skeleton, its posture is horrible.  When I bring the spinal processes together, you can see the skeleton come back to a neutral spine and the ribs open in the back.

Taking a stand

What makes Pilates Upright different is using the block.  Betweeen a workshop with Liz Koch, Marika Molnar and my studies in yoga, they inspired me to play with the block to explore balance and correct sequencing in standing.  Many are trying to use the gesture side to hold themselves up. The block shows how important the standing leg is.

with Lesley Powell Dates: Sun   5/23/2010 Time:  9:00 AM – 4:00 PM $200
PMA Approved -Pilates Upright is a dynamic workout that incorporates the training of Pilates mat with weight bearing exercises in standing. Pilates Upright gives you a new underSTANDing of the coordination of your muscles & bones in standing, which is very different from exercising on the floor

Lower body enhancing the core.

How one stands can affect your posture and your core. Leg alignment and coordination of the bones and muscles are essential for good posture and fitness. The organization of the legs is different in standing (closed chain) compared to leg exercises such as side kicks (open chain).

Purposely stand with your legs hyperextended.

• Observe how your legs feel. Where is the weight on your feet?
• How does the pelvis organize without you consciously making any changes?
• Feel the tone of your abdominals and back.

When the legs are not well aligned such as with hyperextended legs, the spine has to organize around this. When there is a poor tailbone-heel connection, the legs and feet work unevenly to support our body. For many, one tucks to bring the pelvis over the feet and pulled the front ribs down to solve the problem of a poor head-tail-heel connection. Poor posture and gait diminishes proper shifting our weight forward for simple actions. This poor action forces our upper bodies to shift us forward to walk and other movement actions instead of our legs.

Rudolph Laban’s concept of stability/mobility.

To mobilize a joint, there has to be stability in adjacent parts of the body to assist in this movement. With a clients with hyper-mobility in the legs and hips, I see the client having to brace down on their spine to compensate. This lack of dynamic strength in the legs affects the alignment of the spine. Different strategies will happen with certain clients standing on one leg:

• One client braces down on her back and their thoracic spine becomes more flexed.
• One client’s pelvis goes into anterior tilt.
• Another the pelvis rotates with upper body rotating in the opposite way to compensate.

Amazingly as you improve the dynamic alignment of your legs, your core support improves. When I am better organized in my legs, the tone of my abdominals and my alignment is better. When I hyperextend my legs (yes I have hyperextended legs), the tone decreases and my pelvis goes into anterior tilt. Improving my legs makes core support feel effortless. All the years that I was dancing, I struggled and push my body into alignment. In truth without understanding my legs, I was creating more imbalance.

Pilates is a wonderful way to create the awareness and dynamic strength for standing. When someone comes in for their initial evaluation, I watch the following:

• How they stand on two legs?
• How is the alignment of their spine with their legs?
• How they stand on their feet? Where does the weight fall on each foot?
• How the legs and pelvis organize in lateral shift?
• How they organize their bodies to stand on one leg?
• How they organize their bodies to shift forward on one leg?

My goals to develop better awareness in legs:

• Alignment- is there muscular imbalance? Poor flexibility?
• Improper sequencing of joints and bones for standing actions?
• Too much mobility?
• Improper strength of legs to accommodate standing moves?

I always look at the pelvis to give me information about the legs. How the pelvis is organized can influence the work of the legs. As the imbalance of the legs becomes a habit, this leads to more disorganization of the pelvis and spine. Some clients unconsciously stand more on one leg.

Purposely stand on one leg more than another.

• How does that affect the rotation of the legs?
• How does it affect the feet? Pronated? Supinated?

Notice when your client lies supine, how the pelvis touches the floor. This is where the simple actions of pelvic tilts and clocks can be quite effective for change. For instance, the tightness of the hips can affect the pelvis and the use of the legs.
In pelvic tilts, are they sequencing equally on both sides of the sacrum. If the pelvis is rotated in standing, usually the pattern is reflective throughout the workout.

Pelvic shifts forward and lateral give me information how the client uses their legs. When a client tucks for a neutral bridge, they are kicking important coordination of leg muscles that assist standing.

Building from the Ground Up

Most of my warm-ups include neutral bridging. I like to wake up the back of the legs before I take the client through foot work.

In Foot work, I look if the same patterns in assessment come up in the foot work. For instance if a client stands habitually on one legs, one can sometimes see the pelvis shifting slightly. I might use my foot or hand against the opposite hip from the shift. They press their hip into me to prevent the shift.

Hyperextended legs.
It is very easy to hyperextend the legs on the reformer.

To teach a new pattern, I have the client do small pushes out.
Each time I increase the movement, but they must keep their quadriceps engaged. If they are tightening around the femoral folds, this takes away from the work of the quadriceps.

The calf muscles are very important in the alignment of the lower leg.

• Push the carriage out half way. Your legs will be bent. Releves on two legs without moving the carriage and then one with the legs bent. Do not move the carriage as you releve.

Have the client stand up after this exercise.
Everyone will feel different after this deceptively simple exercise.

Semi-circle

As BalancedBody faculty, I learned a different version of semi-circle with legs in second instead of first position. Because of knee injuries, I could never do the original version. It is very important not to tuck. When bridging correctly, the legs should bring the sacrum and tailbone as one. This teaches hip extension which is needed in standing.

Remember tucking will kick out important gluteal muscles and hamstrings
for better standing.

Side leg lifts

Can your client lift the leg up without engaging the front of the hip or the quadratus lumboram? The pelvis needs to be perfectly still.

Take a New Stand
Great standing is a tango of all the muscles of the legs around the joint to stabilize and move. New understanding of the calf and foot muscles, the quadriceps, abductors, adductors, gluteals and hamstrings will improve the coordination in standing.

Proper use of the

• Calf and foot will ground the foot and organize the lower legs.
• Quadriceps support and balanced the knee.
• Gluteals and hamstrings help to extend the hip.

Side splits on the reformer

• Does the alignment of the legs change when they push out?
• Bring all the principles of foot work into standing.
• Can they keep their lower leg stable over their ankles as they push out?
• Or does the lower leg swing backwards with the movement. The pelvis will compensate with the mobility of the legs?

Taking a stand

Yoga block or moon box

• Have a client stand on one leg on a block.
• Are their hips level?
• How is the alignment of the leg?
• Are they using the opposite hip of the standing leg to bring the pelvis level?
• Is the gesture leg hanging directly down? If not, this can give you hint about tight psoas, ITB, and back muscles.

49 W. 27th St. Mezzanine B, New York City 212-904-1399