It is well known that members of the United States Dressage Team rely on Pilates to improve their position in the saddle.  Riders found that Pilates, with it’s focus on core strength — which Joseph Pilates refers to as your “Powerhouse” (strengthening the abdominals, lower back, inner /outer thighs, hips, and buttocks) is crucial to good riding.  In fact, Dressage riders also rely on Pilates to help them with their balance, flexibility, and suppleness. 

Horses are a reflection of their riders and if a rider is controlled and balanced then a horse will produce controlled, balanced movements.  Horse trainers many times say that riders spend too much time conditioning their horses but not enough time conditioning themselves.  Riders can learn to isolate body movements in preparation for sitting in a saddle.   Pilates exercises like Leg Circles teach riders to move their legs without moving their torsos or hips.  Pilates training also helps riders build body awareness.  If a rider puts too much weight in the left hip, it unbalances the horse and sends a confusing message to the horse.  If a horse can feel a fly land on its back, imagine what a crooked body does! 

For more information, please refer to the book: Pilates for the Dressage Rider by Janice Dulak.  Janice is a Romana’s Pilates Certified Instructor.  From time to time you may find Janice teaching at Pure Pilates in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Greetings! 

As Daria has announced, I am excited that Pure Pilates will again be hosting the 2010 Romana’s Pilates® Conference, at the spectacular Mariott Harbor Beach Resort & Spa, in sunny Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  For planning purposes, the 2010 Romana’s Pilates® Conference dates are July 9 – 11, 2010.  We are planning to keep most everything essentially the same as the Conference in 2009. 

Please note: all the 2010 Romana’s Pilates® Conference details — including: pricing, hotel reservation link & the Conference Registration Form will be announced shortly via my website “Blog”.  Therefore, I recommend that everyone subscribe to my “Blog” — this is easy to do on my HomePage (it is safe & does not require someone to join a Social Networking Site).  Additionally, anyone who is my friend on Facebook and/or a fan of Pure Pilates on Facebook will also receive any & all up-to-the-date communications about everything related to the 2010 Conference.  Please feel free to share & communicate this fact/information with other Romana’s Pilates® Instructors & Trainees — as there will be permanent Sticky Blogs for each event.  So check it out & subscribe as follows…

Go to my website (www.pure-pilates.net), enter your email below the word “Subscribe” and you’re in.    

I hope this information is helpful and I look forward to seeing you in July!!

Best Regards,

—Karen

 www.pure-pilates.net

We could simply state that you get what you pay for, but it is far more than that when it comes to Pilates.  

Potential clients sometimes balk at the hourly rate most Pilates studios charge.  But the high cost is due to the quality training that ensures that top-notch teachers know what they’re doing.  There are many Pilates disiplines, but at Romana’s Pilates, each Romana’s Pilates Certified Iinstructor has been guided, trained, and tested by the 4 Grand Masters — either Romana Kryzanowska, or by Sari Mejia Santo, Juanita Lopez, or Cynthia Lochard — each teaching the Pilates method exactly as taught by Joseph Pilates himself.   Here’s why taking Pilates from a Romana’s Pilates trained and certified Instructor is actually an investment in your body’s future — and well worth it!

1.  The training to become a fully certified teacher is comprehensive and lengthy, lasting anywhere from one to two years.

2.  The training includes anatomy, kinesiology, and learning to teach some 500 exercises.

3.  Teachers-in-training need 600+ of apprentice hours and self-practice.

4.  A Pilates education includes knowledge about pregnancy; elderly clients; knee, hip, & neck problems; as well as spine conditions such as scoliosis, stenosis, and disc issues.

5.  The training is just the beginning, because excellence in teaching is developed through years of experience and the requirement of attending continuing education courses.

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke list low-back pain as the most common cause of job-related disability in the United States.    Recent research supports the effectiveness of Pilates exercises for low-back pain. 

According to a report published in the Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy, participants who practiced Pilates over a 4-week period experienced more relief from their low back pain than those who went through typical treatment programs. 

A further study by Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario was undertaken to decide whether Pilates exercises were effective in improving the conditions of low-back pain patients.  The investigators randomly assigned 39 active adults ages 20 – 55 with chronic low-back pain to either a Pilates training group or a control group.  The experimental group exercised on Pilates equipment, while the control group received the usual care provided to individuals seeking medical help for low-back pain. 

Post-testing revealed that the Pilates participants had significantly lower levels of functional disability and pain intensity than the control subjects.   A year later, the Pilates participants had maintained their physical improvements.

In an abstract from the The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, a study was performed evaluating the relationship between Cycling Mechanics and Core Stability. The study revealed that core strength development might be a vital training component for cyclists.  Authors suggested that cyclists integrate a year-round core conditioning program into current training to promote lower extremity alignment while cycling.  Not only might this help performance, but could be essential for injury prevention.  Joseph Pilates refers to the core muscles as a person’s Powerhouse.  The Powerhouse is composed of the deepest muscles in the abdomen, inner & outer thighs, hips, buttocks and lower back.  Training and strengthening the Powerhouse should therefore enhance a cyclist’s performance and aid in injury prevention.

Contrology or Pilates may be just words to many people, but at Romana’s Pilates it’s the exercises and philosophies of Joseph and Clara Pilates that we teach, as handed down to protégé Romana and her daughter Sari.  This is what we call True Pilates.  Through True Pilates you first purposefully acquire complete control of your own body and then, through proper repetition of its exercises, you gradually and progressively acquire that natural rhythm and coordination associated with all your mental and subconscious activities.  True Pilates is designed to give you suppleness, natural grace and skill that will be unmistakably reflected in the way you walk, play and work.  You will develop muscular power with corresponding endurance, ability to perform arduous duties, to play strenuous games, to walk, run or travel for long distances without undue body fatigue or mental strain.
 

The popularity of Joseph Pilates’s teachings has grown in recent years, and many fitness professionals are now offering pilates-inspired programs, or in some cases combining what they call Pilates with exercises from other training regimens.  The True Pilates method is different because it refers to the system of exercises that were originally developed and taught by Joseph Pilates, whose unique training regimen has proven itself for more than 80 years as an effective and safe method of exercise.
Romana Kryzanowska is the world-renowned protégé of Joseph Pilates and has been teaching the method for nearly six decades.  Long ago Romana made a commitment to Joe and Clara Pilates to continue their life’s work and Romana continues to deliver on that promise today by traveling the world and teaching the next generation of instructors.  Romana’s daughter, Sari Mejia Santo, also shares her mother’s lifelong passion for teaching the Pilates method; she also had the opportunity to train directly with Joseph and Clara Pilates, and has been teaching at Romana’s side for over three decades.

Romana Kryzanowska was a dancer with George Balanchine’s dance company when she was referred to Joseph Pilates for rehabilitation of an ankle injury.  Romana trained and studied with Joseph and is now universally recognized as Joseph’s protege.  Romana made a commitment to Joseph to continue his life’s work and has been teaching his Pilates Method of Body Conditioning for nearly six decades.  Today, the goal of Romana’s Pilates is to improve flexibility and stregthen the total body without building bulk.  This goal is achieved through a series of controlled movements increasing flexibility, balance, and control.  Romana’s Pilates works your body and your mind promoting physical harmony and balance for people of all ages while providing a refreshing and energizing workout – leaving you with a feeling of physical and mental well-being. 

“Done three times a week, a few well-designed movements, properly executed in sequence, are worth hours of calisthenics or contortions!”

– Romana Kryzanowska

Joseph Pilates was born in Germany in 1880.  He had a lifelong interest in body conditioning.  As a frail child dedicated to improving his strength, he later became an accomplished skier, diver, gymnast, and boxer.

Joseph Pilates went on to become a nurse in England during WWI.  During his internment, Pilates designed exercise equipment for his immobilized patients by attaching springs to hospital beds.  This system became the foundation for his style of body conditioning.  He brought this system to New York when he opened his first Pilates studio in 1926 and went on to create what is now known as The Pilates Method of Body Conditioning.

“After 10 sessions you will feel better, after 20 sessions you will look better and after 30 sessions you will have a new body!”

– Joseph Pilates

Hello Pilates Lovers:

I want to ask you to step away from your mats for just a moment and hear an exciting announcement from Pure Pilates.

My name is Mark, and I have been working with Karen Winselmann of Pure Pilates for quite some time now. I have encouraged Karen for years to share her extensive experience and knowledge of Pilates with others on the Internet in the way of a blog and social media. She has made the big leap, and she has now officially joined the world of blogging.

Whether you know Karen well, or you are just getting to know her, I hope that you will join me in cheering her on with her new endeavor.

I would like to suggest subscribing to receive updates by email, with your favorite blog reader, by Twitter, or Facebook.  I expect a lot of great Pilates tips and information from Karen and the Pure Pilates staff, including details about the upcoming Romana’s Pilates Conference which Pure Pilates will host again in 2010. I am subscribed, and I am not even a Pilate’s guy. I am just the Web guy who helps Karen to bring this to you.

Please help me in congratulating Pure Pilates and wishing them a fantastic 2010.

Warmest regards,

Mark Aaron Murnahan