June 2009 Newsletter - Power Of Pilates

Thank you… for all of your birthday wishes / cards etc. It was lovely to return back from holiday to the messages - but I can’t believe Raj let slip to you all how old I was with getting a card with my age on it… ;-)

I did get to see the mountain gorillas in Rwanda – we climbed 3,240 meters to spend I hour with the largest group of 42 – an amazing experience and I would recommend it to anyone, despite the 4 hour trek up the mountain and then back down!

Thank you again!

Celebrity Pilates fan… David Beckham, June 09

Beckham was introduced to Pilates whilst on loan at AC Milan and says he is in his best shape in years due to an hour-long daily routine. The Italian giants insist all their players take up Pilates as it helps with balance and suppleness.

He said: “I do an hour of Pilates a day. The medical set-up at Milan is fantastic and fitness-wise I am the best I have been for a long time.”

From Golden Balls to Fitness Balls!

55 & 65cm Fitness balls are now back in stock and at a fantastic price of just £10.00! (RRP £16.99) These are industry regulated anti-burst balls (not your cheap supermarket ones!) and can provide a whole new dimension to your pilates exercises. If you would like one, please drop me an email stating the size. (Generally 55cm are for 5’0 - 5’5 and 65cm for 5’6-5’11).

To help you with your fitness ball routine, we are holding a Pilates on the Ball class on Saturday 1 August at 10am. Places are very limited as we can only safely hold 8 per class. The class will last 1 hour and costs £8.00. Please bring your own ball, or pay £17.00 to get a ball free with the class.

Baby boom!…

27 May 09: To start the run of births, Angie Chick (Thursday 19:45 studio) gave birth to Dylan Peter, weighing 6lb 15oz

2 June: 10 days earlier than expected, Monika (Weds 10am studio) gave birth to a little girl, Adina, weighing 7.5 pounds. Monika is proud of her quick delivery of 2hrs 51 mins with just a tens machine!

4th June: 2 weeks later than expected, Sarah King (Weds 18:45 Wokingham) gave birth to George William King, weighing a healthy 7lbs 13oz

11th June 2009: Cristina Luna (Thursday 17:45 Wokingham) gave birth to Rafael Alexander Valenzuela Earl (Rafa), weighing a hefty 9 lbs 4! Well done!

12 June 2009: Veronika Royle (Tues 19:00 / Thurs 10:30am studio) gave birth to Jacob Dieter Royle, weighting 8 lbs. All those extra classes paid off, with a 4 hour delivery and only 40 minutes pushing with just gas and air!

13 June: Alicia de Juanas (Weds 10am studio) gave birth to a little girl, Selena Emekdar, weighing 7.5 pounds

18 June: Cara Turner (Weds 10am studio) gave birth to Hannah Mackenzie, maybe setting the record with a 2 hrs, 19 min birth for a whopping 9lbs 2!

Well done to you all, we can’t wait to see the Pilates babies in person soon

Induction class…

The next induction class will be held on Saturday 11 th July at 10am . The class lasts for 1 hour and is £7.00. The class is for total beginners or those wanting to brush up technique. If you would like to attend or know anyone who may want to attend, please email me.

Alan Titchmarsh meets Bob the builder!

Having been inspired by the amount of voluntary work done in Africa, I thought maybe we could do something too… so I am looking for 20 volunteers to spend a Saturday morning cutting back bushes & trees and repairing fences around Dinton Pastures.

The date is Sunday 23 August – all fitness levels are welcome; you can cut trees or carry nails to mend fences – every bit helps! If you are interested in taking part, please drop me an email.

Are you leading the way forward for men?

With all the media interest surrounding David Beckham and Pilates, more men are questioning whether they can get something out of it too.

Pilates was started by a boxer and boxers were some of his first clients, including the legendary German heavyweight, Max Schmelling. It's frequently used in training athletes, including Olympic athletes, footballers, golfers, tennis players, boxers and cricketers. Many professional sportsmen use Pilates as part of their fitness regime and for injury prevention and recovery; famous Pilates devotees include the New Zealand All Blacks, Andrew Flintoff (cricket), Seve Ballesteros (golf) and of course AC Milan & David Beckham (football), as well as several premiership teams.

Pilates works well for men as the focus is on an overall body workout that goes beyond the superficial muscles; it focuses on core strength in the deep abdominals, flexibility, balance and mobility –this is generally missing in men’s workouts which tend to consist of development of the global muscles (pectorals / biceps / hamstrings / quads). Men might find that their muscles are a little tighter than womens', especially in the hips and hamstrings - Pilates works on increasing flexibility, allowing to body to move fluidly without restriction, improving the body’s alignment and posture.

Pilates is a body/mind practice; correcting alignment and working with precision requires attention to technique than some men are not used to doing - there is no momentum, bracing or just ‘getting on with it’ that men might be used to. Technique, control and well aligned movement is the key to Pilates and a better level of fitness. Care is taken to recruit muscles correctly in order to support and work the body efficiently and the big global muscles are encouraged to switch off to allow the smaller supporting ones to do the job they are there for.

Joseph Pilates developed his exercises for both men and women and around 25% of those attending pilates classes today are men. Pilates is one of the fastest growing fitness routines in the world, and if you are part of that 25% and are already doing it, you are leading the way forward for the others!