Assess hip abductor weakness In last week’s first installment of Hip Hip Hooray, we looked at the structure and function of the gluteus medius and minimus, and also what can happen when they are weak or dysfunctional. This week, we will learn how to do a couple of quick, observational tests to assess for hip…
The hip abductors The hip abductors refer to the gluteus medius and gluteus minimus muscles, which work together to help you swing your leg away from the midline of your body and support your hips while doing many functional movements in a weight bearing position such as walking, standing on one leg, squatting, and jumping.…
Strategies to gain Pilates teaching experience If you’ve just completed your Mat Work certification program and don’t feel ready to teach, don’t worry! This is completely normal. In your training, you learned the basic skills necessary to succeed. You’ve learned many exercises, you know how to cue and design a class. You’ve probably done a…
New year, new Pilates studio space We’ve just spent the past four months expanding and renovating our Dupont studio. It looks absolutely stunning – we’re very excited to share it! Overall, everything went quite smoothly…. We’re just putting the finishing touches on and preparing for our awesome launch party on Jan 16th. There were a…
Will you be in the 8% that follows through? It’s a new year and for many, New Year’s resolutions are set and never followed through. You know what I’m talking about, your intentions are good but come February or March you’re back to the way you’ve always done things. You had great intentions and the…
Improve your Pilates clients’ body awareness In Part 1 (Use it or Lose it: Boost Body Awareness in Your Pilates Clients), we learned about what proprioception is and how it works, how body awareness is an element of proprioception, and why these are important to our clients. Here, I will give you eight strategies to…
Boost Body Awareness Have you ever been in awe of a gymnast who can do a backward somersault and land perfectly on a balance beam? Do you watch Yo-Yo Ma play beautiful music on his cello and wonder how he can do it without even looking at his instrument or his hands? If so, you…
This is one example of a class plan that helps with posture and gait retraining. Watch for others in this series. Standing warm up Lateral arm arcs + breathing to open upper body and allow people time to settle Crossover leg swing Cat stretch with hands on thighs Waving cat with hands on thighs…
Enrich your relationship with your Pilates clients Teaching Pilates is more than a job. It’s not an easy task: it’s a mix of responsibility and art that requires creativity, sensitivity and intelligence. To teach private sessions, teachers need a lot more than only knowledge and methodology. When we talk about one-on-one sessions we are talking…
Have you ever had a client show up in your class and within minutes you know the class is too advanced for her? Then, as the class progresses, things go from bad to worse…the client struggles more, you worry about her safety, the client gets frustrated and can’t connect to what you are saying or…
Pilates for Men Why is it that in gym class back in grade school the boys could always do more push-ups than the girls? Why does my husband have such a hard time bending over to touch his toes? We all know that there are fundamental differences between the female and male anatomy. Men typically…
Pilates or Yoga? People often ask which is better for them: Pilates or yoga. Personal preference is often the best guide to choosing a form of exercise or movement, unless physical issues intervene. And there’s nothing that says people can’t do both. For example, one of our clients returned from her summer holiday convinced that…
Teach Pilates with Confidence Body Harmonics is just like any other studio. We have teachers who have been here for more than 10 years, and teachers who have been here less than 10 weeks! No matter where you are in your career, at one point or another you’ve probably struggled with confidence; whether you were…
Exercises for the wrist and hand Wrists and hands can have a profound effect on the entire body. They not only help us with quadruped (hands and knees) exercises, but in many of our day-to-day activities like typing, gripping and even balance! If you’d like to learn more about the anatomy and function of the…
Do you remember your first time teaching a class? My first time teaching a fitness class was when I was sixteen years old. I started teaching fitness classes in high school. My physical education teacher saw my potential and encouraged me to follow my interests. I got my first paid teaching position at a gym…
Build your buttocks and strengthen your core Most of us have lazy buttock muscles. When they are weak, hip pain, back pain and even foot pain can occur! The Pilates neutral bridge is a safe and simple way for almost everyone to get the buttock muscles firing. The buttock muscles are part of our core.…
How do we fix forward head posture? Inspired by the reminder that my head is a bit forward at a recent workshop, I set out to work on it for myself, my classes and clients. If you want more info about what forward head posture is and why it’s important, check out last week’s article.…
The affects of a forward head posture I came back from my holidays with a mission: to work on my forward head posture! It all started with a workshop I attended where the instructor pointed out my forward head and rounded shoulders—two characteristics typical of forward head posture. I already knew this about myself. But…
Pilates class design tips & guidelines When designing a Pilates class, there are so many options available. It can be easy to feel overwhelmed and lost. Here are a few tips and guidelines you can consider when designing your classes. Don’t feel pressured to use them all in one shot. Start with one or two…
Build your Pilates career If you’re a new instructor, one of the best ways to start working and building your hours is to sub classes. The wonderful thing about our industry is that there is always someone somewhere who needs a class covered. When I first started teaching, the thought of building my schedule up…
