Pilates and the Pelvic Floor Muscles
Having been in the health and fitness industry for over 10 years now, one of the most commons questions I get from a client is either A) what are my pelvic floor muscles, or B) am I meant to be using my pelvic floor muscles now?! And this stems from the fact that about 20 years or so ago, when Pilates was still in its infancy in Melbourne, it became synonymous with physiotherapy in particular, as a support tool for rehabilitating injuries - mainly those of the spine and pelvis. So it got drilled into not only the practitioners, but anyone who did Pilates that they had to squeeze their pelvic floor to do Pilates. In reality, this is far from the case, and has actually become quite problematic for a lot of people, creating dysfunctional pelvic floor muscles, as well as stiff and tight backs.
Pilates for hip pain
People get sore hips, all the time. Every day in the studio is a constant barrage of aches and pain, and without fail 99% of clients will mention something going on in their hips. And fair call - we put them through a lot of work! Between sitting and compressing tissues for hours every day, to then asking them to suddenly go to the other end of the spectrum when running and jumping and generally doing vigorous activity, we don’t really give them the TLC they really deserve. But on the other hand, maybe we need to keep pushing them around to a greater extent? We know the body will always adapt to whatever environment you put it in consistently, so if you want robust hips, maybe you need to ask some robust questions of them?
Pilates for Shoulder Injuries
What most therapists don’t know about rehabilitating shoulders from injury
When it comes to rehabilitating shoulders after injury, Rob has a bit more insight than most. Having been through two almost identical shoulder operations in his late teens (thanks Rugby!) and experiencing two different approaches to rehab, he’s developed some insight in to what all the therapists he’s seen over the year’s always miss. And it’s nothing intention, it’s just that the majority of therapists haven’t experienced shoulder injuries to the extent that they need to start from the beginning again. And if you’re someone who’s reading this and is struggling with shoulder pain, chances are you won’t need all this information - but it’s certainly not going to do you any harm by going right back to basics.
Stress - what it is, and how to work with it
Unfortunately that doesn’t make your job easy in the mean time with clients complaining left, right, and centre, about their aches and pains and perceived stress in their lives. So what can we actually do to help them? Well lets consider one definition of stress is a subjective/relative stimulus driven activation of the sympathetic nervous system, causing a mobilisation of resources towards a fight or flight physiological reaction.
The missing link in your teaching
So you’ve got your Pilates rep down, and feel super confident that at least 4 out of 5 clients that walk through your door are going to get an awesome experience, regardless of what’s going on with them. But there’s still that lingering client that despite all of your amazing hands ons tactile feedback, and beautiful imagery doesn’t seem to get any better. You’re at your wits end, and the client is also getting a bit perplexed and can’t understand why their situation isn’t changing either - frustrating for both parties really!
Here’s a consideration: perhaps their sensory system simply isn’t balanced?
Healthy Feet for a Healthy Life!
This is what my day sounds like sometimes: 'What do you think of my new running shoes?', 'That feels amazing, I've been wearing heels all day!', and 'Do you think there is any hope for my bunions?'
This is just the tip of the ice berg... Deep down we all know we need to be looking after our feet, but we don't always know how or what is best for them? Perhaps it is those $300 podiatrist prescribed runners or perhaps it is spending more time in bare-feet. The reality is everybody has different requirements, and I'm not interested in getting into the debate on what footwear is best (unless you ask, and I'll happily give you my point of view based off your current situation...). But what I am interested in is providing a fantastic Pilates experience for our clients, and a massive part of that is getting our feet as healthy as possible.
The Power of Group Classes
It seems as though every corner of Melbourne has got a health or fitness studio popping up, offering some form of hyped-up fitness phenomenon. Sweaty bodies, tight active wear, perfect physiques and the golden smile. It’s all part of their pristine marketing campaign to facilitate huge numbers of willing and ambitious people in to their small but busy studios. Why? Perhaps in hopes of achieving the media influenced, socially-accepted ideal body that’s continually pushed down our throats by mainstream marketing. It’s enough to make you reconsider even starting to exercise, and unfortunately Pilates (particularly reformer Pilates) is right in the mix with the best of them…
Three lessons we’ve learnt
We are still working on so much ourselves to make a profitable business that doesn’t wear us down - so don’t stress if you haven’t found that yet, and congrats if you have!. But if you eat the frogs, keep your ego in check, and share the work load then you’ll be on your way to keeping your sanity!
Somatic Movement Therapy
We are pleased to offer Somatic Movement Therapy (“SMT”) at Movementality. But what exactly is SMT? This is a question I hear frequently, so I’d like to take the time to break down the term SMT, what it means, and how my journey brought me into this incredible practice for embodied healing.
Is Deep Breathing Always the Answer?
Late in 2018 I attended a two day BreatheAbility breathing course with physiotherapist and Breathing Educator Tess Graham. Tess Graham trained with Ukrainian doctor Konstantin Buteyko in the early 1990’s. Buteyko is renowned for his work on breathing retraining for asthmatics and founding the Buteyko Institute. Tess herself has over 6500 hours of clinical experience as a breathing specialist and believes she cured two of her children of their asthma. Naturally, being curious and a Pilates instructor, I was eager to learn about her techniques for breathing retaining which, until now, I hadn’t heard of.