The Best Gift for Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is coming up very soon! What do you usually give on Valentime's Day?

If you typically wait until the very last minute to go out and buy flowers at the local deli, try something new this year. Make this the year when you give the gift of a healthful mind, body, and spirit. Give the gift of pilates classes and say goodbye to blue daisies and carnations forever!

At my pilates studio, Rhinebeck Pilates, we have a really cool new way to give the gift of pilates this year. With our new Pilates Coupon Booklets, you can give any number and any type of pilates classes to the person you love.

Here's how it works:

1. What type of class do you want to give, and how many? You could give 2 privates and 5 mat classes, or 10 privates, or 2 tower classes.... the list is endless. You can completely customize the number and amount of classes you want to give.

2. Once you decide on what coupons you want, call Rhinebeck Pilates to let us know. We can then set up a time when you'll come to the studio to pick up your custom made booklet.

3. Before you arrive, we'll create the booklet for you! It comes complete with coupons, "To/From" page, information about Rhinebeck Pilates, and FAQs.

All coupons have a 1 year expiration date.

Rhinebeck Pilates class coupons are an awesome present for anyone who has never done pilates, but always wanted to try. The gift of pilates is excellent for anyone who is stressed out and wants to relax and reconnect with their body. These coupons are also a great way to treat anyone who already comes to our classes.

Keep Rhinebeck Pilates class coupons in mind for birthdays, anniversaries, Mother's Day, Father's Day, graduations, and any other special occassions!

For more information, or to order your coupon booklet, call 845-876-5686 or email elaine@rhinebeckpilates.com. You can see our class prices on our studio website, http://www.rhinebeckpilates.com/. Read more!

Vintage Exercise Videos

Well its a snowy night here in upstate New York so what else do I have to do but scan You Tube for vintage exercise videos! If you're stuck inside like me, check out these hilariously interesting videos.

The Ross Sisters


This was sent to me by two of my students, guess I should take it as a hint they want to try some of these moves in class? The craziness begins after the "potato salad" song.

Exercise and Health


The quality of this video isn't great, but I was drawn in as soon as I heard, "Therrrrre, now that's real balance and poise". You know we're doing some of those opening exercises in our next mat class :)

Vintage Exercise Equipment


Here's some cool, old exercise equipment and the lovely ladies who used it. Kind of reminds me of what pilates must have seemed like back in its day, but without the effectiveness.

Get Those Curves in the Right Places


This vintage video was obviously (hopefully) a joke at the time, and its still funny. I think I might make this required work out attire at the studio. The best scene is with the woman lifting and ravelling up the weight- so similar to Joe's Sandbag Set. I wish the quality of this video was better but this is so great that I had to post it.

How to Cross Times Square


I saved the best for last!!! If this isn't using your core, I have no idea what is. Read more!

NY Times Article on Stretching, and How it Relates to Pilates

There was an interesting article in the New York Times October 31, 2008 issue called, "Stretching- The Truth" by Gretchen Reynolds.

In the article, one of the main questions is whether its beneficial hold static stretches before working out, and if you do stretch first, what does that do for your body? The latest scientific findings, according to the article, show that static stretching (stretching a muscle and holding the stretch for about 30 seconds) before working out can actually weaken the muscle and sets the body up for possible injury.

The article says:
"The old presumption that holding a stretch for 20 to 30 seconds — known as static stretching — primes muscles for a workout is dead wrong. It actually weakens them. In a recent study conducted at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, athletes generated less force from their leg muscles after static stretching than they did after not stretching at all. Other studies have found that this stretching decreases muscle strength by as much as 30 percent. Also, stretching one leg’s muscles can reduce strength in the other leg as well, probably because the central nervous system rebels against the movements.

'There is a neuromuscular inhibitory response to static stretching,' says Malachy McHugh, the director of research at the Nicholas Institute of Sports Medicine and Athletic Trauma at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. The straining muscle becomes less responsive and stays weakened for up to 30 minutes after stretching, which is not how an athlete wants to begin a workout."

This research makes sense. In fact I have heard in the past that stretching before a workout can set the body up for injury the muscles aren't warmed up from movement, and they are just suddenly stretched, which will weaken them. Though, we do have to wonder if the people in this article are talking about proper stretching (in alignment, stretching the belly of the muscle and not the points of attachment) or common stretching among amateur athletes, which is not usually biomechanically correct!

So if you don't want to stretch your muscles before working out, what should you do to warm up instead?

The article suggests:
"The right warm up should do two things: loosen muscles and tendons to increase the range of motion of various joints, and literally warm up the body. When you’re at rest, there’s less blood flow to muscles and tendons, and they stiffen. 'You need to make tissues and tendons compliant before beginning exercise,' Knudson says.... A well-designed warm-up starts by increasing body heat and blood flow."

Anyone who practices or teaches pilates knows that this is exactly how pilates works. Even back in the days before this research took place, Joseph Pilates knew that the whole body needs to move through rigorous movements in order to be fully warmed up. He designed his specific exercise order based on this, too- no matter what piece of equipment we start the session on, there are a number of quick paced warm up exercises that should be done before continuing with the rest of the exercises.

The easiest example of this is on the Reformer- we always start with Foot Work- pressing the carriage out and resisting letting it back in, at a quick yet smooth and flowing pace, and all initiated from the core but using the whole body. After about four rounds of Foot Work with the feet in various positions on the bar, we move into the Hundreds, a well-known pilates warm up exercise that is also based on core strengthening while quickly pumping the arms and breathing deeply, to encourage blood flow.

Each piece of equipment, including the mat work, has a similar warm-up routine to go along with it. In fact, after the initial warm up in pilates, each exercise for the whole hour is based on stretching while moving the whole body. In the article, they call it Dynamic Stretching:

"Stretching muscles while moving, on the other hand, a technique known as dynamic stretching or dynamic warm-ups, increases power, flexibility and range of motion. Muscles in motion don’t experience that insidious inhibitory response. They instead get what McHugh calls 'an excitatory message' to perform."

Everyone who practices pilates always remarks at how great they feel after an hour long session- stretched out, yet also worked out. The reason for this awesome feeling after doing pilates is dynamic stretching. Pilates isn't a generic way of working out. Its not as though we are sweating like crazy, pushing our bodies to the limits, feeling the burn... and then at the end, stretching to cool down. Instead, each and every exercise designed by Joe Pilates is all about dynamic stretching- while one muscle is stretching, the other is working in balance.

Here is the full article, which includes some neat illustrations:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/sports/playmagazine/112pewarm.html?_r=1&em Read more!