My Little Prince has arrived!

My baby boy, Charles, has finally arrived on 3rd Dec 2008.

I was rather proud of myself, though my doctor never belived I could do it, that I was able to go thru natural delivery without epidural.  Looking back at my delivery experience, I think the body awareness I gained thru exercise and Pilates definitely helped in the process.

This was because during labour, the midwife kept asking me to relax, or else the baby wouldn't be able to come thru the birth canal. But seriously I was in so much pain that my whole body was totally tensed up (in fact I was grasping the bed rail so hard with my shivering fingers that the whole bed was shaking). So I figured I had to isolate and relax the muscles in my lower body while allowing the upper body to tense up to help me cope with the labour pain. At the actual delivery, I used "lateral breathing" to fully enlarge my lungs with as much oxygen from the mask as possible to generate energy to push, so voila, it took us only 20 minutes to deliver the baby. 

Newly into motherhood, I am quite overwhelmed with all the childcare chores and lack of sleep. But I look forward to resume my exercise regime and Pilates training after my body recovered. At the mean time, I do lots of side stretch like modified mermaid and spine stretch in between feeding time to let go of all the muscle tension build up from long period of sitting.

Free Preview Night - Polestar Certification

If you are interested to get certified as a Pilates instructor, you can find out more from one of the Pilates certification, Polestar Education, at the info night at Sky Pilates Studio:

FREE PREVIEW EVENING (Friday 16th January 7pm-8.30pm) 

- include a FREE pre-curriculum classes upon registration  

- Limited to 20 pax only, please please contact cynthia@skypilates.com.sg or Phone 61007597to reserve.

Remember to check how to Differentiate Various Pilate Styles and understand what it takes to be a Pilates Instructor. 

Optimal Class Size for Pilates

Karen asked for my personal opinion on optimal class size. I would say, bearing the cost and quality of class, 12 students in a group class would probably be the maximum number of students an instructor can focus on.

For any class bigger than 12 students, (unless your instructor is born with octopus tenacles), it is quite impossible for him/her to give adequate attention to all the students and provide efficient tactile cues to make sure everyone execute exercise in safe and accurate manners.

That's why I don't recommend any one who are serious to learn Pilates and those with any pathology (illness) to attend pilates class in mega gyms. Because Pilates emphasizes precision and it is difficult to learn and perform precise movement if you don't have sufficient guidance from the instructor.

If you don't have access to small group class, make sure "to supplement with an occasional private lesson", as suggested, among other tips for beginners, by About.com.

Spine damaged by Sitting

Recently yet another good friend of mine was diagnosed with slipped (herniated) disc.

Most people thought slipped disc only happen to old people, or those who work in labourous jobs. But most of my friends who suffer from slipped disc are only in early 30s, and they are all white-collared PMEBs. They didn't do anything drastic or contact sports or been through any serious accidents or falls.. so how did they injure their spine?!

Sedentary lifestyle was the culprit! Even simply by sitting for long hours can damage your spine.

Our backs are perfectly evolved for a hunter gatherer lifestyle, which was much more strenuous than ours (and did not include chairs!) A bushman or aborigine crippled by back pain would be unlikely to survive long enough to have descendants, so evolution ruthlessly eliminated all but the fittest. So we have inherited a perfectly spine design for an active (but definitely) not sedentary lifestyle!

When we sit, the chair usually tipped the pelvis backwards off balance. As the torso weight bears down on the spine and the seat pushes the base of the pelvis up, the pelvis becomes a lever bending the spine forwards and distorting it. (There are ligaments to limit this bending. They are strong for brief exertions like lifting, but under prolonged stress they stretch till they can’t protect the discs.) The results are strained ligaments and compressed intervertebral discs. The more the pelvis slumps the more pressure it puts on the discs. The damage this causes gets worse the longer you sit in this posture.

Ideally we should adjust the height of the chair so that thighs are higher than the knees, thus allowing the thighs to slope downwards and prevent the slumping of the pelvis.

Applying Pilates principles will help to prevent pelvis from slumping too:

1. Think of length in the spine. Always sit as if there is a helium balloon tied to the top of your crown, lifting the entire spine up long to the ceiling.
2. Keep your navel to spine to allow the "powerhouse closet" to support your spine.
3. Gently draw your thighs together to get the adductors (inner thighs) and pelvic floor activated.

Toxic Chemicals in Plastic Bottles

I have mentioned previously about toxic chemicals that may potentially leached out from baby milk bottles, actually such toxic chemicals can be leached out from other plastic containers that we use everyday.



There are literally plastics everywhere in our city life, and many city dwellers probably can't live without plastics (imagine Great Singapore Sales without the plastic shopping carriers!) We are exposed to vast amount of toxins everyday and they may potentially harm our health, as these toxins can leached out into the food/drink. How many times you heard your friend saying that 'I don't like this, it taste like the plastic bottle ...', while in fact, they are really "drinking" the plastic.



What should we do? It is quite impossible to avoid using plastic all together, but since some plastics are better than other, the very least that we can do is try to lower our exposure to the "bad" ones.



Many plastic containers have triangle symbol on the bottom with a number inside. They are not just meant for recycling only. The number actually tells you the kind fo plastic the container is made of: (http://www.epd.gov.hk/epd/english/environmentinhk/waste/guide_ref/guide_plascod3.html)

Among the 7 categories, No. 3, 6 and 7 is the worst. In my baby milk bottles entry, BPA (an environmental hormone) can be leached out from bottles made of polycarbonate (PC) plastic, which is under No.7 ("Other" category) in the coding system. PC is widely used in colourful clear plastic bottles and many renouned brands like Sigg and Nalgene used to use it in their products.

So, as much as possible, try to:

1. Do not re-use plastic water bottles
2. Do not use plastics containers (such as styrofoam box, chicken rice paper wrap, plastic bags) to keep hot food.
3. Transfer food content from canned food once it is opened (as the interior of tin cans are lined with plastic).
4. Use glass or metal containers as much as possible.

New Fat Loss Study

A new study* published last month in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise showed really interesting result on effect of exercise training and abdominal fats.

In the study, 27 obese women (average age 51 years) completed 16-week of aerobic training in one of three aerobic exercise groups...
1) No exercise training/control
2) 5 days per week of Low-intensity exercise training (LIET)
3) 3 days per week of high-intensity exercise training (HIET) (above lactate threshold level)plus 2 days per week of LIET.

Exercise duration for all the subjects were adjusted so that every one burns 400 calories in each session. In another word, the LIET group would have exercised longer per session as compared to the HIET group.

And the results showed no significant changes in the LIET group. On the other hand, the HIET group lost a significant amount of abdominal fat. So the study reveals 3 things:

1. Exercising harder results in more fat loss in less time


2. Hard exercise burns belly fat


3. Low-intensity cardio doesn't do much for fat loss

Here is the interesting part, all the women in the study burned the same amount of calories after 16 weeks of training, the old-school thinking would probably expect same fat loss results. So the differentiating factors should probably exist outside the training time. Is it because high intensity exercise induces changes in post-workout fat metabolism (like increasing lipolysis and its related enzymes in adipose tissue) but low intensity exercise dosen't? This would be up to the scientists to conduct more research to find out.

This study verifies what I always advocate for my clients, that if they want to burn fats, they should exercise hard at higher intensity, instead of wasting their precious family/social time to hog on the treadmill at low intesity for hours!

Inspired to do some 'HIET" cardio to burn that annoying tummy fat off right away? Take note that to train at your lactate threshold (as in the HIET group in the study) is often about 80% of your VO2max or even 85% if you are fit. Training at your lactate threshold is a painful experience, as that is the intensity level where lactic acid will start to accumulate in your blood, which will in turn cause burning aches in your muscles. So remember to self-monitor your body to train safe and look out for any symptoms of overuse injuries.

*Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2008 Oct 8. Effect of Exercise Training Intensity on Abdominal Visceral Fat and Body Composition. Irving BA, Davis CK, Brock DW, Weltman JY, Swift D, Barrett EJ, Gaesser GA, Weltman A.

Toxic Chemical in Infant's & Children's Feeding Products

A year ago while I was looking for a gift for my baby niece in-law, a doctor friend strongly recommended me to buy a special feeding bottle. The special thing about this bottle was that it does not contain the chemical "bisphenol-A" (雙酚A in chinese or BPA in short) .


Okay, that was the first time I heard about this chemical. I read the brochure and roughly know that it is harmful to health. That's about it.


Now that I am pregnant, I start to pay more attention to the quality and safety of baby products (the melamine milk scandal just make me more paranoid). When I did my baby-stuff shopping in HK (where prices are generally 20% cheaper than S'pore), I realised BPA-free products have come into the mainstream market. Parents are careful in picking up only BPA-free bottles, sippy cups, eating utensils and even toys. A shop owner told me that BPA is a big topic among parents not only in HK, but in Taiwan (click here for a chinese news articleon BPA), Korea and Japan as well.


So why is there little awareness of BPA in Singapore? I asked my friends, the most "kiasu/ 怕輸" full-time-baby-sitting mothers (who only buy the most expensive and best quality products for their babies) about it, none of them heard about such issue.


According to Bisphenol-A Free, BPA is a "hormone-disrupting chemical considered to be potentially harmful to human health and the environment. It has been known that scratched and worn polycarbonate feeding bottles will leach this chemical into liquids."

As usual, depending on who is funding the research, there are conflicting research datas that either support the claim that BPA is toxic or it is not harmful to human health.


While FDA and European authorities are being rather fiddle-minded over the issue, Canada government is a little more decisive and it officially puts BPA under the toxic chemical list.

Though the controversy continues, I am not going wait for few decades for the scientists to be sure and I rather be kiasu to stick to the safe side. Why risk exposing my baby to any known potential harm?!

Luckily I found this excellent "Z Recommends" that gives a comprehensive Report on BPA in Children's Feeding Products. This comes in really handy to help me purchase BPA-free milk pumps, milk bottles, utensils and toys etc for my little prince. I am glad that the expensive Combi training cups that I bought from HK are safe to be used.

What I really missed...

The lifestyle that I dearly missed:

Now I can only drool (with much envy) at other cyclists on the road, while my own road bike collects dust at home.

Sob sob, I wonder when can I ever race or be adventurous again! ARRRRGGGgggghhH!!!

Karyn session 4-12

I am very guilty for not being able to record Karyn's progress promptly. So here is what happened in the past 1.5 month.


Since Karyn has completed her study she managed to squeeze out more time to do Pilates twice weekly amidst her super hectic child-caring schedule.


Though her pain was initially relieved by few pilates sessions, her baby boy is growing fast and is making it even more stressful on Karyn's back whenever she carries him. Thus the pain on her left lumbar area originating from her herniated disc continued to come and go over the weeks, and severity varies depending on how much she carries him.


One day she called me to complain about numbness on the lateral side of her right knee, I suspected it might be due to her twice weekly jog or due to her aggravated disc condition, but on the safe side I asked her to consult a doctor.


She consulted a private orthopaedic doctor and, based on verbal description of her symptoms, he concluded (without any physical/ manual/ functional check-up) that Karyn was suffering from ITB symdrome. So she was told to do some ITB stretch and given anti-inflammation cream. To my surprise, she was also told that she could continue her jogging as per normal. Both me and Karyn felt that this particular doctor was not very helpful as he did not really investigate the real cause of the problem, he just wanted to get his patient out of his office asap. With the recommended stretch and medicated cream, the numbness at Karyn's knee did not really go away.


Then she developed numbness at her right toes. She thought it was due to her new running shoes. But I was skeptical and urged her to consult another doctor instead.


An orthopaedic surgeon from Tan Tock Seng Hospital who specialises in spine finally confirmed what I suspected. The numbness at her knee and toes were actually symptoms refered from her herniated disc. He advised against surgery as the herniation is still very much preliminary, and he also discouraged the use of pain killer or analgesic cream as they only masked the symptoms. He ordered Karyn to continue with Pilates as main treatment as it can help correct mechanical problem in the spine. He also advised her to swim regularly.


With few Pilates sessions focusing on core control, lumbar stabilisation and spinal extension, the numbness dissipated gradually. Karyn was all excited and got herself into the pool soon after the consultation. She swam so hard and long that after her swim her back pain turned from bad to worse! Karyn was totally puzzled as swimming was "supposedly" good for back pain but yet it made hers worst instead.

Moral of the story? always get 2nd medical opinion if you feel that the doctor was not detailed or proficient enough to help alleviate your problem. And be easy on your body if you have not done certain exercise for a long time. For Karyn she probably overstrained from the swim as she had not swim for years! Too much good thing is not neccessarily good and moderation is the key :)

Post Rehabilitation Therapy for Stroke Patient through Pilates

Here is a real-life account of how Pilates can be used as post-rehabilitation therapy for stroke patients. Extracted from "The Road Back", Spring 2005 Newsletter of The Stroke Association of Southern California.

"The Ultimate Birthday Surprise"

LINDA, a 49 year-old woman, lies unconscious in a hospital bed, hooked up to the usual assortment of tubes and machines. She is in a coma, and has been in this suspended state for three weeks.

A few of Linda’s friends are clustered around, waiting for something…but they’re not sure what. Their expressions project a sense of weary helplessness. Suddenly, Linda opens her eyes and looks around the room. Her gaze falls on the faces of her friends, then is drawn inexplicably to the calendar hanging on the wall nearby. She points at it, struggling to speak. No words come out. She woke up on her birthday. It was Linda Riback’s remarkable birthday surprise!

Twenty-one days earlier, a friend of Linda’s arrived at her apartment to pick her up – and when there was no response to his knock – he broke down the door to find her passed out on the floor. She had suffered a massive stroke. The friend called 911 and she was rushed off to the hospital.


After Linda came out of the coma, she was extremely weak. She couldn’t speak or walk, and she found herself railing against the less than-optimistic prognosis being offered by her doctor. As commonly happens, she felt an intense anger rising in her about what had happened, fixated on the question: “Why Me?” Fortunately, in Linda’s exploration of the question, she came to a clear realization that dwelling on the past would only impede her forward progress.

Linda went through hospital and post-hospital rehabilitation and eventually regained the ability to speak and walk, though she still had great difficulty with the latter. Luckily, when her insurance coverage ran out, her resolve to recover more fully didn’t. She signed up to be a “guinea pig” in some clinical trials in stroke rehabilitation. At the University of Southern California, the researchers asked her, “What would you like to do better?” The therapists then designed a specialized program for her, working on such practical things as how to get up from a lying position on the floor.

The concentrated rehab helped empower Linda, so before long she was able to turn her attention to another pressing issue: how to pay the bills. She had just started a new job in accounting when her stroke occurred, and being thrown out of the working world so abruptly had severely damaged her self-esteem. She felt she was now ready to take on a new employment challenge, but had no idea how to “get back out there.” While she was strategizing, Linda called an old friend from her college days who worked in the film industry. The friend was shocked to learn of Linda’s stroke and subsequent loss of employment. She helped Linda get a job at Paramount Pictures.

During this period Linda also continued to work on her physical recovery. To her delight, she began working with Halli Lorentz, a highly skilled and creative professional who became her good friend as well as her trainer. By working intensively on a Pilates machine, Linda’s walking improved dramatically, as she steadily regained strength and agility. Halli also helped
Linda “unlearn” many bad movement habits she had adopted to compensate for loss of function. Halli designed a home exercise program for Linda, too, stressing that if she wanted to maximize her recovery, she must be working out nearly every day of the week.

It should be obvious by now that Linda possesses a couple of qualities that are vital to stroke recovery: a willingness to try new things, and a tenacious perseverance. Even now, many years after her stroke, she is still experimenting. She recently signed up to be part of a new clinical trial, which involved implanting bions in her arm that provide electrical stimulation to the nerves. How effective is it? Linda doesn’t know yet. But, as she says, “You have to keep trying. Each week you’ll get better and better.” That is not an empty claim. Linda does keep getting better and better. There’s no better proof than that.

Menstruation & Inversion

An interesting email from reader, Karen:

"During a general discussion about Pilates with a friend who practices Yoga, she asked me if female Pilates students are told not to do similar inverted exercises like the plough (roll-over / jack-knife / short spine), head / shoulder stand during menstruation. I told her no, and I asked her why not. She replied that her Yoga instructors had explained that the flow of energy during those days will be blocked during inversions and may cause giddiness.

I did a quick search on the internet, and there are basically 2 schools of thought :
Not OK (http://www.yoga.com/ydc/enlighten/enlighten_document.asp?ID=74&section=9&cat=93)

It's OK (http://yogapilates.suite101.com/article.cfm/practicing_yoga_on_your_period) (http://www.yogajournal.com/basics/831).

Presently ignoring the philosophy behind Yoga, I hope you would share thoughts as female Pilates instructor on the topic, and whether a female body executes the Pilates exercises differently (from your personal observations) during the different stages of the cycle.

Thanks,
Karen"

First of all, I need to thank Karen for bringing up this topic for discussion. I myself was confused when I first started off in fitness industry too.

In the past, it was believed that performing inversion exercise during menstruation may lead to 'retrograde menstruation', where menstrual blood tissues 'leaks' out of the womb thru the fallopian tube openings into the pelvic area. These blood tissues then stick to pelvic organs and continue to grow and respond to fluctuation of female hormones throughout the menstrual cycle, causing symptoms of endometriosis. Thus women were advised to avoid inversion exercises during menstruation.

However, retrograde menstruation happens natually in almost all women, but only 3-10% of them suffer from endometriosis. So there must be other factors (e.g. genetic and immune dysfunction) that actually cause the condition. And inversion exercises should not be blamed on its own.

Others were concerned that inversion exercise might cause vascular congestion, leading to heavier menstrual flow. However vascular congestion can also be aggravated by standing and other physical activity, not just inversion pose alone.

My take is, inversion exercise is safe to be performed during menstruation, as long as you don't hold it for too long (seriously, what's the point of holding yourself long in the inverted pose?!). As with any other exercises, one should listen to their body and see what works and what doesn't for their own body. If you have much heavier menstrual flow or pelvic pain after doing inversion exercise, then do less or avoid them completely in future.

*To side-track a little, inversion exercises are absolutely NO-NO for people with high blood pressure, stroke, post-natal and glaucoma.

A special Pilates Challenge

My friend, Jacqueline, has just opened her very own pilates studio, The Pilates Place, at Tras Street.

On its website, besides having the usual information about the studio location, class schedules and intructors etc., there is also special opening promotional package that I think it's really value for money.

But what impressed me was the brilliant marketing idea, "Wedding Challenge"!

Jacq is going to train her bride-to-be friend (Mei) intensively for a month, and see if Pilates can transform Mei's body in time for her wedding. You can follow Mei's progress at her blog. I think that is going to be fun!

In fact, Pilates is really useful for any bride who wants to look their best on the BIG day. Not only Pilates can tone up all the crucial areas like abs, arms and back muscles, it also makes the bride walk and stand with proper posture, so that she will look elegant and confident in that beautiful gown! Here is what Lynn Robinson, the co-founder of Body Control Pilates Education, said about how Pilates can be incorporated into the wedding plan:

Spine Health for Drivers

An extract from a recent article on "Mind Your Body"(25 Sep 2009), which resonants with my previous entry "Good Posture for Drivers":

Rev up on Healthy Driving

"Back to comfort

Sitting in a car is quite different from resting on a couch because when the vehicle is moving, the body is subject to different forces - accelerations and decelerations, lateral swaying and up-down vibrations, said Dr Fong Shee Yan, consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Tan Tock Seng Hospital.

To minimise back and neck discomfort, he said, have car seats with good lumbar cushion support for the lower back and headrests for neck support.

Car seats should recline at about 100degrees horizontally, with the knees slightly above hip level. The driver's seat should be moved close to the steering wheel to best support the curve of one's back and to allow the knees to bend.

During a long drive, it is important to take frequent rest breaks and do some stretching exercises to ease the discomfort and pressure on the spine."

Great Undergraduate Resource

Ok, this entry is going to be real short. Been very busy with many many roles these few weeks so can't really sit down to blog properly.

Just found a great resource site and I totally fell in love with it. MIT has uploaded all its undergraduate course material online in its site, MIT OpenCourseWare , so that anyone who wants to learn, get to learn from one of the best schools in the world!

There are many great courses relating to physical fitness and science. "Brain & cognitive sciences" is damn cool too. I think it is just timely for me to read about "Infant and childhood cognitive science".

I am so addicted to the site. Too bad, studying the online material won't give me a MIT B.Sc :p

Knowledge is best to be shared! Three cheers to MIT!!

Aerial Cartwheel

Ken surprised me that besides being an intelligent PhD student who is active in swimming, water polo, he is also very much into Capoeira and even break dance. That was partly why he is interested in learning Pilates. Ken feels that Pilates can restore muscle flexibility and core strength to improve his break dance stunts.

One of the break dance stunts that he liked very much was the Aerial cartwheel, which is basically a cartwheel performed without the hands touching the floor or the apparatus. It looks like this. Frankly I don’t know much about break dance, so in order to help Ken improve his aerial cartwheel, I had to first find out what exactly it is. I think Just The Skills provides the best illustration of how to do it, even though the site is a little slow.

Some pointers on how to do aerial cartwheel on Tulsa Gymnastics:

1. Start this from a run and hurdle or from standing. If you are hurdling into an aerial, the hurdle should neither be too long nor too high. You need some forward momentum, but you don't want too much.
2. Push off of your take-off leg to get your height.
3. Kick your back leg as hard as you can to get around to get rotation.
4. Swing your arms will help in both rotation and height. Some people do aerials better swinging the arms down by your side, and others do an arm circle into it.
5. Don't try twisting your body into the aerial. This throws your alignment off and makes it harder to rotate.
6. As your land, lift your chest up. Not only will this make it easier, it looks better than having your upper body flopping over when you land.

Ken asked how Pilates can help strengthen the sides of his waist (the quadratus lumborum, QL) as he feels that this area is weakened and thus he can’t do the aerial cartwheel with ease now.

QL is a muscle with many functions. It laterally flexes (side-bends) the trunk, and elevates the hip. It also helps to stabilize the low back (thus usually involved when low back pain is present). After analysing the movements in aerial cartwheel, I think the strength of QL should not be the main focus of concern. Because in an aerial cartwheel, it is the momentum generated from the kicking of “back leg” (in point 3) that brings the legs overhead. QL is more of stabilising the lumbar area than to twist the body over (as in point 6) which will only distort the form.

I would rather focus on the flexibility of QL (especially on the push off side) so that the momentum of the leg swing will not be slowed down by tight QL. Mermaid is fantastic exercise in lengthening the QL.

I would rather focus on improving core control and stability of the lumbar area, strengthen of hip abductor and stretch the hip adductors to facilitate “kicking the back leg”. Good Pilates exercises are Sidekicks, Leg Circles, Star.

Differentiating Various Pilates Style

Reader, Karen, has asked me to list the different certification system available or employed in Pilates studio in Singapore, and to elaborate on how and why they differ from each other. I agree with Karen that this will probably be informative for Pilates newbies in choosing a suitable studio based on the teaching styles, and also be useful for those who are interested to learn to teach Pilates as a career switch. As I honestly have too little experience in other methods other than the one that I am trained in (especially classical Pilates) to blog about the differences, Karen was very kind to start me up with lots of resources.

There are actually many certifications system worldwide which might not be as readily available or established in Asia (yet). You may read a New Zealand Pilates info site which features a "Comprehensive Guide: Pilates Schools, Pilates Teacher Training, Pilates Certification". The author is rather non-biased and give interesting (and humourous) personal views on various systems. But below are some certification systems available and employed in some studios in Singapore (in alphabetical order):


Polestar Education / Polestar Pilates Asia
The Polestar Pilates curriculum is designed by Physiotherapist and Orthopaedic Certified Specialist Brent Anderson, and is based on a scientific foundation, as opposed to an anecdotal one. Drawing on his extensive background in rehabilitation and movement science, Brent Anderson has expanded on Pilates' principles by adding manual skills, advanced body awareness, and principles from motor control theory. The Polestar Pilates method draws on the sciences of anatomy, physiology, biomechanics and motor control, and integrates scientific research findings in the areas of orthopaedics, sports medicine and movement science. Polestar Education is recognized by the American Council on Exercise as a 'Continuing Education Specialist'.

• Being taught in Singapore: Focus Pilates, Ivana Daniell Studio, Singapore Dance Theatre (Kellie Vanderploeg),
  Sky Pilates

Romana’s Pilates / True Pilates
While 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. 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.

• Being taught in Singapore: Classic Pilates, The Pilates Studio
  

STOTT Pilates
Started in 1988, Stott Pilates is a contemporary approach to the original exercise method pioneered by the late Joseph Pilates. Co-founders Ms. Moira Merrithew (who was certified as a Pilates instructor under the tutelage of Ms. Romana Kryzanowska) and Mr. Lindsay G. Merrithew created the Stott Pilates method of exercise and equipment to include modern principles of exercise science, spinal rehabilitation and athletic performance enhancement to the original classical method. For example, some approaches may promote a flat back, whereas Stott Pilates exercises are designed to restore the natural curves of the spine and rebalance the muscles around the joints, placing more emphasis on scapular stabilization.

• Being taught in Singapore: Options Studio, The Pilates Touch

The Fletcher Work by Ron Fletcher
An evolved approach to the original classical method developed by Mr. Ron Fletcher. Mr. Fletcher was a former dancer who studied the method under Mr. Joseph Pilates and his wife, Clara. With his background in dance, he adapted the classical method exercises and created the Fletcher Work which includes the Fletcher Floorwork, Fletcher Towelwork, Spine Corrector and Percussive Breath™ technique.

In addition to covering the complete Pilates syllabus - including all levels of mat and work on the Pilates apparatus - Ron Fletcher has evolved several innovative techniques to support further understanding of the original Pilates method. Among these include Fletcher Percussive Breathing™, Fletcher Standing and Centering™, Fletcher Towelwork®, Fletcher Floorwork®, and unique pieces of movement on the full range of Pilates equipment.

• Being aught in Singapore: iPilates

The PhysicalMind Institute - The Method Pilates
An evolved approach to the original classical method. Joan Breibart is the President of the PHYSICALMIND INSTITUTE, formerly the Institute for the Pilates Method. Breibart claims she started the Pilates trend in 1991 with the first Pilates certification, the first Pilates video, and the first portable Reformer. Joan's Pilates training programs are being used world-wide (including Wellington New Zealand).
"She regularly writes on all aspects of the Pilates Movement..."Pity none of her writings are on show at her website, which has no free training information to speak of. She is famous for "Standing Pilates", which was designed for the elderly and infirm (available as a pdf immediate download from amazon.com) -see advert in right hand panel).

• Being taught in Singapore: VF Studio

Beijing Olympics - My Favourite Highlight

8月19日，德國選手馬蒂亞斯．施泰納在北京奧運會舉重男子105公斤以上級決賽中以461公斤的總成績摘得金牌。施泰納在領奬台上手持金牌、鮮花和妻子的照片，他的妻子因車禍去世。

引用朋友的話:

"這正是奧運的吸引之處，在你不認識的運動，
或你不認識的運動員背後, 總有一個值得你去探索的感人故事。"

Morning Walk in Fort Canning Park

Last Saturday, while waiting for hubby to finish school, I had a wonderful morning walk in Fort Canning Park. It's actually very nice to walk alone, as I could walk at my own pace, stopping as and when I wish to read the historical signboards, learn more about different spices and herbs, or watch birds feeding on the trees.

Luckily with my new N95 handphone, I could record down the beautiful scenary:

This area near the Old Married Soldiers Quarters is very well-shaded. Apparently there was a Taichi class going-on! This is actually a great place for classes: convenient location, fresh air, beautiful greenery, refreshing cool shades & wind... Maybe I can do some classes here for my friends too.

This lady was actually doing Pilates on that stone bench. Ok I know the picture was taken at a really odd angle, but I just couldn't capture her in action without her knowing while she perform leg circle. After taking the photo I copied her and did some Pilates exercise on another stone bench too!

Along the 13th Century trail, there was an old couple who came for a morning walk in the park together. They were both engrossed in picking up something on the ground. They were actually collecting 相思豆 (Love Beans) together. OOOOOooo!!! How romantic!! I wish that I will be like them when I get old.

Then I went to check out The Singapore Dance Theatre and saw a bunch of very very adorable children learning ballet.

The teacher wanted the girls to do a frontal split against the wall. Instead of describing to them in boring manner, she made it fun by asking the girls to make "spiders crawling on the wall" (see the 3rd girl from the right). This really shows the power of good imagery, not only immediately the students knew what the teacher wanted them to do, they did it correctly and had fun! That's why imageries are so important in the delivery of an effective Pilates class...

After this lovely Fort Canning walk, I set my goal to complete the trail along the Southern Ridges! Hope I can do it next week. ^_^

Karyn - Session 2 & 3

Session 2 (Feb 2008)
Karyn indicated that her back pain was aggravated in the week after session 1. But she felt that the pain was not entirely caused by the Pilates exercises but possibly due to the intense childcare duties that she did over the week.

In session 2, lateral breathing, pelvic tilt and chest curl were repeated to reinforce their proper execution. However basic bridging was removed to prevent any lumbar flexion since pain was active. Side kicks on elbow were added to strengthen core, arm and shoulder girdle. Karyn has very good body awareness thus was able to disassociate her hips beautifully. Prone press up was highly emphasized and encouraged to practice on her own as it can improve spinal extension through the thoracic spine and improve control to stabilize the lumbar area.

Thorough postural and home ergonomic analysis were done to correct any harmful postures used when Karyn takes care of her children. For example, it was suggested to bathe the baby in a basin on the dinning table instead of on the bathroom floor so that she could stand in proper posture; also Karyn was advised to kneel rather than sit cross-legged on the floor when caring for her baby so that she could maintain neutral spine.

After session 2, Karyn reported that her back pain has gone. I would attribute such improvement to the extension work done during the session.

Session 3 (12 August 2008)
Karyn had to stop training due to her study and could only resume after 6 months. Her back condition has gotten from bad to worse, and her quadratus lumborum area was swollen due to active inflammation. Her left and right side muscle imbalance in upper body also became more severe.

Breathing exercise, dead bug on foam roller, prone press up were performed. Mermaid was done but range of motion was reduced (only reached up instead of “reach up and over”) on the inflicted side to prevent aggravation. I have advised Karyn to consult a physiotherapist who is trained in Pilates to do a spine check so that I could work her in safest and most optimal range in future sessions

Ken - Session 1 & 2

Ken is a healthy 25 y/o PhD student who wants to learn as much Pilates as he can before returning to US for his study, so that he can maintain his fitness by doing Pilates on mat amidst his busy schedule. He has no medical or joint issue, and he played water polo and trained in gym.

Ken scored very well in fitness screening. Overall he has good arm and leg strength and excellent body awareness. He has good shoulder and adductor flexibility, but hamstrings are tight (scoring 1.5 in long sit). His thoracic spine and chest are stiff, thus restricting his lateral breathing and articulation in the thoracic spine. His rib cage flares when lying supine in neutral spine. Core control and dynamic stability can be improved, which will in turn help to reduce over-recruitment of hip flexors. Right dominance and lateral chain of lower extremities are much stronger than the medial.

Main Fitness Goals:

1. Learn to do as many Pilates mat repertoires he can correctly.
2. Reduce tightness in hamstrings, hip flexors, pectorals, thoracic spine.
3. Strengthen core (abs & lumbar spine).
4. Achieve overall muscle balance.

Click here for the summary of exercises done in session 1 & 2.

What a small World

Good thing about Pilates lovers is that, most of us are very friendly people.

Attended mentoring session today, and met other instructor like Michelle. After we introduced ourselves, she said, "Oh, are you the Teresa who wrote a Pilates blog?"

Heehee, yes I am. It is very encouraging that I am kind of identified by my blog. I didn't know I am "that" famous!!!!!! ;-p It's very nice to know people are reading what I write. But Michelle could not recognise me from the photos(which were taken last year), I guess I have expanded so much in past 5 months (see photo below, please pardon my obscene bulgy bra line!) that I am now beyond recognition.

Like what Michelle said, it's such a small world! We realised we both came from PICT training previously and we worked for FHI before. And she was very right, once you like Pilates, there is so much to talk about!

Anyway, today's mentoring session focused on Fitness Screening. We revisited the use of some of the screening exercise and various watch points. I was so delighted to find that my "Long Sit" has improved tremendously. Not only I could sit with legs straight, I could even flex my hip slightly forward while maintaining a nice neutral pelvis. Seems like my hamstring muscles are really well lengthened now!

To be honest, this improvement in my hamstrings flexibility has nothing to do with training (as i have cut down physical activity till recently due to morning sickness). Rather it was due to the increased level of a hormone, relaxin, in my body which relaxes my ligaments around my joints.

Relaxin can do many things to the body:

1. Relax the womb to make it easier to stretch and make room for the growing fetus.
2. Loosen the birth canal (especially the space betwen pubis, cervix and pelvic muscles) so that the baby can pass through.
   
3. Increase mom-to-be's foot size.
   
4. Loosen ligaments around joints, which increases joint laxity. This may lead to a higher risk of strains or sprains. Thus pregnant women has to be extra cautious and need to avoid over stretching their joints (especially thru ballistic stretch).
5. Causing back pain and sacroilliac joint (SI) pain (see my earlier post).

Now I continue to enjoy the feeling of being "flexible" while it last, but I gotta train hard to keep the flexibility after the pregnancy.

Stop Whining!! For Your Health.

I read an interesting article, "Hush girls, stop that angst-y chatter", on Mind Your Body section of the Strait Times today. It's really a great awakening for many of us, especially for my girl friends.

In a study published in the Journal of Developmental Psychology, pre-teen girls rather than boys, tend to rehash problems and focus on negative feelings. They developed close friendships with co-complainers, and ended up depressed and anxious, which led to more angst-y chatter - an endless cycle.

This actually reminds me of myself. I was definitely one of those girls who whined a lot about my problems with my close friends. Though feeling slightly better after all whining and even shedding some tears with my buddies, I constantly felt very hopeless and depressed, and my whole world seemed to crumble down. I was stuck in that kind of depression since I came to Singapore, and it lasted till last year. It definitely had a very negative impact to my school work, relationships and work life.

I was very fortunate to have met my husband, who was attracted to my seemingly bubbly and sunshine external personality, but at the same time never gave up on my dark, depressive inner self.

Ed always tells me to think positively, but it was difficult for me as I am so stuck in the angst-y chatter and the anxious mood. One day he showed me a great video called The Secret/ Law of Attraction. At the same time, a comedy/romantic Korean TV series "Coffee Prince Shop No.1" was on air and got me totally hooked. These helped me realise life would be so much happier and easier if I focus on the positive side of things. It was a great awakening for me and finally I managed to get out of the vicious cycle. So I cut down my angst-y chatter (can't really stop it all at once) and stop my Xanga blog that was filled with complains. And true enough, life start to appear much brighter!

So to all my dear friends, like what the ST article says, "In general, talking is healthy. However, co-rumination represents too much of a good thing." So let's cut that short ok ^_^

Know Your Bones & Joints

Just saw on Straits Times that there is a new book called Know Your Bones And Joints.

It is writen by an Singapore orthopaedic surgeon and it aimed to provide a comprehensive guide to the prevention of bone and joint problems. Besides describing the causes and treatment options for each orthopaedic condition, the book also elaborates on how each condition can be avoided or delayed.

Sounds like a good entry level educational book for injury prevention. I think I will buy it not only because I believe "prevention is better than cure", but also because it claims that proceeds from its sales will be donated to the Straites Times School Pocket Money Fund and the Assisi Hospice. So I can lend it to my client for extra info and do some charity at the same time.

Pilates on AsiaOne

Joe from Option Studio shared with me this article on AsiaOne. It gives a great concise introduction about Pilates as well as three informative videos. My favourite video is "Armchair Pilates".


Enjoy!

Sleeping Posture during Pregnancy

Went to Focus Pilates today to sign up for another teaching course. It is now a great time to take up courses since they charge in USD. I saved few hundred dollars compared to 2 years ago!

As we catched up, Daniel from Focus reminded me to sleep on my left side, as I am now into the 5th month of pregnancy. In fact most of the pregnancy info site will give the same advice too. But few of them ever explain why should you sleep on your side and avoid sleeping on the back during pregnancy, making some pregnant ladies all paranoid about their sleep posture. I even saw a message on a forum from a mom-to-be, saying that she was so afraid to accidentally sleep on her back and harm her baby thus ended up having countless sleepless nights!

It is adviced to avoid sleeping on the back, but sleep on the side instead, because from 4th month of pregnancy, the weight of the growing baby will be pressing on the vena cava (the large vein running next to the spine that returns oxygen depleted blood to the heart) when the mother sleep on her back. This may caused discomfort to the mother and cutting down blood supply to the growing baby. As the vena cava is located on the right to the spine, sleeping on the left side will have the least amont of pressure on it. However, sleeping on the back occasionally or unintentionally (especially during your deep sleep when you can't really control your posture) is not fatal to the baby. Our body design is highly intelligent and if you "accidentally" sleep on your back, you will probably be awaken by the discomfort and forced to change your posture. So just relax and try to get some worry-free sleep.

Pilates in Macau

Thanks to Su-Lin's information, finally my friend in Macau can try out Pilates. I am quite surprised to know it is so affordable to learn Pilates in Macau, it's either MOP$/HK$80 per class, or MOP$/HK$500 for a month of 8 classes.

This Pilate place has no website. So you have to call/ email the owner for more information. Here are the contacts:

Address: Carmo Swimming Pool in Taipa - Studio B,

Rua da Restauração, behind the Taipa Houses Museum

Mobile: 66646783 / Fax: 28841521 / Email: fitforlife_macao@yahoo.com

Terymun is Limping - SIJ Dysfunction

I have stopped almost all physical activity, including walking, in the first 3 months of my pregnancy, mainly because of morning sickness (I wonder who on earth created this name, the sickness definitely last beyond morning!). Another major reason was that I was limping. I suspected that I was suffering from Sacroiliac Joint Symdrome.

The sacroiliac, or "SI", joints (there is one on each side of the body) are the link between the spinal column and pelvis. They help absorb damaging shock forces, and they also help stabilize the body and transmit weight to the lower limbs. You can see these joints from the outside as two small dimples on each side of the lower back at the belt line.

The SI joint is one of the larger joints in the body. Very little motion occurs in the SI joint. The motion that does occur is a combination of sliding, tilting and rotation. The most the joint moves in sliding is probably only a couple of millimeters, and may tilt and rotate two or three degrees. It appears that the primary function of the joint is to be a shock absorber and to provide just enough motion and flexibility to lessen the stress on the pelvis and spine.

If the motion in the pelvis is asymmetric, then dysfunction can occur. Some conditions that cause asymmetric motion include leg-length inequalities, a unilaterally weak lower limb (eg, polio), tight myofascial structures (eg, iliopsoas), and scoliosis. Hip osteoarthritis can lead to leg-length shortening and SIJ pain.

Women may be at increased risk for SIJ problems because their broader pelvises, greater femoral neck anteversion, and shorter limb lengths lead to different, possibly predisposing, biomechanics. In addition, pregnancy often leads to stretching of the pelvis (because the pelvis must stretch to accommodate childbirth), specifically targeting the sacroiliac ligaments and possibly leading to dysfunction, hypermobility syndromes, and chronic pain.

Rest and anti-inflammation medication (topical or oral) might help in the initial stage. But physical therapy is effective too, because pain in the SI joint is often related to either too much motion or not enough motion in the joint. Range-of-motion and stretching exercises can help maintain joint flexibility, and strengthening exercises to give your muscles additional stability.

SIJ symdrome is hard to diagnose, but few assessment may help to identify it:

Leg length difference measurements - both straight leg and bent leg assessments.

Ilia rotation- this assesses whether the ilia is rotated on one side creating imbalance.

The Stork test - to assesss whether the sacroiliac joint is moving correctly.

Stork Test

1. With the patient standing and the examiner sitting behind, the examiner's left thumb is placed over the most posterior portion of the left posterior superior iliac spine (PSIS) and the right thumb overlying the midline of the sacrum at the same level.
2. Examiner asks the patient to flex the left hip and knee to a minimum of 90 degrees of the hip flexion. Imagine making an "L" with the leg and thigh.
3. A negative test finds the left thumb on the posterior superior iliac spine (PSIS) moving caudad (towards the tail) in relation to the right thumb on the sacrum.
4. A positive finding occurs when the thumb on the PSIS moves cranially (towards the head) in relation to the thumb on the sacrum.
5. The findings of this test are correlated with those of the standing flexion test. The Stork test is more specific for SI joint Restriction.

Since the pain started near my right sacrum, I have cut down movements that required loading my body weight on my right leg, such as taking the stairs, lunges and other related Pilates exercise; and I made sure I have good support when I got in and out of the car. Now the pain has subsided so I have started some stabilising work (but in a very cautious range of motion). Hope the pain will not come back again.

*For instructors, you may find more useful information here.

My Baby's Prenatal Pilates

It's been tough to hold this little secret for past 3 months. Finally I got the green light from my doctor that I can announce the news: I am EXPECTING. ^o^

That's why I was so crazy over the topic of exercise prescription for pregnant women. I had my own hidden agenda while completing my Masters, heh.

I spent my whole Sunday writing on my private love blog and uploading my ultrasound scans on my Facebook. Then hubby came along and insisted that I should put up the ultrasound on P-Latte as well.

"You have to mention it on your blog! I saw it with my own eyes. Our baby WAS doing Pilates! "

When we went for our 3rd prenatal check up 2 weeks ago, our little one was already ultra-active. Our doctor used terms like "running", "dancing", "jumping around" and "doing sit-and-reach" to describe our baby's movements. After the check up Ed was so excited! He said he saw our little one doing exactly what I always do at home - Double Straight Leg Stretch + Roll Up + Spine Stretch!


Is it genetic or 胎教 (prenatal education) at work?

Christian's Views on Pilates

In another post "Can Christians Practice Pilates" I wrote that Pilates is different from Yoga and it does not involve meditation, so it is ok for Christians to do Pilates.

I came across yet another friend who has have spine condition and chronic back pain that really bother him and even affect his quality of life. Regardless the numerous recommendations his friends (aka me) and even doctors or physiotherapists gave, he is reluctant to try Pilates. He said his pastor is really against Pilates, yoga and Taichi kind of exercise.

This is a really a sad misunderstanding that some religious personels have on Pilates. This really stems from lack of understanding of what Pilates is really about.

Here is a Christian's perspective from "A Christian Response":

"So far, we found nothing of major concern regarding the history and practice of the Pilates Method. Though most accounts of Pilates’ life mentioned his adaptation of yoga positions in some of his exercises, there was no indication that the Hindu yogi philosophy was also grafted in. As with tai chi, the physical postures of yoga are not of themselves harmful—uncomfortable, perhaps, but spiritually innocuous. The danger in these practices lies in their religious and philosophical teachings, but there is no sign of such teachings in standard Pilates material."

However the website warned that while the "Pilates exercises themselves may be spiritually neutral, sometimes those that market Pilates material are not". So watch out if the person/ company that is selling Pilates material (whether the studios/ instructors/ DVDs/ books etc) are promoting beliefs that are contradictory to the central tenets of Christianity. Or if they have blended in methods that involve spiritual philosophies (such as hybrid program Yogalates / Yogilates). So before signing up any Pilates class, you might want to do some homework of reading up the provider's website, or speak to your instructor to understand their standpoint or if they have any intention in promoting their own religious beliefs in their pilates class.

Budget Pilates

Many have heard about the goodness of Pilates, but they are worried that good stuff like Pilates comes with high cost.

Well, honestly, it can be quite costly for some to learn pilates in professional studios, but then again "costly" is a relatively term. I always feel that classes at studios are "value-for-money" as they really give solid/ superb/ noticeable results.

If you have a tighter budget but want to do Pilates, you may consider these:

1. Community centres or public sports complexes. Class rate is about $110 for 10-12 classes. Remember to try out classes at A FEW centres near your home or workplace, as standard and teaching style of instructors vary. Same as choosing a pilates studio, you will need to find a class where you are comfortable with its location and its instructor.
   
2. Some professional studios offer periodic promotions/ packages which are quite affordable. For example VF-Studio has a recent promo such that you may attend unlimited number of mat sessions for S$180 within a month, or 3 beginner reformer (machine) classes at S$100. I think this is a pretty good deal. So sign up for the mailing list with various Pilates studios to stay updated on promotions (of course you can stay updated by reading P-latte too ^_^).
3. Hire a freelance instructor to teach at your workplace/ condo/ school/ parks etc, so that your peers (ideally about 4 or more people) can help split the cost with you. Market rate of such instructors range from $80-150/hour, and it depends on various factors such as your prefered location & time of the class and instructor's experience.
   

Zii and MK, hope this answer your questions :)