Movements? Children know best.

Charles often demonstrates "Pilates moves" in his playtime. Inverted V, plank, leg pull etc. It's not easy to capture his movements on camera because those movements take place so naturally and quickly. Here are few rare shots that captured Charles in "Swan" and "Single leg kick" positions, look at that beautiful extension throughout the spine ^_^:

Healthy children are born with natural instinct to move their body efficiently, and in the way the body is really designed for. Remember the graceful somative movements seen in the video in my post "The Forgotten Fundamentals"? Moving efficiently can be viewed in terms of whole body coordination or in terms of specific skilled movements (Booth et al., 1997; Clough, McCormack, & Trail, 1993). It is very important for children to retain this ability to move efficiently for long term engagement and also enjoyment in physical activity throughout whole life span.


However, as the pressure to excel in school increases, children are spending more and more time sitting down reading and doing homework. Of course academic and cognitive development in children is very important for the competitive world today, but the implication of sitting for longer duration is that poor posture is often developed in these otherwise healthy children, causing them to lose the ability to move efficiently. This can possibly reduce their enjoyment in being active and in sports performance, and many children grow up as sedentary adults. The rest is then history and we know that inactivity among adults is now epidemic.

I will be sharing more of what I read and learn about movement development in children. Meanwhile, let your kids have as much opportunity to be active as possible. Tumbling on the grassfield, having ball of a time in all kinds of ball games, or even just hopping around the house... more importantly, parents are really children's best friends and teachers that we have to be involved. Jump and hop silly with them, run and laugh in the park... Through these activities, not only we can emotionally bond with our kids and improve our own health, we are actually helping them associate physical activities to the warm feeling of being loved and being happy...all so important to make being physically active an enjoyable experience for a life time.

There are many ways to add fun physical activities in our daily life. What do you do with your kids?

Special Core Training

Physical and skills development for Charles has always been our top priority. ^_^

Challenge to this exercise can be increased by shifting the supporting surface away from the centre of torso. Maybe next time we will ask Charles to rest only his heels and top of his head on the wood stumps.

Closure of Planet Earth Pilates

I have closed my studio. Exactly ONE YEAR AGO.

Sorry if I took longer than expected to announce this on P-Latte. It was not easy for me to recover from the heartache of shutting down something which I have put so much effort and time (not to mention $$) in. In fact, I was like a cowardly ostrich and was not motivated to talk about it.

You may wonder why was the studio closed, well, in short and cliche, due to partnership problems.

The history was, Planet Earth was meant to be P-Latte Studio and was really meant to be the manifestation of my passion and love for movement and should have been operated by myself. My very close Uni-mate cum ex-boss, pleaded me to combine my studio with his organic food business. His wife called me and told me how devastated he was when I rejected the idea. In the end, I joined the partnership.

I gave up the 800-square feet dream-unit overlooking the greenery of MacRitchie for a 2100 sq.feet office space in order to house the organic biz. In the end, some partners did not do what they were supposed to do, they point fingers at each other for low revenue and slow growth. They felt that the only salaried staff aka me (as they all continued their full time, stable day-job), was not doing everything under the sun as they assumed I would. They felt that I should not only teach Pilates, but also to man the organic shop, wash toilets, water the plants, housekeep, stock-take, do sales calls and even deliver. In reality, I simply couldn't do all those all at the same time.

When the biz ran low on cash flow, they stop paying me the monthly salary as promised, claiming that I could take the revenue of Pilates classes in return. Then suddenly they demanded rental for my studio space. And suddenly they were closing their organic biz and asked me to take over their shop space if I wished to continue my studio, however I would need to pay them a reasonable "take-over" fee.

I was hoping to find a solution to be able to afford the rental of the huge extra space, but yet again, another "surprise" came suddenly from the landlord who called me the day before Christmas eve in 2010, our rental unit will be repossessed in 24 hours because my partners had not been paying the rent for months, and I needed to pay the outstanding of $10k or i vacate within 24 hours!

at this nick of time, my partners were uncontactable, they left me alone to settle the issue. They had no sense of urgency, no moral values, no ethics. They had been pocketing the rental I paid them and left me alone to solve all the problems they created!!

At last, after few stressful weeks, I was lucky enough to have found a Church which could take over the rental lease, such that I did not need to pay any penalty. I closed the studio, stored or sold my equipments. Said teary goodbyes to my clients, and finally  I broke clean from the "partners" and ended the year-long nightmare.

A precious lesson learnt.

So that was it. The short-lived Planet Earth disappeared.

From then, I was very depressed, beaten and lost. For months, I doubted myself in all aspects: my ability in decision making, my ability in trusting others, my ability in teaching, even my intelligence and my self-esteem; I could not even look at other people in the eyes because of the intense shame and sense of being a loser in me! The whole business experience negatively impacted my emotions, my family well-being and my relationship with my husband...

One year has since passed, I finally got myself up and look at the flipped side of the failed business. I rediscover my strengths and weaknesses, I am more awareness of my blindspots, and most importantly, I learnt that I am surrounded by people who truly believed in me, loved me and supported me. My husband and son who stood by me throughout the year and bear with my endless bouts of unreasonable emotional roller-coasters; great friends who helped me and encouraged me during the most difficult time (like Elsie Tan & Jason Lim); and also clients who showered me with endless understanding, trust, support and loyalty; through this difficult period, I was brought much closer to God and I now understand that there is really a reason for everything that happened. All this happened because it is part of our Master Weaver's plan.

 

My life is but a weaving
Between the Lord and me;
I may not choose the colors–
He knows what they should be.

For He can view the pattern
Upon the upper side
While I can see it only
On this, the under side.

Sometimes He weaves in sorrow,
Which seems so strange to me;
But I will trust His judgment
And work on faithfully.

‘Tis He who fills the shuttle,
And He knows what is best;
So I shall weave in earnest,
And leave to Him the rest.

Not ’til the loom is silent
And the shuttles cease to fly
Shall God unroll the canvas
And explain the reason why.

The dark threads are as needed
In the Weaver’s skillful hand
As the threads of gold and silver
In the pattern He has planned.

~~ Author Unknown ~~

ACSM Clinical Exercise Specialist

I have been eye-ing on this course for few years! Finally, after 5 years, I can afford the time and money to take this course - ACSM Clinical Exercise Specialist Certification course!

In the past, like many other trainers, I trained my clients with mild lifestyle diseases (like high blood pressure, diabetes) with a lot of caution and common sense. But now after the course, I am armed with the knowledge to be much more confident in dealing with high risk clients with cardiovascular and metobolic diseases.

I am so fortunate to have the opportunity to learn so much from Mr Peter Brukner (the only angmo in the photo below) and other fellow course mates who were doctors, cardiologists and physiotherapists. I just love attending courses because not only I get to learn new knowledge but also to reflect on the old and think of ways in improving my practice.

Now I need to study real hard for the certification exam. As i do so all those vague memory of physiology and biochemistry i learnt from my undergrad and postgrad are slowly creeping back...Gosh, how i wish i can do so by gulping down the 2 inch thick text book. S The exam is not easy as 90% of my course-mates failed and re-taking...

Wish me luck (a lot of it) to pass!

Post Birthday Thoughts

One of the best things of being a Pilates instructor is that I get to know people from all walks of life. I get to know them well, understand the uniqueness of their jobs, heard their vivid life story, their family etc. I met a stay-home-mom who taught me lots of parenting and baby-care tips (not forgetting giving me loads of beautiful hand-me-down baby clothes and toys); I got to know my dear friend, Karen, who has now embarked on the journey to be an instructor too; I also taught highly-intelligent researcher, professionals like gynae and even national athletes... some of them are well and fit and some of them have nagging medical issues. They have nothing much in common except that they have one identical goal, that is, to improve their lives through improving their physical health. Like what the wise man, Joseph Pilates, said, "Physical fitness is the first requisite of happiness." How true! How can you truly enjoy life without first of all have good physical health?

Among the people I met through Pilates, I made some really good friends. I was especially touched that on my 30th birthday last Tuesday, one of the regular from a corporate mat class (who literally attended my class no matter rain or shine, even once with an injured knee!) presented a small birthday cake with a lighted candle to me after class! That really warmed my heart!!!! Back home, my fave chocolate banana cake was delivered by a super caring client (who has also became my great friend), what a lovely surprise!

Someone asked me why am I so excited to tell people that I now joint the big THREE club. But hey, i should be happy, though I am no longer in my twenties, I have so many people love and care about me! Moreover, I am only as old as my spine, and thanks to Pilates, it is quite young really! ^_^

Joseph Pilates, Returned to Life through Contrology:

"... the only real guide to your true age lies not in years or how you THINK you feel but as you ACTUALLY are as infallibly indicated by the degree of natural and normal flexibility enjoyed by your spine throughout life."

Song from The Pilates Flow shared his horror story when his studio was newly opened.

He received phone calls from esteemed instructors who wanted to work for him in his studio. So Song asked which method were they certified.

Jobseeker: "Huh? Method? What method?"

Song: "Hm...as in, which Pilates certification do you have?"

Jobseeker: "Oh, u mean certs! I am certified by Pilates Online!"

Song almost flipped off his chair.

Karen managed to dig out one of such online certification: http://www.expertrating.com/pilates/index.asp#frequentques

HOLY COW!!!!! You can actually BUY a Pilates certification for USD 49.99. Wow, indeed it is much faster, cheaper and less painful way to get certified. Why did I bothered to spend hundreds of hours and nearly S$15k to get my certs...

Like what Karen suggests, if one day I ever have my own studio, I will make sure I proudly get my toilet cleaners to get "certified" too. 

Different kind of 5Cs

I love Facebook, to the extent of addiction. I can't resist checking it at least every 10 minutes whenever I am online. I just find it real good to stay in touch with all my good friends all over the world.

So today Facebook help me linked up with 2 friends whom I have not talked for past 2 years.

First, Jason, a fellow classmate from my Master degree, shared with me how he could afford to study PhD in Australia. Great inspiration and I wanna do the same too! I am sure I can teach Pilates to supplement my living while I study there. So I shall start thinking of a research topic...hmmm.... 

Then I catched up with Sandy, an "angmoh" male inline skating athlete cum trainer, whom i knew since my days with the Singapore Sports Council. Here is our very interesting conversation:

5:09pmSandy

what you doing these days.

I'm good. Keeping fit and healthy.

5:10pmTeresa

it has been really long time since we met! i've changed job, married, learnt driving & now has a newborn 

quite the oppo, im now not fit & down w/ flu...

5:11pmSandy

wow. that is some big changes.

I want to settle down someday.

I'm getting old.

    5:13pmTeresa

actually u shd be able to settle down fast...angmoh in sg has high value...heehhee. so wat's keeping u??

5:18pmSandy

my 5 c's are different.

5:19pmTeresa

so what are your 5C's?

5:20pmSandy

1. careing 2. compassion 3. car-dio (health) 4. cash (can't live without it) 5. communication.

Oh well, i have many male friends like Sandy, spending too much time doing and developing the sport that they love and they deprived themselves the chance to find "the one"... if you are female, single, and presumably love fitness & sports (hence reading my blog?) and happened to look for a different kind of 5C's, why not check out his Facebook profile?

Pilates Attire

Karen noticed some ladies attend Pilates class in shorts! Well, not really the right type of exercise shorts but one in the going-out type of shorts with front zip, waist band and buttons and pockets, the other in those "hot pants" jersy-stretchy type which sits just below the butt-cheeks.

Like what Karen told those ladies, Pilates exercises (whether on the machines or mat) require lots of "opening up the legs" and thus more is exposed than they may be comfortable with. As an instructor, I have been unwillingly exposed to so many parts that were best kept in the dark. Guys' grotches, ladies underwear of all style and colours... The worst I have seen so far was a G-string when this lady did leg circle in loose beach shorts. i could almost see the brand of her G string and frankly she probably should trim the hair (I mean THERE)...

She also pointed me to this very nice article about the right attire for Pilates. Too bad that most brands mentioned in the article aren't available in Singapore. I myself quite like pants from Lora Jane (available in Novena Square) as it fits well and stays at where it should be (without slipping up into the crack). Besides it offers good variety of design and colour and they are usually pretty flattering on the wearer. I wonder if there are other brands here in Singapore which are good for Pilates?

Another article also gives practical advice about proper attire for Pilates too. Anyway these are the few pointers I always tell my new clients before their first class:

1. Shoes are not required. If you insist wearing socks, get those with anti-slip under the sole.
2. Fitting / body hugging (but not super tight-fit) or stretchy material and design for both top AND bottom. Clothing made of Lycra is quite ideal. It allows you to move freely during the exercises and the instructor can check your posture and alignment. For the gentlemen, bicycle shorts can protect your important parts from being exposed.
3. Clothes with simple design is prefered while those with big buttons, excessive folds,or thick waist band are not fun to wear as it's definitely not comfortable to lie or even roll over them.
4. Minimal accessories. Big watches and long earings are "banned" from my class. 

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.

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!!!

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!!

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. ^_^

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 ^_^

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?

Exercise for Pregnancy

HURRAY!! I got an A- for my Master degree's final project. YAY!!!!!!! I am officially done with my master and convocation will be on 26th July. Finally, the ordeal is over...

Anyway the theme of my final project was "Exercise for Pregnancy". I reviewed the literature of exercise guidelines available from various governing bodies in US, UK & Australia, conducted mini surveys with some local obstericians & gynaecologists, and interviews with some pregnant ladies to understand their attitude towards exercise during pregnancy. There have been lots of paradigm change within the medical world over past decades regarding exercise prescription for pregnant women. Let me share what I have found in my project, but for certain sensitivity issues, I shall keep the "attitude" of the local doctors portion of my project discrete here ^_^

I would actually prefer any mom-to-be (or dad-to-be) to read the whole guideline from American College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists, so to fully understand the physiological changes happening during pregnancy, the benefits of exercise during pregnancy for mom & growing foetus and what can be done and what not. But if you find it contain too much jargons and alien language (aka medical terms), you may find the patient info (pdf) published by the Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaegologists concise and easy-to -read.

Anyway, below are important pointers below, for easy reference:

• It is safe to exercise if your pregnancy has NO complication (ie. pregnancy with no health issues such as hypertension, gestational diabetes, etc). Get clearance from your doctor.
  
• Most local women cut down exercise or even stop it all together, as they think that being active may harm their growing baby. It is actually a myth that all pregnant women need to cut down the frequency and intensity of exericse during pregnancy. The rule of thumb is, do not exceed the frequency & intensity of what you have been doing before pregnant. Pregnancy is really not the ideal time to take up new physical challenge. Thus forget about training for your 1st marathon if you had only been running regularly at 10km-distance. Exercise within your pre-pregnancy fitness level.
  
• Do not over-exert. Listen to your body, stop when you are tired.
  
• Avoid being over-heated, dehydrated, exercise in supine position (lying flat on the back) from 2nd trimester onwards, over-stretched (or ballistic/ jerky stretches), exercise at high altitude and sports that require sudden change in directions.
• Type of exercise: NO scuba diving, water skiing, martial arts, gymnastics, trampoline, etc.
  
• Eat well during pregnancy, do not exercise continuously for more than 45 min to prevent depleting blood sugar level to dangerous level.
  

As for the Pilates Lovers, good news is that Pilates is fantastic for pregnant woman. Because it is non-impact, and it stregthens all the important muscles (respiratory muscles, core muscles, pelvic floor muscles and so on) which will all come in handy during childbirth and when taking care of the newborn. However, it is very important for you to inform your instructor that you are pregnant, so that he/she can give you extra attention and modify the exercises for your safety.

Exercise is good for you and your baby, it improves your fitness level and uplifts your spirit. So stay active during pregnancy if there is no complication!

Pilates Interest Group on Facebook!

I have started an interest group on Facebook, called "Pilates In Singapore". Just another way to pass the goodness of Pilates around.

Join us if you are FB user! ^_^

Hubby's Back Injury...Oouch!

I am back, finally!

Haven't been updating P-latte regularly, as I was struggling badly with work and completing my Masters. FINALLY it's done! no more stress over it! I felt so mentally exhausted after completing the writing and it made me unable to look at the computer screen or focus on my thoughts for more than 2 minutes. Luckily, I am slowly recovering from this mental constipation. But really thanks to all those who wrote to me urging me to put up new post, it is really encouraging :)

Anyway, there is something I REALLY need to share since Chinese New Year.

During Chinese New Year (CNY), my parents in-law went to KL to visit my sister in-law, so me and hubby had a super rare opportunity to have solid 4 days all alone in the house. We were excited & determined to take the opportunity to execute our baby-making plan.

On the first morning of CNY, while we watched DVD and chilled in the living room, my hubby jumped up abruptly to pick up a phone call. Suddenly he screamed out of pain. I turned to him only to find him fronzen beside the phone with the handset stuck between his right ear and right shoulders. He literally couldn't move because he was in immense pain.

Hubby was rather frightened (he deserved to be as it was VERY painful for him even to breathe or talk!), and thought he had a slipped disc. I did various physical tests on him and was quite sure that he had sprained his back muscles rather than slipped any disc. He couldn't walk on his own, and there was no way I could carry him to the doctor without calling for an ambulance, the only thing he could do was to rest and take pain killers to manage the pain.

So for the whole CNY holiday, hubby could only lie on the sofa to watch tv, and he was in my total mercy. He couldn't even shift his butt on the sofa without my help! I had to "wheel" him around the house on a chair and even had to help him to the toilet. And yeah, you guessed it right, baby plan over the holiday was completely blown (before it was even started).

What exactly happened, how could an otherwise healthy & active young man sprain his back just by answering a phone call?

Well, NOooooo, unlike what all my dirty-minded friends thought, it wasn't the baby-making. Hubby's posture, lifestyle and past injury were the culprit.

• Lifestyle: too much sitting, driving and little walking give him weak core. Hamstrings, buttocks & hip flexors became super tight. It made things worst that hubby is the typical guy who run and train but NEVER bother to stretch. So muscles get shortened by exercises but were never lengthened after that.

• De-conditioning: Due to his study, Hubby no longer exercises as regularly. So his muscles weakened due to dis-use, and tightened too
  

• Poor posture: He always slouched when he sits (creating posterior tilt in the pelvis), thus further weaken core, shorten hip flexors & psoas.
  

• Previous injury: Hubby pulled his priformis during a ball-game years ago, so he has been unconsciously leaning more on the good hip when he walks or runs. This compensatory movement strategy caused imbalance in his pelvis, legs and even his back.
  

• Last Straw: As hubby felt the tightness all over his body in the fateful morning, he tried to "stretch it out" while he tilted his neck to hold the phone handset. Fryette's Law states that when the slack of a spinal segment is taken up in one direction the movement availability in other planes will be decreased. So this sudden stretch (spinal flexion & rotation) cum the neck tilt (lateral cervical spinal flexion) greatly challenged the spine flexibility.
  

Summing these up, all unfortunate factors occurred at the same time sprained his back. Since then Hubby is much more receptive to stretching and I have not stopped nagging him to sit properly, stretch and do Pilates whenever possible, we both want to prevent this kind of "disruptive" accident from happening EVER AGAIN.