Did She Say "Free Pilates Exercises for Pregnancy?"

Sweating, breathing, squeezing your partner's hand; they finally tell you that it's time to push!

You have no choice but to dig in and wait for the next contraction. You feel that crazy powerful pressure coming on again, so you bear down and do as they tell you. It's unlike anything you've ever felt. It's awkward at first. You try again....

The clock ticks as everyone shouts at you like your running with a football. But you've had a bad back for months and you've spent most of your spare time resting. You've allowed your muscles to weaken in an attempt to avoid pain or injury. You're completely exhausted. You can't push anymore.

Pregnant with my first baby, I remember telling my OBGYN that I was sore after doing water aerobics. I was offended at first when he started laughing. He gently let me know that I don't need to be concerned about the normal aches that go along with a good workout. He let me know that it won't hurt the baby and that it would help make the birth easier!

As I had more children I saw that the more reasonably active I was during the first 36 weeks, the easier it was to get through the last four, and the quicker I recovered! My free local pilates sessions are uniquely designed to keep you strong and flexible and feeling great before and during your pregnancy.

When the baby comes and you are home-bound for a while, safe, online pilates for birth recovery classes are a convenient and affordable way to get your body back in the shortest time possible. And you can try it for two weeks free.

Why Pilates for Pregnancy?

• Safety. Pilates exercises are slow and controlled.
• Ease. You can start at any fitness level.
• Convenience. You can do them at home on the floor.
• Effectiveness. Women who do pilates are stronger and less prone to injury.
• Universalness. Physical therapists use many pilates exercises for their patients.

Pop Pilates

Cheerful, energetic, sexy, and fun to watch. Short, specialized exercise videos by Cassie are powerful, with great titles and pop music.

But how many of us get out our mat and work out with those? Few people actually click to work out. Why not? These are good trainers. It looks like fun. 

I can think of a few reasons.

We already know that there are men and boys who watch pilates workouts for the thrill, but what about people looking for a workout routine? What about those who would like to begin changing their bodies.

That’s the tough part. Here’s the scenario: You look through a bunch of thumbnails and titles. You see one that you think you might like. It might target a certain area of the body like everyone’s favorite, the “butt” or “bum” in Europe. Don’t you feel objectified already?

You click. Watch a commercial. Then your instructor comes on and tries to fit several super duper butt exercises into a 10-15 minute video. You watch their cute body and start to think, “My god, she looks good. I could never look that good. My butt is so flabby and fat compared to hers.”

So you just sit and watch.

What if you are really determined that day?

You do your best and feel pretty good afterward. But wait a minute, where do I go from here? What about the rest of my body?...Let's see....maybe I can find one for flat abs. Oh, ok. “Lose the Muffin Top.”

You click and wait for the commercial. Then a different person comes on. “Wow! She sure is skinny. I wonder if those are real....Okay, let's go.”

This time you're not sure if it’s pilates or something else. You try and follow along and ten minutes later the video ends. You’ve just done crunches, pushups, and side planks. Your back feels achy and tight. What about the stretching and warm up in the beginning? What about the stretching and relaxation at the end? What about my neck, legs, and shoulders? 

Let’s find another one...

OK this looks like a pilates yoga combo. You watch the ad....Maybe I’ll get more stretching here. She looks nice. Very peaceful...OMG what is she doing? How do you get your foot over there?  ...A little advanced for me. 

On to another....

Whoa! the camera seems to really focus on her glutes and chest. Oh Brother. Now those can’t be real....Okay let's glance at the thumbnails on the right....hmmm...What the heck is that? They look like they are having fun....Is that the Loch Ness monster?...

That’s enough. I’m going back to Judy.

What is Virtual Fitness?

Remember when you heard about the iPhone? People were saying that they could read email on their phone. You heard them talking about surfing the internet through their phone.

What did your mind do with that?

When the human brain receives information it attempts to categorize according to the existing data. We try to make sense of new things given what we know. We are living in a time in history when new ideas and inventions come so fast that many of us believe we can never catch up.

The fact is, we can't. The good news is that when we make our best attempt at keeping up with a few of our favorite topics we gain a tremendous amount in value and convenience; things that make our lives better or more fun!

Some of us may be familiar with the gaming systems that can "feel" your movements and cue the screen and audio to let you know how you are doing. Some have used Skype to attempt to train one on one. You've likely seen ads for the Weight Watcher online membership as well as many others like it.  Here they have specific food plans, and exercise videos you can download.

Advanced Virtual Fitness = More Personal Care

Technology is always advancing yet it comes down to a feeling of personal care. Nothing can replace that warm, mutual connection of affirmation and appreciation between a fitness trainer and her student. This is why trainers like myself love what we do so much! Nothing can replace the sounds, smells, and excitement of that group fitness class where you love the trainer and enjoy the others working out all around you.

Many sites attempt to offer this feeling with various coaches and trainers on video downloads. This virtual fitness is a great idea. The convenience and variety are wonderful. But they can never match the live connection between trainer and trainee. We've all heard stories of how someone was finally able to become consistent because of that coach who gave them the extra boost they needed to believe in themselves!

Convenience and the Personal Touch

What I've done is taken the convenience and affordability of online pilates workouts and found a way to stream them for maximum speed. I film and add to what has become over 100 video pilates classes for all ages. Social coupon specialist Michelle says, "It's like pilates Netflix."

Technically, that's exactly what it is.

As an online pilates coach, I wanted to make my membership as personal as my own pilates studio: first, you have direct access to me. You can email me and I will personally respond within 24 hours; second, I added a four level Weight Loss Program. Each level has video meditations, cardio pilates classes, motivation and diet articles.

As soon as you enroll with me as your online pilates coach, you'll receive regular email coaching with video encouragement right in the email! Here's the comfort zone: There is no selling, no commercials, no ads, no links to sell other people's stuff. Just personal care.

The payoff for me is that I get to train hundreds of people with online pilates and become connected with many of them while I support my family as a single mom. I believe that there will be many more like me who will give this level of personal care using all of the fantastic forms of fitness and upcoming technology there are!

The moral of the story: Do your best to keep up with new technology no matter what your age. Your life will get better and better, and you will "feel good now!"

How Can Einstein Time Affect Me?

I see so many Pilates students come and go. Many of them leave the classes because they don't get the results they want. They begin pilates classes wanting to lose weight, feel better, look great. The thinking goes something like this,  "I don't look good. I wish I looked like someone else."

Those are the kinds of people who purchase weight loss programs and gadgets continuously, and get limited results.

Let me tell you the secret answer to their problem. It has to do with the way they think about themselves. And it has to do with time.

Did you know that as you look in the mirror, as you look around - as you see the car you drive, the people that are your friends, all of those other results of your life thus far - they reflect who you were?

Einstein gave us a whole new way of looking at time. It's worth studying because it can really help you to reach your goals. Time is a concept from our mind.  Time is the way we think and process our day. Did you know that you can create time by merely clearing your mind?

In the same way, you can create a new body by imagining yourself with your perfect body. When I teach Pilates classes I always tell the women to think inside their bodies about how perfect and wonderful they are. I tell them to close their eyes and picture the body that they desire - that perfect beautiful body with maybe less weight, or more flexibility or a greater feeling of stamina.

I asked them to think of that as who they are right now, this moment. When we do this, we practice going beyond time outside of the moment and create who we are for the future. When we think of ourselves in this way, we become that now, in this moment. The form takes the shape of the thought and sooner or later, depending on our choice of thought, we become that body.

As we continue to think that way, our body will begin to come into that form which we already have created in our mind. On the other hand when we think about ourselves as fat, as weak, as unhealthy, our body will manifest those things in an ongoing basis.

That is why people who look down on themselves cannot lose weight and change their habits. The good news is you can begin to change your body now from wherever you're sitting right now.

Whether you're driving in a car or sitting in front of your computer, you begin to think about yourself as beautiful, lovely, perfect, and younger. You will become that in your own mind and then it will manifest in your body. So your work right now is fun and easy. Your work is to think about yourself as beautiful, healthy, lovely, as a person who cherishes their body.

As you choose those types of thoughts, you will notice that your behaviors will begin to change; for example how can a person who cherishes and loves their body eat four Twinkies in one sitting? That can't happen because they're thinking will not allow them to do that.

Let's talk about this idea more. how do you feel about this idea of creating your body?

What Is "Junk Exercise"? With your Mat Pilates Instructor

Health and fitness professionals are beginning to use some strong language to describe what seems like a great idea, but leaves many injured and wishing they knew better before starting a “Junk Exercise”.

Junk Exercise is when people move their bodies and feel as though they are getting a great workout, but they don't really progress in building white muscle mass. White Muscle mass is a special type of muscle that is partially responsible for twitch movements and tends to fatigue easily. These muscles are located near our joints, and when developed, create greater balance and less likelihood of injury. Pilates is a great exercise to build white muscle mass.

The four most common mistakes people make are:

1.   Using only cardio

2.   Omitting resistance training

3.   Doing too many sets of the same exercise

4.   Lifting weight too fast

Junk classes are usually the latest dance, punching, or competitive weight pushing class that you may have heard of this past year. Just as there are “miracle” diet pills, there are also workouts (junk exercise) that promise quick results. Pilates has been around for over 90 years and will continue on long after the latest crazes have disappeared. Mat Pilates concentrate on strengthening your core and the movements in Pilates are all about quality over quantity.

I always recommend a cardio program when beginning Pilates classes. Cardiovascular exercise is crucial for staying resistant to your insulin and keeping weight off, but we must strengthen through a variety of slow controlled weight-bearing movements. Mat Pilates Classes are one of the most perfect ways to prepare to perform those types of exercises. The slow controlled resistance of Pilates while moving and stretching makes Pilates more effective than even yoga for preventing injury.

We are conditioned to be consumers. Our ears perk when we hear about something new in diet and exercise. We think, "Maybe this will be the answer!" So we buy. When it comes to self-improvement be it physical, spiritual, or improving relationships, real results will happen when we first look within ourselves and then commit and purchase a program we can feel really good about.