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Lynda Lippin

Lynda Lippin Pilates, Fitness, Reiki

Preventing Pilates Related Injuries

Posted Friday, February 23, 2007 (2 years 131 days ago.) Viewed 904 times.

I received a question from the Ask Experts site yesterday that I feel the need to share, since this is coming up more and more with the advent of mass Pilates DVDs and underqualified instructors.

Question:"Hi, I am a beginner in Pilates, when I try to do the V shape or half way crunch, I get a HORRIBLY painful cramp right below my rib cage on the right side, it stops me cold. I feel like I'll never get rid of this flabby belly that ruins all of my cute outfits. Have you heard of this?"

First, no Pilates beginner should be doing the teaser (the V shape), which is an intermediate/advanced exercise that requires deeper abdominal recruitment to avoid overusing the hip flexors and external obliques.

Second, there is nothing "Crunch" like in Pilates. We do not tighten & compress the midsection like someone who has buttoned his vest to his pants, but seek to strengthen the muscles functionally without compression by using the pelvic floor and transverse abdominus.

While Pilates mat is the most accessible form of Pilates, the equipment is actually more appropriate for beginners. Joseph Pilates invented the apparatus to assist as well as resist movement, enabling people to exercise who otherwise may not have been able to move properly. It is not true that one must do Pilates mat before taking on the machines.

Then I saw an ad for "Cardiolates," a concept that is at once fascinating and horrifying. Note that Pilates is anaerobic exercise, like weight training. To attempt to blend Pilates and cardio into one workout regimen is just plain wrong, is contrary to the whole basis of Pilates exercise, and will most likely result in lots of injured people who feel that they cannot do Pilates because it hurt them.

I hate this mass production of Pilates because it makes Pilates seem simply like a group of exercises (that look like other exercises) that you can do fast, slow, or otherwise. That's just not it! Pilates is about how you exercise; it's about how you move and breathe and get into positions. Pilates is about balance and proper movement, not simply about hauling oneself into a certain position.

Improperly done Pilates can cause--hernias (from bearing down too much); muscle cramps (from improper recruitment)neck & back injuries (from improperly flattening the back and neck causing muscle strain and vertebral compression and from overstretching or over-extending the back and neck--all from improper instruction on how to stabilize the pelvis); rotator cuff injuries (from pushing large range of motion in the shoulder joint without proper ribcage stabilization); osteoporotic spinal fractures (from too much forward flexion and other movements contra-indicated for osteoporosis); and other injuries

Listen up --badly taught and poorly executed Pilates can cause you injuries that will be with you forever, so please please find a certified Pilates teacher to work with and be vocal when things hurt or you are not sure how to do something.

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Pilates, Exercise, and Osteoporosis (Part 3)

Posted Friday, December 22, 2006 (2 years 194 days ago.) Viewed 379 times.

III. Prevention and Treatment of Osteoporosis

All sources are in agreement that getting enough calcium, magnesium, and Vitamin D combined with proper exercise is necessary to prevent osteoporosis. Even once you have a diagnosis, these factors will help decrease your liklihood of fracture and prevent further bone loss. On the medication front, biphosphonates such as Fosomax and Actonel have been shown to increase bone density and reverse bone loss. Our bones hold 99% of our body's total calcium. If we do not ingest enough calcium to assist the bone remodeling process our system takes it out of the bones themselves. Therefore, adults over 50 should take 1200-1500 mg of calcium per day along with 600-750 mg of magnesium and 400-600 mg of Vitamin D to assist absorption. As our bodies do not hold on to the calcium we don't use, it is better to spread your calcium supplements over the course of the day. And always take your pills with 8 ounces of water.

In addition to nutrition and medication, the best thing we can do for our bones is exercise on them in standing and in spinal extension. Avoid spinal fexion (forward bending). Wolff's law states that bone becomes stronger in response to increased stress i.e., exercise. Weight bearing activities such as walking and dancing are done upright and require our bones to fully resist the forces of gravity. Maintenance of this density is accomplished by long term routine loading on our bones, which will revert to pre-training density when exercise is discontinued.

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Pilates, Exercise, and Osteoporosis (Part 2)

Posted Friday, December 22, 2006 (2 years 194 days ago.) Viewed 443 times.

II. Definition of Osteoporosis

Basically, osteoporosis means porous bones. In the Greek it translates as "passages through bones." (This makes perfect sense if you look at images of osteoporotic bone as opposed to normal bone.) Osteoporosis is a silent disease in that there is no physical sensation associated with it. Some people experience back, neck, or joint pain with fractures, but most do not. Even so, Americans experience 1.5 million osteoporotic fractures per year.

Throughout our lives our bones constantly change. This process is actually called bone remodeling, where old bone is resorbed into the body with the help of cells called osteoclasts at the same time that new bone is being laid down by osteoblasts. The human skelaton reaches its maximum bone mass (amount of bone tissue) and density (how tightly it is packed) around ages 20-30, after which bone removal begins to occur faster than bone production.

Bone density is measured by comparison to that of this healthy young adult this is called a T-Score. Normal Bone Density is defined by the World Health Organization as density within -1 standard deviation (SD) of the 20-30 year old norm (10-15% bone loss). Osteopenia, or low bone density, is defined as within -1 to -2.5 SD (15-25% bone loss). Osteoporosis is defined as lower than -2.5 SD (over 25% bone loss). You may also have heard of a Z-Score, which is a comparison to the average bone density of individuals in your age group. Primary osteoporosis is caused by either a natural estrogen deficiency or age secondary osteoporosis is caused by certain medical conditions. Osteopenia should be treated like osteoporosis in terms of preventing future loss.

Once you have been diagnosed with osteoporosis, you have a documented severe and established loss of bone. Note here that while bone density testing is typically done at several sites such as the hip, wrist, or spine, these findings should be generalized to your entire skelatal system. Many clients have told me that I shouldn't worry about their spines because their osteoporosis was only in their hip--WRONG! If you are losing bone you should be worried, period.

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History of Pilates Exercise (Part 5)

Posted Friday, December 22, 2006 (2 years 194 days ago.) Viewed 181 times.

The Question of Lineage

Most Pilates teachers out there today can trace his or her lineage back to Joe and Clara Pilates, and this includes such heavyweights as Mari Winsor and Moira Stott. I, for example, originally was a Pilates client when I was a student at SUNY Purchase. I learned under Steve Giordano who studied with Joe's student Romana Kryzanowska. Then I worked with Karen Carlson in Philadelphia who studied with Mary Bowen and Kathy Grant who both studied with Joe. And I received my certification from both Michelle Larson and her teacher Eve Gentry who studied with Joe. Since then I have worked directly with Romana, with Eve before she died, and with Kathy. So even though my studio training affiliation is with the PhysicalMind Institute I trace my lineage as a student and teacher back to Pilates himself and when people ask me what style of Pilates I teach I can honestly say that it is my own, but informed by all of my teachers.

Of the 10 students of Joe's who taught Pilates either at his studio or opened their own (yes, there were other New York Pilates studios open in the 50s!), only 6 are still alive and 5 are still actively teaching in their 70s and 80s! Each individual took what he or she learned from Joe and Clara and expanded the work with their own knowledge and expertise. Additionally, many of the Elders worked with one another. Hence, the different styles of Pilates, all of which can ultimately be traced back to Joseph Pilates himself.

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Pilates, Exercise, and Osteoporosis (Part 1)

Posted Sunday, November 20, 2005 (3 years 226 days ago.) Viewed 3,427 times.

I. The Problem of Osteoporosis

An osteoporosis website opens with this question, "Did you know that a woman's risk of osteo-related fracture is greater than her risk of cervical, uterine, and breast cancer combined?" Then why do people laugh when I tell them that I'm scheduled for a baseline DEXA Scan next week at the age of 38? "Why do you need one, you're so young?" "But you exercise and eat well, why worry?" And my personal favorite, "You are so body aware, wouldn't you know if you had a problem?"

Even with all the media discussion about osteoporosis and the fact that one in two women over the age of 50 will experience an osteoporosis related spinal fracture people still don't take the problem to heart. Not only am I at high risk for osteoporosis due to early surgically induced menopause, I do a lot of Pilates (at least 2-5 sessions per week) in addition to teaching and teacher training. And there are a lot of Pilates exercises that I will need to stop doing or radically modify if my bones are weak.

The issue of osteoporosis comes up a lot at my Pilates studio. My clients are mostly caucasian women over 50, many of whom are breast cancer survivors. On the whole, these beautiful active women all look pretty healthy. They have decent posture, play tennis and golf, walk a lot, and really try to eat well. They have access to the best doctors, the latest medical treatments, and the most cutting edge gyms, personal trainers, and Pilates studios. Even so, most of them have low bone density--osteopenia and osteoporosis (more on the difference in a minute) and the majority move on a daily basis in ways that put them at greater risk of fracture--EVEN THOSE WHO HAVE GONE TO CERTIFIED PILATES TEACHERS AND PERSONAL TRAINERS. My purpose here is to educate you about osteoporosis so that you will know what to do and not do for yourselves and those you care about.

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