Dear Friends,

New York Pilates is soooo excited to announce we have signed a lease on a brand new studio space. Whoa, So much work!

The new studio will be located at 64 W 3rd street in greenwich village. And its really big. I wont scare you with any photos until we can do a before and after (like a diet drug). But let me say, I have my work cut out for me.

Brion and I have been working on the designs, I promise it will be awesome!

We plan on opening in the new space The first week of May 2013, so check back soon!!

xoxo
(Heather + Brion)

You: at work typing away and you have that annoying nervy nag at your wrist.

You: waking up in the morning with that tingling you cant seem to get shake.

Reality check. Its probably not coming from your wrist.

Many Carpal Tunnel Syndrome symptoms are originated in bad posture. So get it together. Stand up straight like your mother told you.

What is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome? Its an impingement of the median or radial nerves, major nerves in your wrist that originate in the brachial plexus (a large cluster of nerves under your collar bone that attach into the cervical spine). This impingement happens because of tightness, immobility and inflammation. How did those things happen? Two major causes. Repetitive actions (like typing) and bad posture,  which cause tightness in the neck, that travels down the arms.

Lets look at some exercises that promote good posture …

Knee pain is a super common affliction for many New Yorkers because, well, we use our knees a lot. We climb a million stairs, love running marathons, and dash all over the city in high heels or dress shoes while carrying a laptop and handbag, texting and drinking coffee. Sheesh.

Here Are 3 commons causes of knee pain and simple do-it-yourself solutions:

1)PAIN ON THE OUTER/ UPPER SIDE OF YOUR KNEE

Why: A very common reason for this type of pain is a tight IT band. This thick chord of connective tissue lives on the side of your leg and attaches up at your hip and runs all the way down to attach at the patella (knee cap). When it gets tight (from activities like running) it pulls the knee cap away from the center of your knee, causing pain.

Solution: Roll out your …

As you plan on hitting the books, or are just back to the office after your awesome summer vacay, those old aches and pains start to rear their ugly head. And by that I mean your ugly bird neck. No really, we have got to do something about that.

This book-worm neck not only makes you look like a dork, it can have serious repercussions. If un-attended this neck will become painful, and eventually may result in a disc herniation, just from doing nuthin’. Weird, right? So lets fix it.

1) Loosen – lay on your back, bent knees with feet on the ground. Put a small, partially deflated ball under your head (if you don’t have that available, try a small pillow).  Begin drawing circles on the ceiling with your nose, make sure you don’t skip the part where you feel …

I have been spending my summer at Sunset Beach, and wanted to share some beach butt secrets.

Do Your Clamshells! Jane Fonda was totally on it. Mr. Pilates did it in the ’50s. Side legs never fail your butt!

Lay your side, knees bent, legs stacked on top of each other:

1) External (clamshell): heels stay together, open your top leg so the knee goes up toward the ceiling, close. repeat 10 or 12 times

2) Parallel: keeping knee and ankle equal heights, lift top leg to hip height, lower. repeat 10 or 12 times

3) Internal: knees stay together, heel is up toward the ceiling. lift leg up, then lower. repeat 10 or 12 times

4) Internal/ External: combination of 1 & 2, knees come together with heel up, then switch, heels together knee up. going back and forth. repeat 10 or 12 times.

5) Straight …

For all the ladies (and gents, don’t lie) who have ever envied another’s collar bones, I am happy to report that they are not just a product of genetics or excessive skinniness. As it turns out, visible collarbones have much to do with the posture of your shoulders.

Here are 3 Simple exercises to help you achieve your new sexy shoulders:

1) Stretch your pecs & chest:  stand in a doorway with elbows on either side of the door frame and let your body weight sink through

2) Back extension: lay on the floor face down, with hands directly under shoulders. draw shoulders away from ears and lift up head chest and hands. hold for 5 breaths. repeat 10 times. (your upper back should start burning, make sure your shoulders are down!

3) Triceps: (rotator cuff): using 2 lb weights, stand in a lunge …

Its Monday again, so lets make a check list of the stretches we are going to do this week to undo the office neck.

1) Trap stretch (upper trapezius muscles)

Stand upright with good posture, tilt your head to the right, and take the right hand and gently pull to the right side. this will stretch the left side of the neck. take five breaths and repeat on the left.

2) Shoulder Rolls

Lift both shoulders all the way up to your ears, then roll back so that your shoulder blades come together, then drop down to neutral. repeat 10 times.

3) Pec stretch (pectoral muscles)

Stand facing a wall, take your left hand diagaonally up and place it on the wall. Then turn away from your arm until you feel a stretch through your chest.

Once an hour stand up to do the these stretches …

According to a recent article in the New York Times Magazine, exercise
can actually make you smarter!

Researchers took three groups of mice– some got to run, some got good
food and cool toys and some were just straight up bored. The
exercising mice got smarter but the ones with toys and good food fared
no better than the bored ones with no stimulation. (Researchers
didn’t mention this, but we can also assume the first group got way
hotter too.)

Likewise, a study of elderly people had test subjects in two groups–
one went on long walks and the control group did not. The walking
group showed significant signs of new brain activity, while the other
group showed the anticipated signs of decreased brain function for
their age.

Pretty powerful.

Exercise: better brain function.

It’s science, so stop being stupid and get moving.

xoxo
New York Pilates

Wonder whether this works? Def working my deep abdominals in a laugh attack.

xoxo

New York Pilates

Gothamist broke some bad news today.  A study says bikes decrease pelvic floor sensitivity making for bad sex. Bad sex makes for no sex. No sex means the entire species of cute cyclists could die out!!!!

But there’s hope.  This is the sort of discovery that reminds me what great work I’m doing for the universe. Since Pilates strengthens the pelvic floor and increases sensitivity, I’m pretty much saving the human race– or at least the sort with cute butts from biking.  Spread the word otherwise the entire species of babes on bikes might die out!

xoxo
New York Pilates

Facebook makes you feel fat.  Science says so, as the Daily Mail UK reports.

They make Facebook the problem but come on. The real issue you gain weight, you ignore it and then someone tags you in pics from a really cool party but you’ve got like three chins in all of them!  You go cra-cra untagging, go on some gross crash diet and all the sudden you’re hiding from every camera, skipping girls’ brunch and still get chubbier.

This vicious cycle is dumb and boring and soooo predictable.  Get over it and get back in shape.

Book a session and we’ll get you working that core and back into the short shorts you know you wanna wear.  All the cute boys will thank you.

xoxo

New York Pilates

Dear Heather,

As I’ve whined about over the years I have quite a few problems coming from injuries, love life woes, etc.  Then you went and told me I had a weak pelvic floor.  As if I didn’t have enough to whine about???

Okay so this gets better. I started doing kegels.  I got pelvic weights (a box of three– they’re really pretty and I’d show you if it weren’t, like, inappropriate.)  As you know, fixing that has been a major help with my running (to tighten abs and take the strain off my hip flexors), making my belly look flatter, etc. etc. etc.

But guess what??? There’s an added benefit.  SEX!

So I got laid which hasn’t happened since before I got serious about my kegels. Now I’ve always tried to work those muscles in bed, like any self-respecting Cosmo reader does.  But …

Walk like a model:

Ever seen that girl walking down the street in high heels that are too tall? Super lame. She looks like she’s about to break her ankle. Not hot. How do you fix that with pilates? Ankle stability exercises. Grab a there-band and lets go.
 

1)Thera band ankles- Sitting with your legs in front of you put 1 foot in in the thera-band and do the following exercises:
- point and flex foot twenty times
- ankle circles 10 in each direction
2) Heel lifts- standing facing a wall, put your feet in parallel directly under your pelvis, you can use the wall to help you balance
-30 heel lifts in parallel- make sure your weight is over your big toe
-30 heel lifts in external rotation- keep your heels together!
3) Towel toes- sit with both feet on the ground, feet on a towel
- …

You have back fat because you don’t have back muscle.  And its not because you are lazy (although that is a possibility…) but its probably just because you don’t know how to get those babies to work. So lets figure it out:

Today we are going to talk about the serratus anterior and the rhomboids. These muscles are in charge of protracting and retracting the scapula (a.k.a. shoulder blades).

The Rhomboids Bring the shoulder blades together (retraction)

The Serratus Anterior bring the shoulder blades apart (protraction)

The “scapula push up” from yesterday’s post is a great way to strengthen up this region. In this version we are going to do it against a wall instead of on the ground to make it easier, so you can really find your protract and retract muscles.

First, keep your elbows straight with hands flat against the wall. then …

Push ups and “Plank” poses are great for getting those pectoral muscles pumped to lift up your ladies and minimize drooping. When your pecs are firm and tight they help keep your assets up where they belong, instead of drifting towards your lower half. This multipurpose exercise also tones the back, arms, shoulders and abs to keep things firm and tight for your whole 360.

Here are three styles of push up to help you lift and firm your bustline.

1) Classic Push up: Elbows bend wide to the side

All around great classic exercise, works pectoral and arm muscles with some good abs too.

2) Yoga Push up: Elbows stay in by the body

This push up is a great options because in addition to working out those pectoral muscles, it tones the back of you arms (tricepts) and that pesky bra strap overhang …

Many men experience chronic low back pain, which can be caused by sitting on the couch playing too many video games, hitting the viagra years or  just pumping too much iron at the gym.

So, how do you combat this problem when you feel like you are already doing tons of abs? Well, it turns out that crunches & situps only strengthen the most superficial (outermost) layer of your abdominals, and don’t even address the muscles that help support your spine and reduce low back pain. Pilates is a great way to find and strengthen these deeper muscles.

Here is a great exercise for finding stability in your low back by strengthening your abdominals:

Lay on your back with knees bent in tabletop

Keeping your pelvis in neutral (if you don’t know what this means look at contemporary vs classical pilates in the faq …

Got soccer legs? Quads that look like Shawn Johnston? Been running and running but keep bulking up? Been doing the BarMethod?  Years of overworking combined with a postural mis-alignment are to blame.

But, there is hope for the skinny-ness of your legs. Here is a three step plan (yes, just like any self help guru, I have a 3 stepper for you) to slim down while you tone up.

1)   The posture of your pelvis. In pilates we are kinda obsessed with talking about “neutral pelvis” and this scenario is a great example of why. Most people when running, or doing anything really, tend to live in either an anterior tilt (butt sticks out, overdeveloped butt and quads, sometimes accompanied by a poochy belly) or a posterior pelvic tilt (butt tucked under: no butt, slouchy looking). In my experience most big quad people …

Here is a great article from the Wall Street Journal about neck pain. The interesting thing about this article is that the research showed  home exercises and chiropractic were almost equally effective, beating out  pain medication. Thanks to my client “H” for sending this along.

ok, so what are the “chicken excercises”

“Dr. Bronfort said a neck-retraction exercise, or chicken-like maneuver of the head, in which a people pull their heads back and then tilt their chins slightly downward “seemed to be especially useful.”

Lets break it down :

1.  stand against a wall, shoulders and head rests on the surface.

2. Pull your chin all the way in, tipping chin down slightly, sliding the back of your head up the wall.

3.  Allow your chin to jutt out forward (chicken maneuver) allowing your head to  leave the wall extending all the way out, while keeping …