Reformer Pilates - what level should I do?

It’s often a tad confusing when you first start attending group Reformer Pilates classes, when it’s time to move up to the next level. There’s often differences between practitioners' styles, modifications for clients within each session, and the same level class but at different times of the day. You may even attend the same class, with the same practitioner at the same time for a few weeks, and have a completely different experience each session! These are all common bits of feedback we get from our clients who attend regularly, and is also a common thread across most studios’ I’ve ever visited or worked at. So what do you do?

PilatesRobert Carruthers5 September 2023Reformer Pilates, pilates, Group ClassesComment

Transform how you teach

Movement specialist and owner of Movementality in Melbourne, Ashleigh Berry explains to us how we get our clients to move is just as important as what we ask them to do.

Pilates Journal talks to Ashleigh Berry

When was the last time you explained something in detail to a client and they looked more perplexed than before you started explaining? We’ve all been there. In this moment did you make the assumption that they didn’t get it, and that they were missing something? It may sound harsh, but if the client is confused, it’s more likely a reflection on how you’ve demonstrated or explained it, rather than something they’ve done wrong. Perhaps you said too much or overcomplicated the answer. Maybe it’s time to take a breath, revise your approach and try something different.

PilatesRobert Carruthers1 May 2023pilates, psychologyComment

Reciprocal Inhibition - and why I don't cue rectus abdominals (6 pack muscle) in a curl up/chest lift

Reciprocal Inhibition is a term used to describe how muscles “talk to one another”. Muscles work together to move joints, usually with an agonist (the driver), an antagonist (the passenger) and sometimes some synergists (backseat drivers) helping out. When the agonist (let’s say the hamstrings) contracts to bend your knee, this sends neurological messages to the antagonist (the quadriceps) to eccentrically lengthen (we often sloppily say “let go” or “switch off” but it’s more complex than that). This is how muscles communicate to one another to move joints in a coordinated way. It’s important to note that a muscle is never switched off, or deactivated - think instead of it like a coordinated tug-of-war where when one muscle starts winning, the other has to choose to let go, and vice versa.

Pilates, SomaticsRobert Carruthers17 March 2023pilatesComment

Movement and Touch - from the perspective of a Somatic Movement Therapist

Whether it be a physical training modality such as Pilates or more treatment-based modalities such as Myotherapy, Functional Neurology or Somatic Movement Therapy, touch plays an important role in initiating, enhancing and supporting movement. Throughout this blog I aim to highlight how movement and touch intersect in the Movementality studio and how I use them as a Somatic Movement Therapist to facilitate the greatest learning and embodiment experiences for my clients.

Guest User1 September 2022Comment

Emotion, Pain and Movement

Pain is a complicated beast. Recently, Rob posted a blog about pain, delving into the differences between pain and nociception and detailing how we work with both in the Movementality studio, from a physical and physiological perspective. As a Somatic Movement Therapist, as well as working with the physical and physiological components, I must also consider the psychological component of pain, and in particular, the relationship between emotion, pain and movement.

healthy living, SomaticsRobert Carruthers10 August 2022Somatics, pain science, injury rehabComment

Tech Neck, Text Thumb, Mouse Hand and everything in between - PART 2

Following on from the first blog on Tech neck, Ainslie teams up with Rob to understand how Myotherapy and Pilates work together to help Tech Neck

In the first article, Ainslie highlighted some key muscles of the neck and shoulders that have a signficant impact on those sore points we often feel around the neck and shoulder, as well as how Myotherapy can really help to alleviate those areas. In Part two, we’re hoping to give you more insight in to some more key areas around the hand and arms, but also start to look a bit more at the big picture of how to maintain yourself and where Pilates can really help to support your time between Myotherapy sessions.

Robert Carruthers21 June 2022Comment

Tech Neck, Text Thumb, Mouse Hand - and everything in between - by Ainslie Bryce

In this age of technology and advancing information, a lot of us have seen manual, physical work become almost obsolete and moved into automatic/robotic type of work. Most of us have instead become slaves to technology ourselves, and can’t get away from computers, phones and other forms of technology that gain and share information. It’s not just a phone call away anymore and there's no longer the classic 9-5 work hours.

healthy living, MyotherapyGuest User7 June 2022Myotherapy, Tech Neck, Shoulderpain, Neck painComment

Pain in the jaw - TMJD: what is it, and how is it treated? By Ainslie Bryce

TMJD stands for Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction, which in simple terms means jaw pain. It can cause headaches, neck pain and affect your posture, sleep patterns and the way you eat. And there can often be a tricky cycle of a lot of small muscles around your face and neck impacting on how the jaw moves; and then how your jaw moves can impact on lots of other small muscles, causing them to pull tight and pull back on the jaw and structures around it. Grinding teeth (Bruxism) and jaw clenching have a lot to do with this issue as well. Sometimes the pain will be helped with a night guard - this is a measured and fitted mouth guard (from the dentist) that you wear at night to ease the pressure on your teeth and jaw joint.

Myotherapy, healthy livingGuest User12 May 2022Jaw pain, TMJD, MyotherapyComment

Myotherapy - What is it and when should I use it?

Myotherapy acts in a similar way to most allied health treatment methods, in that is uses a range of techniques that assess, manage and treat your soft tissue injuries, pain and dysfunction. It’s focused specifically around soft tissue, like muscles, organs and fluid movement through the body.

When working with patients or clients (I prefer to use the term clients), I ask questions during our friendly conversation to get more information from you, rather than just the run of the mill medical type questions. I will observe your movements and do specific movements with you to get a better understanding of what we will be working with.

MyotherapyGuest User28 April 2022MyotherapyComment

Reformer Pilates for Beginners

My first Reformer Pilates experience was as a graphic designer in South Korea. Every night after work I would pass by a Pilates studio and notice the clients pushing and pulling and jumping on a weird looking machine. My first impression of this imposing machine device (that I would later find out to be a Reformer) was that I would never be able to use it to better my posture/fitness as it seemed so difficult and intimidating to use. But with constant back complaints and sitting at a desk all day, I decided to give it a go anyway.

Pilates, healthy livingGuest User21 October 2021pilates, Group Classes, beginners, Reformer PilatesComment

Bone Health and Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis (porous bones) is a topic close to my heart as my previously fit and healthy 72 year old mother was diagnosed with it. What I’ve seen in her, is that she has progressively become more bent over, and experiencing significant changes and disabilities to her lifestyle as her spine crumbles. This led me at age 44, to get my own bone density tested, which isn’t normally recommended until age 60 onwards unless having suffered from specific medical conditions that can impact bone health. And at the youthful age of 44, I have been diagnosed with Osteopenia (low bone density), which is the precursor to osteoporosis. And as someone who considers themselves healthy and active, and was still diagnosed, I thought I’d put together a bit of information and a few tips for optimising bone health for the thousands of people who get diagnosed Osteoporotic/peanic every year.

healthy living, PilatesRobert Carruthers9 August 2021osteoporosis, osteopenia, Clinical Pilates, physiotherapyComment

Moving to feel good

Having the mentality to move because I wanted to feel good, is what finally got me to become regular with exercise and turn it into a habit. This is something a lot of people struggle with, often treating exercise as a way of being able to maintain or adjust their weight, their figure, maybe a necessity for long-term health, or as a means to an end for other goals. As a practitioner, it isn’t as often as I’d like that we get clients who come to see us because they have already connected the dot’s that regular exercise actually makes them feel good. And it can sometimes be a bit of a journey to find a place with experienced instructors that offer the style of classes you like, at a time and price point that works for them. But once you find it, it makes a huge difference to your willingness to exercise.

healthy living, PilatesGuest User9 August 2021healthy lifestyle, Reformer PilatesComment