Pilates with Priya Blog. | Pilates with Priya

Tomorrow is the launch day for new Pilates classes!

1 June, 2011 Priya TewLeave a Comment

So tomorrow I am launching 2 new Pilates classes, I’m very excited. There’s a brand new 45 minute Mixed Ability morning class at 9.55am and then the restart of the 5.30pm Beginners class.

The studio has been swept and the mats given an extra clean in anticipation. I’m a little bit on edge about the baby and whether she is going to stay asleep for the morning class, but my husband is around in case! I’m looking forward to seeing some new faces and learning about some new body types. Teaching Pilates can often be challenging as you face the need to reducate people on postural issues and body shape issues in a gentle but effective manner. It’s a hands on job and one in which I am constantly learning from my clients. Very rewarding when you see someones body shape change over a number of weeks or see their excitement as they realise how strong they have become in a certain area.

I still have 1 space for June in the morning class and 2 spaces in the afternoon class. So let me know if you’d like to come along.

The History of Pilates

22 July, 2025 Priya TewLeave a Comment

Pilates is an exercise method that was developed by Joseph Pilates in the 1920′s, he called it “Contrology”. Joseph Pilates suffered from various serious illnesses during his childhood and doctors warned his parents that he would have a short life expectancy. He was determined from a young age not to succumb to the doctors prognosis and began to experiment with a wide range of health and fitness regimes in his attempt to rebuild his body strength. He studied yoga, martial arts, gymnastics, skiing, dance, weight training and even circus skills,

Then in the 1920’s he ended up in a German internment camp, it was here his Pilates techniques were birthed. He used easily available objects as athletic equipment to strengthen core muscles. He soon started training his fellow detainees with fitness exercises as a form of rehabilitation from injury and disease, using bed springs and beer keg rings, to create resistance exercise equipment for his patients.

In the mid 1920′s Joseph Pilates emigrated to America where he and his wife, Clara, set up a studio teaching Contrology to, among others, members of the New York City Ballet which was located nearby.

It was only after his death that Contrology came to be known as Pilates; and as his students spread across the world they took the method with them and developed it further.

Pilates that is now taught is a largely modified version of Contrology as modern day bodies are slightly different to Joseph’s. But the benefits and principles are the same. Pilates is based on anatomy and physiology, it looks at how the muscles work and has works with your body. By this I mean weak muscles will be strengthening and over tight muscles stretched out. Through doing the exercises you become more “body aware” which means you learn about your posture and your bodies imbalances, after a few classes you’ll find yourself standing taller, looking straighter and feeling calmer. Come and give it a go!

Pippa Middleton praises Pilates.

31 March, 2012 Priya TewLeave a Comment

Pilates has just got some great press from the Royal Wedding – did you see it? This link should help you out…

A quote from Pippa Middleton :

“Whether it’s 7am in the morning or 7pm at night I always leave feeling calm, refreshed and invigorated. Over the past few months I have noticed a huge difference in my core strength and posture and couldn’t recommend M more highly as an instructor.

“From breathing techniques, muscle toning to overall flexibility and relaxation, my Pilates sessions have become something of a weekly necessity that keeps me fit, happy and energized.”

A perfect sum up of Pilates! Though I’d add that a few sessions Pilates won’t necessarily give you Pippa’s figure, healthy eating, cardiovascular exercise and hard work alongside Pilates is the key to that. Pilates will help you tone up your body, strengthen it and show you how to use your core muscles and correct your postural imbalances.

Pilates rejuvenated me today

31 March, 2012 Priya TewLeave a Comment

So having a 6 month old baby can be tiring.. as gorgeous and well behaved as she is there are times where the sleep deprivation and constant nature of a baby can take it’s toll and leave you feeling rather knackered. After a few nights of 4 hours or less sleep I was feeling particularly weary today and baby brain was setting in fast.

It was time for post natal pilates, a small class today but my goodness was it a good one! Working with people over time means you get to know their personalities, their bodies, their abilities and their attitude to exercise. So today I was able to push the class hard and push myself as well. As the instructor I don’t expect to be able to do that much of a class, but sometimes it just works that I can. This was one of those days, in fact its been one of those weeks! We focused on core strength and the triceps plus the outer thigh (abductors). By the end of the class I felt totally refreshed and like a new woman.

An extra bonus today was the babies were stars and happily played with James for the entire session! Yay babies 🙂

Thursday morning Pilates has only 1 space left for June, 3 spaces for Thursday afternoons.

19 May, 2011 Priya TewLeave a Comment

So it appears you people wanted a morning Pilates class as I’ve had a great response and now only have 1 space left for most of June! I do have odd weeks when I’m not full so do contact me on an ad hoc basis if you’d like to drop in for a session.

I have 3 spaces left for the Thurs afternoon class so would love to hear from you if you want to give Pilates a go. Once you try it you’ll be a convert!

Priya

Sleeping babies and Pilates.

18 May, 2011 Priya TewLeave a Comment

Finally the day came when my beautiful baby slept all the way through a post-natal Pilates class NOT in a sling but on a bed! As much as I totally love my baby girl, it did feel good to have the freedom to teach the class and take part a little bit without having a baby attached to me restricting my movement. Plus, Pilates with a baby in a sling is HARD WORK! I wouldn’t recommend it as it definately alters your posture and puts extra strain on your back. I only demonstrate 1 example of the exercises and in some cases don’t demo at all but talk the exercise through and correct people as we go.

Even more amazingly all the babies who came to the class yesterday were angels and happily played in the lounge with Mr Daddy day-care (James). He does an amazing job keeping the babies happy, changing nappies, giving cuddles, helping them sleep, wearing them in a sling, singing, whatever is needed! It was lovely to hear a few notes of a song and gurgling babes. This meant the mummies were happily able to do do a whole hours Pilates session with no interruptions and I was able to work them quite hard (I hope they are all feeling ok today!). Mummies you all did a excellent job. Let’s remember this session when we get a week when all the babies are grizzling!!!

Challenging yet fun.

16 May, 2011 Priya TewLeave a Comment

I so enjoyed teaching this evenings class. It’s great working with a bunch of people who I know well enough to be able to push that little bit further and who enjoy having a giggle together, but who also work hard. Tonight we tried a roll up with bent legs from the floor….this is where you start lying on your back with feet on the floor knees bent, feet further away from you than a sit up position. You inhale and take your arms over your head then as you exhale you slowly curl your spine off the mat to end up in a seated position (Don’t try this unless you’ve been shown how please as my explanation is not a full one!). It ended up in giggles as I was the only one who could manage it, but its a good thing to work towards and I was pleased to see people realised they couldn’t do it as they knew their bodies limits rather than hauling themselves up without using their core muscles properly. I class that as a success 🙂

We also tried some preparation work for a roll over. A slightly crazy exercise that we will never attempt in its truest, fullest form, but the variation we did was a great challenge and add some spice to the class as well as working the triceps for us. The quote of the night for me was in response to my demo of the roll over….”You wouldn’t be able to do that with a flabby tummy as the flab would get in the way”. This certainly caused some amusement 🙂 Who says exercise has to be dull?

Pelvic Floor Exercises….are they needed?

14 May, 2011 Priya TewLeave a Comment

Now this is an interesting one…some people seemed just obsessed with the idea of strengthening their pelvic floor, others don’t even know what that means. In Pilates its often one of the things we go on about as is part of our “core” muscles. The pelvic diaphragm, the floor of the pelvis, is the lower support of the abdominal cavity and assists in respiration as well as spine support. These muscles connect to the pubic bone in front and attach to the tailbone in back so they are extremely important for lower back health. Contraction of the deep pelvic floor muscles will also help to fire the transversus abdominis or T.A, this is the stomach muscle that runs round your middle a bit like a corset (I call it the belt in our classes), which is an extremely important stabilizer for the lower back and spine.

But can you over-strengthen it? Well you can overwork other muscles so I don’t see why not! Over working a muscle leads to it becoming too tight and short which can be as much of a problem as having a weak and long muscle. One of the biggest misnomers is that tight muscles are “strong” and loose muscles are “weak.” In actuality, the strongest muscle is one that is the perfect length. The pelvic floor has to support the weight of the organs above it, it needs to be strong enough to do this but not too strong…a balance is needed.

So should we stop activating our pelvic floor in Pilates? My answer would be that we only activate it as much as we need to based on which exercise we are doing. Some exercises could damage the lower spine unless the pelvic floor is activated, others won’t work if the pelvic floor is held too tight. At the end of the day 1 class of Pilates is not going to overstrengthen the pelvic floor, its what you do the rest of the time too! My other thought it that really we need to be strengthening the gluts as these muscles pull the pelvic floor taunt, if they are weak your pelvic floor will overtighten. Its about having the body in balance, which is what Pilates sets out to achieve. So squats and glut strengthening exercises are a definate yes. I did these all the way through pregnancy as I was teaching classes (and I LOVE squats!) and they certainly helped me.

So those are my thoughts today, you may see a few more squats in classes, not just in the warm up.

New Thursday morning class

13 May, 2011 Priya TewLeave a Comment

Due to a number of people asking I am happy to say I’ll be running a Thursday morning mixed ability pilates class, 9.55-10.40. This class will suit beginners as well as those with some previous pilates experience. As I only take 6 people per class the sessions will be tailored to you.

Cost £20 for 4 weeks or £5.50 per class.

I currently have 2 spaces left for June so let me know if you’d like to attend and I’ll help you get those core muscles working, toning and fat burning!

Prams, Pushing and Pilates.

11 May, 2011 Priya TewLeave a Comment

So having a baby can mean its harder to fit in time to exercise….however it’s usually possible to multi-task and exercise with the baby. Today myself and baby went for a buggy run, we managed 6km, running slightly slower than my usual pace but I worked out that this was probably due to the fact I wasn’t able to use my arms to help propel myself forward as I had to push the buggy. It was certainly harder work as well, which made it all the more of a challenge for me and appealed to my competitive streak! Baby enjoyed it immensely sleeping the whole time. At the end of my run I used the buggy as an aid and squeezed in some lunges, squats and then laying on the grass enjoyed a little bit of pilates! I’m not sure what all the passers by thought but I certainly enjoyed exercising in the outdoors and got a great workout. I hope you’ve managed to squeeze in your exercise today….