The story of Joseph Pilates is truly fascinating – a sickly child with rickets becomes a circus performer, strongman and fitness guru to the New York Ballet!
Category Archives: Pilates
Sitting is the new Smoking
A Pilates client mentioned to me that her Consultant and told her that ‘Sitting is the new Smoking’. I remembered seeing this info-graphic, it makes me want to leap up off the sofa!
Info-graphic supplied by medicalbillingandcoding.org I image that some of the stats come from the US but we wont be far behind. Makes for chilling reading doesn’t it?
Haunted Pilates
I’m not sure *where* I got the idea to do a themed night on Halloween . . .
My spooky get-up comprised of skeleton leggings (eBay) and the most AMAZING Sugar Skull makeup by one of my very talented clients Lisa Shaw we made a little movie to show her at work:
Next I needed a spooky Pilates playlist. Whilst I could go for Ghostbusters and Thriller etc for my fitness class, this wouldn’t do for Pilates. I was stumped! But then I asked Facebook and they knew the answer, well, actually my neighbour suggested spookysoundtrack.com where I found lots of classical tracks that were perfect.
I didn’t film the Haunted Pilates, it was just too scary . . . but here is the Spooky Step class I taught on the same evening:
If you like Step please visit my Step Simply website, thank you!
How to choose a mat for Pilates
Here’s a short film where I explain which is the best type of mat to buy for your Tameside Pilates workout.
Many thanks to Phil from Saddleworth Studios for the fab videography.
Posture workout for you to do at home
Phil from Saddleworth Studios mentioned that he had some new kit he wanted to test out and if I needed anything filming . . . We made this short movie with Posture exercises you can do at home, give it a go and please do let me know how you find it.
We also made a movie about choosing the right mat for Pilates
Camel Stretch (and Camranger)
I loves a gadget, and a demo! In this little film I show you how to do the Camel Stretch, great for hip flexors, your chest and a nice little bit of extension for the spine. Also, for the Nerds, is a demo of Camranger a neat device that allows you wirelessly control your DSLR.
We are moving: new Stalybridge venue
We are saying goodbye to St George’s Church and send them warm thanks for offering us a nice refuge after the fire at Stalybride Labour Club.
Our new Monday morning venue will be Stalybridge Methodist Church, the room we have there is just perfect, a big thanks to class member Anne for hooking us up.
Pilates comes to Droylsden
Whoop, we are now in Droylsden. Our lovely new home is at the Nicholson Academy of Performing Arts, we have a fab mirrored studio and I love it!
This is from our launch session, thanks to everyone who attended.
What’s your sport?
I have a number of clients who come to class to support their sporting activities. A strong core offers a firm base for the athletic body, improving performance and offsetting the risk of injury. I have runners and cyclists in all my sessions, I also have a couple of Martial Artists and a Tennis player or two
I don’t think I have any BMX’ers! Whats your sport? How does Pilates help you in your sport? 
Shall we Swan?
Swan Dive is one of Joseph Pilates’s original 34 mat based exercises, it’s shown in his book from 1945 Pilates, Return to life through Contrology yes, you read that right Mr Pilates called his Method “Contrology”!
In the Sawn Dive we strengthen the spinal and hip extensors, which helps improve posture and tighten the bottom! And, good news, this week at Tameside Pilates, we are all Swans 🙂
For those who want to get ahead . . . .
And, here’s the more advanced version of Swan Dive, Kimberley does it much better than me.
See you in class this week my little Cygnets!