Achieve MORE with a Personal Trainer

Why should you have a personal trainer? Can you imagine a football team getting ready for a season without a coach? Think about having a baby without someone telling you how to breathe. People need real live words of encouragement to do (like Jim Morrison sang) “Break on through to the other side!”

What can a personal trainer do for you? The main thing a trainer can do is improve your fitness by designing a safe program to motivate YOUR fitness goals. Having a trainer can reduce injury while you achieve goals like: strength, flexibility, muscular endurance, and balance. These are attainable goals and will be accomplishments that WILL make your life longer, healthier and happier.

Motivation is such an important part of any exercise and having someone to make you stick with your exercise program, get you over a plateau, keep you interested, and push you more… You can achieve more with someone over your shoulder telling you to get it done. When someone shows you the correct way to position your body, your life does change for the better because your body does too.

As a Pilates teacher I want to be challenged just as much as my clients' do. I think sometimes, it’s easier if you have a standing appointment in your schedule and a commitment to meet someone that you will actually follow through. What’s nice is that for one hour YOU are the center of the universe and the best part is that your trainer becomes your friend who cares about you.

That feeling you get when you’ve accomplished a workout is like a little happy place. How can you not want to follow up on that? I never regret a workout but I always regret missing out on a window when I could have.

My husband Derek is a cyclist and he wants to up the ante by practicing with a trainer. Derek’s excited to be pushed to new thresholds of endurance and power in his cycling when he meets with his new trainer.  Even the anticipation creates that “happy little buzz!”

Think of a personal trainer as investing in therapy for your body. For me, Pilates is an alternative kind of therapy which helps me maintain my mental and physical well-being while keeping a sound mind and body. For me, Pilates is a way of life and can be a helpful with anything I do (even everyday tasks like driving my car and washing my face).

Good trainers practice what they preach and personally practice the techniques they are teaching and while gaining continuing education credits to learn and improve techniques.  Pilates trainer Veronica Combs from Telos Fitness says she will go take classes for her own Pilates practice in addition to working herself out because, “You always need someone’s eyes on you!” My friend Pamela and I recently trained with Veronica and we look forward to going together again, sometimes you just need a friend's push to make sure you get in your workout.

Just as children are more likely to read if they see you reading, the same is true for exercise, no matter the sport, an active body is a happy body! With children’s obesity on the rise, who wouldn’t want to be a better role-model for their child? Finding a way to exercise together is the ultimate!

Having a trainer as opposed to a book or DVD is far better because your trainer can show you how to correctly position yourself in each and every movement you make and fix you if you are doing something wrong. Interactive feedback is so important!

A personal instructor can physically help you achieve your goals and push you when you need a boost when doing difficult movements. Being committed means making an effort and an investment in your health; the best option is working with a personal instructor.

Patience and Persistence are vital qualities in the ultimate successful accomplishment of any worthwhile endeavor." ~Joseph Pilates

Places I find inspiration:

http://www.pilatesmethodalliance.org/

http://yogafinder.com/

http://www.telosfitnesscenter.com/



Ashley's Pilates for Kids Class Get to Know Joe and say...Ich mag Pilates!

"I must be right. Never an aspirin. Never injured a day in my life. The whole country, the whole world, should be doing my exercises. They'd be happier." -Joseph Pilates said this one year before he died at the age of 87.

As a second grade teacher and a certified Pilates instructor, I have married my two passions...Pilates and teaching children.

Get to know Joe! Joseph Pilates was born in Germany in 1880 and died in New York in 1967. He developed a fitness regime and successfully used it to overcome his disabilities as a frail and sickly child. The system includes elements of boxing, gymnastics, dance, strength training and yoga.

While interning in England during WWI for his German citizenship, Pilates became a nurse. During this time he designed exercise apparatus for immobilized patients by attaching springs to hospital beds. This system formed the foundation for his style of body conditioning and specialized exercise apparatus.

His goal was to create and maintain a structurally fit body without building bulk. Pilates and his wife Clara founded a studio in NYC. His method, which he and Clara originally called "Contrology", related to encouraging the use of the mind to control muscles. The basic principles of Pilates conditioning are to make people more aware of their bodies as single integrated units, to improve alignment and breathing, and to increase efficiency of movement. It is a movement technique engaging your body and mind, promoting physical harmony and balance for people of all ages and physical conditions.

Like a lot of Pilates instructors, I was introduced to Pilates through my study of dance. I have a degree in dance from the University of Alabama. Pilates has been a part of my life for 16 years now. I can't imagine a life without it! I know it helped me in the process of giving birth to my two children, then in getting back into shape after having my babies. Pilates gives me energy as a working mom. Now that I am sharing Pilates with children, it is so rewarding to see them benefit from the exercises too.

I hear comments from the kids like this:

• Pilates helps me with my soccer kick

• I did Pilates last night because I couldn't get to sleep

• I haven't been sick this year because I do Pilates

• Pilates helps me relax before I take a test

• I'm stressed out and need to do Pilates

Kids these days are very stressed! There are a lot more expectations on them today than when we were in school. They have to sit in a chair six hours of the day because so much of what they have to do requires them to be sedentary. With PE every other day; I might as well teach them how to sit properly! Obesity in children has doubled over the past 20 years. I am lucky to work somewhere where the staff and parents are so supportive of my program.

I know there's no one doing what I'm doing and I want to change that! Being a regimented person (like Joseph Pilates was) is a help to me in making Pilates a priority. I find small ways everyday to fit it in to our packed schedule. We have so many transition times during the school day that it's nice having the kids do spine stretch while waiting for the bathroom, doing a roll down in line, the hundreds before a test... I try to make the most out of these little five minute breaks. I also find that if children are misbehaving, a little Pilates can make things right again.


In addition to teaching my 2nd grade class every day, I have been teaching a once a week Pilates for Kids class and a Pilates for Faculty class. Both were after school in the school. Something else that made my program different is that I also taught German in honor of Joseph Pilates being from Germany. The students learned the history of Joseph Pilates and to count and speak some basic German phrases and words.

Ich mag Pilates the kids would say (I like Pilates)! We sing a counting song while balancing. As a teacher, I love the way this adds another element of challenge into the program. I love to work the body and the mind together. Children soak up new and useful information. Things you learn as a child truly stay with you forever!! Learning Pilates, like learning a foreign language, increases a student's skills in creativity, memory, attention control, problem solving and more.

Seen in Pilates Style Magazine

I have become so passionate about teaching children Pilates the last few years. I have found it has an incredibly positive effect on my classes. I have seen my ADHD and autistic kids benefit as much as the children with behavior issues and the struggling reader. These kids that can't organize their papers, can't organize their bodies! Children are more ready to focus and do better work after a series of Pilates exercises. The kids enjoy the routine and challenge. As a teacher, I recognize and appreciate the effect it has on them, promoting calm and concentration.

It was Joseph Pilates dream to have children learn his exercises so they would grow up knowing how to take care of their bodies for the rest of their lives. I know Mr. Pilates would be thrilled to see these kids doing his exercises. My kids from the last few years have retained it and they carry it over into all the other things they do (gymnastics, baseball, hockey, soccer, swimming...) My Pilates for Kids class offers a competitive environment against themselves. It's a positive environment where everyone is successful!!

Dallas Morning News

Why did I offer a Pilates for Kids program for free? The study and practice of Pilates is a part of my life that I would like to share with children so that they may improve and maintain their health on a long term basis. I had about 40 kids in my Pilates for Kids class. I said I was going to cap my class at 25, but the response was overwhelming in just one day! The parents were thrilled to have their children learn Pilates at school. I had several parents say their child was teaching them Pilates at home. What a great way to get the family together!


For people who don't go to my school and are interested in having their children learn Pilates, I would recommend that you find a certified Pilates instructor and work with the school to set up a program. If the Principal gets on board, you've got it made! The parents are all for it! The trick would be to find a certified Pilates instructor to volunteer their time. If you teach the faculty it is even more likely that the teachers could keep Pilates going in every classroom. Teachers have so much on their plates. More curriculum gets added every year and Pilates can be a nice stress release for them too.

What makes my program special is that I'm already a teacher in the school and I know how to work with children. I know from my Pilates Method Alliance Conferences that there are Pilates instructors teaching in schools, but that's happening mostly in LA and NYC (not Argyle, Texas)! If people read about what I'm doing it could spark some interest and who knows where it could lead. Parents care about the health of their children. Childhood obesity is a big issue and Pilates can help with that and more!

Joseph Pilates said, "Patience and persistence are vital qualities in the ultimate successful accomplishment of any worthwhile endeavor."

Yogalites (Yoga and Pilates) unite!

Photo: Ashley Cooley doing the swan Pilates movement with her 2-year-old Zooey Bella

Yoga and Pilates...competitors? Yes, but also a great team with a lot in common. Do they attract different personalities? Yes! The stereotype Pilates person is a regimented perfectionist (this was Joseph Pilates to the T). The stereotype yoga person is a free spirit! Yoga compliments Pilates with breath, flexibility, balance, concentration, and meditation. The two marry well together. As a certified Pilates instructor and dancer who practices both yoga and Pilates regularly, does that make me a type-A/ hippy? I think I am "middle of the road"! Maybe because I do both!

You may have heard of "yogalites" (yoga and Pilates combined) classes. I sometimes find myself teaching a Pilates class and transitioning with a yoga pose just because it feels natural to me. Many of the poses are similar. This past year, I had a student whose mom is a yoga instructor. My student, Collin, noticed when we were doing swan that it was just like cobra! He was correct in that observation because when you compare the yoga pose, "cobra" to the Pilates, "swan"; you are doing the same movement! Both are even named after animals! Similar, yes! The same, no! If you practice something for a long time, you are able to pick up on the differences. I'm not a certified yoga instructor, put some things just feel natural to my body. I like to try to stay true to the teachings of Joseph Pilates but sometimes like to experiment doing just what feels good.

Pilates benefits yoga practice by teaching you how to organize your body. This is one of the reasons I started implementing Pilates in the classroom. I noticed something missing in my 2nd grade class. The kids who can't organize their desks, can't organize their bodies! We need the structure of Pilates and concentration of yoga. Kids can benefit from both these exercises! Believe me, I've seen it work!

In both yoga and Pilates, the idea is to find balance. The concentration you have to have in yoga means your body is aware of: its senses, mind, memory, consciousness... I find I get more out of Pilates with yoga under my belt because I can relax while at the same time be present and feel the flow of my exercises.

What I love about yoga is that it's open to how you feel that day. The regimented type-A Pilates person can tend to find fault with the little intricate parts. We can always do something better, but why not take a cue from yoga and just be who we are today. There are so many details to focus on when practicing Pilates! When teaching my Pilates for kids class I tried to give very small corrections so not to overwhelm the children. I had a Pilates instructor tell me once, sometimes a good teacher is silent and just observes the person while they find the movement in their body. I myself am a kinesthenic learner. I need to move to learn! I try to be aware of what kind of learners my children and clients are so I can meet their needs. You almost need a 6th sense to be a teacher (any kind of teacher)!!!

I find that the core strength I have from Pilates supports me in daily activities like chasing after a toddler and baby, and the yoga provides me with balance and harmony I need after what ever kind of day I've had!

Pilates and yoga both have a lot in common but are also quite different from each other; this is part of what makes them a great team! Pilates focuses more on strength and yoga focuses more on stretch. Breath is important in both exercises. Breath is a fabulous cleanser for the body! It helps to get rid of the toxins! In both systems you are encouraged to develop a conscious breathing. When I think about the labor with my two children, the pain was so horrific it was as if I was removed from my body and hovering up overhead. What kept me focused was breath. Because breathing links physical activity with attention of the mind, children who learn to focus on their breath stay more relaxed and centered. There are times in my classroom we just stop to breathe. Joseph Pilates wanted children learning his exercises so they would know how to take care of themselves for the rest of their lives. Joseph Pilates said at the age of 86, "I must be right! Never an aspirin. Never sick a day in my life. The whole country, the whole world should do my exercises. They'd be happier."

Pilates and yoga are both known to develop long, strong, graceful bodies that move efficiently without creating bulky muscles. They help reduce stress and increase well being. And both are used as rehabilitative systems.

Yoga and Pilates support the achievement of the body, mind, and spirit. There is a meditative spiritual feeling I have when I'm practicing Pilates and yoga. I find my peace, balance, and calm. Each are very satisfying disciplines. We all need to breathe!

So which to do? My hippy/type-A answer is: Do Both!