Rapid Rehab LA Pilates Based Physical Therapy Brentwood California

Pilates and pregnancy have developed a very effective working relationship over the years. Women, physicians and trainers can attest to the benefits from Pilates that can be found during and after their pregnancy.

Pilates strengthens the body in slow and controlled movements while encouraging gentle toning. Pilates is known for ushering in the benefits of relaxation through breathing techniques and proper body alignment.

This connects the mother to the child in an intrinsic natural manner. The core, or the “powerhouse” of the body, includes the abdomen, the back, and the floor muscles (which include the Kegel muscles). These areas during pregnancy will be under the most stress during the delivery, and Pilates taps into the strength potential within the body.

Pilates alleviates some of the pain of childbirth, by training the body to use its core strength effectively and safely. Not to mention it is a great way to reintroduce exercise into a new mom’s schedule and allows for an excellent way to get back into shape after birth, without the high impact or weight resistance methods of more conventional training.

When choosing to continue to include Pilates in your prenatal regime, be sure to consult with your physician first. After permission is granted, feel free to continue safely into prenatal Pilates, but this is a step that cannot be overlooked.  For you and your babies safety it is HIGHLY recommended that woman be previously doing pilates training before pregnancy.  Some of the exercises may become uncomfortable, since they are performed on the back, but there are modifications that can be made as the pregnancy progresses to enable a comfortable and calming environment.

Also a condition called “diastasis” may occur later in the pregnancy, which is when the abdomen separates, if this does occur extra special attention must be paid to further modification of your Pilates regime, or it may need to be discontinued until after baby is born.

Since there are many hormonal changes that occur in the women’s body during pregnancy, heightened body awareness will need to be strictly paid attention to. Some of the poses, movements, or machine work that you may have been able to perform few weeks ago will not be executed with such ease. This is simply because the body is changing and sending signals to the areas of the body that need to be treated with care.

Also, ligaments and tendons become more pliable as the pregnancy progresses to prepare the body for birth. Since deep stretching is a building block of Pilates training one must be sure not to stretch too much and keep their safety, as well as the baby’s, forefront in their physical training agenda.

The benefits of Pilates during pregnancy are numerous, it will increase the circulatory blood flow to the body, which is imperative to the healthy development of your child, it will make delivery and recovery easier, and it will connect the mind to the body. The most important part of pregnancy is staying healthy, Pilates creates that healthy environment for you to relax and enjoy the beautiful evolution of woman to mother.

Controversy has surrounded the certification process of Pilates Method instructors ever since Joseph Pilates himself began training students. It wasn’t until the year 2000, when the trademark exclusivity of the Pilates name was lifted, and then Pilates became a term that could be used as loosely or as appropriately as desired.

The good news about the trademark dissipation was that it benefited trainers who had been teaching Pilates for years and were highly qualified in their field. They could finally attach the highly refutable term to their work. Up until that point, qualified trainers have had to use a variation of the word Pilates, such as Pilates-based, or Pilates-inspired to describe what they teach.

Also, in recent years the PMA (Pilates Method Association) has begun development on a standardized test, which has been put in place to protect the public from under qualified Pilates trainers. The National Commission for Certifying Agencies has guidelines, which acted as the blueprint for the newly formed Pilates certification exams.

This was issued from the PMA in their mission statement: “The PMA has established recommended industry performance parameters guiding the practice of all PMA Certified and non-certified Pilates teachers. The PMA has established these standards to further bring professionalism to Pilates.”

However, the downside to the new liberty with which Pilates is used, is that there are Pilates instructors who claim to be teaching the “whole-body connection”, but their methods are fleeced with inaccuracies and lack proper Pilates education. Because the term Pilates is now used so freely, which does unfortunately include Pilates imposters, it makes it that much more important for an individual to do extensive research before choosing which studio and trainer to practice Pilates with.

There are a serious of questions that a new Pilates client should feel at absolute liberty in asking. Questions such as: Where did you study Pilates? How were you certified and by what association? How long have you been certified? How long did you study to become a Pilates trainer? How many hours have you accumulated towards your Pilates in-field knowledge? Do you have liability insurance? What is your teaching philosophy? Is there any type of client, injured or healthy, that you will not train? Can you shadow while the trainer is with another client?

These questions are absolutely necessary in defining the parameters of a Pilates instructor’s abilities and knowledge. In addition it can fast track an honest and open relationship with your trainer.

Since Pilates is such a balance of body awareness and physical empowerment, a trainer will need to have the same mental approach to health that you have or would like to have. Each Pilates instructor may have a different reason as to why they decided to teach holistic healing, and that will be an important conversation to have with your potential instructor.

Once you can better access what you stand to gain from training and what to expect from Pilates itself, the better the results and experience will be. The PMA has a website where you can search for certified personal trainers in your area: www.pmapilatescertified.com

In traditional gym environments you will typically overhear trainers tell their clients to focus on the muscles they are using. During a bicep curl, when you focus on using the bicep muscle only, more muscle fibers are called into action within that muscle.

The same principle can be applied during Pilates when developing the mind-body connection. However with Pilates instead of just strengthening one small muscle in your body at a time, you are lengthening and strengthening the entire body simultaneously. The focus shifts from, “work harder”, “do more reps” to “work smarter” and “take deep breaths.”

When explaining this phenomenon, Joseph Pilates said, “One of the major results of…(mind-body exercise), is the mastery of your mind over the complete control of your body.” The purpose of exercise needs to be acknowledged before the results will appear. By gaining control over all of your muscles at once, an entirely new level of balance, flexibility, and core strength is developed. Focus and centering oneself, will create the proper alignment, form, as well as safe and effective body positioning needed to tap into the core’s powerhouse.

Stress, however, is one of the main antagonists for those wishing to develop their own mind-body connection. Our thoughts run wild through the weeds of daily responsibility. Going to work, picking up the kids, making the meals, paying the bills on time, and any and all types of unforeseen change can wear down sensitivity to our body’s needs.

Stress management is oftentimes curbed by medication, but in a culture that tends to rely on outside influences to change internal issues, a holistic approach to stress management is another alternative.

Pilates offers a unique platform for quieting the inner rooms of busyness, and cleaning out the clutter of distraction. As Americans, we pride ourselves on being able to handle it all, work long hours, and slave away at the gym, all while trying to maintain a family unit.

We pump our fists in the air while guzzling down our triple latte’s and call it “doing it all”. But we are really running ourselves ragged, fueled on by caffeine and adrenaline. Stress develops within the body, when the mind begins to feel the wear and tear of overactive living.

Very rarely do we listen to our own breathing long enough to realize the importance of oxygen integration in the blood. With Pilates, the deep breathing patterns enable more oxygen to be released into the blood, and the ability to think clearer, do more, and feel more energized is increased.

Quieting the restlessness in our lives for just one hour can have exceptional, long-term benefits. In addition to low impact cardio, such as swimming, bicycling, and walking, Pilates can create that outlet for stress management. Our bodies crave to be active.

They desire to be one with our thoughts. If you can visualize where you want to be, your body will follow suit. Not only will you develop a long, lean healthy physique, but also you will develop a peace of mind that will surpass stress and improve your quality of life.

“Physical fitness is the first requisite to happiness.” Joseph Pilates made this statement in his Pilates handbook, Return to Life Through Controlology in 1945. What he may or may have not known when he first started developing Pilates is that the mind-body connection in conjunction with over-all wellness has been studied and practiced for centuries by different cultures all throughout the world.

Joseph Pilates had stumbled upon a treasure trove of methods in which he was gaining an understanding and developing a practical structure for study through his rehabilitative practice, Pilates.

Eastern meditation methodology as well as western approaches to wellness, such as Greco-Roman practices, all drew the same conclusions about the mind body connection: there is power when behavioral patterns and thought patterns coincide with a common goal, wellness. Concentration on the development of the mind-body connection yields numerous benefits, and Joseph Pilates himself knew this firsthand.

Far too often in this day and age our mind and our movements have separate existences, severing the unity of consciousness. We get up and go to work. We move throughout our day without much concentrated efforts on our movements and body positioning.

Our posture deteriorates at our desks, as we slouch into our chairs. Our core never feels engaged, making our mind seem detached from our body. Lethargy will then begin to dictate our lifestyle instead of the mind’s capacity for vitality being the headship of our bodies. When the mind and body become separate entities, a loss of grounding and centering takes place, which can lead to depression, sleep depravation, and even bodily injury.

The simple phrase, “mind-body connection” can send some of us into a mental back flip. What does it mean to engage our thoughts with our bodies, isn’t that a natural connection? When I need to do something I tell my body to do it, and so it does. However, a simple demand and result relationship between the body and the mind develops a breach of understanding between the two, sacrificing unity and implementing dictatorship.

Our thoughts directly affect our moods, social behaviors, the way we carry ourselves, and where we end up in the spectrum of healthy living. Some people are married to their counter-productive thought patterns making healthful living something they believe they cannot physically do.

When the mind is conditioned to think it cannot accomplish something, the body responds accordingly. But think how greatly the body would be positively affected if the tides of negative mind-body connection communication could be swayed. What a powerful portal of energy, dedication, and healthy living could be found.

Our will to engage in complete body awareness begins in the mind, and Pilates encourages this type of mental “tapping”. Conscious control of the body is found through deep breathing patterns while incorporating the fluidity of Pilates’ movements.

The natural gliding exemplar and exercises found in mat and machine Pilates instigates the groundwork needed to develop your own mind-body connection. Once you learn the basics of how to sew together the gaping space between the mind and the body, you will be able to engage this dynamic tool whenever you need to, whether its in a Pilates studio or elsewhere.

By far, one of the biggest concerns for a new Pilates client looking for a new studio is certification. Since there is not a standardized system in place that acts as the gold standard in Pilates certification it can be a little nerve-wracking trying to decide if the trainers in a studio are qualified.

The PMA (Pilates Method Alliance) has a program that has developed an accredited source of certification. In the Pilates Method Alliance Certification handbook it states that, “The PMA’s mission is to protect the public by establishing certification and continuing education standards for Pilates professionals.”

For any studio or trainer to achieve a PMA certification the following would have to be completed: A passing grade for a 150 multiple choice exam that was compiled through Castle Worldwide, which is the leading certification and licensure company in addition to 450+ hours of self-study, lectures, assistant teaching hours, or apprenticeship. To find a PMA certified trainer in your area visit www.pmapilatescertified.com.

Since the certification process is still in the beginning stages of integration, there are some studios that operate under the apprenticeship or assistant teaching hours method of “certification”. Joseph Pilates himself used this method of teaching, and some of his students were the best Pilates instructors you could find. The bottom line is conformability. Depending on what your comfort level is with using a an instructor who has had more in-studio experience as opposed to an accumulative certification process, you decide what you need to feel at ease in a studio environment.

Aside from the wanting to improve your core strength and the appearance of your physique, there are many clients that pursue Pilates for rehabilitation purposes or for pre-natal care. When it comes to the rehabilitative process, be sure that you choose a studio that has trainer specifically trained to improve your condition. Pilates can be modified to fit any need, so the injury needs to fit the regime, make sure that your trainer has a background in rehabilitating injuries.

For those clients that have pre-natal needs, the same rule applies. Make sure the studio you choose has a trainer that specializes in pre-natal Pilates. While Pilates is an excellent addition to any physical routine, it is not a “blanket” exercise. Pilates for pregnant women will differ significantly from a regular reformer or mat class, so be sure that you find a trainer to meet those needs of a mom-to-be.

The environment, class variety, certification and experience of the trainers are the main factors to be searching or when picking a studio. Take your time, do the research, and hopefully a life long relationship will develop.

When it comes to buying a house, a car or anything that involves a major investment, there a quite a few boxes that need to be checked before the ink is dry. Out of necessity and in hopes to make a balanced and well thought out decision, a list is compiled of needs and concerns before diving head first into such a purchase. The same goes for choosing a Pilates studio, even though it may not seem as important, it is a major investment in the bank of our personal health. And it needs to be decided upon with great care.

The first step is to decide what type of environment you will need to make Pilates most efficient for you. Some people need light, space and vibe to jumpstart their mind-body connection. Other people don’t necessarily care about aesthetically pleasing environments, but are particular about which type of equipment they prefer to use, or are more comfortable choosing a studio with a certain level of certification or renown within a community.

When choosing a studio, it is best to try a few different ones in your area. Most search engines and phone books can give you a start in the right direction. From there it will be a process of elimination to determine which studio best fits your needs.

Cleanliness should be of concern when searching for a studio. After a class you should be directed to clean off the equipment or mats with disinfectant and a cloth. This is basic protocol for any exercise environment. Needing to know a studio’s janitorial routine is the client’s prerogative, and if that is a factor in determining your interest in a studio, just ask.

As beings connected to our environments, it is highly recommended that you find a place which allows you to focus, clear your mind, and engage in Pilates. Some gym environments offering Pilates do a great job of making the Pilates studio its own entity. However there are others that make it rather difficult to focus on proper breathing, which takes a lot of mind control.

Gyms tend to have loud music from other classes, aerobic rooms, and televisions overflowing into other areas of the gym. These distractions if sensed or heard in the Pilates studio can affect the mind and cheat you out of a great Pilates workout.

This is why some people choose to use privately owned studios. Not only will there be less distractions but usually the class sizes will be smaller and they will offer one-on one training to help you progress in your training. When looking for a privately owned studio, be sure that they are well equipped to offer you a variety of exercise options and classes.

Variety is the spice of life, and it isn’t any different in Pilates. The body adapts to exercise over time, which can counter productively affect all of the results you used to get from previous Pilates routines. A studio should offer a choice of private reformer classes as well as small group classes.

In addition to the types of classes offered, each class should range in difficulty from beginner to intermediate to advance. When one is transitioning from one level to another, it is highly recommended that you have an on-on-one Pilates training class in the interim. When segueing into more intense levels of difficulty a little extra instruction will help make the change seamless and safe.

Mat based Pilates focuses on proper body alignment, flexibility, joint mobilization and breathing patterns without the addition of external resistance. The body is the only resistant force that a student will use in a mat Pilates class. Learning to support the body against gravity is emphasized.

Changing the body position, lowering tension within the body, heightening body awareness and gaining complete control of the mind and body will be the main concerns of what mat Pilates participants are trying to achieve.

When Pilates is done on a machine another level of challenge is added to a routine since it does use resistance outside of the body’s own. With each stage of experience more external resistance is added to the workout. This series of equipment has a series of pulleys that each has a way of communicating feedback to the instructor and to the participant. Through this two-way line of body and mind communication the participant will be quickly alerted if they are practicing the postures correctly.

Total body stability is enhanced when on the machines, since there is a point of connection with the machine, which allows a base of support for the movements. Muscular imbalances can be corrected through certain machine work, since the machine allows for a wider variety of exercises is very adaptive and appropriate for all types of clients.

The equipment in each class differs as well. Props are often used in mat Pilates classes such as: foam rollers, stability balls, flex-bands, and weighted bands and balls add challenge to the positions and to the tension.

When these new elements are added to the mat Pilates routine an even higher level of awareness will be achieved because the balance within the body will be further challenged. Mat work is just a segment of the entire Pilates regime, but it does a great deal to improve posture, strengthen the core, and clears the mind allowing for a better concentration and focus.

For machine Pilates there are a few standard pieces of equipment that you will find. The Reformer and The Cadillac are the mist highly evolved pieces of equipment and can offer a student any range of challenge or ease they prefer. Resistance bands are also used in Pilates machine classes as well as barrels and ladders.

The most cognitive difference that is found between mat Pilates and machine Pilates is that external resistance is added with machine Pilates and mat based Pilates hinges itself on the management of body resistance only. Machine Pilates does offer a wider range of options for the student, and has a high degree of transcendence for   participant, but mat Pilates offers an inviting environment and is easily learned.

Both mat Pilates and machine Pilates will encourage a mind-body connection, whole-body, wellness, and deep stretching and breathing. Each can be integrated with the other, and it is recommended that you do change up your routine very now and then. Adding diversity to your Pilates regime will benefit the body and mind, and also keep the body guessing which will create that physique that only Pilates, mat or machine, can develop.

Pilates done on a mat is great full-body workout, and is an excellent place for Pilates beginners to start. It is fun, and relatively inexpensive, and very popular among Pilates studios. Through a series of positions, poses and movements an instructor will guide you through a balanced, full body workout. It’s a socially inclusive practice, since some of the classes will be anywhere from 10-15 people.

This number, while it may seem like more than private, is a relatively small base of clients. This size of a class is easily manageable to a qualified trainer. A qualified mat Pilates instructor is essential to a beneficial mat Pilates workout, since they will be sure that you are using the proper posture, alignment, and engaging your core.

Mat Pilates is considered to be a “cross-conditioning” system, which focus solely on your own body as resistance. It tones and shapes the hips, back, chest, shoulder, calves, arms, and abdominals. Precise strengthening will be focused on the abdomen, since it houses the core muscles, and is the main ingredient to effective and healthy movement throughout the body.

The trainer will instruct you to stand, sit, and lie down. From all of these static body positions there will be extremity work done which will all stem from the engagement of the core.

Mat Pilates is known for streamlining the physique, and lengthening the muscles. It is a great addition to any cardio, strength training or athletic regime and is gentle on the body. People who generally use the traditional gym method of “working out” fear bulking up, and Mat Pilates offers an alternative method of exercise which implements a “leaning out” of a person’s muscle build, while still adding strength and focus.

The mat Pilates trainer will typically talk each student through the movements, and recommend visualizations that will emphasize deep and intuitive breathing patterns. With this “coach” helping you through a mat Pilates class you will be better equipped to benefit from the practice. While Pilates DVD’s and exercise programs on television can benefit the body, it’s ideal that you have someone overseeing you.

Without a highly qualified mat Pilates instructor helping you to get the most out of your workout, you may be missing vital postural positioning, which can lead to improper spinal alignment tin the future or even injury. The encouragement that you will receive from the qualified trainer will also push you to do more, feel more, and focus better at the task at hand.

For those tat like a more private approach to working out, there is the option of a one-on-one class. Especially for beginners who have never taken a mat Pilates class, it is essential to understand the techniques behind the practice. Pilates, while it is an excellent source for strengthening, it also involves a lot of different layers, or mental connection, body connection, and breathing.

These layers take some getting sued to, since our minds are not trained to slow down and be quiet, since some of us associate exercise with high intensity and loud music.

A personal one-on-one session or two would allow for a new student to build a foundation of understanding of the Pilates method in a mat based environment.

Swinging a golf club, squatting to line-up a put, lugging a golf bag, or simply bending down to pick up a ball, all require constant twisting of the upper and lower body. Since golf tends to be on the lower end of the more cardiovascular challenging sports, participants sometimes develop severe imbalances within their body if they ignore the need for additional conditioning.

“Focus” determines the seamlessness of a golfer’s game, and when their focus is deterred by a nagging injury or improper biomechanics, the quality of the game is compromised. Pilates centers its teachings on proper alignment, breathing, and posture, which result in a more agile and flexible athlete.

Even though Joe Pilates created Pilates nearly a century ago, its relevancy to the modern day golfer is still relevant. It doesn’t get anymore relevant than Tiger woods and Annika Sorenstam, both of whom are avid believers in the benefits of Pilates on their golf game.

One of the trademarks of a golf game is a consistent swing. Every body has a natural way in which they move, carry themselves, and exert energy. While some golfers want to improve their swing, they may be fighting against their own imbalanced routine of daily movement.

Pilates can correct those irregularities and reestablish proper biomechanics within the body. In as little as 10 sessions a new and improved power swing can begin to emerge. This swing should take half the amount of previous effort and yet be executed with twice as much intention.

Golf injuries are often a result of a muscular imbalance. Habitually bad posture or unconscious spinal irregularities are usually the culprits of such injury. However, this can be reinvented through the practice of Pilates. Instead of “spot-training” an injured area, Pilates based rehabilitation focuses on restructuring the body as a whole and its ability to move correctly.

This approach not only alleviates the pain surrounding the injury, it allows the injured to safely assimilate to a level comparable to their original abilities. This approach forgoes any substantial gap in performance.

In addition to a better swing and injury correction there is an entire laundry list of benefits Pilates offers the golfer. The spine is elongated which will provide better stability.

The abdominal muscles as well as the back muscles will be built simultaneously creating a balance within these muscle groups. The range of motion in the hip and shoulder girdle will abundantly increase. And Pilates also encourages the body to increase oxygen intake, the more oxygen in the blood the more energy will be found on the course.

Here are a couple of exercises to try that will benefit the avid golfer. On the Pilates Mat try the Saw Position. It increases mobility of the shoulders, institutes pelvis stability, and deeply stretches the upper, middle and lower back. On The Reformer try: Short Box Abdominals in Round Back and Flat Back.

The benefits of this exercise include: balance between the strength of the abdomen and the back muscles, as well as it stretches the extensor muscles.

Even though celebrities and professional athletes sing the praises of Pilates, the “aging athlete” is another sub-group of Pilates’ participants that have found Pilates to be an invaluable addition to their lives. The “aging athlete” includes those individuals between the ages of 40-60 who have either continuously been involved in sports activities or are seeking a way to incorporate everyday exercise into their schedules. After the age of 30, muscle mass is lost.

As the 40’s are surmounted, bone density is affected. Not to mention that tendons and ligaments lose elasticity as each individual ages. With these changes it makes it more and more difficult to even maintain previous workouts or activities, let alone add to them. Body preservation must be attempted in alternative ways once our bodies achieve a certain level of maturity.

This group of “aging athletes” has been broken down into 3 different groups. These 3 groups include the “older athlete”, the “prematurely mature athlete” and the “former athlete”. The “older athlete” is one who has maintained a consistent fitness schedule for most of his/her life, however a nagging injury may be preventing the continuation of those workouts.

The “former athlete” is predisposed to muscle degradation from their involvement in a low aerobic conditioning sport like golf. The “prematurely aging athlete” is one that has injuries. These injuries are oftentimes significantly serious, but are still ignored. Usually the injury is neglected on the basis of “playing through” the pain. This type of injury will result in a shorter athletic lifetime for that individual.

Pilates based rehab is the perfect addition to these types of situations. The healing components of the mind-body combination found in Pilates’ movements can begin the gentle reintroduction of strength training and rotary motion. Its kind and gentle approach can correct an injured system in an effective yet concise manner.

Instead of walking through numerous different exercises, the entire Pilates based rehab circuit can be achieved centrally and with ease. The principle behind Pilates, reinstating harmony within the body and the mind, is the crux behind why Pilates based rehab is so successful for its clients.

Whether you play sports professionally or just play softball for a local charity, Pilates can transform an average performance, recovery, or endurance threshold into that of a highly trained athlete. Nearly a dozen professional sports team have instated Pilates as a part of their training regime, not to mention that more than 10 million people worldwide are participants as well.

The strain of heavy lifting or the risk of highly elevated heart rates has no place in any Pilates studio. Pilates is considered one of the safest and worthwhile ways to produce a highly effective body in any phase of an athletic career.  rapidrehabla.com/rr-studio.html