Lynn Heckathorn, who has taught beginner and advanced Pilates at the Bond Wellness Center since 2007, says that Pilates classes add strength, lengthening and control to a weekly workout. (Pilates classes are also taught by Meredith and Anne at the Wellness Center. See the various schedules for complete descriptions.)
In the Stott Pilates method, which is the method in which Lynn and the others is certified, correct breathing is the first principle in the workout. “The breath pattern is extremely important,” she said. Her main goal as a teacher is to get the participant to understand the way the body moves and the way it stabilizes. “The best part of teaching is seeing the person ‘get it’,” she says.
The Stott method has about 30 different moves and instructors like Lynn have mastered them all. It’s up to Lynn how she structures any given class.
Newcomers will often have a lot of questions about the breathing and the process of “imprinting” which is a starter move that prepares the body, keeping the spine in a neutral position in contact with the floor and with all other parts relaxed.
“The benefits of Pilates are amazing,” she said. “You’re developing longer, leaner muscles, a leaner body, a strong core and you can now hold yourself in a beautiful posture.”
In the more advanced class, Power Mat Pilates, the participants must have control of the essentials, such as breathing and stabilizing. Participants in the Power Mat class have graduated from the Essential and Intermediate classes. At this point, the participants have mastered the more difficult exercises and Lynn has added different props to keep it interesting and challenging. These intermediate or Power classes are usually kept to a maximum of 6 to 10 participants and, Lynn says, their ages range from 40 to 70.
“All ages can benefit from Pilates,” she said.
And that is why the Wellness Center also offers a class that is geared to persons with osteoporosis, taught by Meredith.
In that class, Meredith says, the participants really focus on the core control, the balance and the breathing, all while making sure the back is kept in a safe position. Because of the osteoporosis, we limit the amount of flexing, twisting and bending that would normally happen in the other classes, but it’s still a real challenge.
Meredith says she has had some participants come for four or five years and now they are incredibly strong. “When they started, they maybe couldn’t stand on one foot or lift a leg in the air,” she said. “Now they’re balancing on foam rollers and doing all the advanced work.”
ShareThis
[...] lab she designed for her certification in Structural Integration. It uses techniques from yoga, pilates, self-massage with toning balls and foam rollers, active isolated stretching and from Feldenkrais, [...]