BODY

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Pilates

Pilates is a body conditioning system based on the work of Joseph Pilates. It helps your body to build strength without adding bulk, and balances that strength with flexibility, helping to achieve harmony between mind and body.

Targeting deep postural muscles, it works by building strength from the inside out, rebalancing the body and bringing it back into natural alignment. It will help to improve your posture, balancing strength and flexibility and is a fantastic way to relieve unwanted stress and tension. Pilates offers both mental and physical training, literally teaching you to be in control of your body whilst teaching correct postural alignment. Precise, controlled, flowing movements mean that the muscle and ligament damage sometimes associated with other fitness regimes is avoided. Pilates can play a key role in many injury rehabilitation programmes.

Together, we will devise a safe and effective workout tailored to your specific needs. I will be working with you on a one to one basis, so that the session is focused completely on your needs. If you prefer though, you could share the session with a friend, helping to bring the cost down. (Please be aware that both of you need to be at about the same level of competence).

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Pilates for Pregnancy & Post Natal Pilates

Pregnancy is a time of great change, both physically and psychologically, and whilst pregnancy is not an illness, mums-to-be need some adaptation to their exercise programme. Pilates is the perfect way to stay fit, and to prepare your body for the demands of pregnancy, labour and beyond!

Pilates is an excellent way to maintain good posture and to prepare your body for the increase in weight-bearing and the natural changes to your circulatory system. Probably most importantly, Pilates will help you to prepare your pelvic floor for the rigours of carrying your baby, and for the actual birth. A healthy pelvic floor is probably one of the best gifts you could give yourself - especially once the baby is born.

Classes help you improve your relaxation skills and helps maintain awareness of your breath - both invaluable during labour. Pilates will also help give your good upper body strength so that you feel fully able to cope with the demands of holding and feeding your baby.

Once you have your baby, and you've had your six week check, post-natal Pilates will help you get back the body you once had (and maybe an even better one!). We will work to maintain pelvic floor stability, and start to rebuild your body, from the inside out! There probably won't be any curl ups, but don't worry, you will still achieve great results. Eventually, you will be able to rejoin a mainstream class.

To join the Pilates for Pregnancy class, you will need to be about 16 weeks pregnant, unless you have experience of Pilates, and in this case, you will need to book a one to one session for me to assess you before you join the class. You must also have the blessing of your midwife to exercise!

Post-natally, you can join up once you have been given the go-ahead at your 6 week check, and you can remain in the class for up to a year, as the hormone relaxin, which is responsible for softening your ligaments in readiness for childbirth, can remain in your body for up to 12 months, especially if you're breastfeeding.

Classes are held on Tuesdays 6.45pm at St Nicholas Church Hall, Earley and Wednesdays 1.00pm at the Pilates Train Me Studio in Lower Earley.

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Deep Tissue Massage

If you have an injury, or a niggling muscular ache, deep tissue massage (or sports massage) can help to loosen up over tight muscles and lengthen them. Combining massage with stretching both assisted, and on your own can do wonders for your overused body!

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Postural Work

Often the way we lead our lives can lead to imbalances in our body. One muscle might become over tight, while another becomes long and weak. This can lead to a myriad of aches and pains. Using postural analysis, I can help you redress the balance, so that your posture comes closer to the ‘norm'. Helping to open up chest and shoulders, strengthening the upper back, strengthening your gluteal muscles (your butt!), lengthening the muscles at the front of your hips and improving the way your deep abdominal muscles work.

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Non-medical Nutritional Advice

There is no great secret to losing weight - you just need to eat less than you exercise. Isn't it easy? If your visit to my office is all about weight loss, then together we can look at what you currently eat and make suggestions as to how to improve your food plan, slowly and over time. There's no radical cabbage leaf and split pea formula! Working with your likes and dislikes, but making sure that your weekly food intake is well balanced and moderate. This works really well with the NLP techniques that address your relationship with food. And sorry, but yes, you will have to take some form of exercise – but choose something that you like doing!

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