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Here are the top five, all-too-common workout myths that should have been retired long ago. But, most people and research does not understand Pilates…the ultimate Stability NOT Soreness WHOLE PERSON workout with your own mind-body feedback as the superior marker of success!

We think these five workout “rules” that just don’t hold water. Whether you think that you have to be sore for a workout to “count” or believe that 10 minutes isn’t worth the trouble, get ready for a perspective shift that’s sure to make you feel a little bit more free while doing the movement you love. And if you can’t do the movement you love, do Pilates to make your joints stable and aligned so you can!

1. Only modify exercises if you want to make them easier

People often equate modifications with less intensity; however, choosing a modification may be the most-effective option to maintain proper form and the full range of motion for the body. Taylor Bogenschuetz is director of training and development at Solidcore, a high-intensity, low-impact workout performed on Pilates reformers and says “Every workout should meet you where you are. For example, you may think that modifying a push-up, either by lowering your knees to the floor, or elevating your hands, is less “effective” or “impressive” than completing a full push-up. But the truth is that the modified version will also work your triceps, core, and shoulders. Then, when you gain the necessary strength, you’ll be able to perform a full push-up safely”.

2. You have to use a fitness tracker to get good feedback

If you’re working out to seek the approval of your smart watch, Bogenschuetz says there’s another way. “From the moment you begin a workout to the second you end it, your fitness tracker measures your heart rate and displays an estimate of calories burned. These numbers alone are not a strong indication of the efficacy of your workout,” she says. The superiority of the way you FEEL is key here and MUST include joy and happiness in a measurement of good feedback.

The reality is, the stats on your fitness tracker are good—but they don’t paint a full picture of the mental and physical benefits you reap. The lesson here? Make sure your wearable isn’t the only way you’re measuring your progress. Consider keeping a fitness journal or clocking how you feel before and after a workout, as well and notice the energy and sensorial feedback increases and benefits.

3. You haven’t worked hard enough if you’re not sore

According to Bogenschuetz, many factors play into soreness including how hydrated you are, how much sleep you got the night before, and how well you’re recovering. In other words: It’s far too variable to use as a metric for a successful workout. Luckily, we are big fans of focusing on how your muscles and breath feel throughout the workout and always preach to listen to your body and make that mind-body connection when training. It can become a more efficient way of training, and it’s eye opening when you can truly understand your body and how it moves. We are also big fans of fascial hydration BEFORE the muscular workout, to prep the fascial continuum and flow, and some AFTER to restore the cellular hydration used up.

4. Always opt for long workouts over short

You don’t need to work out for 60 minutes straight to reap the benefits of exercise. If you only have 10 minutes, do that. If you have 10 minutes, five times a day, that is 50 minutes spread throughout. We have time for what we want to have time for, and sometimes you need to prioritize yourself. Short-and-sweet workouts are also a great way to manage stress, improve your overall health and build health habits.

So whether you have two minutes or a full hour today, make time to stretch, walk around the block, stand up and stretch and breathe, or move in another way that feels good to you.

5. Consistency counts, so don’t take rest days

“‘No days off’ is another ‘motto’ that could be more harmful in the long run. Your body needs rest in order to function properly and to its full potential. Exercise is stress on your body, and if you are constantly putting your body through stress, there will be a point where it could lead to overuse and injury.  

Instead of pushing yourself to exercise every day, listen to your body: If you feel tired, try active recovery like soft foam rolling or fascial flossing with the MELT Method or the Pilates “bubble-gum” balls or stretching. Or, opt to skip movement altogether with a smile in your eyes and heart…no inside voice saying mean things!

Read more about Pilates therapy and feel-good treatments for ADHD

We offer private lessons for children, teens, and adults with ADHD as well as small group classes for schools and learning centres.

This holiday season, fill a standard-sized, decorated Shoebox with approximately $50 worth of gifts and essentials that any woman might enjoy, and include a warm greeting or message of support. Our volunteers distribute these gifts to local women’s shelters and community agencies serving women impacted by homelessness across Canada. Whether you donate a Shoebox virtually or in-person, it is more than just a gift. It is a rare and powerful reminder that we all matter.

We are so happy to be drop-off location for the Shoe Box Project that is re-starting Nov 21 – Dec 12, 2022.

You can bring them to class with you or text 204.999.9984 to arrange big drop-offs with me.

BEGINNER REFORMER PILATES
Mon 11:45 am – 12:45 pm
Thurs 7:30 – 8:30 pm

BEGINNER Pre-Hab Before Rehab (Adaptive & Integrative Fascial and Joint exercises)

Mon 8-9 pm

Health guidelines recommend adults get at least 150 minutes per week of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise, or at least 75 minutes of vigorous exercise. Which activities you choose don’t matter as long as they get you moving.

But what if an injury, illness, health condition, disability, or even normal aging makes being active hard for you? In those cases, adaptive Pilates could lend a much-needed hand.

Adaptive Pilates is for  people with disabilities or physical limitations. They often run parallel to traditional exercises but are modified to support people’s specific physical abilities.

MELT Mornings (Fascial Foam Rolling with Integrative Joint Stability exercises)

Tues & Thurs 7:45-8:45 am

ELDOA

Thurs 6:30 pm

Performing ELDOA Fitness movements will help increase your flexibility, improve muscle performance and tone, reduce stress, reduce joint inflammation, delay disc degeneration, improve posture, relieve chronic and acute back pain, relieve neck and shoulder tension, and improve the longevity of the spine and your overall wellbeing.

ELDOA’s active use of reinforcement exercise movements, myofascial stretches and posture techniques which aim to increase the space between joints and lengthening the spine.

Olesya is a ballet teacher with the RWB and our Classically trained instructor, the work closets to the original work by Joseph Pilates. It is not slow or “rehabby”. It has lots of core conditioning and spine stretchy goodness. Try out her Intro to Classical Pilates Mat & Reformer Mix class every Monday starting Oct 17 11:45- 12:45.

When we think of research on pain and how it manifests within the physiology of the human body, myofascial tissues have been a persistently understudied part of the picture.

The following is from Dr. Helene Langevin, M.D., Directorof the National Centre for Complimentary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) in the U.S. ” Myofascial tissues are potentially involved in nearly all common chronic musculoskeletal pain conditions, like chronic low-back pain, neck and shoulder pain, headache, and temporomandibular disorders. But our understanding of myofascial pain is severely hampered by a basic lack of tools to differentiate between normal and abnormal myofascial tissues. “

While this is a promising advancement in the relationship of chemical and surgery medicine with mind-body medicine, the medical world needs help with the language and basic understanding about fascia and connective tissues. Thousands of practitioners and their clients around the world have known about (and for thousands of years) taught about fascia before a research lab or test-tube told us anything. Fascia is a continuum, a system, it houses your sensorial nerve endings, it is the organ of being and gives you sentience. It is fluid, and hence, will change with pressure and tension and movement so there is nothing “abnormal” about it. This kind of cartesian dualism thinking is not going to work when understanding fascia. It is my hope that the NCCIH includes fascial researchers like Dr. Robert Schleip, John Sharkey, and Sue Hitzmann, integral anatomists like Gil Hedley, and Pilates, ELDOA, Feldenkrais, Tai Chi, some yoga, and MELT Method teachers and their clients as well.