What are you Giving Yourself this year?

December 18, 2014 Jessica Schultz

Before we even get into New Years Resolutions, can we talk about what gifts we're giving this year? Not to each other, but to ourselves? No matter what Winter Festival of Your Choice you are celebrating, why not give yourself a gift this year instead of giving something up for New Years? Why not add instead of subtract?

Just. Add. Pilates.

Or yoga. Or breakfast smoothies. Or an earlier bedtime. And see what else changes.

Make your life one of plenty and abundance.

The Top 3 Reasons Why Men Should Do Pilates

December 18, 2014 Jessica Schultz

I know Pilates has gotten a girly reputation, but Joseph Pilates was not a dancer - he was a boxer! How more manly can you get? But I can't tell you how many times people have asked me if I have any male clients. Yes, and do, and here's why.

You get to stretch without taking a yoga class with a bunch of hyper-flexible women. Many of my guy clients know they need to stretch (and did you know that a tight psoas can lead to erectile dysfunction?) but they don't want to be surrounded by super flexible women (women tend to be more flexible than men) with their feet touching their heads while they struggle with straps and blocks to approximate the same position. In every exercise in Pilates, there is a stretch and a strength. So in Spine Stretch Forward, you're working your abs but at the same time you're stretching your hamstrings, but you get to move and flow in the position. You don't have to sit and hold something that may feel intense for 3 minutes.

It helps to open your chest. Many men focus on developing the muscles of their chest, but that can lead to overly tight chest muscles, even kyphosis (and hey, staring at that smart phone all day isn't helping!). Without stretching the chest, over developed chest muscles can cause lower back pain, and tight hips (see reason #1 above for a sneaky way to stretch without forcing yourself into Cobra). Pilates extension for the upper back focuses on opening the thoracic spine without loading the low back - it's more of a sternum lift than an arch of the mid-back. If you're really tight in your chest, deep back bends will only cause more pain. The smaller, more strategic extension in Pilates will help deeper postural changes take effect.

You'll perform better at your favorite sport. Many of my clients (male or female, for that matter) remark on how much more lung capacity they experience after starting a regular Pilates practice. The lateral opening of the side body coupled with the lift of the rib cage in forward flexion is unlike any other exercise system. This means that in your Pilates lesson, you are lengthening your ribs off your pelvis in two directions - to the side (which is easier and will give your body more stretch) and when you round forward (which is much more challenging). But if you can master that, you are training your internal, deepest abdominal muscles to support the carriage of your rib cage. If you can do that, you'll make more space to breathe, helping you increase your endurance for whatever sport you do.

By now, we all know that King James does Pilates.

Are you ready to join him? Or are you already a male student of Pilates? Share your story in the comments!

Breathing Video and Discount

December 15, 2014 Jessica Schultz

Often, my clients ask me how they can breathe in Pilates. "If I'm pulling my belly in, how do I inhale?" Watch this short video to learn how to breathe in honor of my toe talk inhale/exhale socks which are $2 off this coming Monday 12.15!

Do you have a mantra?

December 13, 2014 Jessica Schultz

With my recent gig as a toe talk ambassador, I've started thinking...do you have a mantra? You know, something that helps you through the tough times? The hard times, the times you want to give up? How we talk to ourselves is important. Language is important. Kind self-talk will help create the movement you want in your body to move with grace and ease.

Every toe talk has a story - Inhale/Exhale, Warrior Chick, Be Mindful... and the stories we tell ourselves are important. The way you move tells your life story. Do you breathe with your spinal articulation? Do you let your spine unwind? Tell yourself you can and you will. Are you strong and determined? Do you love a challenge? Then you are a warrior. Tell yourself you are and you will be one. The stories we tell about ourselves become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

But if you could choose a mantra, what would it be? It's easy to pick any of the Six Pilates Principles - Concentrate, Be Precise, Center, Control, Breathe (There's a sock for that!), or Flow. Ones I've used in the past include: I Love the Burn, Just Four More (to be used when there is more than four), and Sprint to the Finish.

But do you know what the most effective one was? After I had my daughter, it was. so. hard. Hard to find time to workout. Hard to find the energy. Hard to build my connection to my body back. I wasn't used to it being that hard. And do you know what I did when my workout was particularly challenging? I would close my eyes and picture her smile. Seriously. And if I could see her baby joy in my mind's eye, I could do anything. So maybe my true mantra is Love. Or Joy. Or Giggle. What's yours?

Did you know that toe talk socks is taking suggestions for new sock mantras? Why not suggest yours? You just might be wearing it in your favorite class soon!

Recharge Your Body with Food and Pilates!

May 8, 2014 Jessica Schultz

How yummy does that food look? Wouldn't it be easy to feed yourself well if only you had a personal chef? Like some lucky movie star?

Well, why not treat yourself to our Summer Starter Cleanse Package? It's three days of support, love, Pilates, and deliciousness!

Here's what I'm planning with Tia Murry of Ruffiage:

3 Hour-long Pilates Mat Classes (May 23rd at 6am; May 24th at 2pm; May 25th at 2pm)

Half-hour Q&A, Support, and Guidance by myself and Tia after each class

2 Days of Email Support Before and After the Cleanse (personalized workout guidance, preparing your body for the Cleanse)

Yum Yum Yummy Food to Nourish Your Body:

9 Fresh made, Organic Juices

2 Fresh made, Organic Smoothies

2 Smoothie Recipes

3 Cleansing Meals

The details:

$225 for the Cleanse

$199 Early Bird Special if you enroll by May 10th

Please use a credit card to reserve your spot, payment due in full on the 23rd (cash or check preferred for the Cleanse, if possible)

$100 is nonrefundable to cover the cost of food if not notified by the 18th of May that you cannot commit to the cleanse

Call or email today to reserve your spot! I'll be doing it with you every step of the way!

Jessica@jessicaschultzpilates.com or Tia at realfoodisfun@gmail.com

Why We Should Workout Like a Child

April 27, 2014 Jessica Schultz

So check out this video of my 2 year-old playing at my studio on the foot corrector.

What does this teach us about the way we move?

Well, first of all, Joseph Pilates did study babies' spines and thought we needed to regain the flexibility we had at birth. I think we've all marveled at a child's ability to squat, jump, and move with relative ease. But did you notice how much your child moves throughout the entire day? As I write this, my 5 year-old son is drawing, but as I typed this sentence, he squatted to pick up some markers, walked over to me to ask a question, and is standing up to draw. I've only been sitting since I've started this post. We need to incorporate more movement into our everyday lives.

My daughter used her intuition to explore the Foot Corrector. I didn't tell her how to place her foot, but she placed it squarely under her hip. I didn't tell her to bounce, but the spring gave her that motion and she went with it. She barely bends her knees to bounce - just enough to get the motion going, and then she controls the movement from her center. Her shoulders don't hike as she holds the Cadillac in front of her. We need to listen to our bodes to help us inform how to move. What I love about Pilates is how I feel when I leave - I always feel better. Therefore, do more Pilates. Is your run hurting your knees? Change how you run. It's a short movement poem with one line: Listen.

Kids naturally do interval training. My son at the park will run there, climb, then take a break and do some imagination play, then grab his scooter, take a break and collect some leaves for "spider stew." Nobody told him about the latest HIIT research. His body just knows about taking a rest so he has the energy for quick bursts when he needs it. This is something else I Iove about Pilates. I actually think there is a lot of Interval training built in. Work the tempo on your Footwork and Hundred, then slow down a bit for Short Spine to really get a stretch. How about slow, thoughtful Roll Backs followed with high energy, accented Single Leg Circles to really scoop? Push and pull your tempo, just like you push and pull your springs.

It's been said before, but are we teaching our children or are they teaching us?

And, um, yes, and if you must know, that is mud all over her pants from playing at the park, and now that she's two, she dresses herself, so yes, her shirt is on backwards. But that's the way she likes it, thank you very much.

What If?

April 20, 2014 Jessica Schultz

What if what scares you becomes the best thing ever?

So my son came home the other day and told me that the monkey bars are "dumb." In five-year-old kid speak, that translates as "hard." So I've been encouraging him, when we're at the park, to try them different ways -- with me spotting him, supporting his body, pointing out the finder details of other kids' technique...

Ah, the joys of having a parent that studies movement...

And here's what I've learned - the monkey bars are hard. Really hard. And a total core workout. And kinda, um, scary.

I could see fear thoughts when they would drift into my son's brain because it changed how he moved -- more cautious, less sure. So finally, I asked him, "What are you scared of"

"Falling."

"Ok, so do it."

"What?"

"Let go."

So my son let go after he hung for awhile, and he landed on two feet, looked up at me, smiled, and said, "That was fun! I'm going to do that again! I'm going to be an expert faller!"

So what is the scariest thing for you right now? Snake on Reformer? Candlestick on Cadillac? Signing up for an Introductory Series? Registering for a Pilates training?

It may be just the thing that you are best at, the most fun you'll ever have.

Just. Let. Go.