I thought it was pretty funny until I found that I also could make an authentic-looking bagel with my stomach. After two pregnancies, it was time to do sit-ups.

But sit-ups, I later learned after performing them religiously with no visible effect, are the last thing women should do after they’ve had a baby. Instead of firming and tightening the stomach, they actually can lead to a bulging and protruding abdomen.

During pregnancy, as the abdominal muscles stretch to accommodate the growing fetus, the most superficial abs — the rectus abdominis, or six-pack muscles — can split down the middle like a pants seam.

This is a good thing because it allows room for the growing baby, said Cynthia Neville, director of women’s health rehabilitation at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. But when the split is too wide, exceeding 2 to 3 centimeters, it creates instability in the abdomen, trunk and pelvis.

It’s thought that the split should spontaneously reduce to less than 2 centimeters within a few weeks after delivery and that any urine leakage should cease within a few weeks after giving birth.

But if the core muscles, which include the pelvic floor muscles and the deep abdominals, are not working as a team, then “women may continue to have flabby, bulging, weak abs, or they may leak urine, or both,” Neville said. (Women who undergo Caesarean sections have a different challenge because of the way surgery affects the abs.)

What women need to do is to retrain the abdominal and core muscles to be strong and coordinated so they work at the right time.

The core should be the first muscles to kick into gear; if they’re not and you’re doing ab exercises that focus on the six-pack muscle, your stomach may bulge, Neville said.

A certified Pilates instructor can help with retraining the deep transverse muscles. It starts with learning to maintain a neutral (not too arched or flattened) position of the spine and pelvis.

Then you must learn how to contract the pelvic floor and the birthing muscle — the flat sheath of muscle that wraps around and attaches to the ribs, abdominals and pelvis — while moving the arms and the legs.

“The key is to ‘remind’ the core to be the first to contract to prepare for the extremity movements until it becomes automatic,” Neville said — and not just during exercise but during everyday movement, such as lifting the baby or pushing a stroller.

Once these basic exercises are easy, move on to leg lifts, curl-ups, bridges and planks. These exercises are demonstrated in Erin O’Brien Denton’s DVD “Postnatal Rescue.” Denton, a personal trainer, recommends lying on your back and doing “bridges” (articulating the raising of the pelvis off the ground) for the first three months after delivery “to teach the abs to lie sleekly against the abdominal wall.”

She also suggests a modified Pilates 100s exercise, which is simply lifting the head and shoulders while pulling in the abdominals.
For additional articles on the success of post natal Pilates visit the Pilates Blog to find a Certified Pilates professional in the Kansas City Area call (816) 741-3211

Experiencing movement in this way has marked effects on circulation and breathing, affecting both the nervous and endocrine systems. Since you cannot affect one part of the body without affecting the whole, Pilates can also enhance your mental and emotional well-being. If you truly commit to this incredible method, you’ll notice that it will affect everything you do in your life. Your new awareness will transfer into the way you walk, sit, move, speak, think, react, respond, relate and recover. When this happens, you will truly know what it means to embody Pilates!

In his book, “Return to Life,” Joseph Pilates wrote about how the process of taking control of one’s body and health also revitalizes the mind and spirit. By becoming more aware of your bodily sensations, you develop a heightened awareness of yourself. This can unlock the wisdom you need to realize your full potential. Whether you want to acquire a skill for movement, overcome mental and emotional fears surrounding past pain or injury, or just feel so fantastic in your own skin that you truly believe you can accomplish anything, the Pilates Method can help you accomplish this!

History Of Pilates

Joseph H. Pilates
(1880 – 1967)

Mary Pilates LeRiche qualifies as an expert and probably was Joseph’s earliest disciple as she had worked in her Uncle Joe’s exercise studio as a young woman in her 20’s. A now famous photograph of Pilates’ exercise studio at 939 Eighth Ave., NY, NY displays a long rectangular room with at least four Reformers (the original group sessions?) in a line. Joseph stands between two, his wife, Clara, in her nurse’s uniform, by another, and his niece Mary at yet another Reformer. Mary relocated to South Florida in the 1960’s and continued teaching fitness as her uncle had taught her. Even today, at 81 years young, she will demonstrate the “only way” the exercises should ever be done. That would be just the same way it was done in the 1940’s.

“People won’t understand the brilliance of my work for 50 years.” That is a quote from Joseph, himself, about 50 years ago. Mary LeRiche says that her uncle would be quite happy and surprised at just how much impact his work is having on the world. Today, healthcare professionals are studying and implementing his work into their healing therapies. Medical doctors are writing prescriptions for their patients: Pilates. His clever exercise apparatus designs are virtually the exact designs used by today’s equipment manufacturers. How many of the exercise machines found in today’s traditional gym setting can accommodate hundreds of exercises on one single piece the size of a twin bed? The Wunda Chair doubled as a small living room side chair that when flipped upon its back becomes a gymnasium with two bedsprings. Pilates felt that every home should have one.

As a child he had suffered with asthma, rickets, and rheumatic fever. Even as a young adolescent he made a life-altering decision that he would restore his own health. He studied the Eastern disciplines of yoga and martial arts and blended them with Western forms of physical activities such as bodybuilding, gymnastics, boxing, and recreational sports. At the young age of just fourteen years he had sculpted his physique so well that he was posing for anatomical charts.

As a young man he moved from Germany to England where he became a boxer, circus performer, and self-defense instructor. When World War One erupted he, and other German nationals, were incarcerated in Lancaster as “enemy aliens.” Pilates influenced the other detainees to follow his exercise regime which he called, “Contrology.” His fitness program was so beneficial that he and his fellow compatriots survived the 1918 influenza epidemic that took the lives of thousands of people. He attributed their survival to their physically fit lungs! Hence, the Pilates Principle of Diaphragmatic Breathing!

Pilates was later sent to the Isle of Man to work as a nurse orderly caring for the war wounded. One can imagine the condition of many of these soldiers; some had probably grown weak from lingering in hospital beds for months, their muscles atrophied, further inhibiting their potential for recovery. Unable to participate in Pilates’ floor exercises, these men benefited by Joseph’s cleverly designed apparatus to rehabilitate them right from their hospital beds and wheelchairs. Looking at the Cadillac one can see the table as the hospital bed; plumbing pipes create the canopy and borrowed bedsprings become first assistive and then resistive exercise tools. Despite whatever injuries the wounded may have had, Pilates was able to strengthen their muscles and restore them to their potential good health.

After the war Joseph returned to Germany but became disenfranchised with the political direction his country was taking. He decided to immigrate to the United States of America. He met his future wife, Clara, on the ship. Clara was a nurse and they realized that they shared the same interest of wanting to restore the good health of others. When they arrived in New York they decided to open up a physical fitness studio.

Joseph Pilates’ method of physical and mental wellness has been a best-kept secret of the dance and entertainment world since the 1920’s when his studio was discovered by Martha Graham, the mother of modern dance, George Balanchine, the artistic director for the New York City Ballet, and Rudolf von Laban, founder of Labanotation. Dancers such as Hanya Holm and Romana Kryzanowska, along with prizefighters, actors, actresses, and traveling circus performers embraced his methods both for the total body conditioning needed for the rigors of their work and also for rehabilitating the injuries that often plague dancers, performers, and athletes.

Dance companies all over the world use Pilates’ exercises to keep their dancers in top form. Many dancers go on to become Hollywood celebrities; Patrick Swayze and Madonna to name only two. Due to the attention the mainstream public gives to Hollywood celebrities the name Pilates is now a household word. If Madonna does it, it must work.

Romana Kryzanowska entered Pilates’ world as a young dancer in New York. Pilates regarded her as his disciple; she had absorbed and could express the essence of his work as if it were coming from him. She continues his legacy today in New York and has generously shared her knowledge with the world through her students, books, videos, and lectures.

Joseph’s obituary, appearing in the New York Times in 1967, reads like an advertisement for his methods. He is described as a white-maned lion with steel blue eyes (one was glass from a boxing mishap), and mahagony skin, and as limber in his 80’s as a teenager.

Joseph and Clara operated their exercise studio for over 40 years. He had dedicated his life’s work to restoring the health and vitality of others. Gone now for thirty-five years, the essence of his work continues on into the 21st century.

The most effective Pilates clothing is generally composed of the same three materials. It is a combination of cotton, nylon, and spandex. The cotton keeps the clothes comfortable for the movement your body will be doing.

The nylon and spandex are for flexibility and are essential in order to do the exercises. Without the stretch of these materials, you might as well be doing the stretches in the clothes you’re wearing right now! It would be very difficult and the clothes would not move with you, which is one of the most important aspects to remember when choosing your Pilates clothing.

If you are not comfortable while doing the exercises, you won’t want to continue them. Pilates is all about the physical and MENTAL parts of fitness. The exercise clothing needs to be breathable and have non-resistant.

Along with the stretch of the Pilates clothing, it is also very important that you do not buy clothes that are very loose-fitting. Of course, you don’t want them to be too tight, but in the same breath, it is important that they are close-fitting.

Why is this so important?

The foundation of Pilates has a lot to do with proper alignment. Snug fitting clothes gives you Pilates Professional the ability to clearly see your alignment while you are executing each exercise. A little bit out of alignment makes a big difference on the effectiveness of each exercise.

Also lot of the exercises are done on your back with your legs up in the air and your Pilates professional standing over you looking down. They are not interested in looking at you under garments. Men should ware bicycle shorts. You need something that won’t get in your way but also something that allows you to move.

Remove all fancy buttons, pins. belts and jewelry as they could become extremely inconvenient while bending, stretching and so on.

As in all other types of body and mind exercise regimes, it is important that you are comfortable with what you wear, while at the same time the clothing should permit stretching and bending without creating any type of inconvenience to yourself or to others. We have provided links to everything you will need at our online Pilates Boutique store powered by the worlds most respected online retailer Amazon and Gaiam…….Enjoy