Client of the Month - January 2013

This is my first repeat client of the month. I am so excited to announce that one of my clients, the Cathedral High School Football team, who I have been training for the last 3 years, have again (for the third year in a row) won the State (4A) Championship for Football!  I’m not going to say Pilates is the reason they have won all three years, but I’m not NOT going to say it either. Check out their winning photo on the Cathedral website. They look so pumped up!

But seriously, I am so proud of these boys—it has been fun seeing them all grow and change the last few years.  I am also proud to say that they have really come around to the importance of Pilates (we also do some yoga as well) in their football training regimen.  Their form has gotten so much better and so has their behavior and enthusiasm for Pilates.  When I first started training them, there was a lot of snickering during our sessions, but now they know many of the exercises very well and understand how much they help them.  I guess they have also figured out I’m not going anywhere so they may as well buckle down!

The boys tell me how much they like the training now—they say it feels physically really good and that it realigns them.  Our workouts usually occur on Saturdays after they have played a game the night before. Sometimes it is hard for these guys to work out certain parts of their bodies, and after a game, their muscles are often tight and sore.  Pilates gives them the right amount of stretching and flexibility training to activate their hips and inner thighs and prevent hip injuries on the field.  In fact, I have been training a retired NFL player for several months as well who tells me how much he loves Pilates because it challenges him in ways he hasn’t been challenged.  Now you know these guys work out a ton, so to challenge someone in new ways that played football for many years is a testament to the diversity of training you can get with Pilates!

As I mentioned, we also do a bit of yoga in most of my sessions together with the team. One of the moments that warmed my heart from this past season was when I told the boys we were going to end with Shavasana (which is the relaxation part of yoga that normally comes at the end of the workout) and one of the boys said, “oh good! I have been waiting for this all week!”  I think our workouts have opened their minds to new ways to train and respect their bodies.  I also loved when they made requests for certain Pilates exercises—like recently several players asked for “side series” (a grouping of exercises done while laying on your side) because they just really like the way it feels.

I am just so pleased with these boys, their dedication to the workout, and their successes on the field.  And hey, if it works for a bunch of football players, you know we can help your strength and flexibility too. No guy can ever tell me again that Pilates is for girls when I am training an entire football team AND a retired NFL player.

Congratulations Cathedral Football!

Client of the Month -- December 2012

I can’t believe it is already time for our last client of the month for 2012! Boy how time flies.  But I am proud to announce this month’s client of the month is Brian Carey!  Brian was one of my very first male clients and has been working out with us here at Indianapolis Pilates by 15 to Fit for over 3 years.

Brian has always been interested in working out to keep his body healthy and fit, as well as to control the diabetes he has had for the last 42 years.  He just decided he wanted to try something new and gave Pilates a shot.  In his own words, he “got hooked right away.”  He likes that it is an intense workout, but that he also doesn’t get tired of it because we are constantly changing it up.  He did try Pilates once before at another location, but didn’t like that they weren’t more closely monitoring what he was doing—and since he wasn’t so sure himself on his first try, it didn’t really work out.  He told me he enjoys the fact that at our studio, the classes are small and that there is an instructor who is always keeping an eye on his form.  His advice to new people interested in Pilates? Just give it a couple of sessions and see what you think.  Even though it may be slightly more expensive than larger group classes, he feels like you get what you pay for, and that the value you get at 15 to Fit is exceptional, particularly with all the one on one attention.  Who could ask for a better compliment? 

Brian has always dedicated time to exercise and has done a fair amount of cardio and weights—but he feels like Pilates offers a full body workout and this is one of the things that he thinks is the most different about Pilates from other types of exercise (and one of the things he likes the most about it).  He also thinks the workouts are intense—he jokes that sometimes his male friends tease him about doing Pilates, but that he just challenges them to come in and see what it is all about.  He enjoys that the workouts continue to increase in difficulty as your skill level increases, so that you always have new goals to accomplish.  He likes the class he takes weekly because it incorporates the machines (the reformer and the chair) as well as the barre and the TRX equipment.  He tells me he can really feel his core working!

Brian told me he didn’t have specific goals when he started with us here besides trying something new, but that he has seen so many benefits from Pilates—for one thing, all his doctors, who closely monitor his health particularly because of his diabetes, have told him that he is in great shape because of all he does.  He also is very physically active in his business (he owns a mobile dry cleaning service called Pressed 4 Time) and feels like not only does he have more energy, and better balance, but loves the fact that when he leans to pick something up, or is bending over, he automatically tucks in his stomach muscles—a habit he credits to his Pilates practice. He also has started incorporating portions of his workouts at the studio into his personal workouts. THOSE are exactly the kinds of things that I LOVE to hear!  Keep up the good work and congratulations Brian!

November Client of the Month

My client of the month for November is Stan!  Stan has been working out with us since March and is extremely dedicated to his exercise program—both here at Indianapolis Pilates by 15 to Fit but also on his own—he also likes to run and lifts weights.  This dedication to his health and he consistency as a client are the things that inspired me to make him this month’s client of the month! I think you will find him an inspiration as well.

Stan is 68 years old and a retired attorney. He was somewhat of a work-a-holic when he was practicing law and had let his health priorities slip a bit.  About 4-5 years ago, his doctor told him if he didn’t start exercising and lose weight, he was going to become diabetic.  Even though he had tried an exercise regimen in the past, he was really motivated this time.  This is when he started running and lifting weights.  However, within the last year, he started developing knee problems when he ran.  He went to see the doctor about his problem and was told he should try yoga.  After talking to his daughter about it, she recommended Pilates because she thought he would like it better than yoga.  He took a couple classes with her while visiting her in Hawaii and enjoyed them. When he got home, he started scouting out places to try it in Indianapolis.

Luckily, he found us doing a web search and even though his plan had been to try several and decide which place he liked best, he ended up finding us and because of the convenient location (lots of parking too) and our friendly staff, he just stayed with us (and his lovely wife has since joined us as well).  He told me he has worked out with nearly all our trainers and has enjoyed working with all of them.  He generally does two classes every week that he is in town.

Stan told me that he really has enjoyed Pilates because he likes things that test him—even though he has been working out now on his own for awhile, he likes the fact that Pilates targets muscles that he doesn’t target in his other workouts.  He also likes that in each new workout (which we change every week or two) there are new exercises to try and new areas that are targeted.  He also really appreciates the fact that because we keep our classes small (usually a maximum of 4 people), each person gets a lot of personalized attention from the trainer.

Stan’s goal when he started exercising was to get in good shape—he was doing what his doctor recommended. He likes that Pilates rounds out his fitness program.  He also has avoided that diabetes possibility that his doctor warned him about and amazingly, he has been able to go off of several other medications he had been taking for blood pressure and high cholesterol.  My favorite part though? He has also been able to improve his surfing and mountain hiking which he enjoys when he visits his daughter in Hawaii.  Pretty impressive huh?

Good work Stan!

Client of the Month - September 2012

I am happy to announce our client of the month for September—Tom B!  Tom is nearly 60 and is a small business owner and bookkeeper.  I love that the way Tom came to us is through his lovely wife Dee (who was our client of the month back in February).  She kept telling him he should try Pilates and finally just bought him a gift certificate to Indianapolis Pilates by 15 to Fit for Christmas last year.  He finally got over his initial thoughts that Pilates was just for women and decided to give it a try (after all, the money was already spent right?)

Tom had never tried Pilates and really didn’t know what to expect.  He had gone to gyms before and had even tried working out one on one with a personal trainer but just didn’t seem to be able to stick with it.  He says he must not have had the willpower to do it, but I disagree because he has become an extremely dedicated client since starting back in January. I think he just needed to find the right fit for him and we are it!

Tom had also had some abdominal surgeries before starting Pilates and had some fairly extreme weakness in his core stomach muscles.  We both knew this was an area that needed some work.  And I knew that Pilates was the perfect solution.  We went slow and in the beginning he will tell you he couldn’t do several of the classic Pilates core exercises and was doing roll ups only with extra assistance.  But now, his abs are so much stronger, he can do things like teasers and even advanced exercises like the tendon stretch! How cool is that?

But probably one of the most positive things he has to say about Pilates is how quickly he started seeing results.  As I mentioned, he had tried other exercise programs before and got frustrated and quit because he just couldn’t see or feel results.  But with us, after just 3 months here at 15 to Fit, Tom says he began to really see results.  He says he felt stronger and he could see muscle definition improvements. When he began seeing this difference in his muscle tone and could feel those muscles firming up, it helped keep him motivated to stay with it.  He told me he just started feeling so much better in general.  That is what we love to hear!

Of course one of the other things that he says helps keep him motivated (and honest) is the fact that he has a regular appointment for his twice a week group reformer classes.  The classes are small (only 4-5 people) and he knows if he cancels at the last minute, someone else might be missing an opportunity to go.  He also really enjoys the small class sizes because of the personal help that you get in every class from our instructors and the fact that if he goes regularly to the same classes, you start to see some of the same faces on a regular basis and you get to know the people in your classes.  He has even seen several other men show up in the classes! (See, it isn’t just for the ladies).

He likes the personal attention from the instructors because Pilates was new to him and he appreciates the one on one attention to make sure he is doing each exercise correctly and making sure that he doesn’t hurt himself.  He really likes the reformer classes because he really enjoys the machines—he feels like the resistance on the machines from the springs really has helped him gain the strength that he has gained.  He enjoys the constant changing of the classes/exercises and the fact that you don’t get bored doing a million repetitions of the same thing over and over.  He says that because of the variety, the classes go by very quickly (no greater compliment when you are exercising right?).

Tom’s goal when he started with us at Indianapolis Pilates by 15 to Fit was to just get moving.  He wanted some assurance that as he got a little older, his body would still be strong to support him.  He knew there was no time like the present and he did get moving and saw results quickly after.  We love him for his persistence and the fact that he rarely complains during class! So congratulation to Tom B. for being our September client of the month!

Client of the Month- June 2012

I am happy to announce our June Client of the Month- Mike F.!  Mike started doing Pilates here at Indianapolis Pilates by 15 to Fit about 2 years ago when he just happened to notice our studio.  He had never done Pilates before, and had always utilized a more traditional workout including weight training and running.  But after a hip replacement several years ago, he wanted to involve a trainer in his workouts so that he would stop constantly injuring himself.  He was also just looking for something different to do—he had just been doing the same workout on a stationary bike and then spinning through the various weight machines at the gym and was kind of bored with it I think.

He really liked the core strengthening that came with Pilates—he wasn’t constantly injuring himself because he had a trainer watching his form and making sure he wasn’t pushing things too far.  He was feeling stronger and felt his flexibility was greatly improved.  He liked the variety in the workouts and realized how important building core strength was to his overall health.  Before, he had just been focused on mass building and some cardio.  I think he realized that as he has gotten older, that core strength and flexibility are just as important.

Mike is also a golfer and can see the improvement in his golf game.  His increased flexibility has surely helped in this area as well.  And Pilates is such a great complimentary workout to many sports, but especially golf. In fact, I even wrote a post about it awhile back.  (You can read it here.)

Then, last year, Mike realized his ongoing back problems were going to require surgery—which he had last November.  After a few months of rehab, I was so glad to get him back in the studio several weeks ago.  I felt as his trainer that the best course of action would be for him to do a few private sessions to make sure that we both knew where he was physically and to make sure he didn’t overdo it in a group class.  Mike prefers the group classes though and is happily back as a regular client in classes twice a week!  I couldn’t be happier with his progress and am so glad that he has gotten back to Pilates.  I think Mike is a great example not just to men (Mike doesn’t understand why more men aren’t doing Pilates), and some of my slightly older clients, but to demonstrate how Pilates can be a great workout to incorporate even after a major surgery like this.  And for his perseverance and dedication, I am happy to name him client of the month!

Client of the Month- December 2011

This month, my “client of the month” is an entire football team!  In case you haven’t heard, the Cathedral Football team recently became (for the second year in a row) State (4A) Champions in football!  This is good news for Indianapolis, but also for me personally because I have had the privilege of training the football team for the last 2 seasons.  I still vividly remember my first day training them—imagine 75 teenage boys on an open football field in August and me teaching them Pilates and yoga moves.  I am telling you they had their doubts for sure.  When I simply told them, if their mothers could do it, so could they, they realized they should buckle down.   But one of my proudest moments about training these boys is the fact that even though there were a number of them that sort of snickered in the beginning, by the time this season was in full swing, they were going to their coach, Rick Streiff, and asking him to get back to it (we had scheduling difficulties in the beginning of their season this year, but got back into the swing of things at the end of this season).  The fact that these young men were specifically requesting to do Pilates is a great testimony for its benefits!

Coach Streiff initially contacted me about starting Pilates because he was looking for a good recovery workout after games.  Last year, Cathedral had a lot of Friday night games, so I trained them on most Saturday mornings.  Before starting Pilates, they had been doing some weight training and light running for their recovery and the Coach felt they were not recovering as well as he wanted.  He had heard about Pilates and then talked to someone at the University of Florida’s football program and heard they were using it in their workouts.  That’s when he decided if it was good enough for them; it would be good for his high school players too.

He has realized that not only did he find a good recovery workout, but that it has evolved into a really good flexibility and core strength workout.  He has mentioned how much he likes that it really stretches out these young men’s muscles in ways that traditional workouts (like weights and cardio) do not.  In fact, Coach Streiff has confessed that they have worked a lot of the moves they have learned from me into all of their post practice workouts.  Of course I love training them myself, but it is my mission to teach people how to incorporate exercise into their life as much as possible, so I am just as happy to hear they are doing things they learned from me even when I am not around!  I am also happy to hear that since they have started incorporating Pilates and even a little yoga into their post-practice and post-game workouts, that their injury rate is lower and they are recovering from games much faster with a lot less soreness and stiffness.

So, because of their work ethic and dedication, and of course, because of winning the State Championship for 2 years in a row, I would like to congratulate the Cathedral Football team for being December’s client of the month! Go Irish!

Pilates and Football

Image via Wikipedia

If you know me, you know how adamant I am that Pilates is not just for women, and is such a great exercise for men as well—but you KNOW I am serious when I tell you about how Pilates can benefit football players!

Not only do we here at Indianapolis Pilates by 15 to Fit train the entire Cathedral High School football players in the art of Pilates, but we have also trained a few other current and former professional athletes, including several former football players.   I recently spoke at the NFL Alumni Association-Indianapolis Chapter and tell a bunch of former players just how this kind of exercise could be beneficial to them and could benefit their quality of life.

Football players often focus only on increasing their brute strength by lifting weights and similar kinds of training.  Pilates, while it may seem foreign to such big guys, is an amazing complementary exercise practice to all that muscle building.  Pilates focuses on the core, as well as all the muscles throughout the body which can add a competitive advantage to a player who has been spending most of their time with heavy weight lifting. That will strengthen those large muscle groups, and Pilates will get to all those deep, often smaller, muscle groups.  And we will surely work your legs, glutes and arms as well to get you faster and more flexible.  More flexibility and paying attention to all those deep connecting muscles will also help you prevent injury and/or stay toned whether you are a current or retired player.

Pilates strengthens the core, an area that many football players may not focus a lot on—and a strong core can help prevent injuries to the back.  Actually, the strengthening and increased flexibility that comes from Pilates is going to help prevent all kinds of injuries.  I have had clients who have started Pilates with things like constant knee pain who now tell me they no longer feel any pain in that area since continuing a consistent Pilates practice.  And check out this USA Today article from a few years ago discussing the benefits of Pilates for all types of athletes, as well as in particular, a football player discussing how Pilates has helped him remain injury free and feeling better in general, both after games and practices. 

Here’s a few of the current athletes using Pilates:

LeBron James

Kobe Bryant

Tiger Woods

Jason Kidd

Chris Simms

DeMarcus Ware

Eddie Cheever

Danny Granger

Curt Schilling

Ruben Brown

And those are just a few of the individual athletes—many teams incorporate Pilates into their workouts routinely now.

So all you football players out there, don’t think Pilates is too girly for you—I have several football player clients (not to mention the whole Cathedral team) who would tell you while Pilates is very different, it certainly kicks your butt too! It is gentler than many form of exercise, but is by no means easy.  And I even have a special machine designed for larger/taller clients which I have utilized extensively in training my athletes.  You ought to come check it out too!  Contact us at Indianapolis Pilates by 15 to Fit and see what it is all about!