Sandow and Pilates

Posted on February 27, 2020 by Movement Health in ,
Eugen Sandow performing an abdominal exercise holding light dummbells.

When you explore the Physical Culture Movement of the late 1800’s-early 1900’s you can start to develop a picture of some of Joseph Pilates influences. One influence of particular interest is Strongman Physical Culturist Eugen Sandow. Eugen Sandow (1867-1925) Born Friedreich Müller in Konigsburg, Prussia (Germany) in 1867, Sandow is considered the, ‘Father of modern …read more

Joseph Pilates and the Physical Culture Movement

Posted on October 31, 2018 by Movement Health in ,
Joseph Pilates teaching the teaser exercise to a group of dancers outdoors

Pilates gave us his wonderful method of physical and mental conditioning, however some of his ideas were informed by the times and the Physical Culture Movement represents those times. The Physical Culture Movement followed a timeline that started in Europe, moved on to England and expanded in to the United States; Pilates life followed a …read more

Pilates standing footwork – a good exercise for skiers

Posted on September 9, 2017 by Movement Health in ,
male doing standing pilates footwork to help with skiing

Squats, lunges etc can be the standard exercises used to prepare the lower body for skiing. The Pilates exercise standing footwork from the 2×4 series is a twist on the squat movement and is closely related to footwork on the reformer. Pilates standing footwork is a whole-body exercise that strengthens the feet, ankles, knees and …read more

Work the core, reduce stress…

Posted on July 7, 2017 by Movement Health in , ,
male and female doing Pilates sit up, could this help to reduce stress?

As someone who walks the line of multiple movement based disciplines I often find the evidence driven Exercise Physiology part of my professional make-up trying to unpack what is happening with some of the Pilates exercises. At times Pilates exercises may not seem all that functional and there can be limited levels of progressive overload. …read more

Whole body health

Posted on June 15, 2017 by Movement Health in , ,
after exercising two men and a woman sit on the kerb recovering and socialising a good display of whole body health

In my own experience the common perception of what an Accredited Exercise Physiologist (AEP) does is prepare exercise programming. This is certainly a big part of an AEP’s skill set; however a common response of mine is, “An AEP can prepare the best, most clinically appropriate exercise program, but does it get done”. In situations …read more

Movement Health and pulling straps

Posted on November 7, 2016 by Movement Health in ,
Lady doing, Pulling straps on Pilates reformer

As an Exercise Physiologist I’m required to stay up-to-date with the appropriate scientific literature and use this to apply best practice treatment for clients. A piece of literature I find myself using a lot when working with shoulders (and particularly the shoulder blades) was undertaken by Cools et al. (2007). The goal of this study …read more

What is Pilates?

Posted on October 10, 2016 by Movement Health in ,
Joseph Pilates outside in nature with exercise mat

What is Pilates? A popular belief I encounter fairly regularly regarding this question seems to be; ‘Pilates is that stretchy, core thing’. In an Exercise Physiology/Physical Therapy/Rehab setting Pilates based exercises are often used as an exercise treatment for back injuries. I feel there’s a bit more to Pilates so here goes: Pilates was a …read more