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Pilates is Perfect for Pregnancy!

Pilates is a safe and effective form of exercise for everyone. Literally, every body can benefit from Pilates. No matter what your age, stage of life, body type, injury, or condition you may have, Pilates can be used to help you achieve your goals, ease your pain, and keep your body healthy.  This is even true for pregnant women, in fact Pilates can actually help women have an easier time during child birth. How’s that for incentive to exercise—EASIER CHILD BIRTH! Read on for a few reasons Pilates is amazing during pregnancy.

Pilates is SAFE: A well-educated Pilates instructor can help make sure you do not work until your flush, lie on your back, stay in one position too long, or do any of the other things that are not recommended for exercising during pregnancy. A prenatal certified Pilates instructor will help you feel good, stretch, and strengthen the correct muscles in a way that will keep you and baby safe and sound.

Pilates Provides Pelvic Floor Power: Your pelvic floor is very important for support and organ function,especially during pregnancy and labor. Pilates offers a very effective way to strengthen and stretch your pelvic floor so it performs properly. A strong and supple pelvic floor will not only help you support your growing baby and aid in bladder control, it will also help make labor a smoother process. Pelvic floor strength, as well as mobility (just as important), can be achieved through a prenatal Pilates workout.

Pilates Helps You Breathe Properly: Breathing is so, so important for the vitality of mamas and their growing babies. Pilates will help you focus on proper breathing techniques, potentially increasing diaphragm strength, increasing lung capacity, and aiding in more effective breathing. Plus, focusing on your breathing now will help you utilize breath better during labor. Get this: better breathing can even help make more room for your baby so you’re more comfortable!

Pilates builds the PROPER Core Strength:  You may not want to hear this but, doing crunches to strength your superficial abs (the six pack muscles) can actually make labor and recovery MORE difficult for you. The good news? Strengthening your deep core muscles can actually help support your baby and make your labor easier. Pilates can help you strengthen those deep core muscles, and a prenatal specific workout will avoid overworking your more superficial abdominal muscle, the rectus abdominis. This core strength will also help you walk, stand, and move better during pregnancy and help ward off back pain and other aches.

Pilates Can Make You Feel GOOD: Pregnancy is a beautiful miracle, but sometimes it makes you feel like crap, yea? Doing exercise regularly will help you build confidence and just feel good about yourself. Plus the core strength, breathing, and stretching that Pilates focuses on help to alleviate aches and pains, improve posture, and…well…make you feel better!

 

Note: Hayley Sunshine of Buffalo In-Home Pilates is a prenatal certified instructor.  Contact hayley@betterbodybuffalo.com to set up a free prenatal Pilates consultation.

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5 Reasons Your Body Loves Pumpkin Season Too!

Photo via beanurbanfarmer.com

Pumpkin is EVERYWHERE during the beautiful fall season and we all go crazy for it! The good news is your body can benefit from the pumpkin overload that your mind and taste buds crave. Let’s be honest for one minute here; your pumpkin spice latte probably does not have real pumpkin in it. Also, the benefits listed below aren’t good reasons to eat pumpkin cream cheese muffins everyday. BUT you should indulge in pumpkin treats every once in a while and explore some healthy pumpkin recipes this fall to reap these awesome pumpkin plusses:

1. FIBER Keeps You Full: Pumpkin has a really good fiber-to-calorie ratio (7 g. of fiber for every 80 calories) so it can keep you feeling full and satisfied without consuming tons of calories. In case you weren’t sure, more fiber and fewer calories equals weight loss!

2. Beta-Carotene Can Fight Cancer: Just like with carrots and sweet potatoes, pumpkin’s festive orange hue means it’s a great natural source of the antioxidant beta-carotene. Beta-carotene may be influential in fighting cancer and you’re much better off getting it through food than a supplement. It’s good to eat orange!

3. Carotenoids Keep You Young: The same antioxidants that make your body a lean, mean, cancer-fighting machine also help your skin stay young and beautiful by slowing down the development of wrinkles.

4. Potassium Gives You Energy: Similar to bananas, pumpkin puree packs a powerful dose of potassium that can help you refuel after a workout. In fact, one cup of cooked pumpkin actually has MORE potassium than a banana. Pumpkin’s potassium will help your body restore its electrolyte balance so your muscles can continue to function properly.

5. The Seeds Are Super:  Pumpkin seeds, often thought of with nostalgia, are actually powerful super foods for your health! Can you believe a little seed can pack in protein, magnesium, potassium, and zinc? These nutrients, plus the high level of phytosterols in pumpkin seeds, can help ward off depression, lower risk of bladder stones, reduce cholesterol, and help prevent cancer.

So go ahead, roast some pumpkin seeds, make pumpkin waffles, or try a savory recipe like this one for Pumpkin Risotto. Your body will thank you.

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7 Reasons to Believe the Wheatgrass Hype

This morning I had a wonderful drink of pineapple juice and wheatgrass. It was delicious even though I could tell my drink was healthy. Knowing that we’re consuming something healthy is one thing but actually knowing what those health benefits are is an entirely different thing though. I found myself asking: why is there wheat grass in my juice? Why are wheat grass shots such a popular health habit? Is it all just a façade of green goodness? Hmm…

Turns out there are some very real and very awesome benefits to drinking wheat grass (a young grass in the wheat family) juice. Here are just a few:

1. Wheatgrass Packs a Powerful Nutrient Punch

Calcium, magnesium, iron, amino acids, chlorophyll, and vitamins A, C, and E can all be found in your little wheat grass shot. Even further, wheatgrass has more vitamin C than oranges and twice as much vitamin A as carrots

2. Protein Building in a Glass

The 19 amino acids found in wheatgrass, the “building blocks of protein,” are essential for cell growth and regeneration. All 19 amino acids means wheat grass is a complete protein!

3. 70% Chlorophyll Makes a Difference

Here’s the deal: chlorophyll can slow down the aging process, stop bacteria growth, refine and renew tissue, and may even improve functions of the heart.

4. Greater Detoxification Powers

Wheatgrass has proven to be a more powerful detoxifier than other fruit and vegetable juices such as carrot juice.

5. Quick Energy Boost

Because of how the starch of the wheat berry is broken down into simple sugars, a shot of wheatgrass juice acts as a quick source of energy.

6. It Literally Contains EVERY Mineral Known

That’s over 90 different minerals! Vitamins and minerals are super for your health.

7. Lots o’ Magnesium

Wheatgrass contains a good amount of magnesium which can actually improve fertility and aid in digestion (bye-bye constipation!)

 

Despite it’s name, wheatgrass is totally gluten free, alkalizing, and boasts all of the above health benefits and many more! I definitely recommend adding some wheatgrass juice to your diet here and there, but make sure you enjoy it! Health benefits aren’t worthwhile if you’re choking your drink down, so try adding a shot of wheatgrass to a juice you already love. May I recommend fresh Pineapple juice with a shot of wheatgrass? Yum!

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Buffalo Healthy Eats: Squeeze Juicery

It’s new! It’s exciting! It’s full of healthy goods for you! It’s Squeeze Juicery!

I am so, so excited that Squeeze Juicery has opened on Main Street in Williamsville. After my first visit to the bright, clean juice bar, I’ve already decided that my favorite thing about Squeeze has to be that they can make your juice right on the spot OR you can grab one from the cooler and be out the door in mere seconds. I tried both.  A freshly pressed juice yesterday, and one from the cooler today. Thumbs up for both!

Yesterday I tried the “Shooting Star” which is basil, lime, cucumber, and apple cold-pressed right in front of your eyes and then poured over ice. Let’s go with the bad news first: it took a verrrrrrrrry long time. Here’s the thing though, cold-pressing the juice maintains even more of the super-powered enzymes and nutrients in the juice, so its worth the wait. I liked my juice a lot. It was a little more lime-y and less sweet than I expected but I love basil in juice. So refreshing. While I was there I also grabbed a juice from the cooler to have the following day. The shelf life on those juices are short, just 3 days, so you can’t really stock up a big supply, but it is great to go in and grab a juice for breakfast the following day or if you don’t have time to wait for a fresh pressed juice. For my juice from the cooler, I had the “Alive” drink which includes spinach, kale, celery, apple, parsley, lemon, and ginger. Does that sound like health in a bottle, or what?  Again, the juice wasn’t as sweet as anticipated which must be because I use LOTS of sweet apple when I make my own juices. Nonetheless, the juice was refreshing and tasty and very drinkable.

Squeeze also sells house-made hummus in a variety of unique flavors which I got to sample (Bonus!!)  while in the juicery. They were delicious. Right now Squeeze sells their hummus and some juices in their coolers plus they make juices, tonics, and smoothies at the counter.  Soon they will be serving up healthy wraps, including gluten free lettuce wraps in the next few weeks! The prices are comparable to other juice and smoothie bars around town but I’d argue that the cups are bigger here!  And when it comes to green juice, bigger is definitely better.

If you’re looking for a healthy snack, an energizing way to start your day, or are feeling ready to try the juicing craze, you have to check out Squeeze!

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Pilates Aids Professional Dancer

Pilates does a dancer good; look at those gorgeous, open shoulders!

Dance and Pilates have had a strong relationship since Joseph Pilates began teaching his technique in New York City in the 1920s. Pilates training can help dancers avoid injuries and improve their technique with its focus on strong but flexible muscles, breath, and core strength.  Although dance in and of itself is a great form of exercise, classes do not always perfectly prepare the body for the demands of performance and can often leave some muscle groups over worked, and others neglected and weak.  Pilates training can make a huge difference in a dancer’s performance ability and even help her/him stay in shape during the off season.

Professional dancer, Erica Day, knows first hand the benefits of Pilates for dance as it has helped her through injuries, improve her dance technique, and train as an aerial dancer! In this interview, Erica lets us know first hand just how much Pilates has helped her in her blossoming career!

Q: How long have you been dancing?

A: I have been dancing since the age of 3! At 4 it was about 2 hours a week and of course, as I got older the training became more and more serious. By the time I reached high school age I was taking over 20 hours of dance per week.

Q: Tell us about your experience as a professional dancer

A: I worked for Celebrity Cruise lines as a dancer for a 6 months, travelling in Europe and then the Caribbean. After that I moved to NYC for the International Student Visa Program (ISVP) at Broadway Dance Center. It was a great year to meet people and study new things. While in NYC I was given the opportunity to perform as a back up dancer for recording artists Sir Ari Gold and Lily Halpern, opening for the tour Waitin4U featuring teenage heartthrobs Cody Simpson and Greyson Chance. For the past year I have been employed with Norwegian Cruise line as Dancer, Dance Captain and Aerialist. Those contracts have taken me to Alaska, Panama Canal, Egypt, Israel, Turkey , all over the Mediterranean and all over the Caribbean. It has been an amazing time and I’m so excited about what the future brings!

Q: When did you start doing Pilates?

A: When I entered the International Student Visa Program at Broadway Dance Center, they offered Mat Pilates, which I started to take about twice a week.

Q: Did you start Pilates to rehab an injury?

A: When I was about 18-22 I would have these “episodes” where my knees would give out and my pelvis would shift out of alignment and I’d be on my stomach on the floor unable to stand up. At one point, I had an X-Ray done and my pelvis was way out of alignment, tilted forward 40 degrees! Obviously not a great thing for a dancer who needs to be able to dance, shift weight, and balance all day. I saw many doctors and no one really knew why it was happening but chalked it up to me not having a strong enough core or knowing how to use it properly. It was then that I realized, I can really focus in on what it means to work from my core or I can continue on the way I am and probably not be able to dance in a few years. I chose to focus with Pilates.

Q: What do you enjoy about Pilates

A: I enjoy knowing that my body is getting realigned as the class goes on in a safe manner, I love the low impact but difficulty of the moves, I love feeling the burn and having the parts I’m working on shake and I love how it shapes my body. It’s also a great way to get me connected to my breath!

Q: Absolutely, breath is so important in maintaining stamina in dance, and life! Have you felt a difference in your dancing since starting Pilates?

A: Practicing Pilates has definitely made me stronger and more aware of my body at all times. It has given me a better sense of alignment and awareness which makes some of the more challenging aspects of my performance happen with more ease.

Q: Do you think Pilates has helped you avoid injuries?

A: MOST DEFINITELY! I started the reformer last year and took a handful of privates and classes right before I was called from Norwegian Cruiseline to fly immediately to Toronto to train in aerial dancing, including Spanish Web and Bungee. You need to have the strongest core to really execute the tricks safely and in a 7 month period I stayed completely injury free! As a person who suffered from lower back injuries consistently in my late teens to early 20s, that was a huuuuge feat. Without the Pilates background who knows what could have happened.

Q: In your opinion, why is Pilates a great compliment to dancing

A: From an esthetic point of view, Pilates shaped and toned my body like no other exercise program has, including lifting weights, running, and Yoga. My lines became leaner and longer. My ankles actually became stronger!

Q: Has Pilates helped you become a more proficient dancer?

A: Unfortunately as a young girl no one really talked to me about how important my core is. So here I was whipping out all of these difficult tricks without an understanding of safety and where movement comes from. Now when I dance, I know to engage my lower core and “zip everything up” creating a really strong safe casing around my abdomen and lower back area. It’s starting to become second nature and I find when my balance is unsteady, I just think about laying down on the reformer or floor and “zipping” everything up. When I focus on that I can hold things for days. Pilates has really helped my control and added a calmness to my dancing. There is no need to be frantic because I know my core is there for me. 

Thank you to Erica for sharing her experience with Pilates and dance! If you are interested in learning more about how Pilates can help you avoid injuries and improve your performance, contact hayley@betterbodybuffalo.com!

 

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