Ellie’s no-nonsense prenatal and postnatal protocol will help you give your clients a safe and rewarding workout. Pregnancy Do’s and Dont’s DO: Limb Strengthening Assuming a healthy pregnancy, it is safe to perform all the leg and arm strengthening exercises in this book (squats, lunges, barre work, arm springs, etc). DO: Side Lying and Side Planks You can do anything at all in the side lying position while pregnant. Of course, you may need to modify as you get bigger because, hey, pregnancy makes things harder! DON’T: Prone Exercises Lying on your belly will not feel good for most o ..read more

The Shoulder  Glenohumeral joint is the main Shoulder joint. Ball and socket, very mobile joint. Movements: flexion, extension, abduction, adduction, internal and external rotation, circumduction. Acromioclavicular joint very common joint to separate when falling on your arm, snowboarding, biking etc. Sternoclavicular joint Scapulothoracic joint, the ”floating joint" Shoulder Girdle is the clavicle and scapula The scapula can perform six actions Elevation: upper trapezius and levator scapulae. Depression: lower trapezius. Retraction (adduction): rhomboids and middle trapezius. Protraction ..read more

  Kyphosis is hyper-curvature of the thoracic spine.  Forward head is a natural consequence of kyphosis since the eyes must look straight ahead.  A forward head posture involves increased flexion of lower cervical vertebrae and the upper thoracic regions, increased extensions of upper cervical vertebrae, and extension of the occiput on C1. Strategies for Kyphosis and Forward Head Open the chest and abdomen, release posterior neck muscles and sub occipitals. Re-train neck and sub occipitals. Passive thoracic extension over a ..read more

The knee can only flex and extend (some minor rotation movement) and is trapped between the hip and ankle, so when the knee is out of alignment most of the time it is coming from the  hip or ankle. Structural issues that cause knee pain: arthitis, shallow patella grooves, structural bow legs and knock knees, or other boney/cartilage dysfunction. Ligamental tears are a very common reason for knee for knee instability and pain. See below for ligamental tear details. The meniscus is a C-shaped piece of tough, rubbery cartilage that acts as a shock absorber between your shinbone and thighbone. It ..read more

The notes below are from Ellie’s workshop series, Master Class: The Hip and Lumbar Spine, on October 28. Check out our Events page to register for Ellie’s next Master Class: The Knee, on Monday, November 4 at 3pm at EHP South Slope on 8th Ave and 13th St. The Hip and Lumbar Spine The lumbar spine can move in all directions but because it lives in extension. It has more range of motion (ROM) in this direction and a limited range of motion in every other direction. The lumbar spine is more rigid than the thoracic and cervical because of the ratio of the thickness of the vertebrae and the discs ..read more

The fundamental Pilates exercises focus on your belly, butt, and core stability. As you progress in the Pilates method, the exercises start to focus more on upper body strength. The theory goes that once you attain core stability, supporting the weight of your body is much easier. When first attempting some of the upper body exercises that put weight on your hands, you may feel a load on the wrist. As you get stronger in your back and shoulders, you won’t feel the stress in the wrist as much. Here are some tips to get the load off the wrist: Keep your wrist aligned with your shoulder. In other ..read more

The “Core-Tet” In Neutral Spine, there are four muscles that support the spine: transversus abdominis, Multifidus, Pelvic floor, and Diaphragm. Multifidus: The New Powerhouse In the world of sports medicine research, the multifidus muscle is now all the rage. Formerly thought to be relatively unimportant muscle based on its fairly small size, recent research shows that it’s actually the strongest muscle in the back because of its unique structure. The Multifidus has short fibers arranged within rods which are stiffer than ..read more

Why do we harp on this so much? Neutral Spine is one of the most subtle, yet powerful principles in the Pilates lexicon. When the spine is neutral you have three spinal curves—cervical, thoracic, and lumbar—which function to absorb shock when running, jumping, or simply walking around town. And ultimately, if you live in Neutral Spine, you will be putting the least amount of stress on the muscles and bones. That’s the beauty of perfect posture: it actually feels better. We want to maintain and reinforce these natural curves ..read more

There are 2 main causes of sciatic pain, which is nerve pain running down the side or back of your thigh which can run all the way to your toes.  First is lumbar disc dysfunction, which can be a herniated, degenerated or subluxed disc which is either pushing directly on the sciatic nerve or has created inflammation that is causing the sciatic nerve to be grumpy. Disc issues tends to be more serious, since the precious spine is involved, and can be more of a structural issue which may or may not need surgical or hands on intervention and lots of time to heal. If the disc is subluxed and is phys ..read more

 If you suffer from knee pain, particularly lateral knee pain or pain on the front of your knee, around your kneecap (patella), pain when you  go down stairs, pain after you run or do any kind of impact sport, this little trick could be a lifesaver.     Step 1: Roll out your quads ..read more