Tag Archives: pilates in essex

Current Affairs, Health and fitness

VAT on Pilates: Tax judges refuse to bend rules

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Pilates Rehab Road to Recovery Image

VAT on Pilates in the UK

www.pilatesrehab.co.uk

As a provider of Pilates services in the UK and in Barcelona, Spain, it is essential for me to stay up-to-date with rulings about taxation.

The industry has been waiting for a ruling, and this week that ruling was delivered.

The ruling this week by Tax Judges in the UK means that Pilates will contain to not qualify for VAT exemption.

You must register for VAT if you go over, or you know that you will go over the threshold of £81,000 in a 12-month period.

Some services in the UK are exempt from VAT, but Pilates is not.

If you’re a VAT registered business then you are essentially an unpaid tax collector. You have to add VAT at the appropriate rate to everything you sell (usually at 20%). This additional income isn’t yours – you’re collecting it on behalf of HMRC (HM Revenue & Customs). Every 3 months you need to pay over the VAT you’ve collected to HMRC. There are pros and cons about being registered for VAT. As the Pilates industry mainly deals with clients who are not VAT registered themselves, there are not as many benefits as other business may get.

If your PIlates business is based outside of the UK then VAT will not apply.

You can read more about the ruling by clicking on the link below. The Times is a subscription website.  I will post more details of the ruling as soon as I can.

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/money/tax/article4278607.ece

Chris is an international Pilates and functional training presenter and educator based in London and Barcelona, Spain. He is the creator of Pilates EVO©, bodyFUNC©, and CEO of Pilates Rehab Limited and Sport Core Strength.  He also created Pilates Carnival and Fitness Carnival, conventions where all profits go to local children’s charities. He organises retreats, fitness holidays and sports holidays in Barcelona. For more information about training with Chris in Barcelona, please click on Barcelona Bienestar. To learn more about Chris, please read Just who is Chris Hunt anyway? You can also subscribe by completing the form on the this BLOG to receive articles and special offers straight to your inbox.

Chris pays all profits made from this BLOG to his charity partners. More details can be found by clicking on www.chrishuntwellness.com and selecting the “charity partners” tab.

 

 

Celebrity Pilates, Current Affairs, Health and fitness

Should Pilates make you sweaty? Melanie Griffith has an opinion

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Chris Hunt Pilates Melanie Griffith

Should Pilates make you sweaty? Melanie Griffith has an opinion

I wrote yesterday about hot Pilates and yoga (Hot Pilates and yoga: Is it just a lot of hot air?), but today I want to ask another question about getting sweaty and today it’s nothing to do with high temperatures in the room.

It’s Friday so I have that Celebrity feeling again, my compromise after a week of serious blogs. I have explained before that I am not obsessed with celebrity. I have never bought Hello Magazine. What I am obsessed with is Pilates. And whilst not every one agrees, it’s my opinion that if someone starts Pilates because their friend, neighbour, sporting hero or favourite celebrity does Pilates, then why not?

I’ve had comments about glamorising Pilates, about how privileged celebrities are, about creating false hope, about living on a different planet… Whilst I always respect the opinion of everyone, it is my humble opinion that these people are missing the point of my posts and they are taking everything a little too seriously. All I am doing is raising the awareness of Pilates. If you do not or can not understand that, then I am sorry for wasting your time and please do not read my blog today! 🙂

The media reported this week that Melanie Griffith “proved she was putting plenty of effort into improving her mental and physical well being on Wednesday afternoon when she stepped out with sweat-soaked hair following an intense Pilates class. The Working Girl actress showcased her gym-honed shape as she left her class looking exhausted behind her shades as she left the Los Angeles session.”

Melanie has her Pilates sessions with Mari Winsor, a famous celebrity trainer in the US who studied with Romana. Melanie boasted on Twitter about her Pilates instructor later that day: ‘Check out my gorgeous kick ass Pilates instructor @mariwinsor. She rocks!!!’ Clearly she is very happy with the exercise she is getting.

Whilst her “sweat-soaked hair” maybe more as a result of a shower after the session, for the media to infer that people do and should leave a Pilates session looking exhausted and very sweaty is not a general image of Pilates that I endorse. Whilst everyone sweats to varying degrees depending on many different factors, my general question to you today is how sweaty do you make your clients and do you agree that Pilates should make them very sweaty?

Chris is an international Pilates and functional training presenter and educator based in London and Barcelona, Spain. He is the creator of Pilates EVO©, bodyFUNC©, and CEO of Pilates Rehab Limited and Sport Core Strength.  He also created Pilates Carnival and Fitness Carnival, conventions where all profits go to local children’s charities. He organises fitness holidays and sports holidays in Barcelona, as well as retreats. For more information about training with Chris in Barcelona, please click on Barcelona Bienestar. To learn more about Chris, please read Just who is Chris Hunt anyway? You can also subscribe by completing the form on the this BLOG to receive articles and special offers straight to your inbox.

Chris pays all profits made from this BLOG to his charity partners. More details can be found by clicking on www.chrishuntwellness.com and selecting the “charity partners” tab.

 

Current Affairs, Health and fitness

Scientific Studies into Pilates: Where is the evidence?

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Chris Hunt Pilates

Scientific Studies into Pilates: Where is the evidence?

Today there have been media reports of a new study into the effects of Pilates.

It is argued in certain quaters that there remains a distinct lack of scientific evidence that categorically proves the beneficial effects of Pilates. Whilst the anecdotal evidence of Pilates practitioners and others in the areas of rehabilitation and health such as physiotherapists is conclusive, sceptics are still not all convinced.

Because of this, I find any new scientific study into Pilates very interesting.

Dr. Bijan Najafi is an Associate Professor of Surgery and a member of the University of Arizona Centre on Aging. According to Najafi, the science between aging and exercise is simple. Exercises, like Pilates, allow the brain to correct motor errors, and in layman’s terms, retrain the brain to move correctly.

A recent study in the Journal of Physical Therapy Science he concludes that Pilates can help balance ability in senior citizens. “Of course, the general term is that you should, ‘move it or lose it,'” Associate Professor of Surgery and member of the University of Arizona Center on Aging, Dr. Bijan Najafi said. “Usually, if you become very active, you can overcome many pains,” Najafi added.

I have written before about Pilates in older age, for example the British Actress Felicity Kendal is a great example at the age of 67, read Felicity Kendal at 67: Pilates is better than botox.

I am still trying to obtain a full copy of Dr Najafi’s study because the above quotes are far from convincing and can mostly be put down to common sense. As soon as I have the study I will publish it here.

In the meantime, I am interested to know which previous studies you rely on when substantiating the benefits of Pilates to those who require more than anecdotal evidence. It will be useful I am sure if we compile a “top-ten” scientific studies that teachers can draw upon.

Chris is an international Pilates and functional training presenter and educator based in London and Barcelona, Spain. He is the creator of Pilates EVO©, bodyFUNC©, and CEO of Pilates Rehab Limited and Sport Core Strength.  He also created Pilates Carnival and Fitness Carnival, conventions where all profits go to local children’s charities. He organises fitness holidays and sports holidays in Barcelona, as well as retreats. For more information about training with Chris in Barcelona, please click on Barcelona Bienestar. To learn more about Chris, please read Just who is Chris Hunt anyway? You can also subscribe by completing the form on the this BLOG to receive articles and special offers straight to your inbox.

Chris pays all profits made from this BLOG to his charity partners. More details can be found by clicking on www.chrishuntwellness.com and selecting the “charity partners” tab.

Celebrity Pilates, Current Affairs, Health and fitness

Olympic snowboarder’s rehabilitation creates a new Pilates teacher

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Chris Hunt Pilates Pilates Rehab

www.chrishuntpilates.com

Olympic snowboarder’s rehabilitation creates a new Pilates teacher

We all know that Pilates is great for rehabilitation from many different injuries and conditions.

I love a happy ending. Some people have accused me of being negative in some of my articles (it’s impossible to please everyone and of course when reaching such conclusions, people are often reflecting their own negativity). Life is not always fluffy and sunny, there are sometimes difficult issues that I feel need to be discussed and not avoided: not because I like negativity, but because I am not afraid to speak my mind and debate issues that others may rather avoid.

In fact I am a very positive person. I practise mindfulness meditation and I am Buddhist. So back to my blog today, which is about two of my very favourite things in the world: Pilates and snowboarding. One of the reasons that I moved to Barcelona was because it is very close to the Spanish Pyrenees.

Today I want you to know about the Olympian who broke her back attempting a snowboard jump, spent four years in rehabilitation, found Pilates, and now she’s a Pilates instructor.

Steph Prem had one bad jump in the World Cup finals in Italy in 2010 changed the Olympian snowboarder’s life forever. The 24-year-old from Melbourne fractured vertebrae, compressed discs, dislocated her hip, broke five ribs and tore her pelvis and hamstring. She is now 29, and having had to give up her snowboarding career she discovered Pilates and teaches others from her own studio.

During her rehabilitation she finally accepted that she would never snowboard competitively again but by then she had gained a love of Pilates throughout her long and arduous road to recovery. She tried everything for her constant pain including Valium, spinal cortisone injections and nerve ending operations but nothing worked.

After much trial and error, it was a combination of both traditional methods along with alternative measures that has worked for her. She says ‘I had to try a lot of different things and be open-minded to a lot of different treatments because I was finding I was in a lot of pain for a long time and not a lot was helping.’

But it wasn’t until she tried Pilates three years ago that she discovered exercises she could do without experiencing any pain. After that she says that her quality of life improved out of sight. ‘It completely changed my whole way of being because before the accident I was addicted to daily exercise as a professional athlete but I lost that with my injury,’ she said. ‘I had been so limited and restricted in what I could do that it was so awesome to discover Pilates because a lot of the work was protected using the machinery. But also the lower deeper intrinsic work that I was doing gave me back that daily outlet and there was so much I could achieve,’ she said. ‘It gives you strength from the inside out – it helped me massively mentally and physically because I could do something again.’

Whilst my own story is nothing as extreme as Prem’s, my journey of acute back pain due to a spinal condition I was born with to marathon runner, amateur snowboarder, surfer and most importantly professional Pilates presenter, does have some similarities as Pilates was the rehabilitation technique that also changed my life. This is why I will always be so passionate about it (read more about Pilates EVO from the heart).

I created Pilates Rehab Limited in the UK to give easy access to a range of people who want and need professional Pilates services they can trust and rely on. Still to this day nothing gives me more satisfaction that knowing that I am helping too provide people with the means for them to take responsibility for their rehabilitation and improve their quality of life. I also love to work with sportsmen and women in the UK and in Barcelona.

I am very interested to hear your personal stories of your own rehabilitation thanks to Pilates or those of your clients. The more we can share experiences and raise awareness, the more people we can help to help themselves to a better quality of life.

That was a happy ending and a positively sunny blog for a Monday.

Chris is an international Pilates and functional training presenter and educator based in London and Barcelona, Spain. He is the creator of Pilates EVO©, bodyFUNC©, and CEO of Pilates Rehab Limited and Sport Core Strength.  He also created Pilates Carnival and Fitness Carnival, conventions where all profits go to local children’s charities. He organises fitness holidays and sports holidays in Barcelona, as well as retreats. For more information about training with Chris in Barcelona, please click on Barcelona Bienestar. To learn more about Chris, please read Just who is Chris Hunt anyway? You can also subscribe by completing the form on the this BLOG to receive articles and special offers straight to your inbox.

Chris pays all profits made from this BLOG to his charity partners. More details can be found by clicking on www.chrishuntwellness.com and selecting the “charity partners” tab.

Current Affairs, Health and fitness

Pilates services for people living in the UK

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Pilates Rehab Chris Hunt

www.pilatesrehab.co.uk

Pilates service for people living in the UK

If you are the type of person who wants to be responsible for your own health and rehabilitation, we can help you. If your business suffers from absenteeism due to injuries and back problems, we can help you.

How can we help you?
We can help you with many things such as whiplash injuries, pre and post pregnancy training and others including the following issues:

• Neck and back injuries
• Shoulder injuries and tendonitis
• Hip injuries and bursitis
• Ankle injuries
• Knee injuries and total knee/hip replacements
• Sciatica
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Parkinson’s Disease
• Fibromyalgia
• Scoliosis
• Repetitive stress injuries

Why do we do what we do?
Because at Pilates Rehab Limited we are passionate about Pilates. We believe that many people can gain great benefit from regular, structured Pilates sessions. Our purpose is to deliver Pilates to everyone in the UK who wants or needs it, in an approachable, friendly and efficient way, whilst achieving the very highest levels of customer care and service.

How do we do it?
We provide a single point of contact for the provision of Pilates throughout the UK via our own network of highly qualified teachers. Pilates Rehab aim to teach you a new system of exercise and body use, so you take more control and responsibility for your rehabilitation, helping you to recover from any specific complaint, and also improving your posture and flexibility. You will also have access to our life-time support package.

Pilates Rehab Ltd can work in conjunction with your GP, Consultant or physio/osteopath, and our teachers all work to our strict service standards and the highest levels of treatment and customer care. Pilates Rehab is a signatory of the BICMA Quality Standards for Rehabilitation Providers whilst operating in accordance with the UKRC Rehabilitation Standards.

What do we do?
Pilates Rehab Ltd offers excellent value for money as our prices are cheaper than other alternatives. Treatment is also more convenient, as sessions are typically carried out at client’s homes or places of work. Our strict Code of Practise ensures timely and relevant reports and information are provided to any referring organisation.

Pilates Rehab Ltd brings together expertise in the handling of injury claims and the rehabilitation process, professional treatment, and the highest standards of customer service, to help our clients achieve an earlier return to best recovery, and reduce the likelihood of a relapse.

We also work with sportsmen and women to help them recover from injury or to improve their performance, and we use other techniques including personal training to help our clients acheive their goals.  We can also give you advice on diet and nutrition.

We are the answer for all your Pilates and wellness needs where ever you are in the UK.

 

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i-Nurture Magazine September 2014

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i-Nurture Magazine September 2014 UK Edition

Welcome to this month’s free magazine. To view i-Nurture Magazine, please simply click the link below.

i-Nurture Magazine September 2014 UK Edition

Chris is an international Pilates presenter and educator based in Barcelona, Spain. He is the creator of Pilates EVO©, bodyFUNC©, and CEO of Pilates Rehab Limited and Sport Core Strength.  He also organises Pilates Carnival and Fitness Carnival, conventions where all profits go to local children’s charities. For more information about Pilates with Chris in Barcelona, please click on Barcelona Bienestar. To learn more about Chris, please read Just who is Chris Hunt anyway? You can also subscribe by completing the form on the this BLOG to receive articles and special offers straight to your inbox.

Chris pays 50% of any money made from this BLOG to his charity partners. More details can be found by clicking on www.chrishuntwellness.com and selecting the “charity partners” tab.

Health and fitness

Pilates in Chelmsford, Essex

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Chris Hunt Pilates in Chelmsford

www.chrishuntpilates.com

Pilates in Chelmsford, Essex. How to run a successful group session

I started Pilates over 20 years ago because I had a problem with my back. My story is not uncommon, as in my experience the majority of people who start Pilates do so as a result of a problem, an injury or advice from a doctor or physiotherapist. Pilates changed my life, so it is my mission to raise awareness of Pilates and to make sure that everyone has access to professional and reliable Pilates classes.

I will use the example of classes that I run in a hall in Margaretting which is in Chelmsford, Essex as this sums up what I want to talk about in the article perfectly.

Before I begin, some of you reading this might not be clear exactly what Pilates is. There is a lot of misinformation out there so I will try to succinctly explain.

Pilates is a full body conditioning program appropriate for the young and old, developed in the 1920’s by Joseph Pilates. His revolutionary program focuses on training the mind and body to work together more effectively and efficiently. Pilates dramatically transforms the way the body looks, feels, and performs by incorporating modern exercise science and rehabilitation principles, eliminating contraindicated movements while emphasising neutral alignment, core stability and peripheral mobility. It builds strength without excess bulk, creating a sleek, toned body and a flat abdomen. It teaches body awareness, good posture and easy, graceful movement whilst improving flexibility, agility and economy of motion.

Pilates exercises train several muscle groups at once in smooth, continuous movements. By developing proper technique, our clients can re-train their body to move in safer, more efficient patterns of motion – invaluable for injury recovery, good posture and optimal health. No other exercise system is so gentle to the body while giving it a challenging workout. Pilates builds a foundation of strength and flexibility that creates a better balanced body.

It is for these reasons that so many people practise Pilates. From Olympic competitors and professional sportsmen and women, to people recovering from serious injury, operations or following childbirth. Pilates can really help everyone, but only if it is done properly and regularly.

So back to Pilates in Chelmsford. The reason that I use Margaretting as my example is because it shows what is possible. The classes there have been running successfully for over 10 years. It is essential to give people regular and professional classes that they know they can rely on. Of course circumstances mean that sometimes a class cannot run (but it takes a lot of snow to stop us!) and sometimes it is necessary and healthy to introduce a new teacher, but consistency is vital so people know that their class will be running every week. What is important is that the classes are regular and frequent. The timetable for Chelmsford is:

Mondays: 9.30 am to 10.30 am and 19.00 to 20.00
Thursdays: 9.30 am to 10.30 am and 19.30 to 20.30

This has been the same for many years so people know when the classes take place.  Communication is important and with this in mind we now have a Facebook Group dedicated to Pilates in Chelmsford. Click here (Pilates in Chelmsford) to view and join the page. You will find up-to-date information and interesting articles about Pilates and health. There is a lovely sense of community in these groups that is wonderful for regulars but also very welcoming for new people.

The quality of the teacher is also paramount and when I talk about quality I mean professionalism, qualifications but also personality and teaching ability. We all know people who are highly qualified but cannot seem to get that knowledge across in an interesting way.

The classes are appropriate for all levels because the teachers are of a high quality. It is possible to have absolute beginners in the same class as very experienced people because most of the exercises have different levels of difficulty so everyone has a choice.

The venue itself is also very important. For our Pilates in Chelmsford we use Margaretting Village Hall in Wantz Road. It is a perfect venue. It is clean (it’s cleaned everyday), it has good ventilation in the summer, and excellent heating in the winter, it is easily accessible (only 10 minutes from central Chelmsford and 2 minutes from the A12, also 10 minutes from Brentwood and Billericay and only 3 minutes from Ingatestone) and importantly there is ample free parking. This all makes for a stress free experience.

For these classes I provide all the mats (and they are proper, full length Pilates mats, not yoga mats or cheap imitations) and also all other equipment such as balls and bands. This means that people can just turn up, enjoy the session and go home.

Cost is also very important. The session must be affordable and good value for people. So I still only charge £6 for an hours class (this price has not increased for 3 years), and people can buy a block that makes the sessions even cheaper.

Every ingredient is important if the end result is going to be the best it can.

If you have any questions about Pilates in general or about Pilates sessions in Chelmsford then please contact me on 07947 650809 or email chris@pilateslifesolutions.co.uk. You can also read more about Pilates by clicking on www.chrishuntpilates.com. You will find a link there to the Pilates Life Solutions website.

 

 

 

Current Affairs, Health and fitness, My life

Pilates: Mental Illness, Robin Williams and Ignorance

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Robin Williams Chris Hunt Pilates

www.chrishuntwellness.com

If you read my blog regularly, you will know that I feel very passionate about mental illness and its link with physical fitness. If this topic interests you, then you can read Let’s talk about depression: Is it Real?, Depression: Positive Thinking, and Exercise is only one part of Total Fitness.

As I said in a previous blog, “If you know someone who is suffering from depression, don’t judge or offer them advice. They don’t need that and it doesn’t help. They need your understanding and support. Question is, can you give them only that?”

My father died whilst suffering from Alzheimer’s. “Dementia: I lost my father, don’t lose yours” was the hardest post I have ever written. So it’s with interest that I have been watching the media following the tragic death of Robin Williams.

The increasing number of public figures who are having to apologise for comments they made in the past few days clearly shows the absolute and total ignorance some people have when it comes to depression. There is no excuse, no excuse to make such stupid comments, especially when you are in a position where some misguided people may actually listen to you and take your words for the truth.

Rock star Gene Simmons has apologised about his “spur of the moment” remarks about people who suffer from depression. The Kiss singer and bassist sparked outrage after saying he is “the guy who says ‘Jump'” to those who are suicidal. He is quoted as also saying that his advice was that if you are depressed you should “kill yourself”.

Robin Williams’ daughter Zelda has quit Twitter following the abuse she got from followers. People were telling her that her Dad was selfish and a coward to kill himself. Fox News TV anchor Shepard Smith sparked criticism after also suggesting the actor was a “coward” to kill himself. Meanwhile TalkSport in the UK has apologised after its radio presenter Alan Brazil said he had “no sympathy” for suicide.

All of these people have now apologised of course, no doubt worried about their ratings and future job prospects, but I have little doubt that their first words were the true way they feel about depression. And that worries and scares me in equal measures.

Make no mistake, anyone who thinks that Robin Williams is a coward or that he is selfish, or that suicidal people should “jump”, have a serious problem. These people should go educate themselves about depression and think before they make totally ignorant statements. I am serious. If there is even 10% of your mind that when reading this is thinking “they should pull themselves together” then please read my blog articles above and then go educate yourself because you are misinformed.

In my blog today I want to ask you to share your opinions and experience with clients who suffer from depression. Many distinguished Pilates teachers say that Pilates can help people suffering from depression. Pilates without doubt helps to relax the mind and energise the body, gives body awareness, can improve self-image and has meditative qualities if taught in the correct way. I found meditation after my own personal experience with depression, and this is why I travelled to Bangkok to study meditation in a Buddhist monastery. This is also why in my Pilates system Pilates EVO, I integrated mindfulness meditation. When I am travelling the world to train new Pilates EVO teachers, this is one of my favourite parts of the education because most teachers have little or no experience of meditation, and at first some find the whole concept very difficult to grasp.

Meditation is becoming more and more acceptable and proven in Western medicine as a treatment for depression. There are many books on the market, but one of my favourites is The Mindful Way Through Depression. Click on the picture below to read more.

Thank you Robin Williams for all the joy you bought into this world. You will be missed. I hope that your torment will continue to bring the debate about depression to a wider audience, and I hope that more and more people will gain a greater understanding.

In the U.S.: If you are contemplating attempting suicide, there are people who can help. Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255)

In the U.K.: For confidential support call the Samaritans  on 08457 90 90 90 or visit a local Samaritans branch

Chris is an international Pilates and functional training presenter and educator based in London and Barcelona, Spain. He is the creator of Pilates EVO©, bodyFUNC©, and CEO of Pilates Rehab Limited and Sport Core Strength.  He also created Pilates Carnival and Fitness Carnival, conventions where all profits go to local children’s charities. He organises fitness holidays and sports holidays in Barcelona, as well as retreats. For more information about training with Chris in Barcelona, please click on Barcelona Bienestar. To learn more about Chris, please read Just who is Chris Hunt anyway? You can also subscribe by completing the form on the this BLOG to receive articles and special offers straight to your inbox.

Chris pays all profits made from this BLOG to his charity partners. More details can be found by clicking on www.chrishuntwellness.com and selecting the “charity partners” tab.

 

 

 

 

 

Health and fitness

Pilates for Golf

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Chris Hunt Pilates for Golf

www.chrishuntwellness.com

Wednesday is sport day. Today I want to talk about Pilates for golf.

There are a growing number of “Pilates for golf” type books and DVDs on the market. As a keen golfer (I have never had the time to get my handicap below 18 though), I must say that many of these publications strike me as people jumping on the bandwagon rather than a serious attempt to improve a golfer’s performance. Many are written by people who have clearly never swung a golf club, and others are so general that they could be a book to improve golf/running/tennis/most other sports.

But the biggest criticism I have is that to actually be useful to golfers, any such material must be written in a way that actually engages club golfers. The average club golfer may have never exercised. Most I work with have never been to a gym or attended an exercise session. I joke that most golfer’s warm-up is a bacon sandwich, and cool-down is a pint of lager! Whilst golf is increasingly a younger person’s game and it is crossing the gender barrier, the basic fact remains that it is still dominated at club level by middle-aged and retired men. As Pilates teachers, I am sure we all know that this demographic is possible the hardest one to get engaged in Pilates!

Those of you who have read my blog before will know that it is a crusade of mine to get more men doing Pilates (for example see “You do Pilates, are you gay?” and “Men do Pilates”) and the fact remains that that nearly all golfers I have ever met would see a big improvement in their game if they did Pilates. So why is this?

I have worked with many golf Pro’s as by working together on technique and body function, we can get the best results. Whilst a golf pro can say to a golfer “swing this way”, many golfer’s cannot swing the way they should because their body can’t physically do it. By doing Pilates, a golfer can make corrections to their body; strengthen the core, increase flexibility, build stability in the pelvis and shoulder girdles, and balance both sides of the body, all of which will allow the golfer to hit the ball farther, straighter and more accurately. But these are just some of the benefits that Pilates can have.

The most successful way for a golfer to reduce their handicap and improve consistency is not to spend hundreds of pounds on new clubs. It is the golfer that plays the game, and not his equipment. As long as the clubs are capable, the biggest results can be achieved by changing the qualities of the golfer. It is for this reason that Pilates has been used by professional golfers such as Tiger Woods for many years.

Why is Pilates so good for golf? I produced a document for the World Golf Federation in which I tried to simply explain the benefits using the most common questions that I have been asked throughout the years by club golfers. To view this document please click the link below.

Pilates for Golf

I hope that this will help many club golfers to understand exactly why they should be doing regular Pilates, not just from a book or DVD, but from their local Pilates teacher! You can also click on www.sportcorestrength.com to see how Pilates can help other sportsmen and women.

Chris is an international Pilates and functional training presenter and educator based in London and Barcelona, Spain. He is the creator of Pilates EVO©, bodyFUNC©, and CEO of Pilates Rehab Limited and Sport Core Strength.  He also created Pilates Carnival and Fitness Carnival, conventions where all profits go to local children’s charities. He organises fitness holidays and sports holidays in Barcelona, as well as retreats. For more information about training with Chris in Barcelona, please click on Barcelona Bienestar. To learn more about Chris, please read Just who is Chris Hunt anyway? You can also subscribe by completing the form on the this BLOG to receive articles and special offers straight to your inbox.

Chris pays all profits made from this BLOG to his charity partners. More details can be found by clicking on www.chrishuntwellness.com and selecting the “charity partners” tab.

 

 

Current Affairs, Health and fitness

Ideal body shape: Rebecca Judd Pilates backlash

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Rebecca Judd Chris Hunt Pilates

www.chrishuntwellness.com

In my article today I want to ask you as a Pilates teacher, as someone who practices Pilates, or as someone who works in the fitness industry, a very subjective question: do you have an opinion of what constitutes a “Pilates body” shape, and how do you manage the expectations of your clients who do have such an opinion?

As an example, I’m going to talk about Rebecca Judd. Rebecca is a 31 year-old Australian model, television presenter and the wife of Australian Football League player Chris Judd. She caused controversy last week by posting a picture of herself on Instagram in a bikini (click here to see the picture in question).

She has been criticised before for looking “too thin” but says she has never had an eating disorder. Her weight was a talking point after she has lost her “baby weight” very quickly (she gave birth to her daughter Billie Kate in January and son Oscar three years before). In May, just a few months after giving birth to her daughter, she uploaded a slim bikini shot of herself showing she had already regained her pre-pregnancy figure. Last week she told Daily Mail Australia that morphing into her post-baby shape in record time was all down to hard work. ‘It’s all about Pilates, Pilates, Pilates, Pilates,’ she said. ‘I wish I could run but I just don’t have time. And I just work out on (husband) Chris’ reformer equipment all the time, in his man cave. And there’s a spin bike down there I use… it’s all about being fit and strong and toned.’

Some of the comments posted by her 196,000 Instagram followers criticised her whilst others praised her.

@harriet_rose asked: ‘How is this nice? Way too skinny.’ @wendyrpaton said: ‘I like following you Bec but please reconsider the message you are sending to young impressionable women. You don’t need to flaunt yourself like this. Use your beauty in a positive way and a less self-indulgent. I do think you are inspirational, please consider your message. Eating disorders are real and effect many young girls.’ @minnapurdue said: ‘Eat something. Unfollowed.’ @cina_bina wrote: ‘Omg @kaylahayes5 I would rather look the way I do now than look like this, this is so sad poor girl.’

But other comments supported her. @gabstarflossy added: ‘I think you look beautiful @becjudd don’t listen to the haters. Some of these negative comments are appalling. Some people have no idea when they say stupid things about other people.’ and renata_angarano_makeup said: ‘Well done @becjudd. Your discipline and healthy choices should be taken as inspirational. I can only wish to have as much discipline as you. To all the haters – if you all committed yourselves to exercise as much as you do to bitching, maybe, just maybe, you would be happy with yourselves too.’

So to return to my question for this article, do you have an opinion as to what is the perfect Pilates figure? Of course people will all have different opinions and ideas about what “their” shape should be, and there is not necessarily a right or wrong answer per se, but I am interested as to how as an industry we portray ourselves and our vision of health and fitness to our clients, and how we manage the expectations of our clients.

Chris is an international Pilates and functional training presenter and educator based in London and Barcelona, Spain. He is the creator of Pilates EVO©, bodyFUNC©, and CEO of Pilates Rehab Limited and Sport Core Strength.  He also created Pilates Carnival and Fitness Carnival, conventions where all profits go to local children’s charities. He organises fitness holidays and sports holidays in Barcelona, as well as retreats. For more information about training with Chris in Barcelona, please click on Barcelona Bienestar. To learn more about Chris, please read Just who is Chris Hunt anyway? You can also subscribe by completing the form on the this BLOG to receive articles and special offers straight to your inbox.

Chris pays all profits made from this BLOG to his charity partners. More details can be found by clicking on www.chrishuntwellness.com and selecting the “charity partners” tab.