With nine pairs of eyes watching her, trainer Elise Cleaver-Smith uses gentle exercises to start the pilates for osteoporosis and back care class.
“Stand up with your feet apart. Pull your shoulders back. Pull your tummy muscles in. Now, grow tall, “ says the charismatic teacher, looking around the room to ensure that participants have the right body placement.
Happy that everyone is where they should be, she continues.
“Now breathe in, like you’re squeezing your bagpipes. Breathe out, as you grow taller, each time. Now, put yourself into your perfect posture,” says Cleaver-Smith, watching participants fill with confidence and self-awareness.
In that position, she continues with exercises that improve balance and lengthen the spine without hurting it.
“Inhale, feel your rib cage expand like a concertina. Breathe out as you come back into place,” she says.
This specialized class for creating alignment and strength for people with osteoporosis and a weak back is popular with participants.
In fact, several have returned for a second year.
“I feel it was a real benefit to me. It really strengthened my body and helped me regain my balance. My posture has also improved,” says Delores Gaudin, who attends a class each Tuesday at the Atlantic Fitness Centre Downtown, offered by imotion pilates fitness & consulting.
Gaudin, who doesn’t have osteoporosis, is taking it as a preventative measure.
“I’m in my 60s and as someone who has never done any exercises I’m worried about my future health. This makes me feel more confident,” she says.
She is also inspired by the teacher’s positive energy.
“Elise is like a spark plug — full of energy. She’s great at explaining what you should be doing, walking you through it and then after you’ve learned the exercise, making sure you’re doing it right,” says Gaudin, who is from Charlottetown.
The exercise class is a godsend for Christine Andrew who has osteopenia, a bone condition characterized by bone loss that is not as severe.
“I read about it in the newspaper. I thought it would be great for me because I can’t do regular exercise classes in a gym. And it is,” says Andrew.
That’s because the instructor respects her limitations and works around them.
“Elise is very careful in instructing people, so their backs are protected while they exercise. As a result, I feel very safe in her classes which wasn’t the case before,” says Andrew, who is also from Charlottetown.
Cleaver-Smith has her students’ best interests in mind.
Participants who enrol in the class will start to see a difference in their bodies in a few weeks, she says.
“But, essentially they should feel a difference right away because I teach them about how to get into their optimum posture, in the first lesson. And that’s going to make them feel better.
“I also teach exercises that you can do anywhere. You don’t have to be lying down. You can even do them while you’re waiting for your cup of tea to steep in the morning,” she says, with a smile.
Stephanie Knickle-Currie of imotion pilates fitness & consulting is delighted to offer the course once again, from Feb. 28 to April 24 (with no classes March 20 because of March break).
“It has been really well received over the past two years. I’ve had ladies say that even though they walk during the summer, they come back because they say they need an activity to do inside and they really enjoy the course,” she says.
The secret to the program is that the pilates exercises have been adapted.
“In osteoporosis, with the weakening of the bones, the vertebrae are really susceptible to cracking and breaking,” says Knickle-Currie.
“(In these exercises), there is no flexion of the spine, which means no curling up during abdominal crunches. Instead, we focus on the stabilization of the spine and exercises that prevent the flexing the spine.”
There are also exercises for the abdominals and the upper mid-back which help keep keeps these muscle group strong.
“Everything is designed so people won¹t hurt themselves,” she says.
