Pilates without Borders

Recently I started looking at my business from outside the box.

Being a Pilates Instructor is a person to person job. I have always felt that this limited me in many ways. I thought "I can only work in the city I live in, I can only touch so many people in a day, I have to be able to get to my clients or be accessible to them, and if I am travelling I cannot be working." I view teaching Pilates not only about the teaching of movement, but the relationship that forms between myself and my clients. I have been with many of my clients through multiple pregnancies, rehabbing from injuries, and training for marathons. The bonds that I have with them are immeasurable. Why should distance, time, or lack of sitter get in the way?

Technology is great! We are all connected to one another at any given moment. So I started thinking why can't I connect my business like this too? Thus opened up a whole new world of teaching Pilates to me. I have recently added Skype Pilates sessions and am in the process of launching Podcasts. Both of these technology driven projects still hold the personal connection between student and teacher that I hold so dear. Granted I can't put my hands on someone physically, but I can still guide them through movement using my words, imagery, and humor. I can still see the movement and the changes that are made from my words. These sessions are specifically tailored to whatever the client is working on. They can be recorded to reuse. They can be a mat session with or without props or even an equipment session if client has equipment available to them. And they are truly affordable. WOW, my whole idea of what my business could be just opened up and all the negatives I felt about building business disappeared. What freedom technology has really given all of us. What a great way to be able to get Quality Personal Pilates wherever you are!

To find out more about Skype Pilates sessions visit www.pi-lala-tes.com. Hope to be seeing you soon.

Iphone Apps for working out

As many of you are, I am addicted to my Iphone. I want to use it for absolutely everything I possibly can. There are a few noteworthy Apps that I have found and use that I want to pass on to you.

The first is for all of you runners, cyclist, and rollerbladers. Its called Runkeeper. I downloaded a FREE version and love it. It works primarily off of a GPS system. Basically it computes how far you have gone in what amount of time and figures out your miles/hour and calories burned based off of your age, gender, and weight. You can save all your activities to see your progress as well as share info via twitter and facebook. The Ipod application will work while running this App, so never fear you can still listen to all your favorite tunes. This is a great application. One complaint I have is that the calories burned are only computed based off of the GPS distance and does not take into consideration resistance from winds or hilly terrain. I started wearing my heartrate monitor as well, since I am a bit anal about my calories (see my next favorite App) and found that it differed about 300 calories in my favor. And when you are counting calories, we all know every calorie counts.

The next App that I am addicted to is Lose It. Also FREE. I love that!! Lose it allows you to easily count your calories in and out. Many of the foods and exercises are already programmed into the software and their comprehensive database. However, you can also easily edit and add your own foods and exercises. On lose it you can set your goals by weight and date that you would like to reach it. It calculates the calories that you should take in per day based on removing the calories to lose the desired weight. Being the anal, overachiever that I am, I always try to stay below the goal number and input every bite and nibble. You can also track your nutrients like carbohydrates, protein, and fats by day and week. There is a graph that charts your progress as well and lets you know above it exactly how much you have lost to date. If you are trying to lose weight I highly recommend this App. Very user friendly and you will see the results. This truly works if you are diligent about inputting.

Do you have a health related IPhone App that you like?