First of all, a HUGE thanks to everybody who let me practice on them and learn in the process. Without your patience and willingness, I would not have been able to complete this quest.

Second of all, I’ve made a bunch of updates!

Learn about my availability and rates for teaching private and semi private Pilates sessions.
Learn about my Core Conditioning sessions, rates and availability.
Learn about my weekly Poi Classes on Thursday nights.

And don’t forget about my Fire Dancing Workshop that is coming up in a couple weeks! Here’s the FB event Page.

Feel free to contact me about anything you want!

DATES: 
March 23 6:30-9pm
March 27 7-9pm
March 30 7-11(??)pm

LOCATION:
Fern Adair Gymnastics Conservatory
3265 E Patrick Lane
Las Vegas, NV, 89120

COST: $115 – (Cash, Check or Paypal)

Contact me to reserve your spot or Pay Now!

Please feel free to contact me with any questions.
All participants will be required to sign liability waivers and adhere to safety guidelines.
Class workshop size is limited to 10 people on a first come first serve basis.
This workshop is for ages 14+. Minors will have to have parent consent.

Just some fun I was having at the PlayPoi retreat in Costa Rica in 2010!

Me doing a little snake demo last weekend!

“We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same.”

-Carlos Casteneda

First off, THANK YOU to everybody who allowed me to experiment on them and let me hone my craft as an instructor. Since I have all of your email addresses, I will be contacting you shortly with a personal bit of gratitude.

Secondly, I have an updated teaching schedule with all my group Pilates classes that I am currently teaching. Come check me out at The Pilates Studio of Las Vegas or Pilates+Yoga for a fun and fit time!

Tuesday 7:30am – Group Apparatus Class at Pilates+Yoga
Tuesday 8:30am – Mat Class at Pilates+Yoga
Wednesday 5:00-7:00pm – Group Apparatus Class at The Pilates Studio of Las Vegas
Thursday 7:15pm – Acro-Pilates class at Pilates+Yoga
Friday 3:00-5:00pm – Group Apparatus Class at The Pilates Studio of Las Vegas

As always, check out my Pilates with Me page for any other updates.

What Is It?

Expanding off of Acrofit™ Power, Acro-Pilates is designed to implement more specific core exercises into the same workout structure. If you have taken an Acrofit™ Power class at Barefoot Sanctuary, then the class format will be very familiar as well as some of the movements. Where Acro-Pilates differs is that it is more about conditioning through the wide range of mat pilates exercises available and infusing those into a practical application scenario.

How Intense Is It?

Acro-Pilates, much like Acrofit™ and Pilates, have variations for those who are just beginning or who are unfamiliar with the moves. You create the intensity of workout that you desire while I guide you through the class. For Pilates regulars, you will find this class to have a more dynamic/cardio movements in it as well as a flow that combines movements for a greater intensity. For Acrofit™ regulars, this class moves towards a much more focused core workout that will improve and aid your acro training. For those who have taken neither, you body will wake up to its potential!

What Area Does It Work?

Pilates in general will create a stronger core. But most people think of that as just your six pack region. While we will spend a minute or three on your six pack, we will also work on shoulder and hip stability, trunk stabilization, flexibility, and glute conditioning (butt firming). If the class has a request for an area of focus for that day, we can definitely accomodate.

That Sounds Fun! When Can I Take It?

I teach Acro-Pilates on Tuesday nights at 7:15pm at Pilates+Yoga. The class runs about 75 minutes. No shoes are required, but please bring some water, a mat, and clothes to move in!

Pilates Private Sessions:

MWF – 9am-11:30am – mat sessions only
MWF – 4pm-8pm – mat or apparatus sessions.

Classes:

Tuesday, 7:15pm, I now teach an Acro-Pilates class at Pilates+Yoga in Las Vegas.

More information about Pilates with Me.

After one week, the pain is still there, not as severe, and the swelling has gone down considerably. I’m not ready to get back to training full on yet because I don’t want to risk re-aggravating it, but I can’t let my body simply atrophy in this time off. A lot of professionals I know ALWAYS have to deal with injuries and how to maintain a level of physical conditioning during the down time. Here are a few tips on how to work through injuries and come out on top!

Don’t Beat Yourself Up

You’re already injured, no need to kick yourself while you are down. Your injury happened and it will take some time to heal, nothing can change that, it is in the past, now it is time to focus on the present.

For my injury, R.I.C.E. (rest, ice, compression, elevate) was the prescription. I am dedicating myself to this treatment at least twice a day. I’m not punishing myself or trying to fight through the pain. I’m taking care of myself and trying to heal as quickly as possible. For your injury, take to heart the advise or prescription for your injury and dedicate yourself to healing as much as you would to training as if you weren’t injured.

Start Up Slow

Getting back into the swing of things can be frustrating given that you can’t operate at full capacity for a period of time. Take it slow and controlled. Recognize the difference between pushing yourself and testing your abilities. If you start back too soon, you risk never letting the injury fully heal. If you start back too aggressively, you might risk re-injuring it thus prolonging the downtime. In order to get back to your old self, you need to adjust your workouts to include rehabilitation exercises as part of your daily routine.

Since we tend to have greater compensatory muscle reflex to higher weight exertions (eg. our neck tightens when we do leg lifts), recovery workouts should be done with lighter weights to reduce over-compensation. Lighter weights build strength and greater muscle control and are often overlooked during regular workouts. During recovery, muscle isolation exercises are essential to targeting injured areas and to rebuild weak areas that led to the injury in the first place. Lighter weight/resistance will help isolate muscles and reduce the compensatory muscles from firing.  If you end up doing physical therapy, ask your therapist or trainer about proper form in doing exercises. Often, injuries result from bad form and too much weight. Your rehab time should be preventative for future injuries.

Lemonade is Served

I’ve talked with a lot of circus performers and acrobats and one thing that is always a part of recovery is working on what you are able to. A good friend of mine sprained his ankle and was out of tumbling acrobatics for several months. During his down time, he became a really good juggler.

Rarely  do our workouts and time working out focus on the ENTIRE body. If we want better thighs then we hit the Elliptical or stair master for an hour, ignoring our core or upper back. if we sprain our ankle, then what? Well, we get the opportunity to focus on what we’ve been avoiding. Injuries are never setbacks, they are often opportunities to shift areas of focus. 

Therapeutic Pampering

When we get injured our bodies go into a protective posture. In the case of my ankle, I immediately noticed that my whole right side of my body started tightening up to protect that area of my body. As injuries heals, the body needs to release the protective measures to prevent imbalance. However, sometimes those protection habits kick in really strongly and have longer lasting effects than the original injury. Massage and deep tissue relief to the entire body is helpful to resetting the body’s natural disposition and non-compensatory muscle function. So prescribe yourself a little body pampering as you see the forest of injury starting to clear. Come out on top and come out stronger!!

NOTE: All the advice given in this article is given with the expectation that you consult with a physician about the best methods of recovery for your injury. YOU are responsible for your own health.  

Being afraid to work out is easily one of the most least admitted but most widely experienced reason why people don’t ever start or why they quit a workout program. Working out doesn’t have to be intimidating and can actually be fun! It doesn’t have to be torture and it can actually be something that you look forward to!

Ground Zero

Let’s take a minute to list a few reasons that people want to start working out:

• weight loss
• to look better
• to feel stronger
• better health
• stress reduction
• to love yourself a little more

This list is incomplete and continues for a mile. Everybody who sticks to a workout program had to not only realize the reason they had for starting but to visualize that they wanted to go somewhere. Movement, in technical terms, is a change in location from point A to point B. What you want to achieve by working out is point B. Point A, on the other hand, is a little more tricky. So the first thing you need to do to start a workout program is accept that you are at the point where you start. Where you finish will be different and it can be anywhere you decide it to be and it will often NOT be where you initially decided it to be.

Embrace the Journey

Be willing to be a beginner every single morning.
Eckhart von Hochheim 

One of the reasons people quit a workout program is that they don’t want to go through the emotional torture of going to the gym and being faced with examples of what they are not. They see people lifting a ton of weights and feel silly lifting only a little bit. They see people with amazing bodies and then feel even more confronted with their own inadequacies. It’s ok if you feel this, because everybody has this feeling. You are not alone.

Confidence comes from repetition. When practicing acrobatics, I am often put into a position where I have to do something that scares me. After about 10 or 30 times of doing it, the fear begins to subside and the trick becomes easier. Life is similar. The more you make a habit of working out and stick to it, the easier it becomes. The fears that you had on your first day will no longer be relevant or even present.

Be Victorious and Celebrate

We will often set a goal that is lofty. Humans can see the horizon and strive for it, that’s why we’re special. However, we need to also make sure that the path is also filled with moments of achievement that we can recognize and appreciate. When I learn a new trick, it often takes about 2-3 weeks of physical conditioning as well as 2-3 weeks of skill learning. That ends up being 4-6 weeks of waiting for IT to happen. That can be a long time and I can be pretty impatient with myself. So what I make sure I do is to monitor my progress and acknowledge when I grow. When I start and can only hold a position for about 3 seconds one time, I understand and accept where I am starting from. When a week goes by and I can hold the pose for 5 seconds and can recover for a second or third time, I acknowledge to myself that I have made progress and say it out loud… then I go see a movie. Set goals as lofty as you wish, but always be sure to acknowledge that you are making progress towards those goals.

Working out is never easy to break into and it takes dedication to stick with it, but everybody struggles to start and the more you do it the easier it becomes. Keep your eye on the prize and enjoy the ride!

Pilates is only for women.

FALSE. Pilates is for both men and women. The main focus of pilates is to gain core strength and stability throughout the body. While you won’t win any bodybuilding competitions just doing pilates, you will drastically reduce the potential for injury and, in certain instances (namely my own), rehab old injuries. Also, you will correct your body’s alignment making it more efficient at doing whatever your passion is. Check out a few articles on it:  USA TODAY Men’s Fitness Men’s Fitness Men’s Fitness Men’s Health Maxim

Pilates is only about your abs.

FALSE. Pilates is a full body workout that utilizes and conditions you muscle recruitment through your core muscles. Our core is the strongest part of our body when used correctly. The problem is, a lot of trainers and mega gym enthusiasts workout with no core recruitment making workouts potentially dangerous and not nearly as efficient. While your abs will get toned doing pilates, so will your back, glutes, legs, shoulders, chest, thighs… everything! AND… once you start using your body more efficiently, all the power moves will become easier!

Pilates is just stretching.

FALSE. Your flexibility will be challenged, but so will your strength at the cusp of your flexibility. I always made fun of bodybuilders who had 35 inch arms wondering if they were restricted to using a bidet. The joke there is massive size, not as much strength, and a debilitating amount of flexibility. As your strength grows in pilates, so will your flexibility making you stronger in more ways than you ever thought!

Pilates is Expensive!

FALSE. Since I am still doing my student teaching requirements prior to getting my national certification, I am offering 1 hour pilates privates and semi-privates for $20/hour. There is no gym membership and you get my undivided attention and knowledge as an acrobat, hand balancer, and fire dancer ALL of which have been advanced by the use of pilates.

More information about Pilates and sessions with me.

Contact me to schedule a private Pilates session! 

Introducing LUMINA FIRE ARTS – a professional fire, dance, and acrobatic performance troupe in Las Vegas!