Australian Penthouse
At a Stretch Fitness Fad for the Nineties
Australian Skiing Magazine
Fit to Ski
B Magazine
"If Uma can do it..."
City Life
Total Control
Good Living - The Sydney Morning Herald
Fit & Thin
The Australian Financial Review Magazine
Good Calmers - Pilates
Australian Penthouse - June 1992
At a Stretch Fitness Fad for the Nineties
How do you cure a bad back, gain physical fitness, correct your breathing and posture and have a better sex life?
No, it's not some new designer drug or a strange religious sect. It's an unorthodox system of exercise and injury rehabilitation enjoying a popularity boom in this country that could see it become the fitness fad of the Nineties.
The Pilates Method of exercise is a system that few Australians have heard of, but it thrives in Europe and in North America. There are already more than 300 studios practising the method in North America.
Menezes puts the sudden popularity of Pilates down to the baby boomers: "There's a lot of people in their thirties and early forties who were swept into the fitness boom of the Eighties - they jogged, played tennis and did aerobics and many actually developed injuries from those sports. We're seeing those people now."
At a Stretch Fitness Fad for the Nineties
How do you cure a bad back, gain physical fitness, correct your breathing and posture and have a better sex life?
No, it's not some new designer drug or a strange religious sect. It's an unorthodox system of exercise and injury rehabilitation enjoying a popularity boom in this country that could see it become the fitness fad of the Nineties.
The Pilates Method of exercise is a system that few Australians have heard of, but it thrives in Europe and in North America. There are already more than 300 studios practising the method in North America.
Menezes puts the sudden popularity of Pilates down to the baby boomers: "There's a lot of people in their thirties and early forties who were swept into the fitness boom of the Eighties - they jogged, played tennis and did aerobics and many actually developed injuries from those sports. We're seeing those people now."
Australian Skiing Magazine - Number 33, 1991
Fit to Ski
If you suffer an injury, check out the Pilates alternative
If you still can't come to grips with traditional exercise programs or have an injury which rules you out, read on...
To successfully master a mogul field, race down a slalom course, or even negotiate the beginners' slope at your local resort, your mental and physical states must be "in balance"....
No matter how fit you are, if you're psyched out you just won't make the grade, and even if you have all the good intentions in the world, without a body fit enough to perform the task you'll be going nowhere fast.
Fit to Ski
If you suffer an injury, check out the Pilates alternative
If you still can't come to grips with traditional exercise programs or have an injury which rules you out, read on...
To successfully master a mogul field, race down a slalom course, or even negotiate the beginners' slope at your local resort, your mental and physical states must be "in balance"....
No matter how fit you are, if you're psyched out you just won't make the grade, and even if you have all the good intentions in the world, without a body fit enough to perform the task you'll be going nowhere fast.
B Magazine - April 1999
"If Uma can do it..."
It looks like torture but Hollywood's sexiest starlets swear by Pilates (Pee-Lah-Tays). Colette Gallagher tries it.
When I first heard about Pilates, I wasn't sure it was for me...but then I discovered that the Hollywood It crowd was doing it. I like a bit of glamour, so I called the Body Control Pilates Studio and chatted to the boss, Allan Menezes, who introduced Pilates to Australia in 1986. What Allan doesn't know about this hip new fitness trend isn't worth knowing. In fact, he's such a wiz when it comes to Pilates that he's just released a book on the subject. Pilates was devised by Joseph Pilates, a physical therapist who stumbled upon this system of strengthening and stretching while rehabilitating injured soldiers during WWI. He began by experimenting with springs attached to hospital beds.
The idea behind Pilates is that once you learn how to breathe properly and control your body and its muscles, you will slowly strengthen your torso, abdominals and spine. It's said that those who practise it - and they include Lisa Rinna, Uma Thurman and Sharon Stone - end up with amazing posture and a body which is elegant and streamlined: a bit like the classic ballerina.
The exercises are slow and you don't get out of breath. This is sweat free exercise. It does firm and tone ubt it's not a weight-loss system and unless you're working quickly, it's unlikely you'll experience any cardiovascular benefits.
Pilates does involve achieving a sense of focus so although there's no adrenalin rush, it benefits the mind. And Allan promises that if you're patient, you'll see big results.
"If Uma can do it..."
It looks like torture but Hollywood's sexiest starlets swear by Pilates (Pee-Lah-Tays). Colette Gallagher tries it.
When I first heard about Pilates, I wasn't sure it was for me...but then I discovered that the Hollywood It crowd was doing it. I like a bit of glamour, so I called the Body Control Pilates Studio and chatted to the boss, Allan Menezes, who introduced Pilates to Australia in 1986. What Allan doesn't know about this hip new fitness trend isn't worth knowing. In fact, he's such a wiz when it comes to Pilates that he's just released a book on the subject. Pilates was devised by Joseph Pilates, a physical therapist who stumbled upon this system of strengthening and stretching while rehabilitating injured soldiers during WWI. He began by experimenting with springs attached to hospital beds.
The idea behind Pilates is that once you learn how to breathe properly and control your body and its muscles, you will slowly strengthen your torso, abdominals and spine. It's said that those who practise it - and they include Lisa Rinna, Uma Thurman and Sharon Stone - end up with amazing posture and a body which is elegant and streamlined: a bit like the classic ballerina.
The exercises are slow and you don't get out of breath. This is sweat free exercise. It does firm and tone ubt it's not a weight-loss system and unless you're working quickly, it's unlikely you'll experience any cardiovascular benefits.
Pilates does involve achieving a sense of focus so although there's no adrenalin rush, it benefits the mind. And Allan promises that if you're patient, you'll see big results.
City Life - December 1998
Total Control
There are many forms of exercise which promise the world but fail to deliver, and some that are positively harmful. Having been initially hailed as the only way to exercise, aerobics rode the crest of the wave of fitness-awareness until it was recognised that such high-impact exercise put undesirable stresses on the body. Available now, however, is a little-known method called the Pilates Technique. Generally called Body Control in Australia, this exercise regime follows six basic principles: concentration, breathing, centering, control, flowing movements and precision. According to Alan Menezes, director and teacher at Sydney's Body Control Studios, "the advantage that we have over other methods, especially gyms, is the fact that we stress supervision, whereas in a gym, for instance, they simply introduce you to the weights and show you what to do, and leave you alone to do it, which is totally wrong."
At Body Control Studios, the entire first session is an assessment of the individual's exercise needs, and as Alan explains, during that session, "we will find out all your tight areas, your weak areas, your achey areas. You would never find that out from a gym, because they are only interested in your strong areas." The Pilates Methhod involves progressive exercises which are deep stretching and controlled resistance movements, using the abdominals as the centre and the 'powerhouse' of the body from which all other movements emanate. These routines are now done with something called te Universal Reformer - a kind of trolley bed whose carriage is controlled by four detachable springs.
The totally stressless nature of these exercises make them ideal for people of any age, or those who require rehabilitation for injuries, and dance teachers such as Martha Graham have integrated the Pilates Technique in their training programmes.
Total Control
There are many forms of exercise which promise the world but fail to deliver, and some that are positively harmful. Having been initially hailed as the only way to exercise, aerobics rode the crest of the wave of fitness-awareness until it was recognised that such high-impact exercise put undesirable stresses on the body. Available now, however, is a little-known method called the Pilates Technique. Generally called Body Control in Australia, this exercise regime follows six basic principles: concentration, breathing, centering, control, flowing movements and precision. According to Alan Menezes, director and teacher at Sydney's Body Control Studios, "the advantage that we have over other methods, especially gyms, is the fact that we stress supervision, whereas in a gym, for instance, they simply introduce you to the weights and show you what to do, and leave you alone to do it, which is totally wrong."
At Body Control Studios, the entire first session is an assessment of the individual's exercise needs, and as Alan explains, during that session, "we will find out all your tight areas, your weak areas, your achey areas. You would never find that out from a gym, because they are only interested in your strong areas." The Pilates Methhod involves progressive exercises which are deep stretching and controlled resistance movements, using the abdominals as the centre and the 'powerhouse' of the body from which all other movements emanate. These routines are now done with something called te Universal Reformer - a kind of trolley bed whose carriage is controlled by four detachable springs.
The totally stressless nature of these exercises make them ideal for people of any age, or those who require rehabilitation for injuries, and dance teachers such as Martha Graham have integrated the Pilates Technique in their training programmes.
Good Living - The Sydney Morning Herald - Tues , Aug 19, 1997
Fit & Thin
There are no quick solutions to getting fit. The secret lies in choosing the discipline that suits you best and then sticking to it. Ali Gripper reports.
Think of yoga, but throw in some springs, levers, straps and weights, and you have the Pilates Method, a puritancial form of exercise practised by the likes of Greta Scacchi, newsreader Mary Kostakidis and Premier Bob Carr. Allan Menezes, who runs the Body Control studios in Sydney, says the method is beloved of dancers, excellent for rehabilitation and relaxation, and achieves, similarly to yoga, long-term health benefits and the "leaner, longer look".
"You'd drop a jeans size in a couple of months if you came in three of four times a week," says Menezes. "But the aim is more to strengthen and stretch the body, without adding bulk.
Fit & Thin
There are no quick solutions to getting fit. The secret lies in choosing the discipline that suits you best and then sticking to it. Ali Gripper reports.
Think of yoga, but throw in some springs, levers, straps and weights, and you have the Pilates Method, a puritancial form of exercise practised by the likes of Greta Scacchi, newsreader Mary Kostakidis and Premier Bob Carr. Allan Menezes, who runs the Body Control studios in Sydney, says the method is beloved of dancers, excellent for rehabilitation and relaxation, and achieves, similarly to yoga, long-term health benefits and the "leaner, longer look".
"You'd drop a jeans size in a couple of months if you came in three of four times a week," says Menezes. "But the aim is more to strengthen and stretch the body, without adding bulk.
The Australian Financial Review Magazine - Summer 1997
Good Calmers
Pilates
Pilates is a classic of the "no pain, no gain" genre. Such concentration is required that studios are often kept silent, with no music, and free from distraction.
For all the 400 to 500 Pilates exercises (are there are about 10 variations on each), the stomach is held in tightly and the shoulders kept relaxed. "When you are told to sit up straight as a child, you tend to put your head up and raise your shoulders without lifting your stomach, and we often take this bad posture into adulthood."
Pilates exercises are subtle but highly strenuous. Concentration is needed to ensure you are breathing correctly, keeping your stomach clenched, shoulders relaxed and the rest of your body in position. Each movement should take five seconds breathing in and another five seconds breathing out, with 10 repetitions, and can be advanced for higher performance.
An instructor, who coaches on technique, is dedicated to each student.
Good Calmers
Pilates
Pilates is a classic of the "no pain, no gain" genre. Such concentration is required that studios are often kept silent, with no music, and free from distraction.
For all the 400 to 500 Pilates exercises (are there are about 10 variations on each), the stomach is held in tightly and the shoulders kept relaxed. "When you are told to sit up straight as a child, you tend to put your head up and raise your shoulders without lifting your stomach, and we often take this bad posture into adulthood."
Pilates exercises are subtle but highly strenuous. Concentration is needed to ensure you are breathing correctly, keeping your stomach clenched, shoulders relaxed and the rest of your body in position. Each movement should take five seconds breathing in and another five seconds breathing out, with 10 repetitions, and can be advanced for higher performance.
An instructor, who coaches on technique, is dedicated to each student.
