Published Wednesday, October 2, 2002
Herald Staff Writer
Judy Mindicino swears up and down that Pilates exercises helped heal her body.
The Sharon resident said she used to suffer from back problems. However, after doing Pilates for more than a year, she began building up her back muscles, which in turn helped improve her back.
"It made it a lot better," she said. "(Pilates) helps you physically as well as mentally."
Pilates is a combination of stretching and strengthening exercises that emphasize body symmetry and abdominal control.
Its core exercises are designed to create abdominal awareness of the deep torso muscles and to re-pattern any muscular-skeletal imbalances.
All movements are coordinated with breathing patterns and body alignment to provide maximum results with minimal repetition.
Ms. Mindicino and Joyce Winner of Sharon, who also does Pilates, joined in the Pilates sessions led by Stephanie Thiel Saturday at Youngstown State University's third annual Day of Dance festival.
Both women train with Ms. Thiel and were invited to serve as examples during the session.
Ms. Thiel, who also lives in Sharon, is a certified Stott-Pilates instructor who teaches weekly at the Buhl Club and private classes.
She also teaches dance at the Ballet Western Reserve in Youngstown and the Arts Excel Program in Trumbull County, a performing arts school for local children.
Her experience with Pilates has given her the ability to eye someone from head to toe and determine their balance and posture needs.
Ms. Thiel said she wasn't always gifted when it came to the exercise.
She was introduced to it in 1986 when she was 15 years old and dancing at the Ballet Western Reserve. She said it wasn't easy.
"Now it's being crossed over into mainstream fitness arenas. People want to do Pilates," she said.
Her abdominals and muscles are tight and defined, a testament of what years of doing Pilates combined with other exercise can do for a person,
Pilates exercises begin on mats and progress to specially designed equipment through a series of rhythmic, balanced motions designed to increase flexibility and strength.
While teaching a group of 25 women, she made her rounds through the studio, offering hope and reminding students to feel for the deepest part of their abdominals.
"We want the concave look and ... we want to pull all of that flat," she said, pointing to her abs. "That is what you're going to try to achieve in Pilates classes," she said.
Mrs. Winner said the exercises look fairly easy when watching other people do them, but doing them is another story. Though it came easily for some, first-timers struggled through the hour-long session.
"It's an accumulated thing. One day you're doing it and the next you're saying, 'Oh, that's what she meant by that,' " Ms. Mindicino said.
"You can do 50 sit-ups or you can do eight breathing and movement exercises," Mrs. Winner said.
While interning in Germany at the outbreak of World War I, Joseph H. Pilates began teaching fellow prisoners a series of exercises that combined physical fitness, breathing control and mental acuity to increase strength and flexibility.
During the latter part of the war, he worked as a hospital orderly on the Isle of Man helping to rehabilitate patients through resistance exercise using equipment made from bedsprings and other items.
After the war he returned to Germany and continued to work on his unique approach to physical fitness.
He eventually immigrated to the United States and established the Pilates studio in New York City with his wife Clara.
He emphasized breathing and torso strength using a series of more than 500 mind-body movements and exercises designed to develop strong, flexible muscles.
Today, Pilates participants come from a wide variety of backgrounds, such as dancing, athletics, physiotherapy, fitness training, health care and those simply interested in health and fitness.
Stott-Pilates stems from co-founder Moira Stott, who trained extensively at Pilates' studio in New York City.
Her approach preserves his teachings and enhances them, using today's knowledge of the body and its functions.
Stott-Pilates is known as the system of mind-body exercise involving more pelvic and shoulder exercises than the original method.
For more information on Pilates or private lessons, call Stephanie Thiel at (724) 342-0818.
You can e-mail Herald Staff Writer Larissa Theodore at ltheodore@sharonherald.com