April 2, 2025 • 50 mins
Pilates isn't just about creating a "long, lean" physique - it's about building functional, sustainable strength that serves you throughout life. In this enlightening conversation with private Pilates instructor Nolan Greenwald, we unlock a refreshing, science-based approach to movement that challenges traditional methods.
Nolan shares her remarkable journey from competitive equestrian suffering from chronic pain to political operative to dedicated Pilates instructor. After experiencing the limitations of traditional approaches, she began incorporating contemporary research from renowned biomechanics experts to better serve her clients. The results? Reduced neck tension, improved core strength, and better overall function.
What makes Nolan's philosophy especially valuable is her focus on personalizing movement for each individual's needs and lifestyle. Rather than performing complex movements that look impressive on social media but have little functional carryover, she emphasizes simple, effective exercises that translate directly to daily activities. Whether working with an 83-year-old golfer or a young cycling enthusiast, her approach is always tailored to help clients move better in the activities they love.
Beyond the mechanics of movement, we explore the broader landscape of wellness, including Nolan's personal battle with mold toxicity and vestibular issues. Her journey highlights the importance of environmental factors in our health and the value of persistence when addressing complex health challenges. The conversation offers valuable insights about nutrition, realistic goal-setting, and the mindset shift from viewing exercise as purely aesthetic to seeing it as an investment in long-term mobility and health.
Whether you're a fitness professional looking to deepen your understanding of functional movement or someone seeking a more effective approach to exercise, this episode will transform how you think about training the body. Connect with Nolan through her website houseofpilateswpb.com or find her on Instagram @houseofpilateswestpalmbeach.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
If you're a driven, active person who wants to reach
and pursue a higher qualitylife with some ambition, then
guess what this podcast is foryou.
This is the Driven AthletePodcast.
What's up?
Y'all?
It's your man, Dr Kyle.
Welcome back to the DrivenAthlete Podcast.
We've got a really cool specialguest with us, Nolan Greenwald.
She's a private Pilatesinstructor, Pilates enthusiast,
(00:22):
super knowledgeable with whatshe does.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
So I appreciate you coming on sharing some of your
knowledge.
Yeah, of course, Thank you forhaving me.
Um, I am honored to be on yourpodcast because I look up to you
as a fitness professional.
Um, there's a lot of smoke andmirrors in the fitness industry
and I feel like you're one ofthose people out there who
really stick to the science, soI I really appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Well, I appreciate that.
No, thank you.
That's cool, Um, and, of course, like you know, we enjoy
helping people and like gettinglegit results for people.
You know for sure, and I thinkthe proof's in the pudding
ultimately.
You know, Um, but anyway, sotell us about what you're doing.
So, um, like where you're atand what you, what you do for
people.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Sure, so let me start at the beginning.
I was a competitive equestriangrowing up, so I rode for 14
years, traveled the country, andactually I spent like three
months of the year not too farfrom where we are today, in
Wellington, at the Winter.
Equestrian Festival.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
I mean, that's like the hub.
Yes, Wellington.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
A hundred percent and it's unlike anything else.
I loved it and I loved it whileI did it.
I stopped when I went tocollege.
But you know, as I got older Istarted noticing some of the
negative things that came alongwith horseback riding.
I had a lot of joint strain.
My low back was always hurting.
(01:45):
I was one of those people thatwould do those obnoxious neck
cracks that other people aroundme would just cringe.
My mom would actually tell meyou have to stop doing that it
scares people.
So that's kind of how I startedmy fitness journey.
I really wanted to not cure,but certainly pay attention to
(02:11):
what was happening and improvethose symptoms.
So I found Pilates.
It was a low impact form ofexercising that I was really
driven and attracted to.
So I did Pilates over a numberof years and I was fortunate to
have really great instructionfrom the beginning.
(02:35):
I always had, you know, one onones with instructors and just
very fortunate to have learnedfrom some of the best people out
there.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
And where was that at ?
Speaker 2 (02:45):
So I lived in Philadelphia originally, so my
training started there.
I would go to this woman'shouse on the main line of
Philadelphia and she justactually sort of similar to what
I'm doing right now.
She had a private studio.
She'd only do privates withpeople and so I was fortunate to
have very detailed instructionfrom the beginning.
(03:07):
So you know, fast forward.
I worked in politics for awhile after college and at a
similar time I met my husband.
We were living in New York fora little while, and so
eventually we moved down here alittle little before COVID, and
so we came down here and I wasreally kind of craving the sort
(03:31):
of instruction that I got upnorth.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
So I tried all the studios and sort of at the same
time.
My I wasn't really feelingfulfilled by my job in politics,
so I eventually quit and myhusband was very supportive and
he said, like you should reallytake some time to figure out
what you want to do next.
(03:56):
And I've always been a podcastlistener, so I was listening to
all of these podcasts that kindof revolved around wellness,
functional medicine, becausethat's really where my passion
was.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
What podcasts.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
So Dr Mark Hyman's podcast.
He was the main one but likeRupa Health and David Sinclair
and all these kinds of likelongevity and anti-aging people,
I was always fascinated by that.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Yeah, I think.
I mean I think that's thedirection healthcare is going
for sure.
Uh, just allopathic meds, youknow just so much consequences
over a long period of time oftaking meds or just being like,
oh, take these meds forever, youknow.
Like problem solved, likehypothyroidism, take Synthroid.
Like take this medicationforever, like that has got to be
a different way, yeah, anyway.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
And well, I know we're getting to that later, so
I'm going to.
I'm going to put a pin in thatand save that.
But I just really wanted tofind a way that I could get
involved in this sort ofwellness industry and the most
logical way for me was to.
I had done Pilates for a longtime.
There's a lot of studies thatshow that Pilates is very
helpful from a physical therapyperspective.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
For sure.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
And so I decided to get my certification.
I did the balanced bodycertification, which is one of
the nationally accredited ones.
I've always been like a veryacademically rigorous person, so
it was important for me tocarry that over into whatever
certification I did, which iswhy I chose Balanced Body.
(05:36):
I did my certificationspecifically through Boston Body
, which is a studio in Boston.
My husband's from there, so wewould already kind of go back
and forth and I tried to time myvisits there with some of the
classes that they were doing.
I did a lot of my observationhours there and it was a long
(05:56):
experience.
You need 500 hours.
That's not a joke, that's not ashort time.
No.
So Zaina Gold and Liv Nurmi arethe people who um see that
through and I I really liked howthey sort of streamlined
everything and um made theprocess pretty.
I mean, it was it'soverwhelming, but they tried to.
(06:19):
They do a really good job ofmaking it accessible.
So I completed that and so Istarted teaching at other
studios, and my husband and Iended up moving to a house in
West Palm Beach where we had aguest house.
So that's when I decided toopen my own studio.
(06:40):
I outfitted my guest house as aPilates studio and that's when
my business, house of Pilates,was born.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Cool, so House of Pilates.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
House of Pilates.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
That name makes total sense.
Yeah, and that's good.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
I figured that was a logical name, and I also, you
know, and I'm sure we'll get tothis later I wanted to create an
environment that I had alwayskind of craved as a student,
which was like a very tranquil,mindful environment, and what
else kind of brings that aboutbesides being in your own house?
Speaker 1 (07:13):
Yeah, for sure, 100%.
That's really cool.
Yeah, so the well.
I want to ask again I didn'tknow so you were involved with
politics previously.
Yeah, what capacity, like withcampaign managing or pursuing
your own politic career?
Speaker 2 (07:28):
No, no, not my own career in politics.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
Senator Nolan going for Pennsylvania.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
No, I was the person behind the scenes, so I worked a
lot on grassroots fundraising.
So I'm sure at some pointyou've gotten one of the
numerous political text messagesor emails or been targeted by
one of the Facebook or Instagramads.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Text back to 3333 and donate today.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Exactly so that was what we did.
We did a lot of the messagingcontrol for the grassroots
Interesting and so, listen, itwas great, but I really wanted
to do something that I felt likewas making people's lives
better.
I really wanted to do somethingthat I felt like was making
people's lives better.
More people were happy and youknow, I always appreciated the
(08:11):
strategic nature of politics.
I studied political science andcommunications in college but
on a day to day I just wasn'thappy doing it.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Yeah, yeah, I mean it could be cool like getting
behind something that you feellike you believe in.
I mean it could be cool likegetting behind something that
you feel like you believe in,but I always felt, I mean with
one-on-one engagement, you knowyou get pretty impactful, you
know noticeable impact forpeople For sure, and I know for
Pilates there's definitely ablend and a good marriage
(08:39):
between physical therapy andPilates.
A lot of my colleagues do a lotof Pilates stuff in their
practice.
So it's, it's, it's there's alot of definitely like carryover
.
Yeah, um, all right, so you'relocated in West Palm beach, you
have your house, your house ofPilates is located in your guest
house and you only do privates.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Yep, I only do privates.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Uh, what's like your wheelhouse of clientele?
Like what's your favorite typeof people to work with?
Speaker 2 (09:03):
you know I don't really have a favorite.
I mean, I will say that the onekind of commonality between all
my clients I train men, women,old, young.
I think the thing that kind ofweaves them together, though, is
that they're all veryintentional about how they want
to work out.
You know, I I'm and I admit topeople, I'm not the trainer for
(09:27):
you.
If you just want the experienceof going to a class with your
friends and getting a good sweat, that's not me, that's not me
as a person.
I'm naturally an introvert.
So, you know, if people ask meif I'll do classes or whatnot,
it's just I say listen, I'm notthe person for you.
So I think what all my clientskind of have in common is they
(09:51):
really want the granular details, like they want me to come up
and shift their hips acentimeter to the right you know
, which makes all the differencesometimes and they also really
want a mindful, private setting,which I think, coming down here
(10:11):
, I tried a lot of studios andthere are great instructors
everywhere.
I just didn't love theenvironment.
I didn't love going andthinking okay, love going and
thinking, okay, who am I goingto see today?
So I really wanted to createthat kind of private, mindful
setting where the client and Ican just be focused on one
(10:35):
another, and so I think mypreferred clientele really
appreciates that sort of setting.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Calm, relaxed mindful setting yeah.
Versus chaotic, robust, lots oftraffic yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
I think they're very intentional about okay, when I
work out, I want to get the bestworkout possible without injury
.
They're not necessarily peoplethat are you know harder is
better.
They just really they wantsomething that works for their
body.
(11:10):
A lot of times the clients thatI see have gotten injured going
to other places, so they'vecome to the conclusion that they
need a more detailed approachthrough the other sort of
approach failing.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Yeah, so, yeah, I mean that for sure, and that's
who we.
Oftentimes it's so easy andthen we send them back to people
like you.
You know it's like let's getyou feeling better and fix some
stuff, get you confident againand then shift them out.
Um, so, tell us about, likeyour understanding of Pilates,
like the approach, philosophy,what is Pilates?
Speaker 2 (11:43):
So Pilates was created back in the early 1900s
by somebody named Joseph Pilates.
Originally, though, I did notknow that, yeah, okay.
So originally he called itcontrolology.
It's kind of a mouthful, but itsort of speaks to the ethos of
Pilates, which is it's verycontrolled, it's very detailed
(12:04):
and each sort of each move has apurpose.
So he was actually sort of asickly kid.
He had a lot of problems and sohe was determined to overcome
those problems.
So he got into bodybuilding, heboxed for a little bit, he was
(12:28):
into a bunch of different thingsand he created this method as
sort of a culmination ofeverything that he had studied
back then.
So I think in the 1920s he andhis wife emigrated to America
and he began teaching out of aballet studio.
(12:49):
So he trained a lot of dancers,a lot of gymnasts, and that's
why I think Pilates has gottenthat reputation for creating,
like long, lean physiques,because it was mostly used by
dancers.
But I think Pilates has sort ofcome to be known as a method
(13:11):
that improves your core strengthwhile working on your mobility.
Now today we sort of we havetwo, two separate camps, so we
have more of the traditionalcamp or we call classical.
So when Joseph Pilates came upwith his original repertoire
there was a sequence of moves,so each one was supposed to be
(13:33):
done after another.
So that's more classical.
I verge more towards thecontemporary, which is you take
those moves you don'tnecessarily do them in the same
sequence every time, noting thatsome people have different
injuries and they maybe can't doa certain move and they've
adapted some of the moves toscience.
(13:55):
That has obviously sort of comeabout since the 1920s.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Gotcha Cool.
So what would you say?
What would you want to conveyto people about, like, oh, what
is House of Pilates?
What's your approach, yourphilosophy?
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Yep.
So, as we kind of discussedbefore, only privates, because I
I really want to zone in witheach client that I have no two
session that I teach is the same.
Again, somebody who values kindof privacy, mindfulness, and
then the third I think thatmaybe separates me is I really
(14:30):
try to surround myself withmentors that know more than I do
.
It's very important for me tostay updated with the science
(14:50):
and constantly learning.
So when I moved to Florida Ihad the honor of meeting
somebody who I do consider amentor and now one of my best
friends, chanel Landahl, who isa chiropractor by trade but she
also has a master's in sportsrehab and she was telling me she
was a little skeptical ofPilates because she would say,
listen, I've heard it's great,but everybody I see who does
Pilates has a very tight neck.
(15:10):
They're always kind of curledforward and oftentimes they're
like hyper mobile.
So I kind of started to thinkabout that and she had
recommended some studies to meby, like Craig Liebenson and
Stuart McGill, who are veryrenowned, you know, physical
(15:30):
therapists, biomechanics, and Istarted reading them and I
started reading kind of thetheories on loaded flexion and
rotation and you know I realizedthat that's what a lot of
Pilates is.
It's a lot of ab curls, it's alot of curling forwardates that
exists, I think you know areally common cue that you'll
(16:09):
hear in a class is like pullyour belly button to your spine,
which is more like sucking in,which is not, as you know, like
you want to encouragediaphragmatic breath, so it it
doesn't really allow you tofully brace your core and use it
correctly.
So, using that and knowing thatknowledge, I took that and I
(16:32):
adapted some of the moves fromthe additional or from the
traditional repertoire toreflect moves that encourage
more of that core bracing.
So like a neutral spine, likedead bugs, um, and you know,
more planks hinging instead ofnecessarily curling, um, like
(16:54):
you know, stir the pot kind ofmoves, um, and like bird dogs
and things like that.
And so I did that in my owntraining and I saw a huge.
I saw a huge difference becausealthough Pilates had gotten me
to a certain point, I did stillnotice that like my neck was a
(17:14):
little tight from time to time.
And moves, like you know,roll-ups in Pilates, for example
, where you start lying down andthen you know you roll up and
over, those sort offlexion-heavy moves were always
hard for me, so I sort of Iadapted that and then I started
(17:36):
to use it on clients and Inoticed also a huge difference
in their core strength.
Their necks weren't as tight,and so I think my philosophy,
probably summarized, is usingPilates as a conduit to build
functional strength, and doingso based on the science that's
(17:59):
out there.
Now, listen know, ab curls andthings like that are working for
somebody.
I am not here to tell them tochange anything about what
they're doing, but I think a lotof times you see Pilates on
social media and these moves areso complicated that they're
doing it's like your leg is overhere and you have to be in a in
(18:22):
a curl up, and it's.
I think my motto is the simplerthe better.
I find that the most effectiveexercises are usually the
simplest ones, and I think youknow so I'm not here to, and I
think you and I have discussedthis previously.
Abs, I think, are made in thekitchen and you know so there's
(18:58):
that.
And then also I've seen studiesthat moves that kind of like
stir the pot, for example, thatactivates the rectus, which is
that six pack muscle, just asmuch as something like an ab
curl will.
So anyway, I think, insummation, like I said, my
(19:19):
approach is more using Pilatesto build that functional
strength.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
So it's good.
I mean take like an eclectickind of approach, taking some
things from here, some thingsfrom here, blending it as needed
to fit whatever the clientmaybe would benefit the most
from.
Yeah, that's good.
Um cause also too, like keepingsomething like rigid and like
one way of doing things.
I know this is always the waywe do it every single time.
I've definitely found that'sgoing to be not, as uh,
(19:48):
applicable for everybody, youknow.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
Yeah for sure.
And and listen.
Like I said, if, if doing abcurls like feels great for
somebody, then that's fine.
But there is, I like to letpeople know if they're having
trouble with that kind of stuff.
There is another way to buildcore strength.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I've always felt too like, cause
we see people that are in pain,like that's our thing, right,
pain.
If you're in pain, we're goingto get the pain better.
Figure out why, what happened,right, Like what's going on, how
can we fix it?
And then how can we get apreventative coming back?
Um, and we do a lot of thesimilar things you're describing
.
You know where oftentimes wefind ourselves, like with people
(20:27):
in back pain.
Usually there's a couplemechanisms that, like what's the
pain coming from?
You know we're working on corestability a bunch and the first
step I usually say is like canyou get into this knee plank,
stir the pot, roll out positionwith a neutral spine and have
your back not hurt?
We're gonna do a rollout andwe're just like, oh, my back
(20:50):
just grabbed, right, that's justa spasm because things are in
protection mode.
So I'm like, all right, firststep, can we just find your core
without your back getting litup?
We could do a lot of manualtherapy stuff first to get
something for success.
Right, yeah, but were you forsure?
Later are going to be liketranslating that to functional
movements.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Yeah, movements.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
Can you translate just core awareness and
recruitment with functionalmovement stuff, and then the
third step being layering anddiaphragmatic breathing.
I'm like core stability, ninjas, like to be a ninja, everything
we are is built on.
But then can you layer indiaphragmatic breathing at the
same time Don't hold your breathAnyway, and then be like, hey,
go now, let's take a step up anotch.
(21:28):
You know, um, so that's cool,just like I said, a lot of the
blend.
You know, um, what are some ofthe goals?
People?
When people reach out to you,what are they usually saying
they want so uh well, honestlywhich is okay.
I'd be like yeah, like everyonewants a good physique, right.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
Right.
So I think a lot of people cometo me, especially women, even
though Pilates I don't justteach women, I teach men too.
Um, I think a lot of people'sgoals are aesthetic.
Um, like you know, I want to,you know, make this thinner, or
I want a six pack, or you knowlook good in a bathing suit
(22:07):
Right.
And I do, I I really do strugglea little bit because some of
these things you can't changenecessarily, like you can't
change somebody's bone structure, you can't change genetic
predispositions Uh.
So a lot of people do come to mewith aesthetic goals.
I think what I try to do withpeople is to reframe the mindset
(22:32):
a little bit, because I do kindof see Pilates and exercise in
general as kind of a like aconduit to longevity.
So that's how I think about it.
And so my personal goal eventhough it's a little bit tough
to convince people my age tothink like this, somebody who's
(22:54):
you know maybe a little older,is a little more cognizant of
this but my personal goal withworking out is to be as mobile
and to be able to function aswell as I do now as when I'm 80.
So it's not aesthetic, it'sjust about living a pain-free
(23:15):
life where you know we losemuscle over time, where I'm
maintaining that muscle and I'mmaintaining my mobility, and so
that's kind of the mindset I dotry to get clients in.
Now listen, obviously there areaesthetic benefits that come
with Pilates, as there are withany consistent workout routine.
(23:37):
Um, but I try not to make thatthe emphasis.
Speaker 1 (23:41):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, um.
I think consistency is alwaysgoing to be the main theme that
we talk to people about.
You know, right, um, yeah, allright, so six packs made in the
kitchen, totally agree.
Uh, what do you convey topeople for that?
For getting yeah, it's like, allright, I want to look good.
I want to look good in thebathing suit.
I'll get a six pack.
I want to be my physique to bebetter.
(24:02):
Like all right, let's reframethat functionality over time.
Longevity, totally, yeah, cool.
I also, though, want to lookgood.
How can I capitalize on this?
Speaker 2 (24:18):
Yeah.
So I mean listen, this is aninteresting question.
I'm very much in this sort ofwellness mindset myself.
You know, I try to take abalanced approach with clients
though because, listen, I youknow, for me I'm very careful
about what I eat.
I don't eat gluten or dairy, Idon't drink alcohol and I don't
drink coffee just because of theacidity, and there there are a
(24:40):
lot of other things that I dothat I know isn't necessarily
applicable to somebody else.
So you know also, for example,I see a functional medicine
doctor every six months.
Who he's?
He's a real MD, which wasimportant to me because my dad
was the chief urology at Pennfor 40 years.
(25:01):
So, I have a ton of respect fordoctors and the medical world,
for doctors and the medicalworld.
Now I can also hold that alongwith the knowledge that I think
that there are some areas whereWestern medicine comes up short
and for me, with certainproblems that I was facing, like
(25:25):
gut health, hormonal imbalances, these doctors were amazing,
but they were not giving mesolutions that I viewed as
long-term.
They wanted to put me on amedication.
They wanted to put me on a pilland listen if that's necessary
at any point, like if I have abacterial infection-.
Speaker 1 (25:44):
Sometimes you need penicillin.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
I'm taking the medication, yeah, yeah, for sure
I'm taking the medication, butthese were issues that were sort
(26:08):
of persisting, so I wanted tofind a long lasting sort of
solution to them, which is why Istarted seeing this functional
medicine doctor in Miami.
His name is Christopher Estes.
He's excellent, I wouldrecommend him to anybody and he
does very in-depth blood workand a bunch of other tests, and
so I get those done every sixmonths.
Now again, for some people, thelifestyle that I live and going
that far maybe for some peoplewould consider it down the
(26:28):
rabbit hole could feelrestrictive to them.
So I'm cognizant that noteverybody has the same goals
that I do.
So in general, the things thatI tell people are move every day
, whether it's a walk, whetherit's a leisurely bike, whether
(26:49):
it's a workout, get up and getmoving.
I believe that moving your bodyis the best medicine for
anything right.
Organic produce you know pasture.
(27:09):
Raised meats, grass fed youknow grass fed pastures.
I guess they sort of go hand inhand.
Wild caught seafood and ingeneral, try to eat like whole
foods.
If you're looking on the backof the package and you're seeing
, you know if, for example, ifit's, if it's a snack and it's
(27:30):
like granola, there shouldn't belike sugar in there.
You know what I mean.
Like, look for things that areoats, maybe some fruit and then
you know some seeds.
If you're looking for granolafor bread, I'll encourage them
(27:51):
to go to a local bakery and buysome sourdough, instead of going
to the grocery store and buyingbread that's most likely has
wheat that's sprayed withglyphosate.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
So do you make your own sourdough bread?
Speaker 2 (27:59):
Well, I don't, because I'm gluten free, so but
I'm actually, I have to.
I have to be gluten free.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
It's not like is there an option to make
sourdough gluten free?
Speaker 2 (28:08):
So technically, I and I'm not a bread expert, so if
any of your listeners are breadmakers, I apologize if I'm
getting this wrong, but I thinkthat sourdough naturally has
less gluten than other breadbecause of the fermentation
process, but I do think there isstill some gluten in there.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
Gotcha.
Okay, yeah, yeah, cool, we um.
My wife has not gotten into thesourdough bread making phase
yet.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
Yeah, no, I, you know my, my husband loves sourdough,
so I I wish that I could.
I could do that.
That.
Just it feels like a lot ofwork and that kind of goes to
the point too, where, likeeverybody's tolerance level for
different things is different,like I'm perfectly content to go
get my blood work at 6 am inMiami for this doctor, but like
(29:05):
sourdough seems like too muchfor me it's like whoa, that's
way too much work.
Speaker 1 (29:09):
You kidding me?
Oh my gosh, that's funny.
Um, interesting, uh, I mean, Itotally agree, like I think, um,
some things that I've heardright, moderation is always
going to be important too.
Um and uh, the things weconsume, I think, are going to
be the most influential for,like, our impact of our health
(29:33):
and longevity.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
Right.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
And then agreed totally like body physique and
body composition is going toultimately come down to like
what we're consuming.
You know, right, that's myopinion when, if someone doesn't
even exercise and they startchanging what their nutrition
intake looks like, even justportion usually portion control
is just like the first step.
Speaker 2 (29:50):
For sure.
Speaker 1 (29:51):
And then it's like let's just not eat this and not
eat that, but let's, you know,like snacks and like you know
highly processed things.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
Yeah, I mean listen anecdotally, and I'm not a
doctor, I'm not a nutritionist,but I do see.
You know I'm 29.
I see a lot of my friends withall of these weird diseases,
like one of my friends just hadto get her thyroid removed and
she's 29.
Speaker 1 (30:14):
Really Wow.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
So you know I and my friends are having fertility
issues and things like that,just stuff that is so odd that I
can really attribute that to.
That's changed is likeenvironmental toxins and a more
polluted, problematic foodsupply.
(30:37):
Yeah, I don't disagree with you, you know again, it's just what
I'm observing around me, andyou know in terms of what an
individual wants to do with thatknowledge.
I leave that up to them.
For me, that means majorlifestyle modifications, like I
(31:01):
have a whole house water filteron my house.
Speaker 1 (31:02):
That's one of my goals.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
I, you know my husband would tell him I
probably drive him nuts with allthis stuff, like I have.
I just got these air purifiers,called like Jasper air
purifiers, and I cook a lot.
So I know that some peopledon't like to cook, but I I like
knowing what's in my food, Ilike knowing that.
You know I see food is wildcaught, the you know the
(31:25):
potatoes I'm making organic, um,and I, when I cook at home, you
would be so surprised as to howbad the air quality is, because
this air purifier is a smartair purifier so it gears up when
it senses more pollution in theair and it goes crazy when I
cook.
So just those little things,those little changes.
(31:50):
You know, one thing that's, Ithink, especially prevalent in
Florida is like mold toxicity.
You know that that was honestlypart of my problem and why I
went to see this functionalmedicine doctor because I was
having and I think you guys dolike vestibular therapy.
Yeah, I was having vestibulartherapy.
I was having vestibularproblems and, like I had every
(32:12):
scan known to man and they couldfind nothing wrong, I did a
balance test like which ishorrible I mean at all costs.
Anybody should avoid doing thatand I had high levels of mold
in my system.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
Interesting.
How do you find that out?
Like what?
Speaker 2 (32:28):
So that one's not blood work, that one's another
type of test.
It's like it's a urine testthat he does, and there are like
a lot of specific things.
There's something that you haveto take, that's sort of like a
detox supplement beforehand, andthen you know it's collected
over like, I think, half a day,and then you have to send it
(32:50):
back to a lab, um and so, anyway, I he put me on a bunch of like
.
I mean, I take a lot ofsupplements a day, like, like,
probably like 18, 18 supplementsa day.
Yeah, which one Um?
Speaker 1 (33:05):
prescribed by this guy.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
Yes, yeah, so they're not all prescription, though.
Though I mean, there's stuffthat you're like recommended by
this guy, yeah there.
There's stuff that you can findin and well, in some cases in a
grocery store, but like bvitamins, d vitamins,
phosphatidylcholine um, that wasmore for like the neurological
symptoms that I was having withthe mold um, oregano, um, um,
(33:31):
trying to think what else like,um, there's like a.
He makes me take a core mineralsupplement.
There are certain detoxsupplements that I have to take
a certain time away from foodthat are like it's charcoal,
glucomannan and something else.
Um so a lot, a lot ofdifference.
Speaker 1 (33:51):
What other neurological besides the
vestibular, any otherneurological symptoms?
Speaker 2 (33:54):
No, just so, I was just getting it wasn't true
vertigo.
It was the sensation where Iwas like on a boat, almost.
Speaker 1 (34:01):
Swing.
Speaker 2 (34:01):
Yeah, and, like I said, they really couldn't
attribute it to anything andhonestly it was weird.
The only time when I didn'thave it is when I was doing
something active like Pilates orwalking.
I would only have it or noticeit when I was sitting.
Still.
Speaker 1 (34:17):
Interesting, yeah, since then improvements.
Speaker 2 (34:20):
Yeah, massive, I don't have it anymore.
Speaker 1 (34:22):
Interesting.
How quickly did you noticeimprovements after diving into
that?
Speaker 2 (34:26):
Probably a year, and I would say that's probably the
other thing that I think peoplehave to keep in mind.
This stuff doesn't work likethat.
You have to keep at it and beconsistent.
It's not for me.
I don't look at it as somethingthat's temporary.
Like my mindset is, I'mprobably going to be on some
supplement routine for the restof my life and you know,
(34:48):
sometimes when you fix one thing, another thing pops up and,
just like with exercise, thereare progressions and regressions
you know Um and I fluid state.
Right, and I think that's how Ilook at health as well.
Speaker 1 (35:02):
Yeah which is a good look, because I would totally
agree with you it's like Nope,this didn't work.
You know, don't see anything,and then bail fitness exercise,
physical exercise, physicaltherapy, pain relief, like stuff
, working on stuff, you know, um.
But I think another thing Ilike that too of like there's
regressions and progressions,phases of just general, you know
, where, um, sometimes thingsjust hurt for a little bit and
(35:25):
then they'll regress and be okay, and then some you're just in
pain right now.
All right, it's gonna.
We can't get it better, it toget better.
There's a reason why you can't,versus like oh no, I'm doomed,
you know, forever I'm going tohave this back pain or knee pain
or whatever.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
Right, I feel like people are hard on themselves
when it comes to exercise I meanme included.
Like from horseback riding Ihave.
You know, I have bad knees andlike my right knee specifically
gives me a little more troublebecause my right inner thigh is
like it has a tendency to likethat adductor like tenses up a
(35:58):
little bit and so that bothersmy knee sometimes when I do
things like squats or orwhatever and so, but there's
sometimes it doesn't bother meat all.
So when it does, I have thetendency in my mind to get like
a little discouraged.
But I do the things that I knowthat I should be doing, like
stretching it after a workoutand things like that, and it
usually kind of it subsides.
(36:20):
I try to look at everything as afluid state?
Speaker 1 (36:23):
Yeah for sure.
I literally just did a podcastor I posted a little while ago
about like pain athlete painmanagement, active people pain
management, where it's likewould you, would you expect a
pro athlete, as an example, tolike never have any kind of
Nick's bank, you know, big,banged up or nicked up?
And of course they do.
Yeah, they just like back it upa little bit and they manage it
(36:44):
Right.
Speaker 2 (36:44):
So the rollercoaster isn't like a wild up and down,
you know, but more so justmanaged isn't like a wild up and
down, you know, but more sojust managed, and I think that
makes you appreciate more thetimes when you are operating at
110%, um, you know, sort ofthose.
Those little steps back allowyou to take more steps forward.
That's how I try.
Speaker 1 (37:04):
I would agree.
I love that.
I good times.
Speaker 2 (37:09):
Yeah, right.
Speaker 1 (37:10):
I would also put in that people are hard on
themselves, uh, and includingmyself.
You know I fall in this boat.
But just the comparison game onsocial media.
Speaker 2 (37:19):
Right, you know, and so I hear these influencers like
incredible shape.
Speaker 1 (37:23):
Yeah, they're living the best life ever.
I'm like, well, you'd alsodon't know what's going on, but
is that do they have?
What else do they have going onin their life?
Yeah, do they actually havekids, right, do they?
Speaker 2 (37:37):
have like a job.
Speaker 1 (37:38):
That's all they do, you know, and they're like early
twenties and like right Must behard.
Speaker 2 (37:40):
Yeah, I think that's a huge thing with Pilates too,
because even though, like I say,I do train men and women, I
think it is sort of female focusbecause it's gotten this
reputation so I sort ofmentioned the beginning of the
podcast for being like thiselongating, lengthening workout,
and so you see these moves onsocial media and even me as an
instructor, I get overwhelmed.
(38:01):
I'm like how does that person dothat?
I just I could never.
And sometimes I think maybewhat you don't realize is that
they're probably doing one ofthose moves.
You know, what I mean.
They're not doing them in a setof 10.
Um, and I think there's thistendency again to make these
(38:21):
moves very complicated.
So clients maybe don't getbored.
Speaker 1 (38:25):
Um they look fancy yeah.
Speaker 2 (38:28):
I look at the form on these people and you know when
they're doing kickbacks orsomething, they're arching their
back.
You know they're flaring theirrib cage, they're rotating their
pelvis one way and it's likethat's.
I mean, that's great.
Speaker 1 (38:41):
It's not a deal.
Speaker 2 (38:42):
Yeah, it's great that you know it looks good for you,
but like talk to me in sixhours.
Speaker 1 (38:47):
Or six months of continuing to do the same thing
over and over again.
You mentioned so equestrianlife.
Back it was giving us troubleneck stiffness, knee issues and
stuff.
We actually see a lot ofequestrians, I mean you know,
this area is so dense,especially in Wellington.
Um, how long were you doingequestrian?
Speaker 2 (39:07):
14 years.
Speaker 1 (39:09):
That's a good amount of time.
Speaker 2 (39:10):
Yeah, since I was very young, um, and I loved it.
I love the horses, um, I thinkit makes you very independent,
uh, it makes you mature veryquickly, kind of teaches you to
be very hardworking and,honestly, it teaches you to be
humble because, listen, you canhave the best day in the world,
(39:31):
but horses can't talk to you.
Maybe the horse has a stomachache, maybe his foot's not
feeling great you know, and soit really it takes both you and
the horse to be having a greatday.
Speaker 1 (39:44):
For things to line up yeah.
Speaker 2 (39:46):
Everything has to line up and these horses are
treated like people, um, andthese horses are treated like
people, um, like my horses hadchiropractors.
Yeah, um, you know, so it's,it's, it's a great sport and I'm
glad that I was involved in it.
Uh, but it's certainly, it'scertainly, you know, took its
(40:09):
toll on my body.
Speaker 1 (40:11):
If you let's say you had you when you were training
equestrian life, like, hey,we're going to, we're going to
dabble in some Pilates stuff,yeah, that's going to help you
be a better rider or managestability, do you think that'd
been pretty impactful for you?
Speaker 2 (40:24):
I think it definitely would have been helpful.
Now, I mean, listen, you trainprofessional athletes, so I'm
sure I'm preaching the choirhere, but if you're doing a
sport that you know encouragesmovements that aren't
necessarily functional, right,like you know, horseback riders,
they tend to be very quaddominant from, like, the
(40:46):
positioning on the horse.
You know, obviously when you'rewith somebody you can work on
training their glutes to makethat a little more balanced, but
that doesn't change that at theend of the day, they're still
gonna be riding horses forprobably six hours a day, right,
um?
Or you know, like for golf,like you can teach somebody to
(41:10):
like rotate, maybe more withtheir hips instead of their low
back, but they're still going tobe doing that rotation over and
over and over again.
So there's going to be one sidethat's stronger, one side
that's weaker.
So I think, while it probablywould have helped me manage
symptoms and be more aware of mybody, I think there still would
(41:31):
have been things that I had tomanage with it.
Speaker 1 (41:34):
Just innate risk, innate difficulty.
Speaker 2 (41:37):
Yeah, like another example when you're jumping over
a jump, you don't want to lookdown, right, but technically
looking down is the only waythat your neck remains kind of
in line with your spine.
Like it would be like somebodylooking at themselves in the
mirror while they did a squatdown and then they're looking at
themselves.
Their chin kind of protrudes,their neck is cocked back, and
(41:59):
so when you're riding you'redoing that over and over and
over again.
So there are certain thingslike that that obviously when
you're working out you can traincertain things to counteract
that, so you don't go throughyour everyday life like that,
but again you're still going tobe doing that movement.
Speaker 1 (42:17):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Um, back to your practice.
Yeah, is there a uh, a clientor a group of clients that
you've worked with that you feellike have made huge strides,
like any any case scenarios?
Speaker 2 (42:31):
Yeah, I mean I again I have clients from kind of
across the age, gender spectrum,Um, I think universally.
A lot of people will come to me, especially if they've been
doing Pilates and they're like alittle hyper mobile.
(42:53):
Like, again, I find they'rereally not able to properly like
brace their core.
And these are people that likedo things in their everyday life
, Like you know, like one girlloves to cycle right, she loves
soul cycle and I'm like, okay,that's great.
Like in my mind I'm like, well,this isn't maybe necessarily
what you should be doing, butshe loves it.
So I'm like, okay, that's great.
Like in my mind I'm like, well,this isn't maybe necessarily
(43:14):
what you should be doing, butshe loves it.
So I'm not going to tell hernot to do that.
But with her, for example, we'veworked on a lot of like glute
strengthening, a lot of corebracing, and you know she feels
better.
Like her, her low back wasreally hurting her.
So she thought that you know,maybe she needed to practice
(43:37):
like more mobility with her lowback, where I was like, well, I
don't think that's the case, butlet's check your hamstrings,
see if they're tight, and thatthat ended up being the problem.
Her hamstrings were just sotight, um, so we worked on again
like posterior chainstrengthening, so like glutes,
hamstrings, and then at the endI'd always make sure to do like
(44:00):
a static stretch with her.
But there's so many likestories I have from clients.
You know, I train an 83 yearold, you know, um, and for him
like success looks differentthan it does for that client
that I just explained yeah, yeah.
So you know every everybody'sdifferent and I think wins
(44:23):
everybody has sort of their ownrespective wins that you know
are wins for them, if you knowwhat I mean.
Speaker 1 (44:31):
Yeah right, no specific per person.
And what their goals are andtheir values and stuff and also
the current walk of life youknow, are wins for them if you
know what I mean.
Yeah, right, right, no specificper person, and what their
goals are and their values andstuff, and also the current walk
of life.
You know.
Speaker 2 (44:37):
Right.
Speaker 1 (44:40):
There's a lot of things that can yield overall
health, wellness and improvementand stuff.
Yeah, this particular clientyou're talking about, she'd like
us to spin, spin a lot, right?
Yeah, cool, I think.
I mean cardiovascular exerciseis always going to be helpful
yeah, for sure I would imagineusually what we've found too,
the posture you're talking aboutwith like equestrians, but
(45:01):
they're bent over and then theirnecks extended, yep, and then
they sit at their desk all dayand they're working right, and
then they go exercise by doing aspin class and they're in the
same position, maybe even moreextended in in their neck or
like hunched over and theirneck's looking up, you know Um.
Anyway, what are yoursuggestions on that of, like
overall health and wellness?
What does a game plan look likefor somebody in your eyes?
Speaker 2 (45:23):
It depends who the spine, but the hips and the
shoulders, so you can likeproperly kind of retract your
(45:58):
shoulders when it's necessary Umposture for sure.
Yeah, posture is a huge one andsort of like a neutral like I
was saying before a little morelike a neutral spine.
Because I know, like my husbandloves the Peloton, but I walk
in and I look at him on thePeloton and he's crunched over
like this, you know, as you know, he has back problems and his
(46:21):
spine is rounded and I'm likethis, this is not, this is not
what you should be doing.
Um, but you know, even for thislike 83 year old, that I train,
like he loves golf.
You know, and I'm I'm not goingto tell him not to golf, even
though you know, like I'm sure Ican just see him like standing
(46:45):
over the golf ball and his, likeyou know, spine is curved, he's
not bracing his core and he hassome issues with his hips.
So obviously it's not like thebest thing, but I always just
try to like control the symptoms, if you know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (47:01):
Yeah, yeah, well, I would imagine for that guy,
cause I can, I see people likethat, I'm sure.
Yeah, um, we're trying toconvey, like, I guess, what
you're saying like of thesethings to translate to your golf
game.
Speaker 2 (47:14):
Yes, exactly, and that's kind of the philosophy
that I try to hold witheverything and which is why I
like doing the privates andbeing one-on-one with people,
because you know the obviouslythe principles are similar, but
what I'm teaching, like that 83year old, is different than from
what I'm teaching, you know,the girl who loves Soul, without
(47:39):
any sort of like identity, likemaybe some of the exercises
would translate from one to theother, but I target their
(48:05):
sessions to things that aregoing to help them in their
everyday life, if that makessense, yeah, in their everyday
life, if that makes sense.
Like, again, going back to thesocial media point, a lot of
those moves are complicated, butwhat are you doing that
reflects those moves in youreveryday life?
And for me, when I'm drawing ontraditional Pilates moves and
(48:25):
maybe modifying them a littlebit, my thought is like, okay,
what position are you in in youreveryday life that reflects
this and what is this going tohelp you with?
And if I don't have an answerto one of those things, I'm like
, okay, this is maybe not likethe best use of time in a
session.
Speaker 1 (48:43):
Yeah, that makes sense.
I mean, you know, functionalitytranslated over to be
purposeful.
Yeah, all super interesting.
Yeah, if people want to reachout to you, what's the best way
they can reach out?
Speaker 2 (48:56):
So I have a website, house of Pilates, wpb, which
stands for West Palm Beach, andI have a contact form on there.
As I mentioned, my studio isout of my guest house, so I, you
know, I take contact kind offorms for people who want to
sign up with me.
A lot of my business is word ofmouth, but I do take in, you
(49:17):
know, people that I don't knowat all, but I have a
conversation with them first and, you know, find out what, what
specifically they want toaddress, and so that's that's
how people reach out to me,either there or I'm on Instagram
at House of Pilates West PalmBeach.
Speaker 1 (49:33):
Cool.
So website, instagram, yep,cool.
Well, thanks for coming on andsharing some knowledge and stuff
like that.
Um, and if y'all have anyquestions or comments questions
concerns suggestions we'realways open to ideas.
Don't hesitate to reach out tono one for all your Pilates
inquiries and needs and stuff,and don't hesitate to reach out
to us if you have any pain thatyou want to fix too.
Um, and we'll, uh, we'll haveto get you on again, yeah, this
(49:54):
was stuff that's going to comenext week to your place for like
a one-on-one intense session.
Speaker 2 (49:59):
I'm excited Um which is going to be, great.
And a little shout out to Kylehere he helped my husband with
his low back pain and um, nowhe's golfing and playing tennis
like a like a pro.
So, um, definitely what you'redoing is amazing.
Speaker 1 (50:19):
Well, I appreciate that.
I'm glad he's.
I'm glad he's getting back toyou know, back to his thing.
That's good Cause it was hardto see him like that.
Speaker 2 (50:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (50:25):
I could see it was.
It was definitely affecting him.
Speaker 2 (50:28):
Yes, and he is very athletic, so he's he's not used
to like being taken down oftenbut you fixed him right up.
Speaker 1 (50:37):
I appreciate that.
No, thank you.
I'm glad he's doing so muchbetter.
And uh again, reach out if youhave any questions and we'll
catch y'all next time awesome.
If you're a driven, active person who wants to reach
and pursue a higher qualitylife with some ambition, then
guess what this podcast is foryou.
This is the Driven AthletePodcast.
What's up?
Y'all?
It's your man, Dr Kyle.
Welcome back to the DrivenAthlete Podcast.
We've got a really cool specialguest with us, Nolan Greenwald.
She's a private Pilatesinstructor, Pilates enthusiast,
(00:22):
super knowledgeable with whatshe does.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
So I appreciate you coming on sharing some of your
knowledge.
Yeah, of course, Thank you forhaving me.
Um, I am honored to be on yourpodcast because I look up to you
as a fitness professional.
Um, there's a lot of smoke andmirrors in the fitness industry
and I feel like you're one ofthose people out there who
really stick to the science, soI I really appreciate that.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Well, I appreciate that.
No, thank you.
That's cool, Um, and, of course, like you know, we enjoy
helping people and like gettinglegit results for people.
You know for sure, and I thinkthe proof's in the pudding
ultimately.
You know, Um, but anyway, sotell us about what you're doing.
So, um, like where you're atand what you, what you do for
people.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Sure, so let me start at the beginning.
I was a competitive equestriangrowing up, so I rode for 14
years, traveled the country, andactually I spent like three
months of the year not too farfrom where we are today, in
Wellington, at the Winter.
Equestrian Festival.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
I mean, that's like the hub.
Yes, Wellington.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
A hundred percent and it's unlike anything else.
I loved it and I loved it whileI did it.
I stopped when I went tocollege.
But you know, as I got older Istarted noticing some of the
negative things that came alongwith horseback riding.
I had a lot of joint strain.
My low back was always hurting.
(01:45):
I was one of those people thatwould do those obnoxious neck
cracks that other people aroundme would just cringe.
My mom would actually tell meyou have to stop doing that it
scares people.
So that's kind of how I startedmy fitness journey.
I really wanted to not cure,but certainly pay attention to
(02:11):
what was happening and improvethose symptoms.
So I found Pilates.
It was a low impact form ofexercising that I was really
driven and attracted to.
So I did Pilates over a numberof years and I was fortunate to
have really great instructionfrom the beginning.
(02:35):
I always had, you know, one onones with instructors and just
very fortunate to have learnedfrom some of the best people out
there.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
And where was that at ?
Speaker 2 (02:45):
So I lived in Philadelphia originally, so my
training started there.
I would go to this woman'shouse on the main line of
Philadelphia and she justactually sort of similar to what
I'm doing right now.
She had a private studio.
She'd only do privates withpeople and so I was fortunate to
have very detailed instructionfrom the beginning.
(03:07):
So you know, fast forward.
I worked in politics for awhile after college and at a
similar time I met my husband.
We were living in New York fora little while, and so
eventually we moved down here alittle little before COVID, and
so we came down here and I wasreally kind of craving the sort
(03:31):
of instruction that I got upnorth.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
So I tried all the studios and sort of at the same
time.
My I wasn't really feelingfulfilled by my job in politics,
so I eventually quit and myhusband was very supportive and
he said, like you should reallytake some time to figure out
what you want to do next.
(03:56):
And I've always been a podcastlistener, so I was listening to
all of these podcasts that kindof revolved around wellness,
functional medicine, becausethat's really where my passion
was.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
What podcasts.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
So Dr Mark Hyman's podcast.
He was the main one but likeRupa Health and David Sinclair
and all these kinds of likelongevity and anti-aging people,
I was always fascinated by that.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Yeah, I think.
I mean I think that's thedirection healthcare is going
for sure.
Uh, just allopathic meds, youknow just so much consequences
over a long period of time oftaking meds or just being like,
oh, take these meds forever, youknow.
Like problem solved, likehypothyroidism, take Synthroid.
Like take this medicationforever, like that has got to be
a different way, yeah, anyway.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
And well, I know we're getting to that later, so
I'm going to.
I'm going to put a pin in thatand save that.
But I just really wanted tofind a way that I could get
involved in this sort ofwellness industry and the most
logical way for me was to.
I had done Pilates for a longtime.
There's a lot of studies thatshow that Pilates is very
helpful from a physical therapyperspective.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
For sure.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
And so I decided to get my certification.
I did the balanced bodycertification, which is one of
the nationally accredited ones.
I've always been like a veryacademically rigorous person, so
it was important for me tocarry that over into whatever
certification I did, which iswhy I chose Balanced Body.
(05:36):
I did my certificationspecifically through Boston Body
, which is a studio in Boston.
My husband's from there, so wewould already kind of go back
and forth and I tried to time myvisits there with some of the
classes that they were doing.
I did a lot of my observationhours there and it was a long
(05:56):
experience.
You need 500 hours.
That's not a joke, that's not ashort time.
No.
So Zaina Gold and Liv Nurmi arethe people who um see that
through and I I really liked howthey sort of streamlined
everything and um made theprocess pretty.
I mean, it was it'soverwhelming, but they tried to.
(06:19):
They do a really good job ofmaking it accessible.
So I completed that and so Istarted teaching at other
studios, and my husband and Iended up moving to a house in
West Palm Beach where we had aguest house.
So that's when I decided toopen my own studio.
(06:40):
I outfitted my guest house as aPilates studio and that's when
my business, house of Pilates,was born.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Cool, so House of Pilates.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
House of Pilates.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
That name makes total sense.
Yeah, and that's good.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
I figured that was a logical name, and I also, you
know, and I'm sure we'll get tothis later I wanted to create an
environment that I had alwayskind of craved as a student,
which was like a very tranquil,mindful environment, and what
else kind of brings that aboutbesides being in your own house?
Speaker 1 (07:13):
Yeah, for sure, 100%.
That's really cool.
Yeah, so the well.
I want to ask again I didn'tknow so you were involved with
politics previously.
Yeah, what capacity, like withcampaign managing or pursuing
your own politic career?
Speaker 2 (07:28):
No, no, not my own career in politics.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
Senator Nolan going for Pennsylvania.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
No, I was the person behind the scenes, so I worked a
lot on grassroots fundraising.
So I'm sure at some pointyou've gotten one of the
numerous political text messagesor emails or been targeted by
one of the Facebook or Instagramads.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Text back to 3333 and donate today.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Exactly so that was what we did.
We did a lot of the messagingcontrol for the grassroots
Interesting and so, listen, itwas great, but I really wanted
to do something that I felt likewas making people's lives
better.
I really wanted to do somethingthat I felt like was making
people's lives better.
More people were happy and youknow, I always appreciated the
(08:11):
strategic nature of politics.
I studied political science andcommunications in college but
on a day to day I just wasn'thappy doing it.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Yeah, yeah, I mean it could be cool like getting
behind something that you feellike you believe in.
I mean it could be cool likegetting behind something that
you feel like you believe in,but I always felt, I mean with
one-on-one engagement, you knowyou get pretty impactful, you
know noticeable impact forpeople For sure, and I know for
Pilates there's definitely ablend and a good marriage
(08:39):
between physical therapy andPilates.
A lot of my colleagues do a lotof Pilates stuff in their
practice.
So it's, it's, it's there's alot of definitely like carryover
.
Yeah, um, all right, so you'relocated in West Palm beach, you
have your house, your house ofPilates is located in your guest
house and you only do privates.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Yep, I only do privates.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Uh, what's like your wheelhouse of clientele?
Like what's your favorite typeof people to work with?
Speaker 2 (09:03):
you know I don't really have a favorite.
I mean, I will say that the onekind of commonality between all
my clients I train men, women,old, young.
I think the thing that kind ofweaves them together, though, is
that they're all veryintentional about how they want
to work out.
You know, I I'm and I admit topeople, I'm not the trainer for
(09:27):
you.
If you just want the experienceof going to a class with your
friends and getting a good sweat, that's not me, that's not me
as a person.
I'm naturally an introvert.
So, you know, if people ask meif I'll do classes or whatnot,
it's just I say listen, I'm notthe person for you.
So I think what all my clientskind of have in common is they
(09:51):
really want the granular details, like they want me to come up
and shift their hips acentimeter to the right you know
, which makes all the differencesometimes and they also really
want a mindful, private setting,which I think, coming down here
(10:11):
, I tried a lot of studios andthere are great instructors
everywhere.
I just didn't love theenvironment.
I didn't love going andthinking okay, love going and
thinking, okay, who am I goingto see today?
So I really wanted to createthat kind of private, mindful
setting where the client and Ican just be focused on one
(10:35):
another, and so I think mypreferred clientele really
appreciates that sort of setting.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
Calm, relaxed mindful setting yeah.
Versus chaotic, robust, lots oftraffic yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
I think they're very intentional about okay, when I
work out, I want to get the bestworkout possible without injury
.
They're not necessarily peoplethat are you know harder is
better.
They just really they wantsomething that works for their
body.
(11:10):
A lot of times the clients thatI see have gotten injured going
to other places, so they'vecome to the conclusion that they
need a more detailed approachthrough the other sort of
approach failing.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Yeah, so, yeah, I mean that for sure, and that's
who we.
Oftentimes it's so easy andthen we send them back to people
like you.
You know it's like let's getyou feeling better and fix some
stuff, get you confident againand then shift them out.
Um, so, tell us about, likeyour understanding of Pilates,
like the approach, philosophy,what is Pilates?
Speaker 2 (11:43):
So Pilates was created back in the early 1900s
by somebody named Joseph Pilates.
Originally, though, I did notknow that, yeah, okay.
So originally he called itcontrolology.
It's kind of a mouthful, but itsort of speaks to the ethos of
Pilates, which is it's verycontrolled, it's very detailed
(12:04):
and each sort of each move has apurpose.
So he was actually sort of asickly kid.
He had a lot of problems and sohe was determined to overcome
those problems.
So he got into bodybuilding, heboxed for a little bit, he was
(12:28):
into a bunch of different thingsand he created this method as
sort of a culmination ofeverything that he had studied
back then.
So I think in the 1920s he andhis wife emigrated to America
and he began teaching out of aballet studio.
(12:49):
So he trained a lot of dancers,a lot of gymnasts, and that's
why I think Pilates has gottenthat reputation for creating,
like long, lean physiques,because it was mostly used by
dancers.
But I think Pilates has sort ofcome to be known as a method
(13:11):
that improves your core strengthwhile working on your mobility.
Now today we sort of we havetwo, two separate camps, so we
have more of the traditionalcamp or we call classical.
So when Joseph Pilates came upwith his original repertoire
there was a sequence of moves,so each one was supposed to be
(13:33):
done after another.
So that's more classical.
I verge more towards thecontemporary, which is you take
those moves you don'tnecessarily do them in the same
sequence every time, noting thatsome people have different
injuries and they maybe can't doa certain move and they've
adapted some of the moves toscience.
(13:55):
That has obviously sort of comeabout since the 1920s.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Gotcha Cool.
So what would you say?
What would you want to conveyto people about, like, oh, what
is House of Pilates?
What's your approach, yourphilosophy?
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Yep.
So, as we kind of discussedbefore, only privates, because I
I really want to zone in witheach client that I have no two
session that I teach is the same.
Again, somebody who values kindof privacy, mindfulness, and
then the third I think thatmaybe separates me is I really
(14:30):
try to surround myself withmentors that know more than I do
.
It's very important for me tostay updated with the science
(14:50):
and constantly learning.
So when I moved to Florida Ihad the honor of meeting
somebody who I do consider amentor and now one of my best
friends, chanel Landahl, who isa chiropractor by trade but she
also has a master's in sportsrehab and she was telling me she
was a little skeptical ofPilates because she would say,
listen, I've heard it's great,but everybody I see who does
Pilates has a very tight neck.
(15:10):
They're always kind of curledforward and oftentimes they're
like hyper mobile.
So I kind of started to thinkabout that and she had
recommended some studies to meby, like Craig Liebenson and
Stuart McGill, who are veryrenowned, you know, physical
(15:30):
therapists, biomechanics, and Istarted reading them and I
started reading kind of thetheories on loaded flexion and
rotation and you know I realizedthat that's what a lot of
Pilates is.
It's a lot of ab curls, it's alot of curling forwardates that
exists, I think you know areally common cue that you'll
(16:09):
hear in a class is like pullyour belly button to your spine,
which is more like sucking in,which is not, as you know, like
you want to encouragediaphragmatic breath, so it it
doesn't really allow you tofully brace your core and use it
correctly.
So, using that and knowing thatknowledge, I took that and I
(16:32):
adapted some of the moves fromthe additional or from the
traditional repertoire toreflect moves that encourage
more of that core bracing.
So like a neutral spine, likedead bugs, um, and you know,
more planks hinging instead ofnecessarily curling, um, like
(16:54):
you know, stir the pot kind ofmoves, um, and like bird dogs
and things like that.
And so I did that in my owntraining and I saw a huge.
I saw a huge difference becausealthough Pilates had gotten me
to a certain point, I did stillnotice that like my neck was a
(17:14):
little tight from time to time.
And moves, like you know,roll-ups in Pilates, for example
, where you start lying down andthen you know you roll up and
over, those sort offlexion-heavy moves were always
hard for me, so I sort of Iadapted that and then I started
(17:36):
to use it on clients and Inoticed also a huge difference
in their core strength.
Their necks weren't as tight,and so I think my philosophy,
probably summarized, is usingPilates as a conduit to build
functional strength, and doingso based on the science that's
(17:59):
out there.
Now, listen know, ab curls andthings like that are working for
somebody.
I am not here to tell them tochange anything about what
they're doing, but I think a lotof times you see Pilates on
social media and these moves areso complicated that they're
doing it's like your leg is overhere and you have to be in a in
(18:22):
a curl up, and it's.
I think my motto is the simplerthe better.
I find that the most effectiveexercises are usually the
simplest ones, and I think youknow so I'm not here to, and I
think you and I have discussedthis previously.
Abs, I think, are made in thekitchen and you know so there's
(18:58):
that.
And then also I've seen studiesthat moves that kind of like
stir the pot, for example, thatactivates the rectus, which is
that six pack muscle, just asmuch as something like an ab
curl will.
So anyway, I think, insummation, like I said, my
(19:19):
approach is more using Pilatesto build that functional
strength.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
So it's good.
I mean take like an eclectickind of approach, taking some
things from here, some thingsfrom here, blending it as needed
to fit whatever the clientmaybe would benefit the most
from.
Yeah, that's good.
Um cause also too, like keepingsomething like rigid and like
one way of doing things.
I know this is always the waywe do it every single time.
I've definitely found that'sgoing to be not, as uh,
(19:48):
applicable for everybody, youknow.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
Yeah for sure.
And and listen.
Like I said, if, if doing abcurls like feels great for
somebody, then that's fine.
But there is, I like to letpeople know if they're having
trouble with that kind of stuff.
There is another way to buildcore strength.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I've always felt too like, cause
we see people that are in pain,like that's our thing, right,
pain.
If you're in pain, we're goingto get the pain better.
Figure out why, what happened,right, Like what's going on, how
can we fix it?
And then how can we get apreventative coming back?
Um, and we do a lot of thesimilar things you're describing
.
You know where oftentimes wefind ourselves, like with people
(20:27):
in back pain.
Usually there's a couplemechanisms that, like what's the
pain coming from?
You know we're working on corestability a bunch and the first
step I usually say is like canyou get into this knee plank,
stir the pot, roll out positionwith a neutral spine and have
your back not hurt?
We're gonna do a rollout andwe're just like, oh, my back
(20:50):
just grabbed, right, that's justa spasm because things are in
protection mode.
So I'm like, all right, firststep, can we just find your core
without your back getting litup?
We could do a lot of manualtherapy stuff first to get
something for success.
Right, yeah, but were you forsure?
Later are going to be liketranslating that to functional
movements.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Yeah, movements.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
Can you translate just core awareness and
recruitment with functionalmovement stuff, and then the
third step being layering anddiaphragmatic breathing.
I'm like core stability, ninjas, like to be a ninja, everything
we are is built on.
But then can you layer indiaphragmatic breathing at the
same time Don't hold your breathAnyway, and then be like, hey,
go now, let's take a step up anotch.
(21:28):
You know, um, so that's cool,just like I said, a lot of the
blend.
You know, um, what are some ofthe goals?
People?
When people reach out to you,what are they usually saying
they want so uh well, honestlywhich is okay.
I'd be like yeah, like everyonewants a good physique, right.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
Right.
So I think a lot of people cometo me, especially women, even
though Pilates I don't justteach women, I teach men too.
Um, I think a lot of people'sgoals are aesthetic.
Um, like you know, I want to,you know, make this thinner, or
I want a six pack, or you knowlook good in a bathing suit
(22:07):
Right.
And I do, I I really do strugglea little bit because some of
these things you can't changenecessarily, like you can't
change somebody's bone structure, you can't change genetic
predispositions Uh.
So a lot of people do come to mewith aesthetic goals.
I think what I try to do withpeople is to reframe the mindset
(22:32):
a little bit, because I do kindof see Pilates and exercise in
general as kind of a like aconduit to longevity.
So that's how I think about it.
And so my personal goal eventhough it's a little bit tough
to convince people my age tothink like this, somebody who's
(22:54):
you know maybe a little older,is a little more cognizant of
this but my personal goal withworking out is to be as mobile
and to be able to function aswell as I do now as when I'm 80.
So it's not aesthetic, it'sjust about living a pain-free
(23:15):
life where you know we losemuscle over time, where I'm
maintaining that muscle and I'mmaintaining my mobility, and so
that's kind of the mindset I dotry to get clients in.
Now listen, obviously there areaesthetic benefits that come
with Pilates, as there are withany consistent workout routine.
(23:37):
Um, but I try not to make thatthe emphasis.
Speaker 1 (23:41):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, um.
I think consistency is alwaysgoing to be the main theme that
we talk to people about.
You know, right, um, yeah, allright, so six packs made in the
kitchen, totally agree.
Uh, what do you convey topeople for that?
For getting yeah, it's like, allright, I want to look good.
I want to look good in thebathing suit.
I'll get a six pack.
I want to be my physique to bebetter.
(24:02):
Like all right, let's reframethat functionality over time.
Longevity, totally, yeah, cool.
I also, though, want to lookgood.
How can I capitalize on this?
Speaker 2 (24:18):
Yeah.
So I mean listen, this is aninteresting question.
I'm very much in this sort ofwellness mindset myself.
You know, I try to take abalanced approach with clients
though because, listen, I youknow, for me I'm very careful
about what I eat.
I don't eat gluten or dairy, Idon't drink alcohol and I don't
drink coffee just because of theacidity, and there there are a
(24:40):
lot of other things that I dothat I know isn't necessarily
applicable to somebody else.
So you know also, for example,I see a functional medicine
doctor every six months.
Who he's?
He's a real MD, which wasimportant to me because my dad
was the chief urology at Pennfor 40 years.
(25:01):
So, I have a ton of respect fordoctors and the medical world,
for doctors and the medicalworld.
Now I can also hold that alongwith the knowledge that I think
that there are some areas whereWestern medicine comes up short
and for me, with certainproblems that I was facing, like
(25:25):
gut health, hormonal imbalances, these doctors were amazing,
but they were not giving mesolutions that I viewed as
long-term.
They wanted to put me on amedication.
They wanted to put me on a pilland listen if that's necessary
at any point, like if I have abacterial infection-.
Speaker 1 (25:44):
Sometimes you need penicillin.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
I'm taking the medication, yeah, yeah, for sure
I'm taking the medication, butthese were issues that were sort
(26:08):
of persisting, so I wanted tofind a long lasting sort of
solution to them, which is why Istarted seeing this functional
medicine doctor in Miami.
His name is Christopher Estes.
He's excellent, I wouldrecommend him to anybody and he
does very in-depth blood workand a bunch of other tests, and
so I get those done every sixmonths.
Now again, for some people, thelifestyle that I live and going
that far maybe for some peoplewould consider it down the
(26:28):
rabbit hole could feelrestrictive to them.
So I'm cognizant that noteverybody has the same goals
that I do.
So in general, the things thatI tell people are move every day
, whether it's a walk, whetherit's a leisurely bike, whether
(26:49):
it's a workout, get up and getmoving.
I believe that moving your bodyis the best medicine for
anything right.
Organic produce you know pasture.
(27:09):
Raised meats, grass fed youknow grass fed pastures.
I guess they sort of go hand inhand.
Wild caught seafood and ingeneral, try to eat like whole
foods.
If you're looking on the backof the package and you're seeing
, you know if, for example, ifit's, if it's a snack and it's
(27:30):
like granola, there shouldn't belike sugar in there.
You know what I mean.
Like, look for things that areoats, maybe some fruit and then
you know some seeds.
If you're looking for granolafor bread, I'll encourage them
(27:51):
to go to a local bakery and buysome sourdough, instead of going
to the grocery store and buyingbread that's most likely has
wheat that's sprayed withglyphosate.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
So do you make your own sourdough bread?
Speaker 2 (27:59):
Well, I don't, because I'm gluten free, so but
I'm actually, I have to.
I have to be gluten free.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
It's not like is there an option to make
sourdough gluten free?
Speaker 2 (28:08):
So technically, I and I'm not a bread expert, so if
any of your listeners are breadmakers, I apologize if I'm
getting this wrong, but I thinkthat sourdough naturally has
less gluten than other breadbecause of the fermentation
process, but I do think there isstill some gluten in there.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
Gotcha.
Okay, yeah, yeah, cool, we um.
My wife has not gotten into thesourdough bread making phase
yet.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
Yeah, no, I, you know my, my husband loves sourdough,
so I I wish that I could.
I could do that.
That.
Just it feels like a lot ofwork and that kind of goes to
the point too, where, likeeverybody's tolerance level for
different things is different,like I'm perfectly content to go
get my blood work at 6 am inMiami for this doctor, but like
(29:05):
sourdough seems like too muchfor me it's like whoa, that's
way too much work.
Speaker 1 (29:09):
You kidding me?
Oh my gosh, that's funny.
Um, interesting, uh, I mean, Itotally agree, like I think, um,
some things that I've heardright, moderation is always
going to be important too.
Um and uh, the things weconsume, I think, are going to
be the most influential for,like, our impact of our health
(29:33):
and longevity.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
Right.
Speaker 1 (29:34):
And then agreed totally like body physique and
body composition is going toultimately come down to like
what we're consuming.
You know, right, that's myopinion when, if someone doesn't
even exercise and they startchanging what their nutrition
intake looks like, even justportion usually portion control
is just like the first step.
Speaker 2 (29:50):
For sure.
Speaker 1 (29:51):
And then it's like let's just not eat this and not
eat that, but let's, you know,like snacks and like you know
highly processed things.
Speaker 2 (29:58):
Yeah, I mean listen anecdotally, and I'm not a
doctor, I'm not a nutritionist,but I do see.
You know I'm 29.
I see a lot of my friends withall of these weird diseases,
like one of my friends just hadto get her thyroid removed and
she's 29.
Speaker 1 (30:14):
Really Wow.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
So you know I and my friends are having fertility
issues and things like that,just stuff that is so odd that I
can really attribute that to.
That's changed is likeenvironmental toxins and a more
polluted, problematic foodsupply.
(30:37):
Yeah, I don't disagree with you, you know again, it's just what
I'm observing around me, andyou know in terms of what an
individual wants to do with thatknowledge.
I leave that up to them.
For me, that means majorlifestyle modifications, like I
(31:01):
have a whole house water filteron my house.
Speaker 1 (31:02):
That's one of my goals.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
I, you know my husband would tell him I
probably drive him nuts with allthis stuff, like I have.
I just got these air purifiers,called like Jasper air
purifiers, and I cook a lot.
So I know that some peopledon't like to cook, but I I like
knowing what's in my food, Ilike knowing that.
You know I see food is wildcaught, the you know the
(31:25):
potatoes I'm making organic, um,and I, when I cook at home, you
would be so surprised as to howbad the air quality is, because
this air purifier is a smartair purifier so it gears up when
it senses more pollution in theair and it goes crazy when I
cook.
So just those little things,those little changes.
(31:50):
You know, one thing that's, Ithink, especially prevalent in
Florida is like mold toxicity.
You know that that was honestlypart of my problem and why I
went to see this functionalmedicine doctor because I was
having and I think you guys dolike vestibular therapy.
Yeah, I was having vestibulartherapy.
I was having vestibularproblems and, like I had every
(32:12):
scan known to man and they couldfind nothing wrong, I did a
balance test like which ishorrible I mean at all costs.
Anybody should avoid doing thatand I had high levels of mold
in my system.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
Interesting.
How do you find that out?
Like what?
Speaker 2 (32:28):
So that one's not blood work, that one's another
type of test.
It's like it's a urine testthat he does, and there are like
a lot of specific things.
There's something that you haveto take, that's sort of like a
detox supplement beforehand, andthen you know it's collected
over like, I think, half a day,and then you have to send it
(32:50):
back to a lab, um and so, anyway, I he put me on a bunch of like
.
I mean, I take a lot ofsupplements a day, like, like,
probably like 18, 18 supplementsa day.
Yeah, which one Um?
Speaker 1 (33:05):
prescribed by this guy.
Speaker 2 (33:06):
Yes, yeah, so they're not all prescription, though.
Though I mean, there's stuffthat you're like recommended by
this guy, yeah there.
There's stuff that you can findin and well, in some cases in a
grocery store, but like bvitamins, d vitamins,
phosphatidylcholine um, that wasmore for like the neurological
symptoms that I was having withthe mold um, oregano, um, um,
(33:31):
trying to think what else like,um, there's like a.
He makes me take a core mineralsupplement.
There are certain detoxsupplements that I have to take
a certain time away from foodthat are like it's charcoal,
glucomannan and something else.
Um so a lot, a lot ofdifference.
Speaker 1 (33:51):
What other neurological besides the
vestibular, any otherneurological symptoms?
Speaker 2 (33:54):
No, just so, I was just getting it wasn't true
vertigo.
It was the sensation where Iwas like on a boat, almost.
Speaker 1 (34:01):
Swing.
Speaker 2 (34:01):
Yeah, and, like I said, they really couldn't
attribute it to anything andhonestly it was weird.
The only time when I didn'thave it is when I was doing
something active like Pilates orwalking.
I would only have it or noticeit when I was sitting.
Still.
Speaker 1 (34:17):
Interesting, yeah, since then improvements.
Speaker 2 (34:20):
Yeah, massive, I don't have it anymore.
Speaker 1 (34:22):
Interesting.
How quickly did you noticeimprovements after diving into
that?
Speaker 2 (34:26):
Probably a year, and I would say that's probably the
other thing that I think peoplehave to keep in mind.
This stuff doesn't work likethat.
You have to keep at it and beconsistent.
It's not for me.
I don't look at it as somethingthat's temporary.
Like my mindset is, I'mprobably going to be on some
supplement routine for the restof my life and you know,
(34:48):
sometimes when you fix one thing, another thing pops up and,
just like with exercise, thereare progressions and regressions
you know Um and I fluid state.
Right, and I think that's how Ilook at health as well.
Speaker 1 (35:02):
Yeah which is a good look, because I would totally
agree with you it's like Nope,this didn't work.
You know, don't see anything,and then bail fitness exercise,
physical exercise, physicaltherapy, pain relief, like stuff
, working on stuff, you know, um.
But I think another thing Ilike that too of like there's
regressions and progressions,phases of just general, you know
, where, um, sometimes thingsjust hurt for a little bit and
(35:25):
then they'll regress and be okay, and then some you're just in
pain right now.
All right, it's gonna.
We can't get it better, it toget better.
There's a reason why you can't,versus like oh no, I'm doomed,
you know, forever I'm going tohave this back pain or knee pain
or whatever.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
Right, I feel like people are hard on themselves
when it comes to exercise I meanme included.
Like from horseback riding Ihave.
You know, I have bad knees andlike my right knee specifically
gives me a little more troublebecause my right inner thigh is
like it has a tendency to likethat adductor like tenses up a
(35:58):
little bit and so that bothersmy knee sometimes when I do
things like squats or orwhatever and so, but there's
sometimes it doesn't bother meat all.
So when it does, I have thetendency in my mind to get like
a little discouraged.
But I do the things that I knowthat I should be doing, like
stretching it after a workoutand things like that, and it
usually kind of it subsides.
(36:20):
I try to look at everything as afluid state?
Speaker 1 (36:23):
Yeah for sure.
I literally just did a podcastor I posted a little while ago
about like pain athlete painmanagement, active people pain
management, where it's likewould you, would you expect a
pro athlete, as an example, tolike never have any kind of
Nick's bank, you know, big,banged up or nicked up?
And of course they do.
Yeah, they just like back it upa little bit and they manage it
(36:44):
Right.
Speaker 2 (36:44):
So the rollercoaster isn't like a wild up and down,
you know, but more so justmanaged isn't like a wild up and
down, you know, but more sojust managed, and I think that
makes you appreciate more thetimes when you are operating at
110%, um, you know, sort ofthose.
Those little steps back allowyou to take more steps forward.
That's how I try.
Speaker 1 (37:04):
I would agree.
I love that.
I good times.
Speaker 2 (37:09):
Yeah, right.
Speaker 1 (37:10):
I would also put in that people are hard on
themselves, uh, and includingmyself.
You know I fall in this boat.
But just the comparison game onsocial media.
Speaker 2 (37:19):
Right, you know, and so I hear these influencers like
incredible shape.
Speaker 1 (37:23):
Yeah, they're living the best life ever.
I'm like, well, you'd alsodon't know what's going on, but
is that do they have?
What else do they have going onin their life?
Yeah, do they actually havekids, right, do they?
Speaker 2 (37:37):
have like a job.
Speaker 1 (37:38):
That's all they do, you know, and they're like early
twenties and like right Must behard.
Speaker 2 (37:40):
Yeah, I think that's a huge thing with Pilates too,
because even though, like I say,I do train men and women, I
think it is sort of female focusbecause it's gotten this
reputation so I sort ofmentioned the beginning of the
podcast for being like thiselongating, lengthening workout,
and so you see these moves onsocial media and even me as an
instructor, I get overwhelmed.
(38:01):
I'm like how does that person dothat?
I just I could never.
And sometimes I think maybewhat you don't realize is that
they're probably doing one ofthose moves.
You know, what I mean.
They're not doing them in a setof 10.
Um, and I think there's thistendency again to make these
(38:21):
moves very complicated.
So clients maybe don't getbored.
Speaker 1 (38:25):
Um they look fancy yeah.
Speaker 2 (38:28):
I look at the form on these people and you know when
they're doing kickbacks orsomething, they're arching their
back.
You know they're flaring theirrib cage, they're rotating their
pelvis one way and it's likethat's.
I mean, that's great.
Speaker 1 (38:41):
It's not a deal.
Speaker 2 (38:42):
Yeah, it's great that you know it looks good for you,
but like talk to me in sixhours.
Speaker 1 (38:47):
Or six months of continuing to do the same thing
over and over again.
You mentioned so equestrianlife.
Back it was giving us troubleneck stiffness, knee issues and
stuff.
We actually see a lot ofequestrians, I mean you know,
this area is so dense,especially in Wellington.
Um, how long were you doingequestrian?
Speaker 2 (39:07):
14 years.
Speaker 1 (39:09):
That's a good amount of time.
Speaker 2 (39:10):
Yeah, since I was very young, um, and I loved it.
I love the horses, um, I thinkit makes you very independent,
uh, it makes you mature veryquickly, kind of teaches you to
be very hardworking and,honestly, it teaches you to be
humble because, listen, you canhave the best day in the world,
(39:31):
but horses can't talk to you.
Maybe the horse has a stomachache, maybe his foot's not
feeling great you know, and soit really it takes both you and
the horse to be having a greatday.
Speaker 1 (39:44):
For things to line up yeah.
Speaker 2 (39:46):
Everything has to line up and these horses are
treated like people, um, andthese horses are treated like
people, um, like my horses hadchiropractors.
Yeah, um, you know, so it's,it's, it's a great sport and I'm
glad that I was involved in it.
Uh, but it's certainly, it'scertainly, you know, took its
(40:09):
toll on my body.
Speaker 1 (40:11):
If you let's say you had you when you were training
equestrian life, like, hey,we're going to, we're going to
dabble in some Pilates stuff,yeah, that's going to help you
be a better rider or managestability, do you think that'd
been pretty impactful for you?
Speaker 2 (40:24):
I think it definitely would have been helpful.
Now, I mean, listen, you trainprofessional athletes, so I'm
sure I'm preaching the choirhere, but if you're doing a
sport that you know encouragesmovements that aren't
necessarily functional, right,like you know, horseback riders,
they tend to be very quaddominant from, like, the
(40:46):
positioning on the horse.
You know, obviously when you'rewith somebody you can work on
training their glutes to makethat a little more balanced, but
that doesn't change that at theend of the day, they're still
gonna be riding horses forprobably six hours a day, right,
um?
Or you know, like for golf,like you can teach somebody to
(41:10):
like rotate, maybe more withtheir hips instead of their low
back, but they're still going tobe doing that rotation over and
over and over again.
So there's going to be one sidethat's stronger, one side
that's weaker.
So I think, while it probablywould have helped me manage
symptoms and be more aware of mybody, I think there still would
(41:31):
have been things that I had tomanage with it.
Speaker 1 (41:34):
Just innate risk, innate difficulty.
Speaker 2 (41:37):
Yeah, like another example when you're jumping over
a jump, you don't want to lookdown, right, but technically
looking down is the only waythat your neck remains kind of
in line with your spine.
Like it would be like somebodylooking at themselves in the
mirror while they did a squatdown and then they're looking at
themselves.
Their chin kind of protrudes,their neck is cocked back, and
(41:59):
so when you're riding you'redoing that over and over and
over again.
So there are certain thingslike that that obviously when
you're working out you can traincertain things to counteract
that, so you don't go throughyour everyday life like that,
but again you're still going tobe doing that movement.
Speaker 1 (42:17):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Um, back to your practice.
Yeah, is there a uh, a clientor a group of clients that
you've worked with that you feellike have made huge strides,
like any any case scenarios?
Speaker 2 (42:31):
Yeah, I mean I again I have clients from kind of
across the age, gender spectrum,Um, I think universally.
A lot of people will come to me, especially if they've been
doing Pilates and they're like alittle hyper mobile.
(42:53):
Like, again, I find they'rereally not able to properly like
brace their core.
And these are people that likedo things in their everyday life
, Like you know, like one girlloves to cycle right, she loves
soul cycle and I'm like, okay,that's great.
Like in my mind I'm like, well,this isn't maybe necessarily
what you should be doing, butshe loves it.
So I'm like, okay, that's great.
Like in my mind I'm like, well,this isn't maybe necessarily
(43:14):
what you should be doing, butshe loves it.
So I'm not going to tell hernot to do that.
But with her, for example, we'veworked on a lot of like glute
strengthening, a lot of corebracing, and you know she feels
better.
Like her, her low back wasreally hurting her.
So she thought that you know,maybe she needed to practice
(43:37):
like more mobility with her lowback, where I was like, well, I
don't think that's the case, butlet's check your hamstrings,
see if they're tight, and thatthat ended up being the problem.
Her hamstrings were just sotight, um, so we worked on again
like posterior chainstrengthening, so like glutes,
hamstrings, and then at the endI'd always make sure to do like
(44:00):
a static stretch with her.
But there's so many likestories I have from clients.
You know, I train an 83 yearold, you know, um, and for him
like success looks differentthan it does for that client
that I just explained yeah, yeah.
So you know every everybody'sdifferent and I think wins
(44:23):
everybody has sort of their ownrespective wins that you know
are wins for them, if you knowwhat I mean.
Speaker 1 (44:31):
Yeah right, no specific per person.
And what their goals are andtheir values and stuff and also
the current walk of life youknow, are wins for them if you
know what I mean.
Yeah, right, right, no specificper person, and what their
goals are and their values andstuff, and also the current walk
of life.
You know.
Speaker 2 (44:37):
Right.
Speaker 1 (44:40):
There's a lot of things that can yield overall
health, wellness and improvementand stuff.
Yeah, this particular clientyou're talking about, she'd like
us to spin, spin a lot, right?
Yeah, cool, I think.
I mean cardiovascular exerciseis always going to be helpful
yeah, for sure I would imagineusually what we've found too,
the posture you're talking aboutwith like equestrians, but
(45:01):
they're bent over and then theirnecks extended, yep, and then
they sit at their desk all dayand they're working right, and
then they go exercise by doing aspin class and they're in the
same position, maybe even moreextended in in their neck or
like hunched over and theirneck's looking up, you know Um.
Anyway, what are yoursuggestions on that of, like
overall health and wellness?
What does a game plan look likefor somebody in your eyes?
Speaker 2 (45:23):
It depends who the spine, but the hips and the
shoulders, so you can likeproperly kind of retract your
(45:58):
shoulders when it's necessary Umposture for sure.
Yeah, posture is a huge one andsort of like a neutral like I
was saying before a little morelike a neutral spine.
Because I know, like my husbandloves the Peloton, but I walk
in and I look at him on thePeloton and he's crunched over
like this, you know, as you know, he has back problems and his
(46:21):
spine is rounded and I'm likethis, this is not, this is not
what you should be doing.
Um, but you know, even for thislike 83 year old, that I train,
like he loves golf.
You know, and I'm I'm not goingto tell him not to golf, even
though you know, like I'm sure Ican just see him like standing
(46:45):
over the golf ball and his, likeyou know, spine is curved, he's
not bracing his core and he hassome issues with his hips.
So obviously it's not like thebest thing, but I always just
try to like control the symptoms, if you know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (47:01):
Yeah, yeah, well, I would imagine for that guy,
cause I can, I see people likethat, I'm sure.
Yeah, um, we're trying toconvey, like, I guess, what
you're saying like of thesethings to translate to your golf
game.
Speaker 2 (47:14):
Yes, exactly, and that's kind of the philosophy
that I try to hold witheverything and which is why I
like doing the privates andbeing one-on-one with people,
because you know the obviouslythe principles are similar, but
what I'm teaching, like that 83year old, is different than from
what I'm teaching, you know,the girl who loves Soul, without
(47:39):
any sort of like identity, likemaybe some of the exercises
would translate from one to theother, but I target their
(48:05):
sessions to things that aregoing to help them in their
everyday life, if that makessense, yeah, in their everyday
life, if that makes sense.
Like, again, going back to thesocial media point, a lot of
those moves are complicated, butwhat are you doing that
reflects those moves in youreveryday life?
And for me, when I'm drawing ontraditional Pilates moves and
(48:25):
maybe modifying them a littlebit, my thought is like, okay,
what position are you in in youreveryday life that reflects
this and what is this going tohelp you with?
And if I don't have an answerto one of those things, I'm like
, okay, this is maybe not likethe best use of time in a
session.
Speaker 1 (48:43):
Yeah, that makes sense.
I mean, you know, functionalitytranslated over to be
purposeful.
Yeah, all super interesting.
Yeah, if people want to reachout to you, what's the best way
they can reach out?
Speaker 2 (48:56):
So I have a website, house of Pilates, wpb, which
stands for West Palm Beach, andI have a contact form on there.
As I mentioned, my studio isout of my guest house, so I, you
know, I take contact kind offorms for people who want to
sign up with me.
A lot of my business is word ofmouth, but I do take in, you
(49:17):
know, people that I don't knowat all, but I have a
conversation with them first and, you know, find out what, what
specifically they want toaddress, and so that's that's
how people reach out to me,either there or I'm on Instagram
at House of Pilates West PalmBeach.
Speaker 1 (49:33):
Cool.
So website, instagram, yep,cool.
Well, thanks for coming on andsharing some knowledge and stuff
like that.
Um, and if y'all have anyquestions or comments questions
concerns suggestions we'realways open to ideas.
Don't hesitate to reach out tono one for all your Pilates
inquiries and needs and stuff,and don't hesitate to reach out
to us if you have any pain thatyou want to fix too.
Um, and we'll, uh, we'll haveto get you on again, yeah, this
(49:54):
was stuff that's going to comenext week to your place for like
a one-on-one intense session.
Speaker 2 (49:59):
I'm excited Um which is going to be, great.
And a little shout out to Kylehere he helped my husband with
his low back pain and um, nowhe's golfing and playing tennis
like a like a pro.
So, um, definitely what you'redoing is amazing.
Speaker 1 (50:19):
Well, I appreciate that.
I'm glad he's.
I'm glad he's getting back toyou know, back to his thing.
That's good Cause it was hardto see him like that.
Speaker 2 (50:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (50:25):
I could see it was.
It was definitely affecting him.
Speaker 2 (50:28):
Yes, and he is very athletic, so he's he's not used
to like being taken down oftenbut you fixed him right up.
Speaker 1 (50:37):
I appreciate that.
No, thank you.
I'm glad he's doing so muchbetter.
And uh again, reach out if youhave any questions and we'll
catch y'all next time awesome.
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