I wrote a blog post in mid-January called Exploring Beyond the Gym and ever since writing that post, I’ve been working on tracking down the best people in the New Orleans area to give more information about each different options.

I came across Kerrie Ann Frey on Twitter.  Kerrie Ann Frey is the founder and owner of Fit Mom USA, a former stroller exercise-based program that has evolved in to an online presence with fitness, wellness, and nutrition information for all men and women.

Kerrie Ann completed a full Pilates apparatus year-long program requiring 600 hours of study, training and apprenticeship in Louisiana. She is West Coast Pilates certified and trains clients in several studios in the New Orleans area. She loves to dispel the myth that Pilates is just for stretching.

Pilates Explained by Kerrie Ann Frey

Pilates simply is an innovative system of mind-body exercise evolved from the principles of Joseph Pilates.  Pilates is designed to dramatically transform the way your body looks, feels and performs. It is not a secret sequence of movements only dancers or the elite athletes can do.  It’s not only for “this” type of body or “that” type of person.  Simply, it is a way of executing exercises to build strength, good posture and body awareness with flexibility and agility as well.  Once the basic tenets of Pilates are practiced and ingrained, they then can be brought in to more “gym-style” workouts or even tennis games or even daily movements like carrying children.

Movements are completed with attention paid to the breath, the core and the body as a whole.  When you do Pilates exercises, you are conditioning your body to be strong and flexible as a whole unit, without stress on the joints.  Pilates can be done for core strength, injury prevention, enhanced sports performance, and general good health.  You’ll also be training your balance, coordination and control as lagniappe.  Safe, effective exercises are performed either on the mat or on Pilates equipment, or apparatus, such as the Reformer, Wunda Chair, Cadillac, Spine Corrector and others.

Pilates may be performed by nearly everyone with the help of an experience, qualified trainer.  A good trainer will be fully certified, be able to help you engage both your body and your mind during a session and to safely design a program best suited for your needs.  It is an exercise program that can last a lifetime.

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Core or “The Powerhouse”

What is the core?  The core, or powerhouse as some refer to it, is the body’s center.  It is the entire abdomen, the back, the glutes and inner and outer thighs.  Try thinking of the core as the body’s engine – once the core is strong and “turned on”, the rest of the body can move fluidly with ease.