Getting to the Core of Pilates
An Interview with Colleen Naus of Pillar Performance
Having heard so much about Pilates from friends, I’ve been wanting to investigate further. When we met Colleen Naus of Pillar Performance in Encinitas, I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to learn more and was delighted to discover through our conversation that Pillar Performance is more than a simple Pilates studio. It’s a unique combination of Pilates and personal fitness training that is impossible to find in common gyms. I hope you enjoy this informative interview.
HT: I’ve been doing Yoga for quite a while and have found it has built core strength, but I’m finding I still need to use weights for additional toning. With Yoga I like the balance and core strengthening, but it’s not building muscle as much as I would like. Can Pilates help build muscle?
Colleen: The matwork in Pilates is very strengthening. It teaches you stability, core connection and postural alignment. In Pilates we also use four pieces of equipment. The first is the Reformer. We also use the Cadillac, the Chair and the Sets of Barrels. All the equipment except the barrels is spring resistant. So, when you are working on the equipment in Pilates, you are working on stability and mobility while you are working with spring resistance and your body weight. This is a unique combination - you get more of the muscle tone you are looking for as well more of the strength building.
HT: Do you work at a slow or a fast pace?
Colleen: It really depends on you as a person. When you come in to Pilates you usually are working one on one or semi-private, so the movements are dictated by what your body needs. Sometimes I might want you to keep a medium tempo or to slow it down a bit and get connected to the movement you are actually focusing on.
I want to clear up something about Pilates. It’s not designed to be a cardio workout. If you are looking for cardio, you need to add the cardio separately. Pilates is based on toning, lengthening, stretching, stabilizing the spine and getting your posture back into proper alignment.
HT: How long does it take for a person to get in shape compared with traditional methods?
Colleen: Each person is going to react differently to a workout, based on a variety of factors. Also, people differ in their level of discipline when it comes to nutrition and doing cardio exercise. If you are in average shape and are serious about getting results, you need to be here two to three times per week with your trainer. It usually takes ten sessions for you to be able to say, “Okay, I get what they are teaching me about my body, the positions and the movement.” And then it’s going to take ten more sessions for you to start feeling it work in all your muscles. Then, it will take ten more sessions for you to see dramatic results.
Everybody has a different level of body awareness. Pilates allows you to become aware of how your body is moving and what needs to be put back in alignment. Once you get your body back in proper position you do create better muscle tone, because now the muscles are working in their proper length tension and that’s what Pilates is famous for. It puts you back where you are supposed to be.
HT: How hard is Pilates for a beginner?
Colleen: It’s not that hard because we start with the basics and walk you through it. Sometimes people pick it up quickly and others might take a few sessions to really understand it. Pilates almost has it’s own language, so there is a bit of a learning curve.
HT: What if a person is not very flexible? Is there as much emphasis on flexibility like in Yoga?
Colleen: In Pilates, you are always lengthening your muscles through most of the movements without really realizing it. This is often referred to as dynamic flexibility. While you are doing these exercises you are getting your muscles stretched, you don’t realize it because you are not sitting in a specific pose; you are moving through the process.
HT: So, at the beginning of your session you won’t be as flexible as you will be at the end, but you are not focusing on the flexibility as you are in Yoga. You’re doing other things and increased flexibility is a byproduct, right?
Colleen: Yes, there are specific stretches we do, but the interesting thing about the equipment is that even during the stretch you are against spring resistance, which trains your body to have strength through your stretch.
HT: What is the advantage to using a machine at your gym over using the at-home Pilates type tools?
Colleen: I’m a true believer in the original Joseph Pilates mat work. If you truly do the mat work the way it was designed to be done and do it specifically according to the nature of the movement, you will get your butt kicked and become stronger and more balanced.
HT: What’s with all the equipment then?
Colleen: The equipment has roots in the mat work. Many of the movements you do on the equipment are basically the mat work placed on a machine. It’s really interesting because you can talk to a handful of instructors and students and ask, “What do you think is harder, mat work or equipment?’’ Half of them will say mat work and half will say the equipment.
The mat work is really challenging. It’s all on your own body to gain strength in the stability positions and to move through them correctly. But, some people enjoy the equipment more because it adds resistance, it’s fun and it flows pretty well.
HT: I think if you were using the mat, you would have to learn to do it right before you could benefit from it by doing it at home.
Colleen: I agree. I was a professional dancer for eighteen years and when I first started doing a mat class I had no idea what I was doing, even with all my movement background. Not until I started training with a professional Pilates instructor did I begin to understand.
It is really helpful for people to take one or two private classes to learn the basics of the mat work and the five basic principles of Pilates. Then when they go home to do the videos, it makes much more sense. They’ll gain so much more from those home videos.
HT: Is it dangerous to do Pilates without an instructor’s supervision?
Colleen: On equipment, absolutely. That’s why you don’t see Pilate’s equipment in a gym where it’s open to the public. Legally, in any gym, you need to be with a trained instructor to be on that equipment. Just to let you know a little bit about our gym, it’s a unique setting. We do 100% functional strength training.
With us you train your body to move as it would outdoors, just at a higher intensity level as you increase your strength. And then we have the Pilates. The majority of the trainers here are Advanced Pilates Certified as well as Personal Training Certified. So our gym does a lot of cross training. That’s what is unique about us. People can come in and be moving through Pilates on the equipment and then come into the gym and do some functional strength training and then go back to the Pilates side. We do a lot of cross training because we believe in the internal training and structural positioning of the body that Pilates provides as well as deep, core training to assist in becoming externally strong in the gym.
HT: So, if a person joined your gym they could do both Pilates and basic workouts?
Colleen: We only offer private work with personal trainers/Pilates instructors. It’s a really great environment. The positive energy here is awesome. People always comment on how fun it is to be here. There is no membership fee, no initiation fee. You can just come in or buy a package or you can go month to month. We call it Auto-Pay. So you just pay for the hours you are here with your trainer.
HT: Your trainers are with you throughout your workout.
Colleen: Absolutely. We have 2300 square feet and we have a full gym with all the functional strength training equipment - the dumbells, cable equipment, stability balls, medicine balls, etc…
HT: It sounds like a great gym. Can anyone come by to just check it out?
Colleen: We always want them to schedule a time to come in and see the gym, meet us and make sure they feel comfortable. We give people a little tour and then sit down with them and really learn their needs, what their background is and if they have any ailments or challenges that we need to address. Then, we come up with a tentative plan of what we think they might need and go with that.
From there we move into their training. We have a number of trainers here, so depending on how that consultation went, we match them up with a trainer who will best suit them. Each trainer has their own specialty and we like to mix and match trainers to provide variety. It works out really well. People feel they are getting a lot more than just being with one trainer over and over again.
What’s also cool about our program is that people can come into our gym on a day they are feeling wiped out and just want to focus on themselves and move through a nice Pilates session. They can say, “You know, I know we were supposed to train today, but I really just want to do Pilates.” Or they can say, “ I really want to go train outside.” So we grab a medicine ball and go outside.
HT: So, you’re flexible.
Colleen: Yeah.
HT: But, you still hold people accountable?
Colleen: Oh we definitely do. We don’t let people slide. You only get results by being consistent. Our clients know we believe in that theory.
HT: What is the average cost range?
Colleen: The average range is sixty-five to seventy-five dollars an hour. We are always offering promotional specials. People can always call us and ask about the current special. In fact, we are doing two open houses:
Saturday, January 17th 9 AM to -1 PM
Tuesday, January 27th from 5-8 PM
We are going to be here with a couple of the trainers who will do sampling demos and guests will have a chance to try out the Pilates equipment. People should come in their gym clothes so they can do some of the movements. We’ll show you how medicine balls work and how to use tubes. We’ll demonstrate a sample workout so that you can get an idea of what happens here. We will also be offering discounts that day on training packages.