by Laura Czys
Time for Work on Your Relationships…Your Muscle Relationships
We work on our relationships daily, with our spouses, children, friends, co-workers and parents, but our muscles??!! A hidden gem is nestled into the Lincoln Building on a quiet corner in downtown Champaign that helps us focus on improving our muscle relationships.
If you haven’t visited Dulak Pilates Studio, an urban, open studio with a full set of spring-based Pilates equipment, you’re missing an opportunity to improve muscle relationships under the direction of its highly trained staff.
Tina Campbell, a 12-year veteran of Pilates instruction, recently relocated to the studio from Chicago and had never been in a studio that housed all of the Joseph Pilates equipment before. That changed when she joined the staff at Dulak Pilates Center.
The studio carries close ties to the founder of Pilates, Joseph Pilates. The owner of Dulak Pilates Center, Janice Dulak, studied under Romana Kryzanowska, one of Joseph Pilates’ original students and the studio equipment is from the same company that Joseph Pilates worked with to design his original pieces. The low impact workout uses the body’s resistance, providing assistance with adjustable equipment that uses springs to create tension.
With equipment names like the Reformer, Wunder Chair Big Chair, Baby Chair, the Guillotine, the Cadillac, Pilates may sound intimidating but it shouldn’t. The foundation of the practice is an holistic approach to diseases caused by our lifestyles. The fundamentals of Pilates were based in the study of children’s development and evolving movement. In one of his books on the concepts, Return to Life through Contrology (1945), the founder states, “If your spine is inflexibly stiff at 30, you are old. If it is completely flexible at 60, you are young.”
The studio offers mostly private sessions but has started to offer some mat-based classes. Attend one and you’ll perform similar exercises to a private session but in a class format, without the equipment. Tina recommends having an initial consultation or training session before attending so you can understand how your muscles should be working before you try to recreate similar in a mat class. Pilates is a natural fit for the older population, the injured, and moms, especially new moms.
Danielle, a chambanamoms.com reader says, “I discovered Pilates after my third baby. I wish I had done it after my first! I had bad back pain from having two babies relatively close together. After several weeks’ lessons my back pain was relieved and my core strength started to return. At Dulak, they did a great job helping me gradually regain my strength to insure I didn’t get injured.“
I was fortunate to have a mini-training session when I visited. My instructor, Tina says, “The goal is to stretch and strengthen with control, working with the muscle relationships.” If you’ve ever had an injury, it makes sense. And if you’re looking to preserve the health of your “shell,” it’s worth exploring.
With an injury you have to regress to the point that got you there in the first place. You have to undo all of the bad habits that initially created the injury and all the other bad habits developed to compensate for the injury. So, with a back injury for example, you might discover that your quadriceps, the muscles in the front of your thighs, are compensating for your weakened hamstrings.
Tina worked with me to cue the muscles in my legs so that the work was transferred from my quadriceps to my hamstrings. Tina, a trained dancer, talked of her first experience with Pilates, how different her body felt afterward. I could relate. In the brief time I spent on the equipment, I left feeling longer, more balanced, streamlined. I’m excited to try more of what Dulak has to offer.
In celebration of its 10-year anniversary, the studio is offering special pricing on a package, three private lessons (50 minutes each) plus a 30-minute consultation for $150. Watch for additional anniversary specials, an open house will be held on Saturday, Sept. 7 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. For more information visit the website (www.dulakpilates.com).
Laura Czys is a busy mom that finally found gainful employment, keeps searching for an extra hour in the day and is prone to kitchen dancing with the 3E’s. She rounds out the madness with Opie, the old cat and Hope Floats, the dog that launched these posts.