PHYSICAL CULTURE
A Fold-Up Path of Resistance
By Liza Monroy
THE
number of Americans who practice Pilates grew to 9.5 million in 2003,
more than three times as many as in 2001, according to the latest
figures from the Sporting Goods Manufacturing Association. While the
Pilates world is growing, Pilates equipment is shrinking, as
practitioners increasingly opt to do their workouts at home.
Traditional
Pilates exercise equipment - Cadillacs and Reformers - are bedlike
contraptions with sliding cushions and a variety of spring-loaded
straps and bars that offer resistance to work the deep abdominals and
the muscles closest to the spine. They are bulky and impossible to
store in all but the most spacious homes. But some newer models are
more compact or foldable. And now some Pilates equipment is designed to
double as furniture.
2. MBT SHOES, $245. Ellie Herman, an
instructor in San Francisco who is opening a studio in Brooklyn this
fall, created a vertical version of Pilates called Walk-ilates, which
uses MBT’s. “I used to use ‘wobbly shoes’ in classes,” which were
Birkenstocks on a ball, to teach proper balance, she said. Wobbly shoes
make exercisers engage their core for stability.
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April 16, 2005 - Farmers Market, San Francisco
