Month: September 2013

Prenatal Pilates for Low Back Pain

September 8, 2013

Your spine is shaped like the letter S, forming  four normal curves.  The low back portion curves inward.  As your uterus grows bigger, the inward curve becomes more pronounced, causing more strain on your low back.

One of the most common complaints during pregnancy is low back pain.

Classical Pilates exercises are performed while lying on your back, abdomen, or side. Prone positions are uncomfortable for pregnant women, and back lying shouldn’t be done after the fourth month. Side and standing Pilates are safer alternatives.

THE STANDING PELVIC TILT

The Standing Pelvic Tilt is an excellent Pilates exercise to help relieve low back pain.  It’s easy and safe, for most pregnant women.

  1. Stand with your back, shoulders and head against a wall.
  2. Bend knees slightly, arms at your sides.
  3. Slowly press lower back against the wall.  Hold for 10 to 20 seconds.  Do 8 to 10 rounds.

The Standing Pelvic Tilt can be done throughout the day to stretch low back muscles.

Copyright 2013 Irene Pastore, and Blue Moon Personal Training

88 Year Old World Table Tennis Champ

September 5, 2013

ACTIVE LIVING BEYOND 50

I hope my older clients, and their caregivers, are inspired by this post about Lisa Modlich, an 88-year-old American, senior athlete, and world table tennis champion from Houston, Texas.   

During most of her life, she played outdoor tennis, but switched to indoor table tennis around 20 years ago.

Modlich maintains an active lifestyle, and advises others to get up and keep moving.

Ping Pong: You’re Never Too Old For Gold,  is the title of a new PBS documentary, making its U.S. premier on September 9, 2013.

The film covers Modlich’s career, along with several other senior table tennis athletes, who range in age from 81 and up.

Dorothy De Low, is a 100-year-old former world table tennis champion from Australia.  Known as The Grand Old Lady of table tennis, she started playing after her husband passed away.  Watch a clip of her game on You Tube.

Copyright 2013 Irene Pastore, and Blue Moon Personal Training

Fox News Producer In Fatal Hiking Accident

September 1, 2013

Martin Burns, a Fox KTTV investigative producer and writer, died on August 25 in a hiking accident in the foothills above Altadena, California.  He was 56 years old.

Hiking alone in the Los Angeles National Forest, his body was discovered by another hiker, at the bottom of a steep ravine, below the trail that leads to Inspiration Point.

Copyright 2013 Irene Pastore, and Blue Moon Personal Training