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No Pain, Big Gain

Victoria Times Colonist, January 18, 1997
By Grania Litwin
Times Colonist Life Writer
(excerpts with permission)

It looks like a medieval torture machine complete with cords, pulleys, powerful springs and leather straps. But this rack is different.

The platform, complete with sliding seat, is designed to exert a pull on the body but only very gently.

"We never, never exercise to the point of pain or even a twinge," said Sidney fitness instructor Charlotte van Bassen.

"The idea is to give the whole body a workout, but specifically to strengthen the muscles that support the spine, firm the abdominals and tone the trunk."

The device is called a plié bed - named after the ballet exercise which involves bending very slowly while turning the knees out - and it was developed 75 years ago by Joseph Pilates.

"For the longest time it was the secret of people in performance and dance, because it is very complementary to ballet, but now everybody is hearing about it," said van Bassen. There has been a Pilates studio in Vancouver for about 10 years but hers is the first in this area.

van Bassen, who was born here and took her bachelor of science degree at UVic, moved to Europe in 1981. She taught aerobics, weights and did personal training in Milan and Berlin, but heard about the Pilates method while working in London.

"After my first class I knew l had to teach it. I was fascinated."

She trained at London's Pilates Centre for two years and then joined the Physical Mind Institute in New Mexico (which sets standards for Pilates teaching and training in North America) before returning home to teach.

"Training to teach Pilates was a steep learning curve because the method is very involved, but the results are tremendous."

Marsha van Rhyn began doing a Pilates workout with van Bassen after a serious accident five years ago when her car was hit in an intersection, spun around several times and jettisoned into a lamp post.

"I had a number of pelvic fractures, very severe whiplash that gave me bad headaches and back pain," recalled the Sidney woman.

"I tried different forms of exercise but nothing worked: If I swam the movement of my arms gave me bad headaches, if I walked the impact inflamed the area around my fractures."

She was doubtful about the exercises at first, but after three sessions felt an improvement. "Pilates is non-impact and works by increasing muscle strength and flexibility very, very gently so it's almost impossible to hurt yourself. After a workout I still had pain, but I was energized, my whole sense of well being was improved."

The program made her more aware of her body, taught her to focus on individual muscles and improved her mental control, but perhaps the greatest benefit was being able to breathe deeply again.

"There are lots of floor exercises you can do without a bed," stresses van Bassen, but the value of the bed is the support it gives the back. "The workout is very gradual and very gentle, but it can build up into difficult, vigorous exercises, depending on the needs of the client or their injuries.

"We always focus on quality of movement, never quantity. The motion should be smooth, flowing, precise.

People who take her classes notice that they may lose weight, but more importantly, their bodies tend to be transformed by improved posture and relief of tension.