The Pitfalls & Promise of Pilates 

Janet had to sit down when she read the report from her DEXA scan. 

Impression: OSTEOPENIA in the right hip and lumbar spine. 

Can’t be. She spent more time pounding the pavement than most women. 

Good diet – check. 

Calcium and vitamin D supplements – check. Regular weight bearing exercise – check. 

Janet had few risk factors: She didn’t take steroid medication; she didn’t smoke and despite all her dieting, she wasn’t underweight. 

No wonder she was flabbergasted by the diagnosis. Osteoporisis is an epidemic. Learn how to develop a safe, appropriate approach to bone health.

Exciting Changes at ALTA 

We are adding a new treatment room in 

response to our busy schedules. Though we expect few interruptions during business hours, you may hear some hammering and sawing on the south side of the building in the next month. Thank you for your patience. 

AND 

We have plans to add a covered ramp and new stairs to the north 

entrance of the building in late March. During that time, you will need to park in the lower parking lot or on the street and enter the building from the south entrance. The project should be finished in one week. Though we realize this will be a temporary 

inconvenience, we are excited to make access to our building easier for everyone 

Janet had been doing everything she could imagine to keep her bones strong, but clearly something was missing. More and more older people were turning to Pilates and yoga for exercise because they seemed gentle and safe. Why not? 

Yoga made her sore, but it was a new kind of exercise, so maybe, she thought, she just needed to get used to it. She already had neck and back pain, so what the heck? If a little was good, more would be better. Resolute, she added a few more classes. 

By the end of a fortnight, Janet couldn’t sleep – she could barely walk. The pain was relentless. Her doctor confirmed the really bad news: she had several compression fractures in her spine. Smart as she was, Janet did not know how to protect and strengthen her bones during yoga or Pilates. Don’t be like Janet. Though these exercise forms can be gentle, knowing how to modify them when you have bone loss is critical. 

Losing Control: A Huge Part of the Pain Puzzle 

You can do the plank for 3 minutes straight and those muscles on either side of your lower back feel rock hard, you have glutes of steel, and …your back still hurts. What the heck???

DON’T FORGET 

ALTA is Offering 

FREE 15 Minute 

Selective Functional Movement Assessment Consultations 

(SFMA) 

to help you discover why you are in pain. 

February 20th 

5:00 – 7:00 pm 

call 303-444-8707 

to reserve your spot 

REMINDER: 

The Pitfalls & Promise of Pilates 

a lecture by: 

Jonathan Oldham, 

MSPT, PMA-CPT 

Thursday, Feb. 27th 6:00 pm 

Please call to RSVP 303-444-8707 

Strengthen your glutes, strengthen your abs – you’ve heard that – maybe ad nauseam- from us for years. Core, core and more core…. We’ve told you that core strength can help alleviate knee pain, hip pain, lower back pain and more. We’ve told you that core weakness is a huge part of the pain puzzle. In talking about the core, the abdominals and gluteal muscles keep coming up, but we’ve neglected the back muscles – the multifidus in particular. Here’s why it’s important: 

The multifidus muscles take pressure off the vertebral discs and distribute body weight evenly throughout the spine. Those deep muscles make your spine more stable; they control the small movements from spinal segment to spinal segment. We call it local control. Studies have shown that the multifidus muscles are activated before any action happens. 

Before you bend, lift, or 

twist, your multifidus 

muscles start contracting to 

prepare your spine for the 

movement so you . . .  AVOID INJURY