Our semi-regular rundown of Pilates (and Pilates-related) news from around the web. Enjoy!

• According to Dr. Mehmet Oz, 9 out of 10 rehab specialists recommend Pilates as the best form of exercise for lower back pain. Another great number for the Pilates industry, though we wish we knew where he found that figure. “The most successful programs for back rehabilitation are those that creatively integrate traditional Pilates with props, like big balls, resistance bands, or balance disks,” he writes in the Ask Dr. Oz section of his website.

• Who needs cash when you can barter with Pilates sessions? In this New York Post article, studio owner Elise Chen explains how she beat the sluggish economy by trading for website help and squash lessons for her kids. “One extra person in class is not costing me anyway,” she says. “I can’t say enough good things about the experience.”

• re:AB’s Brooke Siler shared five two-minute body-awareness-raising exercises on SocialWorkout.com.

• Also on SocialWorkout.com: The Beauty of Home Pilates posed the question ‘Can a home gym be pretty?’ and answered it with a collection of lovely home Pilates studios, featuring Pilates-Pro.com’s How to Open a Pilates Business at Home. Thanks SoWo!

• Apparently, May 1 is not only Pilates Day, but also World Fitness Day, newly launched and spearheaded by Jane Fonda.

• Last, but certainly not least, we learned that even rodeo cowboys do Pilates. It makes sense: “You don’t want to get too big and bulky…you want a strong center of balance,” bull-riding champ Austin Meiers told the Billings Gazette. Next time you hear someone call Pilates “girly,” you tell ‘em to take it up with the cowboys!