Kim Gibilisco photo by Tom CaravagliaBy Kim Gibilisco

Often, people believe that the more directions you are drawn in, the weaker your focus and level of mastery. Like many Pilates instructors, my work takes me beyond the walls of the Pilates studio. I am also a choreographer. Over the years, I have found that the more I pursue developing my choreography for my own dance company, Kim Gibilisco Dances, the stronger my understanding, teaching and self-practice of the Pilates method becomes. Likewise, the more I study and train in Pilates, the more my choreography evolves. One discipline greatly informs the other, as they have several commonalities.

For both disciplines you need to be a creative thinker; a problem you’ve seen many times might require a fresh approach now and then. Puzzles you solve in choreography are not unlike the body riddles you find when training a Pilates client. So if you are a Pilates trainer who pursues more than one passion in life, ask yourself how this passion can inform and transform your Pilates practice and teaching. Here are six techniques I use in my dance-making that have improved my teaching of Pilates:

By Kathryn Comperatore

If you dread doing planks and push-ups because of wrist pain, Wrist Assured™ Gloves, or WAGs, offers a wearable solution. WAGs, from licensed occupational therapist Paula Wilbert, are designed to ease pain and improve comfort for practitioners of Pilates and yoga.

WAGs features an ergonomic gel cushion inserted into the base of the glove, which is designed to help support the wrist. In addition to taking pressure off of the wrists, the insert encourages proper weight distribution in the hands. This pad raises the height under the base of the hand relative to the fingers, preventing hyperextension at the wrist. It is slanted to direct weight into the thumb and index finger while preventing overuse of the lateral heel of the hand. The arch-supporting pad has a V-cut out shape that prevents strain of the soft tissues of the hand, including the median nerve. WAGs also features a slip-proof grip on the palm and has sweat-absorbent liners inside.

Wilbert set out to create WAGS after recovering from a wrist injury; she noticed that she still had pain in certain weight-bearing positions in her yoga practice and felt that her wrists needed relief from the stress of those positions.

For beginning students and for those with wrist pain, WAGs are a helpful aid for loading the forearm and upper extremity correctly in weight-bearing exercises.