NY1, the NYC 24-hour television station aired a spot several times today about Walk-ilates and the benefits of the MBT shoes.

Kafi Drexel covers Health & Fitness for NY1 News

Walkilates Workout Uses Pilates To Teach People How To Walk

July 24, 2006

Is simple, everyday walking causing you pain? A new workout promises to help you put your best foot forward. NY1 Health & Fitness Reporter Kafi Drexel filed this report.

There’s no doubt about it; New Yorkers pound the pavement probably more than people do in almost any other city.

But when it comes to putting one foot in front of the other, are most of us putting a lot of undue stress on our bodies? Pilates instructor Ellie Herman says she sees it every day.

“Walking is something that we do every day from 5,000 up to 10,000 steps a day. So if you’re walking incorrectly, you’re actually reinforcing a lot of bad patterns muscularly in your body,” she says. “And so many people end up with joint disease, all kinds of problems, because they walk wrong.”

To address those issues, Herman’s come up with what she calls Walkilates, a spin-off of using basic Pilates moves to build into your everyday walking routine.

The hour-and-a-half long class starts off with 45 minutes of core strengthening mat exercise, then puts the technique to work by hitting the streets.

They do it all while wearing MBT, or Masai Barefoot Technology, shoes. The soles of the shoes are rounded, creating unstable walking conditions that are supposed to help your muscles work harder.

“The whole point of the shoe is that you roll rather than hit the ground flat, and it takes the compression out from your knees, your hips and your spine,” says Herman.

Ellie Herman isn’t the only one incorporating these special MBT sneakers into workouts. Other studios around the city are also starting to incorporate them as well.

The only thing is they start at about $235 a pair. So the big question is, are they really necessary to hit that perfect stride?

Dr. Andrew Sands, Chief of Foot and Ankle Surgery at St. Vincent’s Hospital, says while Pilates and any type of workout that combines core strengthening with walking is good for your stride, the verdict is still out on just how effective the special shoes are.

“From a scientific point of view, I don’t know any true scientific papers showing the specific shoe helps that much,” he says. “From my perspective, I think that anything that gets people out moving is good, and whether they do it in a special $250 shoe or a $100 hi-tech running sneaker is a good thing.”

But the MBT’s are a key part of Herman’s routine, and her clients swear by both the shoes and the workout.

“I feel much stronger when I walk,” says client Zoe Sanders. “I am very much aware of my positioning when I walk. I think I’ve definitely seen a change in the shape of my lower body.”

Link to NY1 website:
http://www.ny1.com/ny1/Living/health.jsp

Masai Barefoot Technology

When I first saw the MBT’s I knew they’d be a natural compliment to Pilates. They are a kindler gentler version of a wobbly shoe; an instability shoe that consists of a Birkenstock sandal with half a tennis ball glued to the bottom that we use for rehabilitation and stabilization training. At the end of a rehab session clients often “march” in the wobbly shoes for 3 minutes to re-integrate the new muscle balance from the corrective exercises they have just done. MBT’s are a way to re-integrate the corrective aspects of Pilates with every step you take- you reinforce the path of least resistance- which in coincidentally the best plumb alignment possible. It feels like you are floating once you get the rhythm of the balance.

The concept for Walk-ilates flowed naturally from my experience teaching Pilates for more than a decade- and seeing how clients could not integrate the supine and seated Pilates exercises into their standing alignment and gait. So many times I would be disappointed to see people returning to their postural habits the moment they got dressed. The great thing about the MBT’s is that you don’t have to think about it consciously- you just will be doing the right thing.

Walk-ilates class begins with special releases and stretches using the ethafoam roller, followed by Pilates Mat exercises using the magic circle and standing balances (all done in your MBT’s). The class culminates in walking outside where proper gait and optimal alignment are stressed. Everyone will receive personal corrections to address their gait patterns.

What makes them excellent:
• Gentle, active rolling instead of repeated compression leads to relaxed, natural standing and walking
• facilitates optimal posture and gait
• significantly reduces joint compression (spine, hips and knees)
• corrects imbalances and compensations
• tones your legs, hips and buns
• increases circulation & rehabilitates injuries

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