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CNN Saturday Morning News
Summer Shape-Up: Interview with Kevin Bowen
Aired July 06, 2002 - 08:35 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ROBIN MEADE, CNN ANCHOR: Throughout CNN's Summer Shape Up, we have shown you traditional types of dieting and exercise. Well, this week, well, we're going to go a little bit off the beaten path. Today, we're going to focus on what some would call alternative eating and fitness.
We're going to start with an exercise technique that you could not really find in a lot of gyms a few years ago. But now it is becoming a big rage at the clubs and the studios throughout the country. It is called Pilates and Pilates 101 now with Kevin Bowen from the Pilates Method Alliance. He's going to be joining us right now to talk about it.
Kevin, nice to have you here. Appreciate it.
KEVIN BOWEN, PILATES METHOD ALLIANCE: Good morning.
MEADE: I've even taken my shoes off because I might just kind of help out here.
BOWEN: All right. Thanks.
MEADE: Not that I know anything about Pilates here. But tell me a little bit about what Pilates is. What is the technique that is involved?
BOWEN: Well, in easiest terms, these days it's called mind-body fitness and it incorporates core stabilization and functional fitness, which is now the catch phrase across the country in fitness. And the interesting thing is Pilates has been incorporating all of those things since 1924, when Joseph Pilates came here to the U.S.
MEADE: From what I gather -- one of my co-anchors in Chicago before I came here, or one of my coworkers, I should say, went to do some Pilates and he said he's never been stronger. From what I gather is it's got something to do with your belly muscles, right here.
BOWEN: Right. Every, we teach that all the movements center from the belly, from the abdominal core strengthening center of the body.
MEADE: Can you kind of show me?
BOWEN: Yes. MEADE: Yes.
BOWEN: Well, let's do a very traditional Pilates exercise that everyone who's ever done Pilates knows about. It's called the hundred, OK? And Jamie is going to do the hundred. Basically what she does is she pumps her arms as she does the exercise and she's rolled up pulling her belly in the whole time, keeping her lower back down. But the most interesting thing is she has to do a very deep breathing pattern, inhaling through her nose five counts, exhaling through her mouth.
MEADE: Doesn't it have something, too, to do with the abdominal muscles up against your spine, as well? How do you have to hold them when you're down there like that?
BOWEN: Well, it's kind of like pulling everything in. You know when you stand up in front of a mirror and you say what would I look like if I lost five pounds, that kind of feeling of pulling in?
MEADE: Right.
BOWEN: That's exactly the feeling that you want to use. We use the transversus abdominus, which is the group of muscles that surround the belly and hold everything together.
MEADE: Obviously you're on TV so you're making her stay like this while you're talking.
BOWEN: I think she has...
MEADE: Would she normally do it that long?
BOWEN: She would do a hundred, which is 10 sets of 10.
MEADE: Therefore it's called the hundred.
BOWEN: Right. And this is a little easier version. If she does the most difficult one, her legs are straight out and about six inches from the ground. And originally we used to use this as a warm up but now we kind of shy away from that and do a few other moves prior to using this as a warm up.
MEADE: You know, she looks obviously wonderful and in shape. She's obviously been doing this for a while. What about for the beginner? You can't do a hundred right from the beginning, can you?
BOWEN: No, we teach 30.
MEADE: OK.
BOWEN: We teach 30 and we do it as she did in the very beginning, which is the knees bent and the feet on the floor. The most important thing is to have proper instruction for Pilates. It's not easily done just by picking up a book or buying a videotape. We urge people to go to see a qualified teacher and really learn the right way. MEADE: How do you feel about group instruction? Would you rather have one-on-one instruction?
BOWEN: Obviously one-on-one is best, but it's so popular these days, as long as the groups are kept small it's excellent.
MEADE: OK. I'm going to be a beginner here.
BOWEN: OK.
MEADE: Obviously, I hope there's more than just one move. Can you show me another move that you might do? I have the microphones and everything else here.
BOWEN: You have microphones on.
MEADE: OK, I'm going to take them out.
BOWEN: Let's get you down.
MEADE: Like I say...
BOWEN: I've got a microphone on, too, so...
MEADE: I say, I'm a beginner.
BOWEN: All right.
MEADE: OK?
BOWEN: So lie on your back.
MEADE: Yes.
BOWEN: OK, and roll up off the ground just like Jamie's doing.
MEADE: Like this? Now you think I'm going to talk after this, too, right?
BOWEN: Yes, yes, yes.
MEADE: OK.
BOWEN: OK, now, bend your knees back a little bit further and take your hands back behind your head.
MEADE: Where are my knees going?
BOWEN: Your knees are going to go here and you're all the way back.
MEADE: OK.
BOWEN: All I want you to do is to think of sequentially rolling your body up and reaching your hands towards your feet. But don't come up too high yet. MEADE: No.
BOWEN: Exhale.
MEADE: Now what do I do?
BOWEN: Inhale, roll back down.
MEADE: OK.
BOWEN: There you go. And do that again. You exhale and roll up.
MEADE: So maybe our viewers are doing this with us, because, let me tell you, I am the beginner then it comes to this.
BOWEN: And inhale, go back down. Do that again. Now, Jamie is going to make it more difficult...
MEADE: So it's just a tiny crunch?
BOWEN: Yes, it's kind of like a tiny crunch. The thing is, we want to keep everything in this area really engaged and pulled in.
MEADE: Well, let me ask you, though, how -- I'm using my hands -- how can you get the rest of your body in shape when you're just focusing right here on the center?
BOWEN: Well, actually, Pilates consists of almost 500 exercises that are moving the body in every way, shape and form possible.
MEADE: OK.
BOWEN: So we do lots of different things to work the entire body. There's one that looks like a push-up.
MEADE: You know, what about the person who says, you know, I don't know, I kind of like the classes. It has music, a little competition. This stuff looks boring to me. What do you say to them?
BOWEN: Come in and try it out and see how challenging it is. Most people who tell us that end up walking away going I never realized it was so difficult, because you really have to learn how to pull your body together.
MEADE: Do you play music in the classes or is it silent...
BOWEN: Some people do.
MEADE: ... because you said it's mind-body concentration.
BOWEN: Some people play a quieter form of music and it's kept in the background, and other people are very purist and they play absolutely no music.
MEADE: Hey, what's the bottom line on this? BOWEN: The bottom line...
MEADE: There we go. How much will this cost?
BOWEN: It depends. It ranges in price from about $15 for a group class or if your club offers it, up to $75 for a private lesson.
MEADE: All right. So that's Kevin Bowen. Thank you so much for shedding some light on Pilates, which a lot of people are familiar with and still many are not.
BOWEN: You're welcome. That's right.
MEADE: So you've introduced a lot of people to it today.
Thank you.
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