Renowned Physiotherapist Antony Lo Joins Us On This Episode Of Pilates Elephants To Dive Into Postpartum Pilates And How He Helps Movement Professionals Understand The Research And Practical Principles Of Working With Postpartum Women So They Can Confidently Support Their Clients. We Zoom In On The Importance Of Mindset And How We Can Give Students The Information That They Need, And Empower Them To Make Decisions For Themselves. Our Discussion Also Covers Antony’s Experience With Diastasis Rectus, His Philosophy On Pushing Exercise Boundaries And Keeping Clients Safe. 

What You Will Learn:

• Antony’s interest in postpartum Pilates and how he helps fitness professionals to safely support clients
• The biggest myths and misconceptions that people commonly sort of hold onto in the area of postpartum Pilates exercise
• Why you should be a knowledgeable exercise consultant rather than an all-knowing guru
• How to guide students to self-efficacy and the ability to decide what goes on in their life
• Why we shouldn’t disempower postpartum clients and instead teach them to find their boundaries

Postpartum Pilates: Empowering Personal Decisions

Antony Lo joins us on the podcast to share how he helps health and fitness professionals to understand the evidence and principles to move forward with confidence in supporting their students. He explains why his philosophy is trying to break down the hierarchy that assumes that a movement professional has all the answers, and concentrates more on giving people the information that they need and empowering them to make decisions for themselves around postpartum Pilates.  

Goal-Based Motivation

We dive into why goal-based motivation helps people to move forward and why it can take a mindset shift for Pilates instructors to let go of their anxiety around treating postpartum women. When you start to see women as strong, resilient, and capable instead of weak and fragile then it’s simple to understand why a diastasis recti doesn’t spell the end of exercising. Empowering women to move at their own pace and to listen to their bodies helps you support their postpartum Pilates journey confidently.

Experience Before Knowledge 

Experience before knowledge is one of Antony’s mantras and his teaching focuses on trying to give people an experience before we start dropping knowledge on them. We zoom in on confirmation bias and how preloading students with research can color the interaction as they unconsciously tell what you want to hear rather than their true experience. After all, as a Pilates teacher, we should be a trusted consultant. Not a guru, but a guide.

Resources mentioned in the episode:

• Read Raph's book: Strengthen the Person, Not Just the Body Part here
• Women with diastasis recti do not have more back pain, pelvic girdle pain or pelvic floor issues than women without diastisis recti here and the evidence is weak here
• Regular abdominal strengthening including crunches, is at least as effective as special core stability exercises for women with diastasis recti here
• Pressure in your abdominal cavity increases when you breathe in here
• There is no gold standard for exercise treatment of diastasis recti but general abdominal strengthening both during and after pregnancy is the best we've got here

About Antony Lo:

Antony Lo is The Physio Detective and owner of My PT Education. He has been working at the junction ofMusculoskeletal, Sports Rehab and Performance, and Women’s Health for his whole career. He has experience participating and coaching a range of sports and has been a consultant for a number of different types of elite sports athletes of all ages and various sports.

Antony’s passion is working in a way that combines his experience in coaching, education, and being a Physiotherapist, combining the knowledge from the fields of Physiotherapy, Strength and Conditioning, Business, Psychology, and the Arts and Sciences to provide a practical, realistic, holistic model of care balancing the biopsychosocial model of healthcare with the best of historical assessment and management approaches.

He is privileged to teach health and fitness professionals around the world in person and online in addition to his clinical work. Antony has a wife and 3 beautiful children in the best city in the world – Sydney, Australia!

How to Connect with Anthony Lo:

• Website: physiodetective.com 
• Facebook: fb.me/physiodetective
• Instagram: instagram.com/physiodetective
• Podcast: womenshealthpodcast.com

About Raphael:

Raphael Bender, CEO, Breathe Education

Raph believes everyone deserves the opportunity to transform into a better version of themselves. His main strength as a teacher and movement professional is the ability to distill complex research findings into a simple, science-based approach to help people move fearlessly, thoughtlessly, and painlessly. He LOVES running, weights, cycling, and Contrology.

Raph holds a Masters’s degree in Clinical Exercise Physiology (Rehabilitation), a Bachelor’s degree in Exercise and Sports Science, Diploma of Pilates Movement Therapy, and STOTT PILATES full certification.

Connect with me on Instagram: @the_raphaelbender

Download a free course guide:

• Pilates Certification
• Visualized Anatomy

Become a Breathe Education Mentor Affiliate: Program info

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