The article below was in the Health & Wellbeing section of the South Wales Evening Post
on Monday 24 March 2008 and has been reproduced without permission

MAGIC OF THE SLOTH WHISPERER

Self-confessed exercise hater VANESSA HOWARD explains how pilates changed her life.


It was my toddlers that finished me off. Carrying my children round on my hip, lifting them in and out of car seats and
trolleys left me with horrible back pain. It took a mum to get me back on track again - Gwen, Stacey's mum from
Gavin and Stacey.



Gwen has a second life. She is played by Melanie Walters, from Mumbles - a pilates teacher for the past seven years.
We need to stop here. At least, we do if pilates conjured up half the prejudices I had when my GP first suggested it.

I thought it was a fad for Yummy Mummies like Gwyneth Paltrow and Madonna, and that I'd need my own macrobiotic
chef. In fact, it is simply a low-impact way to improve strength and mobility. But I faced another problem, even greater
than ignorance. I'm useless when it comes to exercise - I'm a natural born quitter. So it comes as something of a
shock to realise that I have suck with pilates for two-and-a-half years. I've stuck with it for the simple reason that it works.

I've not had back pain for more than two years. I get far fewer headaches, and my neck doesn't knot up as I sit.

Yet beyond health benefits, I can't imagine that I would still be attending if the classes were dull. I've enjoyed every
one, and that's all down to Melanie.

She has so much energy and enthusiasm and, I suspect, magical powers. I think she is a "sloth whisperer" - she must be,
because she has coaxed a commitment from me where all else has failed.

Melanie, aged 46, runs personal pilates but is now teaming up with Amanda Edwards to offer practical pilates. More of
that in a moment. First, Melanie had a few confessions to make.

"When I watch 'Gwen' on screen, I'm horrified," she says. "The way she stands, with her shoulders hunched and her
chin jutting out, it is how I used to stand - and it is how I stand if I'm not thinking about posture."

But Melanie has a serious point to make. Few of us, apart from professional dancers, stand or sit properly, and our bad
habits lead to a gradual loss of mobility and strength plus a slow increase in stiffness and joint pain.

The Health and Safety Executive found that recurrent back pain affects 49 per cent of women compared to 40 per cent of
men. It is the most common health problem for British workers, causing industry to lose 4.9 million working days every year.

It is a bleak picture. Four out of 10 women said back pain had affected their ability to work, and a third said it had an impact
on their family and social lives.

Like many women, I found nagging pain debilitating and I had to face the fact that I could not live on Ibuprofen indefinitely.
Pilates was a huge help but my search for a quick fix was folly.

"Once you become 'body aware' you start to correct your posture and you keep doing so," says Melanie. "Even after nine
years, I'm still correcting mine and finding areas I need to work on."

If that sounds a struggle, let me share another of Melanie's confessions. "Pilates has changed my shape totally. In my 20s
and 30s I was round, as well stooped. I used to be about 10st, now I'm 8st 7lb."

Pilates is not about weight loss as it is not aerobic exercise. But it does change your shape. The exercises are slow
but focused.

"Forget 100 stomach crunches," says Melanie. "You will be far better off doing only six of the Pilates reps well."

It is true. Your stomach becomes flatter, clothes fit better, and I have a friend who swears she's an inch taller since taking
up sessions twice a week.

But there's the rub. Not everyone has the time for an hour-long session, yet even 10 minutes of basic exercises a day can
make a difference. So Melanie and Amanda Edwards are set to launch practical pilates next month.

It aims to help people in environments where mats are out of the question - in the workplace for example. "We're also
looking at armchair pilates for people with restricted mobility," says Melanie, "and at the other end of the scale, sessions
with a lot more movement for children."

Pilates works whatever your age, and maintaining mobility is vital. Nia Taylor, chief executive of the charity BackCare,
confirms: "The evidence is that the people who cope best are those who stay active and get on with their life
despite the pain."

But why suffer if help is at hand? Get a mat and get going - it could be what you've been searching for.