Toola, my Pilates Ped-o-Pul
I couldn’t help myself, and so we have a bonus apparatus to cover with the “Movement Heals” blog series.
The Contrology Ped-o-Pul I have is a recreation of Joe’s original Ped-o-Pul you would find at his Gym circa 1970. This is near reproduction of the same resistance and geometry. I’ve talked about my love for the Contrology vintage springs here.
As you can see, it looks so simple, doesn’t take up a lot of space, and just appears unassuming, doesn’t it? The Ped-o-Pul is designed to develop general body awareness which then only leads to improvements to your core strength, spinal decompression and elongation, balance, and posture. The secret is the instability built into this apparatus that makes you work to find the stability within your body when the apparatus moves. The work sneaks in there, and may even take you by surprise initially.
This apparatus is also a wonderful tool to teach you how to breathe correctly. Yes, did you know there is a correct way to breathe? Now, I wouldn’t go so far as to say there is an incorrect way to breathe, but maybe an inefficient way since everything in Pilates is to teach the body how to move as efficiently as possible. And that includes breathing! Isn’t that wild and a little mind-blowing? I think so!
If you’ve read about my other “girls” in my private studio, you know I started naming them in the latter half of 2022. So, meet Toola, my Ped-o-Pul. Now the name Tula is a girl’s name of Hindi origin meaning balance. In addition, the apparatus looks like scales to me, which in the American zodiac is the Libra sign, which is another meaning for the name Tula. Instead of the 1 u, I preferred the spelling variation of having 2 o’s to represent the balance and scales visually in the writing of the name Toola.
Did you know your balance starts to decline between the ages of 40-50? I can see why Joseph Pilates designed and built an apparatus that has a lot of play/movement in it so that it forces the body to work against that play/movement to find and build the strength within. Genius! I’ve been saying that Pilates is strength training and helps us in all things in life. I’d love to help you prevent any and all trips and falls in your life. And if you were to fall, let’s strengthen your body so you may catch yourself, or, at the very least, fall better.
Hope you enjoyed meeting and learning about all my “girls” at my private home studio through this “Movement Heals” blog series.
A refresher on all my “girls”:
My girls and I are all available to help you on your fitness journey no matter if this will be your first time experiencing movement, or your return to a Pilates practice to help you with your daily life activities, or to improve your performance as an athlete. Book a private with me today!