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Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Seriously?!?!?!?!

Okay....So you can probably tell by the title that today's post will not be your typical Pilates article but it will be a complete and total sound off about the ethics of blog writing and taking other peoples work. I thought about apologizing for this rant....but I can't and won't. I still believe that this article will be informative. Maybe even spark some good conversation.

Most of you that follow this blog know that there is usually a new post about every month and half about something related to Pilates. Most of the content on this site is written by myself and does consume an ample amount of free time in order to compose. The other articles not written by me are from other individuals that have contacted me and offered to contribute an article. They have also approved their work after the post is made. They get links to their website.

So, I recently decided to start a twitter account and see what all the fuss was about. After I created the account I added a few Pilates professionals and other individuals I found interesting. When I logged in Saturday morning I noticed that someone I was following had several threads that were promoting articles from my blog. COOL.....I though someone really loved my blog and was using my new twitter buttons to share the love. Well....no. I clicked the link assuming I would end up here but the links took me to another "Pilates" blog that wasn't mine. I found that the most of my articles (that took me a few year to accumulate) were pulled of this site and added to theirs in a matter of a day. All the content on this particular site was not original work but the posts of other Pilates bloggers. Of course there is no valid email address to contact this individual. My comments requesting the removal of my articles were ignored. Nice!

I would like to state right now that the content of my blog belongs to me! I have no problem with links and I certainly don't have a problem with someone interested in posting one of my articles with my permission and appropriately crediting me for my work. I don't believe it is ethical to cut and paste other peoples hard work onto your own blog. It's actually pretty cheap that you have nothing original to say for yourself. Well, why don't you go ahead and steal this article too!!!! Or better yet....why don't you just remove my articles off your site instead of stealing over half the articles on my blog.

I am totally appalled at this. Am I in the wrong here?

For those of you that network in the Pilates field, could you please go ahead and pass this article along to other Pilates bloggers or writer. I'm not the only one that is having my feeds pulled by a splogger.

Saturday, August 7, 2010

The Pilates Ring

In the past I have posted several articles discussing matwork and keeping the exercises new and exciting without sacrificing the integrity of the method. A great way to keep things fresh is to incorporate a small piece of apparatus into your workout. This can definitely be a love/hate relationship for some clients. One of the best ways to mix up the mat without diluting the method is to incorporate the Pilates ring also known as the magic circle.

Recently, I had the pleasure of being able to test out a new Zenzu Pilates ring compliments of Americas Nutrition. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I loved this product and the price tag that went with it! Those of us professionals in the Pilates field are well aware of how overly priced equipment can be. The machines are thousands of dollars and even a Pilates ring can run up to $65.

I have used other rings on the market which are comparable in price (23.99) and I find that I prefer this brand due to it's strong resistance level. I've found that other rings of similar quality lack a heavy resistance level and it is easy to bend the ring right in half. I like the fact that it took some effort on my behalf to squeeze the ring with my biceps or inner thighs muscles as I was performing certain exercises. Another cool feature is that the foam handles make it a little more comfortable to use....especially when doing the lower body work. The ring also comes with a little exercise chart to get you started.

The Zenzu Pilates Ring can be found at Americas Nutrition as well as other health and fitness products.