Frequently Asked Questions

CorMotus™ is a unique whole-body, core-based workout focused on building strength, stamina, mobility and balance incorporating tension release, fascial restoration and alignment correction. Integrating complimentary elements from leading self-care and exercise systems including the MELT Method®, Nutritious Movement™ Restorative Exercise and Pilates. CorMotus aims to optimize health and function at every level.

Core-based training focuses on restoring the timing and proper sequencing of your deepest muscle groups, or local stabilizers. These are key for controlling joint movement and sustaining joint stability – qualities that can diminish due to repetitive movements of daily living, high-demand sports training, a trauma, pregnancy or pain resulting from an injury. Core-based training uses breathing techniques, alignment corrections, tactile cues and imagery to teach you how to activate the local stabilizers of your core synergistically, and then adds exercises to strengthen these deep muscles during integrated, whole-body movements.

Pilates, pioneered by the late Joseph Pilates, is a mind-body exercise system designed to optimize physical fitness in people at every level of physical ability. Joseph Pilates (1880–1967) was a German expatriate who first made his mark in England during WWI by developing a series of exercises and innovative equipment to help prisoners of war regain strength and mobility. When Joseph Pilates immigrated to New York, the local professional dance community discovered that his conditioning technique, called ‘Contrology’ helped prevent injury and improve strength while maintaining long, even muscle tone.

STOTT PILATES* incorporates modern exercise principles, including contemporary thinking on spinal rehabilitation, fascial integration, muscle conditioning and athletic performance enhancement. For example, some approaches may promote a flat back, whereas STOTT PILATES exercises are designed to restore the natural curves of the spine and rebalance the muscles around the joints. STOTT PILATES places a strong emphasis on scapular stabilization, lumbo-pelvic placement and alignment for optimal muscle activation. The repertoire of Matwork and equipment-based exercises contains a full range of preparations and modifications that makes STOTT PILATES more versatile and accessible to many different body types and abilities.

• STOTT PILATES* is a systematic system of strength and stability training focused on movement control and precision;
• Pilates is three-dimensional; meaning exercises are performed in all movement planes with the potential to access fascial “slings” that create and control movements involving multiple joints and muscles;
• Emphasis is placed on correcting over-training, compensatory movement patterns (bad habits) and muscle imbalances that lead to injury; exercises use concentric and eccentric muscle contractions for injury prevention;
• Spring resistance on specially-designed equipment facilitates coordinated muscle activation with greater resistance at the muscle’s strongest point of contraction and less resistance on the initiation and completion of the contraction, so there is less stress on tendons and ligaments;
• STOTT PILATES leads to an improvement in posture and body awareness;
• STOTT PILATES is customizable for special needs;
• Weight training and STOTT PILATES can be combined in a fitness program and are a great complement to each other.

In some respects, Pilates is like yoga. Both emphasize breathing and smooth, long movements that encourage the mind-body connection. The difference is that while yoga requires moving from one static posture to the next, Pilates generally flows through a series of movements that are more dynamic and progressive and often incorporates resistance equipment. Pilates also focuses on core stability by targeting the deepest layer of fascia and muscles. These smaller muscles help stabilize and protect the joints, which, in turn, help prevent injury when the larger muscle groups are recruited for full-body movements and athletic performance.

The STOTT PILATES Biomechanical Principles are key to performing the exercises safely and effectively. The Principles teach you how to breathe properly and how to position your body through the exercises. The Principles also make you more aware of your core, and help you get better results from every workout.  You can learn more about the Basic Principles here.

Unlike anything you might find in a traditional gym, STOTT PILATES* professional equipment is adjusted to accommodate your body type and size, meet desired intensity levels and target specific muscle groups and movement patterns. State-of-the-art apparatus such as the V2Max Plus* Reformer, Cadillac and Stability Chair* use spring-based resistance that allows joints to move in full ranges of motion, facilitating dynamic stretching and balanced muscle conditioning. Mat-based workouts often incorporate small equipment props for added resistance and greater specificity in training coordination, core torso stability and balance. Strength training has never been this accessible or this much fun!

ZEN•GA* is a unique mind-body modality that fuses elements of STOTT PILATES*, yoga, martial arts and meditation into a series of flowing movements that strengthen both body and mind. Using props and equipment, these accessible workouts are playful yet powerful, emphasizing smooth transitions, intention of the movements and focusing on the personal physical effects of movement paired with deep breathing. The gateway to a mind-body practice, ZEN•GA is designed to stimulate the fascial system and build endurance, strength, mobility and stability while cultivating a greater sense of physical awareness that extends beyond the workout experience.

Nutritious Movement™ Restorative Exercise is a natural movement program designed to restore optimal health. Created by bio-mechanist Katy Bowman, the Nutritious Movement model is based on human biomechanics, which integrates principles of physics and engineering with human biology and anatomy. Using a 25-point alignment system, you learn how to identify gaps in your strength and mobility that are preventing you from living well and aging dynamically. Corrective exercises (a mix of strategic stretching and strengthening) and a steady dose of self-observation help you develop stronger alignment and new movement skills for how you walk, stand, sit, bend, reach, squat, lift and twist. New movement skills become new movement habits that determine whole body health, mobility, mental alertness and quality of life as we age. Nutritious Movement concepts and techniques will bring a whole new level of understanding to how you exercise and move in the gym, Pilates studio and throughout your day.

Halo Training is a multi-functional and three-dimensional exercise program that incorporates the science of core-integrated bodyweight training with the use of the Halo* Trainer Plus and Stability Ball*. The program teaches exercises that follow unique progressions or regressions designed to increase functional strength and stability for a client at any level of condition from rehab through to HIIT and athletic performance training. The Halo* Trainer Plus is a relatively inexpensive training apparatus that can be used for home exercise and on-line Private Sessions.

HIIT Training stands for High Intensity Interval Training. Vigorous exercise is interspersed with periods of rest or active recovery at low-to-moderate intensity with the goal of increasing aerobic fitness, improving fat use for energy (increased metabolism), increasing insulin action and glycemic control and enhancing endurance and stamina. Recent research has shown that 15-20 minutes of HIIT can be equivalent to the work of one hour of moderate exercise, such as jogging or cycling. CorSano Pilates offers HIIT Training using the Halo* Trainer Plus and Stability Ball*, and integrates joint stability exercises to ensure that you work through high intensity workouts with proper alignment and efficient movement patterns for best results.

MELT® is a breakthrough self-treatment method that restores the functionality of the body’s connective tissue to help eliminate chronic pain, improve movement performance, and decrease the accumulated stress caused by repetitive postures, movements of daily living and aging.

MELT NeuroStrength™ – also known as MELT Performance – simulates highly specialized therapeutic techniques that are used to reintegrate optional joint motion, eliminate compensatory movement patterns and create pain-free movement. The goal is to reacquire and sustain the primary motor signal/neurological pathways so that proper timing and muscle engagement for core, shoulder and pelvic girdle stabilization occur before movement. These techniques are the perfect complement to Pilates, HIIT Training and virtually every sport you practice: Who doesn’t want to keep doing their favourite sport with continuously better performance and significantly less potential for set-backs as a result of injuries or chronic aches and pains?

MELT® is easy to learn and offers you results that you will see and feel the first time you try it. Over time, MELT heightens your body’s ability to repair and heal itself, creating long-lasting benefits for a more resilient body.

Adding MELT to your current routine can boost the results of whatever else you’re doing. If you get hands-on therapy such as massage, osteopathic treatments, chiropractic or physical therapy, MELT self-care treatments will help prolong the positive effects of your practitioner’s intervention. If you practice a particular sport or do strength training such as Pilates, MELT can help you maximize your performance by improving your alignment and facilitating proper sequencing of muscle activation. People who MELT regularly find that they want to exercise more often. It’s just more fun to move when your body feels good, has more energy and is free of pain.

Although MELT® is a self-care technique that can be combined with other therapeutic treatments and exercise workouts, it is unlike any other modalities because it directly addresses an entirely different system of the body: the neurofascial system (nervous + connective tissue system). Based on proven manual therapy protocols and specialized manual therapy techniques, MELT Method has introduced the scientific principles behind direct self-treatment of the neurofascial system to the general public for the first time.

MELT® has been reviewed by internationally respected doctors, neuroscientists and connective tissue researchers, including Ben Domb, M.D.; Tom Myers; Gil Hedley, Ph.D.; Robert Schleip, Ph.D.; and Jean Pierre Barral, D.O. Each expert has recognized that MELT is grounded in scientific principles and offers extraordinary benefits. MELT is currently being used in hospitals and physical therapy offices as a rehabilitation tool to accelerate patient recovery.

Research is proving that MELT restores the elasticity of the connective tissue and reduces unwanted stiffness that causes this tissue to become less able to stabilize joints and support daily movements. Scientific research into the efficacy of the MELT Method has been presented at the Fourth International Fascia Research Congress in Washington, DC, in September 2015, and further research studies are on-going.

Although MELT® is a self-care system available to the general public, most people find that they benefit from taking a class or private session with a MELT Instructor. Michele Carini has completed all five levels of MELT training with its creator, Sue Hitzmann, and has been working with this modality in her private client practice since 2013. She can help you learn the MELT techniques, assist you with proper placement of the MELT balls and/or roller and provide you with take-home MELT Treatment Maps designed for your needs.

We start with a Foundation Session to assess your alignment, uncover your strengths and weaknesses and identify gaps in your movement profile. This allows us to determine a training strategy for your unique goals and needs. For most CorSano Pilates clients, a combination of methods and techniques delivers the best results.