Lengthen, Loosen and Ease Pain with Melissa Luterek at Pilates Worx

 

Pilates Worx studio owner and instructor Melissa Luterek demonstrates an exercise on the Pilates reformer.

For anyone feeling pain in their back, knees, wrists, ankles, or anywhere really, Melissa Luterek could hold the alternative to surgery.

Luterek recently opened a spacious, air conditioned Pilates Worx studio in The Lumber Yard bringing 17 years of Pilates instruction experience with her to Love City. She has been working with patients suffering from arthritis, scoliosis, sciatica, herniated disks, carpal tunnel and more.

It was an injury she suffered which first introduced Luterek to Pilates. Originally from the East Coast, Luterek was just about to begin a four-year dance scholarship at Marymount Manhattan College, when she blew out her knee, she explained.

“I was a professional dancer and just before heading off to college for dance, in my very last audition, I blew out my knee,” said Luterek. “The doctors said I would never dance again and that I needed surgery.”

Undeterred, Luterek put on a brace and showed up to dance school anyway.

“My instructor told me I couldn’t perform on stage with the brace,” Luterek said. “She told me I had to go take Pilates classes two or three times a week. I danced for four years on that knee and after college decided to get certified in the use of Pilates.”

Having earned her BFA in dance, Luterek had also discovered an exercise method long known in the New York City professional dance world, Pilates, which became her life’s work.

The method was created in the early 20th century by Joseph Pilates and quickly became popular among dancers looking to ease pain and increase flexibility, Luterek explained.

“Pilates was big among the dance community for a long time,” she said. “Martha Graham practiced and so did many gymnasts and acrobats.”

Luterek studied at Romana’s Pilates in NYC, owned by Master Teacher Romana Kryzonowska, who was directly taught by Joseph Pilates. What Luterek teaches is called “classical” Pilates and emphasizes both apparatus and mat work.

“Joseph Pilates developed all the apparatuses which use your own body weight and springs for resistance,” said Luterek. “You develop nice, tone, lean muscles but you also build muscles because you are always stretching your body and building strength.”

Each exercise also entails its own breath work, Luterek added.

“For each of the exercises, there is a certain way to breathe,” she said. “In Pilates we inhale on the move and exhale on the relief, so each exercise has its own set of breath-work.”

Joseph Pilates’ impressive-looking apparatuses can be found in Luterek’s tidy Cruz Bay studio. From the Cadillac, so named for its versatility and quality, to the Reformer, which often gets results, Luterek shipped the apparatuses down from her former Pilates studio in LA, where she enjoyed a successful career before moving to St. John this year.

Back in LA, Luterek was voted “Best Pilates Instructor” by “LA Daily News,” appeared as a model in the Pilates book “The Pilates Method of Body Conditioning” and starred as a Pilates instructor on the TV show “Reba.”

On St. John, Luterek has enjoyed a stream of new clients, both Pilates novices and experienced practitioners.

“If you’ve never done Pilates its best to come in and have an introduction session which is about 30 minutes and see if you like it,” said Luterek. “Pilates will show you where your strengths and weaknesses are. Some people are strong but aren’t flexible, for instance, and Pilates helps balance out the body.”

“From the introductory session we’ll plan a workout from there depending on the client’s needs,” she said.
Luterek offers individual and semi-private (two students) sessions with the apparatuses as well as group mat classes. She recommends clients do at least one session and one mat class per week.

“Two private or semi-private sessions a week is ideal but if you can’t afford that, one mat class and one session is a good plan,” said Luterek.

It doesn’t take long before Luterek’s clients feel and see results, she added.

“The Joseph Pilates intention is you start to feel it in 10 sessions, you start to see it in 20 sessions and you have a new body in 30 sessions,” said the Pilates Worx owner. “Eventually Pilates can be a cardio workout because as you advance you learn more and move faster.”

Luterek’s clients have also enjoyed pain-free lives after devoting themselves to Pilates, she added.

“I’ve worked with clients who have had hip replacements and titanium rods in their spines, people who have suffered from fibromyalgia,” said Luterk. “They strengthen their muscles and get pain relief. Pilates helps clients who are stiff because it makes you more aware of your body. It works on alignment and posture too.”

“People are known to become taller through Pilates,” she said. “I don’t make you taller, but I help correct your posture and you become stronger and straighter.”

After almost two decades in the field, Luterek can’t imagine doing anything else.

“This is my passion,” she said. “My reward is seeing the benefit of Pilates for a client; seeing how much they love it.”

Luterek’s rates are $45 for a private introductory session and then $85 for private sessions. For semi-private sessions, Luterek charges $60 per session and mat classes are $15 each. Luterek is offering a special free introductory session with the purchase of three private sessions for $199 or three semi-private sessions for $139 each.

For more information check out Luterek’s website at www.PilatesWorx.com or call the Pilates instructor at (877) 249-9679.