"I’ve worked out with Clare since 2000 and can attest to the excellent therapeutic benefits of Clare’s training through the Pilates method."

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In the Words of Johnnie Fulton

I sustained an ankle injury in 1996 that required surgical repair with rods and screws. After only three years, I had to undergo arthroscopic repair due to increasing difficulty with ambulation. My orthopedic surgeon’s post-arthroscopy prognosis was not good. The traumatic degenerative arthritis had left me with little or no cartilage in my left ankle. The only reliable repair recommended, a fusion, would leave me with no motion in my ankle and only a possibility of pain relief- no guarantees. As a wife, mother of two active children, and a business owner, I did not see ankle fusion as a viable option for me.

As my ankle became more limited in motion, the pain and swelling in my ankle also increased. My weight ballooned as my ability to ambulate decreased. While reading a health magazine in early 2000, I learned about the Pilates method and was fascinated by the idea of a non-weight bearing exercise that appeared to combine the flexibility training of yoga and dance with a weight resistance workout. ( and , if done at a decent pace, tough aerobic exercise!) Through a circuitous route of phone calls to various studios across the country, I was directed to an excellent trainer right in my own back yard, Clare Dillon-Palma.

I’ve worked out with Clare since 2000 and can attest to the excellent ther-apeutic benefits of Clare’s training through the Pilates method. The exercises require a lot of mental concentration which at first can be frustrating; but, after sticking to it for a few months, the rewards have been worth it.  Pilates can be modified to allow for an excellent workout, despite any existing physical limitations. I am more flexible than I have ever been in my life. My stamina has increased. My weight has improved and even my body shape has changed. My gait has greatly improved!

After four years of Pilates training, I dread going through a week without at least two sessions. The workouts keep my ankle flexible and my gait more even. The road to feeling better has not been short. It is a continuing journey. I’ve never been a “gym rat”, just a middle age mom with lots of obligations and very little time to myself. The Pilates method has done more to improve the quality of my health and outlook than any medication or surgery ever could.

-Johnnie Fulton