When friends suggested I begin Pilates to make me stronger for my impending spine surgery, it was with the attitude of "why not try" that I decided to look for a Pilates instructor. My luck in finding one could not have been better. Another friend suggested I see Melissa Francis, the owner of Intelligent Exercise. Not only did Melissa see me, her engineering and dance background combined with her extensive Pilates training and experience allowed her to completely understand my lumbar spine problem. Before I started seeing her, I was taking serious pain medication and still was unable to stand up straight or to swing a golf club. While I didn't want repeat surgery--having undergone an operation 3 years earlier for the same problem--there seemed to be no other option to try and return to a normal life. Several 2nd opinions yielded the same choices: "Live with the pain or have surgery."
Melissa began working on lengthening my spine. After 5-6 sessions over a 2-3 week period, I went to have a pre-surgery visit with my physical medicine physician. After examining me, he said that I was developing more prominent spine muscles and that since there wasn't an emergency with regard to having surgery right then, just keep on with Pilates and see what happened after another several weeks. To cut to the chase, I canceled the surgery and I've been seeing Melissa for the past 4 years. The pain medicine is long gone--I weaned myself off of it beginning 3 months after I started seeing her--my posture is normal, and I'm able to play golf as much as I desire. In other words, Melissa's expertise, her absolutely delightful demeanor and her steady encouragement have brought me back to a normal physical life without a second spine surgery. It would be hard to conceive of a better endorsement of Melissa and her team.
I don't like to ever miss a session, so when Melissa takes vacation, I've been trained by other Intelligent Exercise instructors and have found them all to be excellent. The studio has parking right in front. Inside, the space is airy and inviting with the most advanced Pilates equipment. I recommend it with the greatest enthusiasm. Paul L. read more