Unbearable back pain leads Klein piano tuner to Pilates

Piano technician Jim Cannon spends much of his time adjusting and repairing instruments around Houston. But you’re just as likely to find the Klein resident at the top of the class at a Pilates studio.

Cannon teaches fitness classes four days a week at two Club Pilates locations. He never would have imagined that his career would turn towards fitness.

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Cannon attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, majoring in trumpet and minoring in electronic music. He moved to Houston in 1982 for his job as a piano tuner.

It was chronic back pain that led Cannon in a new direction. The symptoms started appearing in my 20s.

“It’s gone,” he said.

As the years passed, the symptoms worsened and eventually became unbearable.

Things came to a head over the July 4th weekend, 2016. Cannon’s wife, Andrea, was out of the country for her job.

At that point, he had to use a walker to get around. When he was alone at home, he felt pain radiating from his back to his sciatic nerve.

“It was so excruciating that I couldn’t take another step with my walker,” Cannon said. “I just fell to the floor.”

He called his dog walker, who had the keys, and his adult daughter, Marianna Sokol, who lived nearby.

“No one could move me,” he said. “They called an ambulance.”

At the hospital, a doctor prescribed steroids.

“I took it for a few days and it helped to some extent,” Cannon said. “But I ended up being in bed for two weeks.”

Going to work was not an option. He was unable to move, much less endure the physical labor involved in repairing the piano. “He was thinking about how he was going to retire,” Cannon said.

He was diagnosed with a bulging disc in his lower back, and the inner part of the disc had begun to protrude from the outer wall. Surgery seemed to be his only option, but it was an option Cannon didn’t want to undergo. He had friends who underwent surgery for back pain and are still suffering.

He started looking at his options. The doctor recommended painkillers. He went for a massage. He met with a chiropractor.

Finally, a friend suggested Pilates. This is a mind-body exercise program originally developed to treat illness or injury.

At the time, Club Pilates Klein had just opened in Cannon’s neighborhood. “I went there desperately,” he said.

Instructor Wendy Foster greeted him. “He was having so much pain in his back that he couldn’t even stand up straight. His body position was completely out of whack,” she said.

Foster was initially worried that Cannon’s condition was beyond her control, but she decided she wanted to give it a try. “There are some exercises that are one-size-fits-all. I started with safe movements and gradually started progressing from there,” she said.

Cannon went to private sessions two or three times a week on the Reformer, a bed-like Pilates machine with springs, ropes and pulleys.

“Immediately, I saw visible changes,” Foster said. “His walking improved. He reported less pain and more movement.”

Eventually, Cannon was able to keep up with other gym members and graduated from group lessons.

“It was great to be there and see him succeed,” Foster said. “That was pretty remarkable. He didn’t want surgery. He didn’t want to retire. He could continue to do what he loved and work without feeling pain.”

At first, Cannon couldn’t do a plank. “But Wendy protected me,” he said. “She realized I was serious. She became my personal coach.”

After strengthening his core, Cannon said his back pain eventually subsided.

“I could stand up straight again,” he said. “I went back to tuning the piano. But I fell in love with the whole concept of Pilates.”

So when Foster suggested she consider becoming an instructor, it was a no-brainer.

“She convinced me that I was the right candidate to teach,” Cannon said.

She said his commitment to Pilates gave her a vision of him as a coach. And she thought he might welcome another customer to the gym.

“Most of my customers are women between 20 and 30 years old,” she said. “He’s a man and older.”

Cannon can show Pilates is a good option for all ages and stages, Foster said. It can also be used by people who think they can’t participate in an exercise program due to pain or injury.

“He has such a great story and is such a humane person,” Foster said. “People gravitate towards him. He’s easy to talk to. Once you come in there and meet someone like him, it doesn’t feel as intimidating. It’s much more welcoming.”

Cannon began instructor training in the summer of 2017, passed a classroom test, and then observed and assisted other Pilates teachers. Eventually, he was ready to lead his own sessions. “I’ve been doing it ever since,” he said.

He offers classes at both Club Pilates Klein and Rice Military.

“He’s been teaching for years now,” Foster said. “He’s just a great guy. He’s definitely an inspiration and has a real passion for helping people.

According to Cannon, the fitness program’s founder, Joseph Pilates, actually called the exercise “control.” “He was treating patients coming back from (World War I),” he said. “He was using a hospital bed with pulleys and springs.”

This device became the prototype for the reformer, used to strengthen and stretch the body and restore alignment.

“The way they move and practice is very specific,” Cannon said. “That’s why we do small classes with an instructor to ensure you get the right results. It’s low impact, but intense. And it all specifically strengthens your core.”

He said seeing what Pilates did for him was what made him want to become an instructor. Seeing it help others makes teaching rewarding.

“It’s one of the greatest joys,” he said. “Within weeks people change. They move with grace. They stand tall. They have strength.”

In Cannon’s class, all types of students train together, including a professional athlete and an 84-year-old woman.

“They all have the same goal of strengthening their core and strengthening their bodies,” he said. “I saw how it worked for me. I saw the benefits. It actually works.”