Learning to fly? (Pilates)

Member Name: missbrowneyedgirl

Product:	Pilates
Date:	11/10/01 (962 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: feel great, improve your posture, no sweating

Disadvantages: you may end up at the front...;)

OK, Pilates (as in 'pill-art-ease' as oppose to 'pilots') has nothing to do with flying, except for its unfortunately similar incorrect pronunciation. Pilates is actually a form of exercise for the body, mind and spirit. Kind of similar to Yoga if you will.

Pilates was developed in the 1920s by one Joseph H. Pilates, with its intention being to improve the inner strength of the body without 'bulking up'. And what is more, they have started offering Pilates classes at my gym. In the name of DooYoo, if not for my Ibiza-grown beer belly, I needed to try it out!

The class was quite large (around 20 people) and missblondehairedinstructor (I wasn't close enough to the front to see her eye colour!), Vicky, didn't seem overly happy about it. Apparently, classes should be smaller to allow more individual attention. Being a newcomer, I was fairly pleased that there were too many people. That way I could hide away at the back of the class unnoticed. Or, so I thought!

Vicky soon cheered up and asked us to remove our shoes and socks. Suddenly panic ensued! Some of the class were clearly mortified at the thought of exposing their feet to the outside world. I was vaguely aware that my toenails may need painting, and much more aware after some of the close-inspection positions I got into later!) but otherwise I was happy to display my toes. Others however, were not so carefree and tried various tricks to keep their socks on.

<rant> Let me just set this straight for everyone. All feet are ugly. Not just yours, but everyone's. Some are slightly more attractive than others I admit, but essentially they are all horrible. There may be the odd one or two people with attractive feet, for instance Sandy Shaw's must have been something special for her to show them off so much, but I wouldn't worry about them as they wont be in your gym class. Now get you feet out and forget about them... Life is too short! &
lt;/rant>

Vicky pleaded that everyone remove their socks and shoes, and decided to explain why. Firstly there is the safety issue, which relates specifically to socks as far as I can see. You see if you are going to be stretching into Pilates positions on a polished wooden floor (some of the stretches are bigger than your mat!), your socks really aren't going to offer much grip. Slip, bump, ouch!

Next, and relating specifically to shoes, was constraining the muscles in feet. You see your shoes, or trainers, actually restrict movement and stop you from working all of your foot and ankle muscles. In trainers, you can never put your heel fully to the floor, which again is no good for Pilates. Finally, and the one I like the best, is the issue of the power points on your feet. I can't remember exactly what they were called but they need to make contact with the floor in different ways. Vicky not only recommended this for Pilates, but for everyday life. Walking in bare feet is good for you! See, I have learnt something already!

Next Vicky started her music, which was ambient or relaxation in nature, and proceeded to explain the idea of Pilates whilst putting us through a gentle warm-up. Firstly she explained that Pilates aims to strengthen the trunk of body. 'Muscles you never knew you had' apparently! It also helps your posture and makes you feel taller from all that stretching! She didn't really explain much about the mind and spirit side of the method, although I felt a lot more relaxed and de-stressed after my class if that counts.

Next we got down to the actual exercises. Vicky pointed out that we shouldn't worry about how far (or not far) the rest of the class can go. As a race, we are not all as flexible as each other, so she said to just go as far as we felt comfortable. She also said not to worry about pace as it isn't aerobics, and therefore it isn't imperative that the class all move together.
I like this already! As I may have mentioned, Pilates consists mainly of stretches, through every part of your body from head to toes! Some stretches are repeated in an aerobics-type style whereas some positions are simple held, like Yoga.

The primary difference that I could see is that there are lots of things to remember. First you need to 'connect with your abdominals' during each exercise. To do this you simply tense your abdominal muscles as tight as you can, then let it go to about 50%. This is the 'connected' state that you use. You also need to remember to breathe, which may sound daft but believe me, when you are thinking about holding positions as well as your stomach muscles, it can get overlooked! At some points we were told to breathe normally, whereas other exercises require you to inhale and exhale in co-ordination with your movements.

The next thing I notice was that this hurts! I had this pre-conception that it would be an easy hour of laying around on the floor, but don't you believe it! the repeating and holding of exercises does make you muscles ache, which I suppose is the point of exercise...;) Also, to really dig the knife in, Vicky moved the way we were facing in a clockwise direction so as, you've guessed it, I ended up right at the front of the class for about ten minutes! Aaaarrrgggh!...;)

Overall I really enjoyed Pilates, despite it not being quite what I expected. I ache a little today, which is a good thing, and I may be imagining it but I think I have detected a slight improvement in my posture! Even if not, it certainly made me feel good, so it was an hour well spent in that respect. I will definitely be going again, so I will keep you all up to date with my progress.

I would recommend that you try Pilates if you can. It didn't cost me anything as it is part of the package at my gym. However, you can pay about £3 per class if you are not a member. It is not suitable for
people with back problems and other conditions, so do check with the instructor if you feel you may not be able to participate.

Summary: