Coming to Terms with Those Little Muscles
When I started doing pilates last spring, I couldn’t even hold my head up. My stomach was hopeless. I’m sure Chris, my 65-year-old instructor, said to himself, “This one is going to be a challenge.”
Chris preaches pilates like it is a religion. He is this shy Austrian man, who came to pilates because he had had two serious back surgeries and was in terrible shape. Over a 5-year period he mastered virtually every exercise, reclaimed his health, turned his body into one slim muscle, and became a certified pilates instructor, studying in Boulder with some of the pilates greats. Because of his humble beginnings in this popular form of exercise, he could and did offer me encouragement. He teaches out of his home, where he has a complete set of pilates equipment in the lower floor.
From the get-go, rolling like a ball became my forte. It was the one and only thing I could do from the beginning. But the great thing about Chris and about taking pilates privately was that he customized every session to exactly what I needed. He always chose exercises that gave me some level of mastery, constantly offering positive feedback. He continues to work hard on alignment, making sure the effects of my scoliosis are addressed.
The surprising thing was how quickly I started to sense the presence of my stomach muscles, those muscles I had long ago declared dead and ruined by pregnancy and childbirth. About the same time, I started finally to fit in standard sizes instead of seeking out the elasticized waistbands and the pants with front pleats. How very exciting!
Today’s lesson was all about learning to control those subtle muscles – the lats, the triceps, the biceps, the pelvic floor – all muscles that I had previously barely acknowledged. He repeatedly said “Can you feel that?” I’m starting to realize that the power of pilates is being able to control at will every muscle in your body.
I’m a long way from mastering the 500 exercises that Joseph Pilates designed, but my body is a lot stronger than it was 6 months ago and it is improving every week. I can hold my head up for a long time with no problem these days...
Chris preaches pilates like it is a religion. He is this shy Austrian man, who came to pilates because he had had two serious back surgeries and was in terrible shape. Over a 5-year period he mastered virtually every exercise, reclaimed his health, turned his body into one slim muscle, and became a certified pilates instructor, studying in Boulder with some of the pilates greats. Because of his humble beginnings in this popular form of exercise, he could and did offer me encouragement. He teaches out of his home, where he has a complete set of pilates equipment in the lower floor.
From the get-go, rolling like a ball became my forte. It was the one and only thing I could do from the beginning. But the great thing about Chris and about taking pilates privately was that he customized every session to exactly what I needed. He always chose exercises that gave me some level of mastery, constantly offering positive feedback. He continues to work hard on alignment, making sure the effects of my scoliosis are addressed.
The surprising thing was how quickly I started to sense the presence of my stomach muscles, those muscles I had long ago declared dead and ruined by pregnancy and childbirth. About the same time, I started finally to fit in standard sizes instead of seeking out the elasticized waistbands and the pants with front pleats. How very exciting!
Today’s lesson was all about learning to control those subtle muscles – the lats, the triceps, the biceps, the pelvic floor – all muscles that I had previously barely acknowledged. He repeatedly said “Can you feel that?” I’m starting to realize that the power of pilates is being able to control at will every muscle in your body.
I’m a long way from mastering the 500 exercises that Joseph Pilates designed, but my body is a lot stronger than it was 6 months ago and it is improving every week. I can hold my head up for a long time with no problem these days...
posted by Barbara at 7:46 PM
1 Comments:
I just started doing a pilates DVD (because it's free and easy to fit into the day), and my god. My bum and thigh muscles are extremely annoyed with me.
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