Yo-ho, yo-ho, a Pilates life for me.

Recently I’ve had the opportunity to enjoy HMAC not just as an employee, but as a student as well.  My wife and I have been attending the lunch-time Pilates classes that studio is offering and we have really been enjoying it. 

Over the last year or so, we’ve have made a few attempts at starting exercise regiments.  They have not been successful.  We figured out that we are much more likely to stick with it if it is something that we can do together, but it’s been difficult find something that works for both of us.  Another issue we have is timing.  We’ve tried to do it first thing in the morning, but we aren’t motivated enough.  Evenings are tough too.  Once we get home, eat, and change into exercise clothes we don’t have much time left.  When the option of lunch-time Pilates popped up we jumped on it.  Hilary has done yoga for years, so she was familiar with some of the principles behind Pilates, though as a whole it is very different.  I was going in as a complete beginner.

I’ve tried a few DVD workouts before to varying degrees of success, and was surprised what a difference it made having an actual instructor to work with. Several times now I’ve had the experience where I’ll be working on a set and thinking I am doing it right.  Then Sarah will give me a few pointers.   I’ll make the corrections and realize that not only was I missing an important element to the exercise, but I wasn’t getting any kind of work out doing it incorrectly.  It’s amazing the difference it makes when you start doing the exercises the right way.  Even small things like breathing right or arching your feet can make a big difference.  It’s pretty clear that part of the reason I haven’t had much luck with DVDs is that I have no way of knowing if I’m actually doing right.  I’m most likely missing the finer points that can make all of the difference in any given exercise.

Hilary and I talked about trying to do some sort of lunch time exercise program before, but didn’t think we could swing it due to the time restraints.  Pilates works well for us because, while it is a thorough workout, it doesn’t leave us all sweaty and gross the rest of the work day.  Actually, I find on days when we do Pilates that I feel more energetic and upbeat.  After class I usually become aware of muscles that I never knew existed before.  I can also feel progress being made in my abs, thighs and shoulders.  Another nice perk to doing Pilates is that since it is mat based we are usually not in a position to see each other.  Meaning that even though I’m in a class with other students they can’t see me looking stupid trying to get it right!  (And make no mistake; I do look stupid doing it.)  We are definitely going to stick with it.  It is something we can do together; the lunch hour is the perfect time for us to (there are other class times as well) and little by little we are making progress.