Inspire

Pilates: Exercise the body and soul

Thursday, 13 Sep 2007

I’d heard it many times before: “Physically, it’s all down hill once you reach your 30s”. In my mid-20s, this prognosis was easy to digest and then forget, but the inevitable decade has arrived and while I’m not a fatalist, I do subscribe to the theory that if you don’t use it, you lose it.

Pilates has been on my exercise to do list for some time. My sister and even my parents swear by it, plus pilates seems to answer my criteria to improve my posture, my flexibility and my tummy tone, after having two children.

So join me on a six-week beginner’s pilates course, conducted by Anna McVann from Physio Clare. Each week I’ll journal my experience of the class and the aftermath and perhaps inspire you to try it out too.

What is pilates?

Pilates is an exercise system designed to strengthen your body through working the core muscles in your abdominal (stomach) area, pelvis and back. By achieving a strong centre or “powerhouse”, you can work wonders on your flexibility and balance, as well as posture and general body alignment. As breathing is a focus, pilates also acts as a stress reliever.

Pilates was developed by Joseph Pilates in the 1940s for the rehabilitation of soldiers in the Second World War and later taken up by injured dancers. In the past decade, pilates has become hugely popular for people looking for a holistic approach to exercise – an activity that is good for the body and the mind.

Week One

Pat your head and rub your tummy at the same time and you’ll know how I felt during my first pilates session. As our instructor Anna McVann said: “Your brain will hurt more than your body in the first few weeks.” It was a relief to hear this as I struggled to breath, pull up my pelvic floor, hollow my abdominals, alternate lifting my legs….oh, and relax at the same time.

Luckily there are only a few basic concepts to get your head around, so I can see that with time and practice, they will become second nature. One of these is breathing and before you laugh, let me tell you that breathing pilates-style is more than inhaling and exhaling air. Anna calls it ‘breathing in three dimensions’, so that as you breath in you focus on widening your ribs, expanding your back into the mat and gently expanding your abdomen. Just doing this took up most of my concentration.

But it wasn’t long before Anna added the next trick, which is to draw up your pelvic floor muscles and slightly contract your transversus abdominus (TA) muscles. If you’ve ever tried pilates or even simply read about it, you’ll have heard of these muscles which, when activated help to strengthen your “powerhouse” – the collective muscles of your abdominal, buttocks and lower back areas. The tricky part is to hold this - just slightly - while you go on breathing and moving other parts of your body.

Anna took our group, of six ladies, through a series of low-level pilates exercises, most of which were performed on a mat. We are starting slowly and will work our way to the classic “hundreds” exercise in about week five or six. While it is the first exercise on many pilates DVDs, Anna says doing this from scratch would send many to the physio for treatment.

I didn’t work up a sweat, although my brow was constantly creased as the cogs clunked around in my brain. I think it was starting to come together towards the end of the class and my challenge now is to do a little practise during the week, so that I’m not back at square one for the second session.

Stay tuned for Sarah's next Pilates class entry.