Mommy on a Mission - Pilates - Week One
September 10, 2012
Posted By: Shaunescy
Over the summer I ran. I literally ran my butt off. And I loved it. It was hard and new to me and I dropped some nagging pounds because that is just what getting your heart rate up does for you. The other thing it did for me was get me moving. I have always been pretty fit but I have never seen myself as an exercise enthusiast. It just didn't seem like it was my culture. I was a gawky and gangly teenager. But I am not a teenager anymore.
Running was a great place to start. It's effective. It's cheap and it's something you don't have to do in front of other people. Plus once you've been at it for a while you don't really give a hoot about who sees you huffing and puffing down the trail. Yay, for gaining some confidence.
I realized that I simply had to remove some of the things that were barriers to my getting more fit. Like being a little lazy and just feeling nervous. Over the next 12 months, I am going to be a guinea pig for any kind of workout or fitness trend I can try out. This month, I am doing Pilates with Functional Form .
Functional Form (or F2 Pilates) is Jan Bradley, Meg La Londe and Teasha Hutcheson. I found them through friends who were encouraging me on this crazy fitness journey. I believe the direct quote was, "Oh yeah! You have to do Pilates. Meg will kick your ass!" Who could say no to that?
And I really didn't know anything about Pilates at all. It's kinda dance and stretching with a table-machine-thingy, right? I thought to myself, "I have Yoga attire . . . I'll sign right on up!"
As my lesson approached, I did a little research and realized that this is a very serious form of conditioning with a long history. It has a lot to do with experiencing your body in motion, actively experiencing how to engage your core strength while moving.
Joseph Pilates - on The Reformer
So far I've had my first one-on-one session and I can say, that yep . . . Meg kicked my ass. I stretched places in my body that I had no idea could be stretched. My obliques were sore for 2 days. I learned what my obliques were. I learned that I really want them to be strong.
I think I am a full 3 inches taller, mainly because slouching is ouchy after you've spent an hour on The Reformer.
I'll leave you with a little story. I had to interview a friend just before heading to my session and we were chatting about where we were off to next. She asked, "OOH, are you having a private session, where they'll put you on that machine . . . what's it called? It looks like a torture device. . . Got it! The Reformer!"
Ha. Well, it was not torture. It was awesome. I fully worked out and am totally impressed. Next session is Wednesday. I'll let you know how it goes.
All my best ~ Bunnyfufu
