Puh-Lah-Teez - Constructive Contradictions

by Heather Long | More from this Blogger

22 Jan 2007 12:47 PM

Everything about Pilates is a contradiction and yet, it's not. It's a difficult and often times troubling workout that really kicks you in the pants. It looks hard and at the same time, it doesn't. For years, I used to dance and I loved dancing - everything from ballet to jazz to modern and more. I still love to dance, but I don't train for it professionally. Have you ever watched a group of dancers and wondered how what they did could really be so hard? It doesn't necessarily look hard - until it does.

The same description can be applied to Pilates (and remember it's pronounced Puh-Lah-Teez and pilots). It doesn't look like a grueling workout - right up until you try it out unprepared. I'm pretty sure that I've told this story before, but for those of you just joining us here at the fitness blog, let me tell you about my first real experience with Pilates.

My First Time

I decided to try out Pilates after I found out that I really liked yoga. I'd heard it was a good workout and that it was a favorite for dancers and former dancers and I'm always enticed by descriptions like that. I tried to do the first two moves in the pilates class and I thought I'd pulled something in my back. By the end of the first half hour, I was soaked in sweat and convinced I must be the most uncoordinated git ever to be born. It was impossible to perform this workout and when the class achieved it's end at 60 minutes, I was done.

I threw in the towel, literally and figuratively. I wasn't going to abuse myself in this ridiculous fitness form again. I went back to my yoga classes and stayed there. At least, as hard as they could be, I didn't feel wrung out like a wet noodle when I was finished.

That Was Then

But, as they say, that was then and this is now. I know a great deal more about my own fitness styles and my level of fitness at that point in time. The class I was in wasn't specifically designed for beginners and it's supposed to be hard, it's a workout that's engaged hard in using your core and while it may seem patently impossible to do - don't give up - don't throw in the towel the way I did.

It can take a few weeks and I do mean a few weeks to feel like you are getting the hang of it, but as I tell my daughter regularly, practice makes perfect. Pilates, like yoga, can transform the way you think and perform your fitness routines. It can also - no matter your size and I mean this, because I know that photographs of people performing pilates are always taken of the lithe and the slender, but no matter what your body size is - pilates can transform how you think about yourself and often for the far more positive.

If you've ever wondered was pilates a good fit for you then today is your day - check it out and if that first session seems impossible, take heart and don't be discouraged - go for a few more and practice - you may just discover a whole new side to yourself. So - do you pilates?

Related Articles:

Pilates - Firm Up

Group Fitness Classes Are Great Options

Pilates - What Do You Need to Know

Learn more about Heather Long

Heather Long is 35 years old and currently lives in Wylie, Texas. She has been a freelance writer for six years. Her husband and she met while working together at America Online over ten years ago.

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