My week of Pilates didn’t go to plan the way I had intended.
I slacked off. My everyday intention didn’t happen. Instead, I got 3 workouts in.
I have only myself to blame. My first Pilates workout in like forever (blogilates not included here), and I choose Mari Winsor Advanced Workout.
ADVANCED!!! What the hell was I thinking?! No seriously, what was I thinking?
See that smile, that’s a smile of hesitation. You’d think that the word advanced would stop me in my tracks? I mean how hard is advanced? Let me tell you, it’s hard!
The workout goes for 50 minutes. I ended up only doing 41 minutes of the actual workout. There were 9 minutes of this workout where I was seriously going “OMG you want me to do what?!, yeah that’s not going to happen Mari.” Some moves I did have to modify, but I did manage to do most of the DVD. Next time I will not choose this as my 1st Pilates workout to do after not doing it for a while.
My other Pilates workouts were:
NTC – Gabby Douglas Perfect Alignment
It’s 5 movements repeated 3 times.
Mari Winsor Advanced Circle
Yes Yes, I’m fully aware that this says advanced, but it’s not as hard as the other advanced workout. The only problem was that the kids moved my circle, so I had to do the workout without it. This is possible to do but it does work better with the circle.
Mari also gives beginner modifications in this workout too.
So My thoughts overall? Pilates is a fantastic full-body low-impact workout. It really tests your muscle strength and flexibility. Just because you are lying down most of the time doesn’t mean it’s hard work. I found it excellent for alignment. I did not realise my back was out, and let me tell you I have had some back pain, but didn’t realise how out it was until I did these workouts. It’s feeling much better, by the way, thanks for asking.
Doing pilates makes me realise that I really need to incorporate it more into my workout schedule, as it really is a fantastic core strength-building regime. The other thing that reaffirms this is this article I came across on Breaking Muscle. I always knew that core strength was important, I now know that I MUST include it in my workout schedule. So I will alternate from Yoga and Pilates as my ‘recovery/rest’ workout for the week.
If you haven’t tried pilates before please do. Everyone can do it, and all moves can be modified to your ability.
Footnotes
1 – This DVD product is no longer in production.