Monday, September 13, 2010

Pilates and Patience

I was taught from my first Master Pilates teacher in 2001 that Pilates is a work in progress ~ how true it is!

Have you ever attended a Pilates class and said afterwards, “I didn’t feel a thing” or “What’s the point?” Most people want the Burn or the Heart Pounding intense workout no matter how they get there. If people don’t get the Burn right away, they quickly move on and never return to take another Pilates class ~ what a shame that is!

What people don’t realize is that Pilates can make your heart spring out of your chest! My clients…they always leave my studio sweaty and elated! The Clue: You have to learn to use the smaller muscles, not only the larger ones!
And that takes time and practice.

If you’re constantly moving from the larger muscle groups, you will feel nothing. We call the larger muscles 'Global' muscles. Everything will seem easy, disconnected, and monotonous. Your musculature will not change, and you will most likely overdevelop those larger muscle groups, possibly leading to an injury or chronic pain.

What I have experienced in my own body is, you must change the movement patterns– Period! That’s what Pilates gives you in the beginning. You have to be patient with this form of exercise until you learn to move efficiently, which means using all the muscle groups. Once you learn the fundamentals and essential movements your body restructures or rewires its patterns, and then you will get that heart pounding like no other feeling. You wait and see! In Pilates we call it an internal shower, and it’s addictive!

No one method does it all but Pilates is a major piece of the fitness puzzle, not the whole puzzle.

Be persistent, open and kind with yourself in the beginning, drop your expectations ~ You will get there, I promise!

Remember: Patience is a Virtue.

Thank you to Dana Fykerud

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