Pilates is a system of stretching and strengthening, from the core of the body. It can be a sequence of exercises performed on a mat or on what looks (and sometimes feels!) like a torture machine called a reformer, with ropes, pulleys and springs, using the weight of the body as resistance. It is the mastermind of Joseph Pilates who was a fitness coach and designed his fitness regime as a sickly child and developed it further rehabilitating soldiers, whilst interned on the Isle of Wight in the first world war. Many of the soldiers were nonambulatory and he found that by attaching springs to the bed they could exercise whilst being properly supported.
I have always been interested in Pilates. It is now over nine decades old and still stands out as a tried and tested success and anything that promises a flat stomach will always grab my attention. After seeing Beautcamp Pilates in action on "How to look Good Naked", endorsed by Gok and Brix, I had to give it a try.
I found a bus that goes almost door to door eradicating excuse number one of "too much hassle to get there". Also having to book in advance is another motivating factor. The instructors and staff are really friendly and I'm getting to know a few of the regulars, all united by burning muscles!
Seeing and feeling a difference after two lessons has been enough to keep me motivated and I now go at least two, sometimes three times a week.
It is a whole body workout that lengthens and stretches muscles and I usually come out of a class a sweating jelly with no coordination, my muscles are trembling so much. It is most definatly something I want to incorporate into my lifestyle, not just a passing fad. The spine sequence is particularly gratifying especially when you feel all your synovial fluid clicking in your pelvis. Haven't got a flat stomach yet as I eat far too many sundaes (strictly for research purposes you understand!) and enjoy my curries but I am going to enjoy working on it!
more about beautcamp pilates...
Ice cream sundaes...
Have to be my no.1 most favourite dessert, salted caramel and dark chocolate tart/Sicilian lemon tart is a very close second but an ice cream sundae just wins hands down, for the nostalgia factor...
Eeee I remember when I were a lass and I used to go to Mr Dobb's Pizza Factory in Halifax as a special treat and the Hot Fudge Sundae was the high point of the meal... vanilla ice cream, broken up chocolate cake and smothered in nuts and hot chocolate sauce... with a wafer of course...
Unfortunately I can no longer eat this nectar of my dreams as Mr Dobb has since shut his restaurant. This delight came very close at the Blue Ginger on Saturday night, a little beach shack total holiday vibe restaurant which is infact, situated in Kings Heath, Birmingham... the correct serving receptacle complete with long spoon... but the sauce was cold.
Pizza Express almost hit it with their addition of fudge pieces but again, cold sauce.
I had a grown up version at the beautiful French restaurant, l'Absinthe in Primrose Hill, vanilla ice cream complete with black flecks of vanilla seed, with hot chocolate sauce, made from really good quality chocolate... none of the melted-mars-bar-and-cream stuff (however yummy I think it would offend a French chef!!!)... the search for sundae ambrosia continues...
Chi Running - A Revolutionary Approach to Effortless, Injury-Free Running
Which brings me neatly onto my next obsession...
For a few years I have been running... but wrongly it seems. I am so ridiculous, I was conscious about building big calves but I failed to realise that the body will build muscle according to your genes ie. exactly the way you were meant to be and if one thing pilates has taught me, it is that every musle or limb or joint affects the body as a whole. Everything is connected. So running and directing your weight wrongly in your feet, can start off a chain of painful reactions in the achilles heel ( which incidentally runs under the foot too...) upwards... So after having set off on the wrong foot as it were... haha... I now unconciously run with a terrible technique that has led to an excruciating bottom injury, add the fact that I walk with the weight distributed on the wrong parts of my feet and have very stiff ankles thanks to years of ballet I appear to be pain waiting to happen.
After visiting a physio who pointed out the foot problems and investing in corrective trainers, I had this book recommended to me. It concentrates on all the power coming from your core and relaxing everything else, your arms, shoulders, ankles and knees, which, is helpfully pointed out, are hinges, not shock absorbers.
I believe that when exercising you have to feel and visualise what you want your body to do, and most of the time it will. I imagine the following:
- My core pulled in as if I am wearing a tightly laced corset with my belly button pulled in and up. This is known apparently as your internal zip and to check it is activated, when exhaling pretend you are blowing out a candle.
- breathe in through the nose feeling the ribs expand sideways not outward (also great for singing) and shoulderblades relaxed but smooth against the back, shoulders relaxed and down.
- Pelvic floor pulled up spine feeling relaxed and the discs stretching against the solid core, as if there is a weight on the coxyx, stretching the lower spine and a wire coming out of the top of the back, where the spine meets the head, stretching the upper spine. Head and neck relaxed.
- Lean forward, feel the weight just under the balls of the feet. Feel yourself falling forward. That is, apparently how you are supposed to run.
I am now so obsessed with mastering this technique, its a great motivation... that and a new running playlist to listen to.
Retraining my muscles and using some that feel as if they have barely been used before has been painful but feeling the pain shift about from run to run then disappear has been rewarding not to mention feeling stronger.
Wolford Leo print
how fabulous are these stay-ups... available at net-a-porter.com
