Why Pilates Keeps You Doing More of What You Love

Fitness can be fun!

Let's say you love to run, play pickleball, go dancing and play golf. If one of those activities is a main form of exercise and socializing, that's amazing! You're an inspiration, because many people dread exercise and wonder if they will ever think it's fun.

Fun is AMAZING. I took 3-5 hours a week of Broadway jazz classes and ballet for three years, and it was my main way to exercise.

Until the pain started. When our aches, pains, or injuries slow us down or keep us from doing what we love, then we want to find the thing that allows us to keep us doing the OTHER thing.

That's why strength training and mind/body exercise like Pilates and yoga complement our investment in our fitness.

British journalist @phildaoust (in this photo below left) writes about health, fitness and all of its promises and perils with humor and candor for The Guardian in column inspired by his own journey from pub crawls in his 40s to bear crawls and calisthenics at 61.

He interviewed many inspiring people and trainers for his Feb 9 column, “Fun for ever!” and I am honored to be one of them. Phil widens the metaphorical umbrella for "sports and recreation" to encourage exercise for fun: rock climbing, pole dancing, Broadway dance, and flag football, as well as more familiar workouts like cycling, calisthenics, running, strength training.

When is our fun a risk for our fitness? When it's the ONLY way we exercise.

Which is what I shared with him in our email interview, because it was my over-exercising in the dance studio that led me to Pilates.

For my Pilates friends, what does Pilates help you pursue?

And if you are managing nuisance aches and pains from doing an activity you love, doing Pilates helps.

Here are three reasons that mind/body bodyweight exercise like mat Pilates (and resistance-based Pilates) help prevent injuries from doing the "fun things" we love:

1. Improved body awareness (our proprioception and interoception): Pilates exercises promote focus and control, so we become more aware of our paths of motion, not just the beginning and end.

2. Promotes symmetry: Swinging a golf club, paddle or racket one way will load your core the same way every time. When we use the Pilates Method, we intentionally alternate how we flex, extend, and twist from our center. Because of #1, we begin to notice how our sides are different and work to feel more symmetrical.

3. Controlled movement through multiple planes: A set of Pilates exercises have "logic" in them. We work on our core from different positions: standing, seated, on our backs, on our sides, on our stomachs, kneeling, rolling, and planking.

Curious about Pilates? Beginners start every month. I love teaching beginners, so reach out anytime.