Mat Pilates ATX Sponsoring Bowie High School Marching Band and their Families
- Laura Bond Williams
- Sep 22
- 6 min read
Updated: Oct 7
James Bowie HS (Austin, Texas) marching band and colorguard families get five free group classes this fall.
For more information including how to sign up, complete this short form.
On Zoom: Live Virtual Class Schedule
Mondays at 6:15 a.m. - Mat & More Strength Class
Tuesdays at 7:30 a.m. - Mat Pilates Class
Wednesdays at 6:15 a.m. - Mat & More Strength Class
Wednesdays at 5:30 p.m. - BANDtober 30 minute Workout --> See our free Pilates for Pit Crew video on YouTube
Thursdays at 7:30 a.m. - Mat Pilates Class
Friday at 9:45 a.m. - Mat & More Strength Class
Circle C Community Center: In-Person Mat Pilates Group Class
Tue and Thur at 7:30 a.m. (55 min) @ Circle C Community Center, 7817 LaCrosse Ave, 78739
Dear Marching Band and Colorguard Families -- and those who love them:
Welcome to my love letter to performing arts programs in public schools – dedicated to students and their families, and faculty, staff, and communities that support them.
This year I’m a proud sponsor of James Bowie High School Band and Guard -- AKA James Bowie High School Outdoor Performing Ensemble JBHSOPE -- to ensure its programs are accessible to all students who want to be a “band (or guard) kid.” I want to share why this program and what it offers is important to me.
I became a high school “band parent” in 2017 for three years. I remember an exhausting but exhilarating Saturday near Houston in October 2018. At 4:30 a.m. that day, I boarded a bus full of high school kids and their teachers and chaperoned a marching band competition. I logged 24,000 steps and got home well after midnight.
Being a band parent has logistical, physical, financial, and relationship challenges and opportunities. Because I teach Pilates, I want to talk about the physical demands and why you want to take care of your body during a busy marching band season. And you may enjoy doing that together.
When my kids joined marching band, I joined a community of people who are invested in public schools and their fine and performing arts programs. We learned from each other – and fast. For example, I quickly learned that if you respond to calls for volunteers like “we need help with props and costumes,” you do quirky, crafty things like spray paint umbrellas, sew sequins on bowler hats, iron canvas and vinyl drops, or paint polka dots on unitards. I learned that chaperoning might include sprinting to retrieve a rescue inhaler or running errands for felt-tipped highlighter pens. All duties as assigned.
Our family enjoyed our years with two kids in marching band and winterguard, and we did a lot: drive band camp carpools; volunteer in the pit crew to push and pull drum major stands, marimbas and synth carts on and off football fields; load box trucks with ramps, stages and floors as prop crew; serve meals before games or during competitions; chaperone football games, band, and winterguard competitions – including one in Beijing, China. And fundraising, of course.
Our band family stint ended in March 2020. Many memories and friendships remain. I also learned that:
#1 It takes a healthy, generous and enterprising village of families and professionals to produce marching band and winterguard shows. High school orchestras, concert band, marching arts, and theatre and dance programs look like community theatres: leaders lead, and working artists, designers, composers, musicians, and choreographers teach and coach others to perform thrilling shows filled with live music, sometimes singing, visual art, dance, and storytelling.
#2 Our public schools' fine and performing programs benefit from – and need – parent volunteer support. (p.s. and sponsors)
#3 All of our volunteer activities use fundamental movement patterns that our bodies are designed for: push, pull, carry, and lift, and also squat, hinge, and rotate.
As you know, there's a lot of sweating in Texas band life, whether you're cheering your kids in the stands, sweating it out in fruit stands, concessions, serving dinner, or walking parking lots or football fields.
Plus, whether you’re at a game or competition, there’s lots of walking and “novel movement,” e.g., kneeling to plug in a speaker, pulling cables, taking photos, or dragging flag bags out of the cargo hold on a bus. (ask me how I know…)
And Pilates offers great exercises for both warmup and conditioning because we move through all planes of motion.
Fundamental Movements for Marching Band Volunteers
Fundamental Movements: Pushing & Pulling
And, under time constraints! Pit crew parents are moving marimbas, cymbal racks, miscellaneous percussion gear, drum major stands, synthesizer carts, audio equipment, stages, ramps, houses on wheels, furniture on wheels, tarps, speakers and things I can only describe as metal yard art or giant balloons.
Fundamental Movements: Carrying & Lifting
For example, picking up half-gallon or more water jugs, lifting and carrying dozens of boxed meals and snacks, cases of water, bags of ice; pulling or carrying coolers, first aid kits and more.
Fundamental Movement: Hinge and Squat
Before you lift and carry, you probably hinge or squat! Learning to lift with your legs, stabilize your spine and avoid twisting under load helps to prevent muscle spasms or injuries.
Plus: Speed Walking: If you’re in a marching band pit crew, you know it takes hustle – gotta be fast getting on and off the field at halftime and during competitions. Maybe you’re chaperoning – walking around parking lots looking for your bus driver, climbing stadium stairs, and walking with kids as they warmup. There’s a lot of walking in a marching band season!
Mat Pilates Warmup and Conditioning for Marching Band Pit Crew, Prop Crew and Busy Parents
A good warmup includes:
Moving our head, neck and shoulders: Shrugging and rolling your shoulders, gliding and sliding your shoulder blades on your back, making arm circles – these small exercises focus on improving shoulder mobility and reducing neck tension. Skills include moving your shoulder blades easily on your back; lifting your arms overhead and to the side; and becoming more aware of holding too much tension. We’ll do some popular Pilates reformer exercises called “hug a tree” and “hug a moon,” plus the Pilates hundred, tin soldier, swimming, and “draw a sword.”
Then doing simple exercises to warm up your back and deep core muscles: All that lifting, pulling, pushing and carrying means stabilizing your spine in a neutral position, especially with heavy or bulky objects. Our Pilates warmup includes good morning hip hinges, a standing roll down and rollup, marching and simple spine twists
Then we work on warmup exercises for hips, legs and feet: Suitcase squats, sumo squats, curtsy squats, straight leg heel raises, and Pilates "running" are a few ways we'll get moving.
This simple warmup takes less than 15 minutes, connects mind and body, improves balance, control and range of motion.
I'll teach this and more mat Pilates exercises in brisk, 30-minute BANDtober workouts on Zoom, Wednesdays at 5:30 p.m. CT.
FREE! James Bowie HS (Austin, Texas) marching band and colorguard families get five free group classes this fall Monday - Friday. For more information including how to sign up, complete this short form.
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