3 Reasons I'm Loving Pilates! P.S....I Used To HATE It!
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If you’ve been around here for a minute, you probably know that I’ve always been a lover of fitness and working out. Since high school, I’ve held a consistent weight training routine in one way or another - from circuit training, to traditional strength, HIIT, and the like. I truly LOVE weight training. I do love it for the physical benefits, but most of all I love it for the mental release I get. It’s my time to zone out, push myself, and build strength from the inside out.
For the longest time I held the belief that if I’m not sweating my tooshy off, with the loudest music, pushing myself to my max, I wasn’t really putting enough effort in.
A few years ago while networking for my holistic health coaching business, I tried out a few different pilates style studios. In certification programs to become a health coach (or a coach of any kind) they say you can only take your clients as far as you’ve gone yourself. Well, I’m a firm believer that “fitness” and a healthy lifestyle looks different on everyone, and different people gravitate toward different methods of fitness. Our bodies thrive off of a combination of strength and cardio, so finding a method for each of these that you love is the goal. Many people preach doing a specific type of workout if you want to achieve a specific type of body, but I don’t believe that going about your fitness lifestyle with that perspective is sustainable, or enjoyable for that matter. So, I wanted to be able to try as many different methods of working out as I could to help my clients!
At that point in my life, high intensity strength is what my body loved and thrived off of. After nearly 10 years of this style, I decided to make a change.
For the past year or so I have been working with a naturopathic hormone doctor (which you can read about here and here) to balance out my hormones and gut after coming off of the pill. Recently, she suggested that I try lowering the intensity of my workouts. I’ll admit, I’ve had this thought in the back of my mind for nearly a year after listening to a myriad of hormone healing podcasts, but never felt confident enough to pull the trigger. I clung to the idea that since is what I’ve done for years, why fix it if it isn’t broken, right? Well, after getting this suggestion from my naturopath, I decided it was time to give a shot!
Guys. I fell in LOVE. And here’s why!
The mind-body connection.
Pilates style workouts require a lot of energy and concentration on lengthening and contracting the muscles you’re working. With very low or no additional weight, it makes it so much easier to actively create a strong mind to muscle connection. Not to mention, the focus on core strength is huge in nearly any move in pilates. My core strength is getting SO much stronger than ever before. I used to love doing weighted ab circuits, but now I feel like my inner core muscles are getting tighter because I’m working them in a way I haven’t been able to reach those deeper muscles before. Friends, don’t get me wrong, I am still getting such a good sweat in despite the lack of weights!
It feels therapeutic.
The combination of elongating your muscles, feeling the stretch, and actively contracting them is such a therapeutic feeling for me. I feel like im working my body in a more loving way. Does that sound totally cheesy? Probably!
I love the feeling of a hard workout, leaving the gym totally wiped. But this feeling is more like my body feels energized and nourished, while still having the mental high of a tough workout. Do you know what I mean? It’s like my high intensity workouts were an escape, and this feels more like tuning in.
The after feeling.
I don't feel completely whooped, but rather ENERGIZED for my day! My workout is just as effective in terms of getting a sweat in and burning some energy, but even more effective in terms of mentality and the way my body feels.
What I’ve been following:
Like I said, I’ve only taken a few classes and I am certainly not trained in this method of exercise. A big part of why I love it so much now is because I’ve found teachers who I align with. A few years ago when I tried some studios, the music was slow, the room was dark, and I felt more like falling asleep. But I’ve found instructors who bring the energy! My current favorites are:
I love Madelaine O’s sculpt workouts, and the sculpt, burn, repeat program. I’ve also been filtering to barre, pilates, sculpt, or yoga sculpt on their on demand classes and choosing from there!
I should mention as well that my workouts are usually about 30-45 long! I also love to do a long walk in the afternoon and listen to a podcast or talk to a friend for about 30 minutes to an hour or so about 3 times per week.
The equipment I use:
I think we all know that my favorite method of motivating myself is my outfit! Below are a few of my favorite outfits, as well as the equipment I’ve been using.
Unfortunately the ankle weights I have been using have been sold out for quite some time now, but honestly I don’t love them. One of my next purchases is going to be the ones I linked here! Trust me, 1-3 pounds is more than enough! (Coming from someone who used to deadlift and squat well over 100 pounds, you can trust me!!).
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