Posts By: reformedpilate

Now straight away from the title, if this sounds like you, welcome to our family! I recently told someone to “exhale” before opening a heavy sliding door. Similarly, our lovely director was caught in the young hours of the morning pumping her hundred arms mid-slumber. An addiction is not healthy but hey, at least it’s something like fitness!

Here are 5 signs you are well and truly a Pilates addict – call for help NOW!

1. You ignore the DOMS! Delayed onset muscle soreness is that day after or two-day after pain in your muscles. The bitch that makes healthy people walk like they’ve spent the whole of last week horse-riding. If this reflexive soreness is reflexively ignored by you and you whip out your device to book another class you’ve hit step 1, congrats.
2. You see your machine more than your own family. If the phrases “3 red, 1 blue, straps on, hands and knees” make you engage your core honey, you’re either re-enacting “50 shades of Grey” or your Pilates reformer is your trusty best friend.
3. The postman knows you do pilates. Now, whether he has been noticing the difference or you’ve been telling everyone including him, Pilates may have just become your religion. And if your friend Denise has denied your offer to join the studio for the third time, let her go, we appreciate it and we are flattered. She’s offended.
4. You know the detailed inner workings of the instructor’s lives. You remember who we were dating three months ago (we don’t even remember who it was last week!!), kids birthdays, our issues with home internet – the list is endless. Let’s be honest, some classes are more of a workout for our mouths than our bodies.
5. You didn’t even need to read this blog entry to know that this rosé fuelled word vomit was going to be a commentary on your life. But, the plus side of this is that we are so happy to have you in our Pilates family. Great clients who love this exercise method as much as we do make us feel a little less like we are Pilates ‘crazies’. Personally, I’ve made some amazing life-long friends from what was just supposed to be weekend money to put me through uni. Our lives are richer for the people and our bodies and minds are richer from what we share in these walls.

but seriously, that day-after pain is enough to make anyone reach for the bottle. But on an honest note to end, in a rapidly spinning world full of scary people and speeding figures, it’s easy to get swept up in something that starts to take over your life. If you’re needing help please never hesitate to reach out to someone around you. Even your instructor may know more than you think.

Said rosé drinker: Isaac Campbell.

I have a burning sensation in my bum, is that normal?

I sometimes think that people are dazzled so much by the world of pilates (and rightly so…there are a few of us that are quite questionable in appearance.)

I’m a firm believer in the rule: “the more you know the richer your practice becomes.” So yes Susan, that burning sensation in your arse is normal. People will attend my class and then say that they have heard things or tried repertoire they have never done before, even after attending for 3+ years!

So what makes a good pilates class?

Here I discuss the group pilates situation because if you’re doing privates and you’re not progressing, you need to address that problem with your instructor or kick them to the curb and get yourself a new one.

A well rounded and challenging group pilates program should have equal parts of strength, stretch and body awareness. Now, these elements come in different forms. For example, just because you aren’t sitting in a stretch doesn’t mean that those muscles aren’t being lengthened. We, your clever pilates instructors, use our programming skills to kill two birds with one stone, and we do this on multiple occasions. Did I mentioned we were clever? We can use one exercise to strengthen a particular muscle group while using the next exercise to lengthen the focus muscle group from the previous (oooo clever…again). The class should also educate you about how the muscles work and what the muscle groups are responsible for. Abdominals for core strength and lumbar support, rotator cuff for strong shoulders and injury prevention etc etc. Now in the program obviously, you should work your abdominals but alongside that you should feel all of your postural muscles work, have a hip and knee stability series, scapula and shoulder set and it doesn’t hurt to get strong arms and legs in that mix too. At the end of the class you should feel an obvious muscular fatigue, maybe sweaty, taller and your perfect ideal alignment should feel easier to achieve.

On the flip side of all that, don’t think your instructor is failing because you didn’t look like a kale-fuelled Bondi beach super model after 3 months (that ain’t normal!) But if you are feeling lost, ask for guidance and your teacher should be more than happy to assist.

This pilates word vomit by the clever (any opportunity to remind you!): Isaac Campbell.

As humans develop and workplaces place more demand on rigid forms of posture, we’ve see an increase interest in the world of Pilates.

Being a methodology focused to re-educate the body, Pilates became the Church for the western world from about the year 2000 onwards. Society saw a wave of ignorance broken, opening the curtains to find out, no… Pilates isn’t just laying on your back squeezing imaginary muscles, hyperventilating and jiggling bits that make your mother-in-law look at you like you’ll be in an early grave!!

Those questionable saddlebags aside (no matter how rapidly they seemed to appear,) Pilates washed its holy water over our postural compensations and muscular imbalances.  And we found out… this stuff is goooood.

So what does Pilates do for me, and how can this be relevant for my body? Well, the method affects everyone differently. The foundations aim to strengthen muscles that are weak, lengthen muscles that are too short and mobilise joints that don’t move as well as they should.  Let’s work with an example; if you have short hip flexor muscles, you will benefit from repertoire that exercises the abdominals and the hip extensor muscles (Gluteus Maximus and Hamstrings).  Throw in some hip stretches, and you’ve hit the nail right on the head.  You can read more into this tit-for-tat between muscle groups by Googling: Antagonistic muscles.

In a group situation, the program is based around the 5 most common postures types that we, as instructors see. Aiming to offer a general workout, with equal emphasis on strength, stretch and body awareness.  If you’re unsure if the group environment is tailored enough for you, or if you’re in need of a more personalised program, contact the studio for a 1 on 1 session.

So if you’re sick of power walking by the river clutching fluorescent mini dumbbells, waddle “Kath’n’Kel” style into our doors and let heaven shine down from above. The studio is the church, the teachers are disciples, the bible is Pilates and God is still Meryl Streep.  Sorry not sorry Jo Jo.

“On the eighth day, God created Pilates and she said: KEEP BREATHING AND SUCK IT IN! Amen.” – My lower back tattoo