No one has ever needed to talk me into doing exercise. I spent my childhood running around outside playing all sorts of ball games with the local children. I did ballet from the age of three and had to go to class in my party dress as there wasn’t a leotard small enough to fit me. And then there was swimming and tennis. As an adult, I added jogging to my exercise routine as well as yoga.
Somewhere along the line, I also became a dedicated gym bunny. Up until the day we went into lockdown, I was at the gym five days a week. Since then, I’ve fallen into the pattern of working out at home and have bought myself a set of weights. I genuinely love exercise and am a firm believer that it’s one of the best things you can do to age well and feel your best. And now, for the first time in years, I’ve embarked on a whole new exercise regime. I’ve joined the world of Pilates.
Why now?
Even though, over the years, I knew many people who swore by Pilates, I wasn’t tempted, even when one of my best friends became a Pilates instructor. It sounded similar to yoga and as I regularly did yoga, I thought, ‘Why bother?’
However, in the last few years, my body has begun to change. All that jogging has left me with knees that hurt if I bend them too much. And, as if overnight, I’ve developed aches and pains in various joints. Annoyingly, I now have pain in my wrists, which makes the downward dog in yoga uncomfortable. I felt I needed to re-evaluate my whole exercise regime.
Reevaluating my routine
After speaking to my Pilates-loving friends, it seemed the gentlest choice of exercise, with the added ability to rehabilitate injuries and help strengthen the areas needed to support weak spots in the body. And so, I decided to give it a go. My journey began about three months ago, and I feel very much like a beginner still. It’s been interesting to me that despite having done so many different forms of exercise, it’s taking a while to get my head around Pilates.
© Getty ImagesEngaging small muscles
One thing is for sure – I am now engaging muscles that have never been used before. This has been one of the biggest surprises. According to the instructors, I’m very strong but this is mostly in the bigger bands of muscles. These larger muscles have clearly been taking over from the smaller bands beneath them and have been doing all the work. This means the smaller muscles are grossly underused, and this is a problem, particularly around my knees, where they are needed to give support and stability to the area.
As a result, when I first started my journey, my muscles would start cramping, which has never happened to me while exercising before. This has mostly passed now but what I’ve also learned is that there are a lot of small muscles all over the place. I can’t think of any other kind of exercise that works muscles with such precision. And now I’m obsessed with building these little guys up. It’s a no-brainer that this is crucial if I want to stabilise my knees.
The importance of breath
Breathing in a particular way and the placement of the pelvis, ribs and spine are also key in Pilates. And these positions vary, so it’s a matter of knowing how to align them in any given moment. I have found my private sessions invaluable for this reason. I would urge anyone starting Pilates for the first time to treat themselves to some private sessions. These sessions are tailored to your specific needs, which is helpful if you have injuries like mine.
Group classes are obviously cheaper and are also great. I did a few of these as well, as I was aiming to do three sessions of Pilates a week. They have beginner classes, but even then, I would still advise doing a few private sessions first so that you become familiar with the form and how to align the different parts of the body. I’ve worked with a few different instructors over these months and find it fascinating how I learn something different from each of them.
Medical Pilates
Of particular benefit has been working with a medical Pilates instructor who has been specifically targeting my areas of weakness. He gives me exercises for my legs with microscopic movements, targeting a small muscle group. I can tell you that these tiny little movements are incredibly challenging for me. Which only goes to show how much these exercises are needed.
In my sessions, I’ve been mostly working on a reformer machine, which I love. However, there’s also mat Pilates and many people solely do that. I’ve met people who swear by both types of Pilates. When I posted about my Pilates journey on Instagram, I was blown away by how many people are completely dedicated to Pilates and how popular it is.
And now I’m going to be going on the mat as well. As I embark on a huge nine-month tour of a play, where getting to the studio is going to be near impossible, I’m going to be keeping up my private sessions by Zoom, which means it’s going to be mat work. I’m so relieved that my Pilates journey can continue this way. I feel that my body needs this form of exercise that works all the muscles, big and small. I’m determined to do everything I can to improve my knees and avoid surgery down the line. And I can’t think of any other exercise that will help me achieve that. I now completely understand why Pilates has so many devoted followers.
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