Sue's Sports Starter by Sue_Thearle

Ahh indeed the power of pilates. Yes funsters after talking the talk about the fine art of body manipulation, I finally walked the walk yesterday and took the pilates plunge. I must confess it wasn’t without incident. I was on time for the class, which makes a pleasant change. However I spent so much time faffing about trying to round up all the equipment that everyone else had – mat, weights, bands, rolly thing, that I was stepping over people as the class got underway...... honestly I’d annoyed myself by that stage, never mind anyone else. So a top handy hint when trying something new like that, get there a tad early.

However I threw myself to the floor commando style and cracked on with the class. So what is it all about? Well it's about controlling the muscles, by strengthening your core. Around 11 million people worldwide think it's top notch and that number is now 11 million and one. There was a lot of deep breathing, or deep sighing from yours truly, who was still faintly irritated by the pre-class tooshing, but after around 10 minutes, I finally relaxed into it. I can really understand the benefits of stretching and pushing your body in what seems to me a perfectly reasonable way, in combination with the right breathing. The other thing about it that I really like is the fact that I feel like I’ve had a workout, even when I’ve been lying down for large parts of it. That is my kind of fitness class.

Now don’t get me wrong, it is hard work. You can feel the pull on your muscles, but it is also hugely enjoyable. There were exercises for all parts of the body, which involved low level weights and a peculiar polystyrene roll that you have to balance on. Naturally I fell off mine. But I persevered and apart from constantly having to be told to relax my shoulder blades, I felt like I got the hang of it even though it was an intermediate class (yes get me). I did feel tired when I came out and stuff ached....quite a lot. But I had a fantastic night’s sleep and woke up this morning almost perky.....the key word in that sentence was almost..... But I think I will go back again, I really do.

And the weirdest thing was my body actually looked more toned afterwards. You could almost see the definition I would have if I did it more often and didn’t like cake and beer....So yes pilates and I are new best friends, a little like Nick and Dave..... a few days ago no-one would have put us together... but now it’s all changed... Right once again I am off to the gym. I have done two runs this week. One on the road (3 miles) and one interval session in the gym (4.5 miles). Edinburgh now looms very large indeed..... Have fun and a great weekend and if you can, please bung me a few quid for Help the Hospices. Thank you my friends. 

www.justgiving.com/Sue-Thearle