Pilates Shmilates

While I'm in the mood to blog, I felt it might take advantage of this to keep updates rolling.

Today, as you can tell by the heading, was Pilates day.  I always struggle with this one, mainly because of its rarity on the official schedules so, this being that transitional week, I chose it for today.

First off, I've always aced certain ones.  The first ten minutes, while still challenging, never need to be modified.  You go into this one focusing on breathing and get your arms pumping and posturing while you prepare your body for the things to come.  I always found Teaser to be difficult, but great preparation for the V Rocker.  Teaser asks you to pull your legs in and keep your head up, then on one long exhale you push your arms and legs out at a 45 degree angle and swing them around into a V sit, all in that same breath where you hold it (oh, muscular power!) before rolling back into the starting position.  Sounds simple but doing ten of those properly is where the sweat really starts rolling.  I really feel like I nailed it today where I always fumbled through it.  With V Rocker, you start in plow but spread your feet to keep the V position and grab as high as you can on your leg (ankles if you can) then roll up into the V sit.  I have always loved this one.  I keep my hands loosely on the first roll out and gauge where I can both hold the sit strongly while keeping a firm grip on my leg.  Today, it was ankles all the way.

Saw and Alphabet Soup have always been favorites.  Saw asks you to inhale and exhale specifically in each pose given and it really feels amazing once you get going.  This was where I first realized my ability to roll up without a sticking point.  Alphabet Soup lets you get creative each time, writing out the letters of the alphabet with your feet together, in any 'font' you choose.  I say creative but I mostly stick to the capital letters.  Although 'free mustache rides on Monday nights' might break the tedium.  Maybe 'the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog' might be more appropriate.  In either case, I really feel my lower back eating that one up.

As far as the rest goes, I love all the roll up exercises, but not a big fan of the swimmer series of moves because my arms and back really don't play well there.  Something to work on.  The side plank exercises are where I always have the most trouble and often do those even more modified than the suggested modifiers.  I prefer to keep my hip on the floor here or moving my legs at all is a lost cause.  I can barely keep my leg up on a stationary side plank let alone think about movement.  I still get the benefit of the breathing, the movement, but i don't have to worry about injuring my ankle or wrist with the hold.  The T allows for the modification, so I learned my lesson and stick to that for now.  I always try to lift up but I pay attention to my body's warnings.

The Pretzel used to be a lost cause.  Holding my leg up and pumping it was immediately rejected by my hips but now I can do Tony's sorry excuse for it at least.  It's a good way to end the workout.  I might have trouble with it still, but I always sweat in sheets and my body always feels more limber, my breaths more relaxed after putting myself through the paces.

Of course, you can thank my frequency of blogs to this being a transitional time.  With a set schedule, I am finding this is great for accountability.  Still... I cannot WAIT to get back on schedule.