12 July 2011

My First Time with Pilates

Well, today I took the plunge and decided to give Pilates a try. Since I started on my weight loss journey, I have mainly concentrated on strength training and, when I guilted myself enough, cardio. Yep, I am not a major fan of the cardio workout, but at the same time I realize that it is an extremely important part to any fitness plan. I have tried using the Nordic Track and and I became so bored with using it, that for a span of several months, I didn't do any cardio at all.

However, a few months ago, I got the bright idea to actually use my wife's bike and go riding. Yeah, I know, what a concept: actually leaving the house and riding - gasp - outside. I really enjoy riding the bike, but I am always trying to find something different to break-up the monotony. So, with this in mind, I started doing some research and found that Pilates seemed kind of interesting. Pilates is a body conditioning routine that helps to not only build flexibility, but also strength, endurance, and coordination in the legs, abdominals, arms and back1.

I am using the Winsor Pilates system, which incorporates a cardio portion into its workout. I tried it for the first time today and I have to say that by the time I was finished, I was wiped out!! I was only able to get through the first three-quarters of the cardio portion before I couldn't continue.

Needless to say, by the time I was finished, I could have used one of these...


photo of a beer stand in Oregon




1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilates

4 comments:

  1. Good for you for trying Pilates! I suffer through 30-45 minutes on the elliptical. That is one evil machine!

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  2. BeadedTail: 30-45 minutes is great!! I agree, those machines are E-vil! I've found they also like to sit there and taunt you when you decide to skip a day :)

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  3. I am not a fan of cardio either--it's just so boring! At the gym, they have movies running now that I can watch while I am on one of those machines, but I seldom do because the sound is jumbled and hard to listen to. I don't want to spend that much time there either.

    Never tried Pilates. Good luck with that.

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  4. Karen and Gerard: I know exactly what you mean. I've even tried using an iPod for music, but eventually my eyes always wander to the clock to see how much time I have left.
    Riding the bike is a lot more fun, because there is something different to see each time.
    Now, when I did the aerobics portion of the Pilates workout yesterday, I spent so much time trying to learn the routine and keep up (between gasping for breath), that the time just seemed to fly by.
    The actual Pilates workout is more yoga-ish (to try and compare it to something).

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