My Personal Pilates Journey (As a Beginner)

Before co-founding Pilates Anytime, I had never done Pilates. I have taken a few beginner mat classes in person and done more at home in front of the computer, but I decided I really needed more one-on-one attention to properly understand and appreciate Pilates.

So, I signed up for a series of 12 private sessions with a local instructor here in Los Angeles. Today I had my 2nd session, and it was the first full body workout. All my time today was spent on either the Cadallic or reformer.

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I am enjoying it very much so far. I find that in stretching my legs, where I have very limited flexibility, using the ropes on the reformer for support is really helpful, especially to get at the hamstrings. I am not capable of doing something as basic as lying on my back with my legs straight in the air.

The other thing that's impressed me in the early going is that no matter what muscles you are targeting, you are always ALSO targeting your abs. You may be working your legs or your triceps, but you're also working your abs. This is very different than the traditional weight training I've been doing for years.

Anyway, I'll post updates here about my early experiences. My goal is to do one private equipment class and one group mat class per week.

Back for another post after a while. I have now finished 5 of the 12 private sessions I signed up for.

My instructor has taken off the kid gloves by now and is giving me one heck of a full body workout. Because these were my weak areas to start with, I have really been feeling it in my abs and back. I had a lesson yesterday and then did power yoga this morning and now I am completely sore from head to toe.

Any guys out there who don't think Pilates can deliver a tough workout for everything from legs to arms and in between, just try it. You can ratchet the resistance up pretty high.

One more thing... my main sport is beach volleyball. One thing my instructor is having me do is jumping on the reformer. That is a great workout for me, doing a sport that is so centered on jumping. Didn't realize you could even do jumping on the reformer until she showed me!

This is great Ted! I was so happy to hear you had made the commitment to Pilates like so many of our students on Pilates Anytime have. It's really fun to read your experience... Keep it up!