Valentine Pilates: Serena & Steve

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This is the fourth post in our Valentine series about couples who practice Pilates together at Rivercity Pilates.  On Friday evening, February 17 at 6:30pm – our monthly “Life Inspired Get Together” will be free Pilates and Yoga session for couples!

A Dialogue on Couples’ Pilates
SS = Serena; SB = Steve

SS: I’m so glad that we are now doing Pilates together. What led you to join me?
SB: I saw how much good it was doing for you, and appreciated the focus on the core. I needed that.

SS: I hope you don’t mind how competitive I am.
SB: You’re not competitive at Pilates, just at other things!

SS: Of course, I can’t compete with your strength, but I’m very pleased that the two of us can do the same exercises and benefit, even though I’m ten years older than you are.
SB: You help me to attend the sessions regularly.

image12SS: Do you agree that Carey is really good at working around whatever special challenges each of might have on a day, such as my impaired hip movement, or whatever.
SB: Or my sore back.

SS: My favorite exercises are scooting along on the reformer, bouncing on the big ball, and improving my sense of balance.
SB: Mine is the Cadillac.

SS: I love how we both feel so good afterwards, and can share these feelings together.
SB: Ditto.

SS: Three words to describe a session? Loving, exercising together.
SB: Working, improving, challenging.

Valentines Pilates: Susan & Mike

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757c68fa-ddf2-4334-88b7-6e5e7410fb71This is the second post in our Valentine series about couples who practice Pilates together at Rivercity Pilates.  On Friday evening, February 17 at 6:30pm – our monthly “Life Inspired Get Together” will be free Pilates and Yoga session for couples!

How did you start doing Pilates together?  
Susan:  My sister and I were already going weekly and he’s off work Friday mornings.
Mike:  Couple of years ago

When you are out with friends/family, who is more likely to talk about their Pilates experience?
Susan:  Me
Mike:  Susan

Are you competitive with each other?
Susan.  I don’t think we’re competitive but I comment too much on his less than ideal form.
Mike.  in most things

fullsizerender28Do you keep each other accountable?
Susan:  Not really.
Mike:  She nags, I obey

How does it help you to exercise with your partner?
Susan:  We don’t otherwise exercise together. We have always walked together.
Mike:  otherwise I wouldn’t do it

How has Pilates influenced your overall health?
Susan:  Unquestionably, Pilates has improved my health overall.
Mike:  improved balance and posture

What is your favorite Pilates exercise?
Susan:  anything with the roller
Mike:  favorite is upside down push up

 Least favorite?
Susan:  Anything with the chair
Mike:  Anything with bands, balls, “magic” circles
What do you want to tell other couples about your Pilates experience?
Susan:  That we have a lot of laughs in there. The vibe is good.
Mike:  It’s not that bad
What 3 words would you use to describe your Pilates Sessions?
Susan:  Welcoming. Positive. Fun.
Mike:  Fifty minutes long

 

 

 

 

Valentine Pilates: Gwen & Gary

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757c68fa-ddf2-4334-88b7-6e5e7410fb71This is the first post in our Valentine series about couples who practice Pilates together at Rivercity Pilates.  On Friday evening – our monthly “Life Inspired Get Together” will be free Pilates and Yoga session for couples!    


How did you get started doing Pilates together?
Gwen started then wrangled Gary…….behind every great man is a motivating woman!????

When you are out with friends/family, who is more likely to talk about their Pilates experience?
Gary discusses Pilates more than Gwen. He talks to others about how it has been a benefit especially with his ankle and diabetes.  Gwen talks about it but not to the degree Gary does in social settings. 

Are you competitive with each other? In is a friendly teaser sort of way.  No pun intended!????
gwen-and-gary-iom-feb-2017Do you keep each other accountable?
YES, the couple that does pilates together stays together!

How does it help you to exercise with your partner?
It is demonstration of our commitment to health and love. 

How has Pilates influenced your overall health?
Absolutely!!!! It also helps us to have our pilates coaches.  We think Joe would be proud. 

What is your favorite Pilates exercise?  
Tower

Least favorite?
Anything abs

What do you want to tell other couples about your Pilates experience?
This is a great way to date, flirt and be healthy.  We have a lot of fun.  

What 3 words would you use to describe your Pilates Sessions?
Tease me baby! ????

Inspiration of the Month: Annette Schulte

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annetteWhen did you start Pilates and what inspired you to start? 
I found my way to Rivercity Pilates in February 2016. I started with the Couch Potato Workshop! I was inspired to start because I was far too stiff, creaky and weak for an otherwise healthy woman in her late 40s. I had major organ surgery 17 years ago after my daughter was born. That surgery sliced through all my abdominal muscles and pried open my ribcage with a clamp the size of my head. I healed, but I didn’t really discuss with my doctors how to counteract the effects of the surgery over time. It left me a little barrel-chested and with no core strength but with lots of scar tissue. I had taken a Pi-yo (Pilates and yoga combo) class in the past and enjoyed it. So I decided to look for something similar. I found Pilates in my metaphorical backyard. Coming to Rivercity was one of the best things I’ve ever done for me.
 
How often do you practice Pilates and what type of sessions or classes have you been doing? 
Like a lot of women, I’m busy balancing a career, family and my needs. I need the commitment and structure of a class outside the home to stick with Pilates. So I take evening and weekend classes at Rivercity. I’m currently taking one mat and one tower class a week. My goal is to get strong enough to take two mat classes a week. I’m confident I’ll get there!
 
What benefits or improvements have you noticed in your body and life from doing Pilates? 
I’m stronger, more flexible, better toned — even with all the scar tissue. I can stretch farther than before and am so less stiff! I’m  comfortable in my skin again, and that makes me a happier person every day, all day.
Do you have a favorite exercise or piece of equipment (or both)?  
Writing this, I’m realizing that I’m an equipment fan. I like the Tower in general and really enjoy the ab series that Janee takes us through on the Tower. Through Carey’s mat class I’ve discovered the fun of workout balls and bands. The Stretch-eze is a little different, but even that is fun.
What would you say to someone who is thinking about doing Pilates?
Do it, and do it at Rivercity. The instructors are friendly and compassionate, and the clientele is welcoming. And I like that attention is regularly paid in classes to good form and adjusting the exercises to the individual’s capabilities. Great, great stuff.

Inspiration of the Month: Linda Jones

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    Linda Jones and the Pilates Experience
About three years or so ago, I had just been through multiple back surgeries, multiple foot surgeries, and multiple hand surgeries. Additionally, I was told that I would eventually have to have rotator cuff surgery which I finally had done twice this past year. After all the surgeries, I was in almost constant pain and it hurt to get up in the morning, and it hurt to move.   I had given up the water aerobics classes I had previously enjoyed, and was pretty much of the attitude that I could no longer exercise.   To top it all off, I had gained a bunch of weight (I won’t tell you how much!) and didn’t feel good about my appearance.

At about this time, my husband, Phil, signed up for a series of private Pilates lessons with Carey and came back from his first lesson all enthused about how Pilates might be just the ticket for me. Eventually, Phil talked me into coming to observe one of his Pilates lessons so I could see what it was all about and decide for myself whether I might be able to do it. To my surprise, it looked do-able, even for me. So I signed up for private Pilates lessons with Carey and have been working with her off and on ever since—the off times being the periods when I’ve had to go back in for more surgery and undergo rehabilitation before resuming Pilates. As of this time, I take a private lesson from Carey once a week. Private lessons with Carey work really well for me because Carey is able to help scale the Pilates exercises to exactly my ability level. Right now, this one-on-one with Carey is, I believe, necessary for my continued progress, but I hope and expect to be able to participate in group classes eventually.

I’ve really noticed some huge benefits to Pilates. First, before starting Pilates, movement of almost any kind was painful, and I had really become very inflexible due to my back surgeries. Now, and I attribute this almost entirely to Pilates, I’m able to move more fluidly and with much less pain than before. Pilates also helps greatly with “range of motion” issues. Second, before Pilates, my attitude towards most physical activity had become: “I can’t do that.” Pilates has changed my attitude towards the same kinds of physical activities into: “Not yet, but I can eventually.”

Best of all, I’ve managed to lose about 60 pounds of excess weight this past year. What’s kind of surprising to me in retrospect about it is the following. You may remember that I said I had two rotat0r cuff surgeries this past year. Now this, in my experience, is a difficult surgery with a difficult recovery period. And the reason I had two surgeries is that after I had the first one and had just about completed my re-hab, I slipped and fell and tore the rotator cuff all over again. When that happened, I remember thinking, even as I was still down from the fall, that I was not going to let that derail my weight loss program—and it didn’t.   I truly think the positive thinking I’ve picked up from Pilates was key.
My favorite piece of Pilates equipment is the reformer/tower combination. I love the way this piece of equipment makes virtually every exercise completely scale-able so that it can be scaled down to be doable by the elderly and infirm or, conversely, scaled up to be a challenge to even the young, physically fit beach-bodies among us.

Practice What You Teach: Squats are fun??

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Every Saturday morning I get the chance to teach a very inspiring group of spunky women who take their Pilates practice pretty seriously.  And by seriously I mean they are dedicated to make their Pilates practice part of their lives.  It’s rare that they miss a weekly class, but more than that it’s that they truly incorporate movement into their lives and they love sharing it with others.  When it comes to their Pilates practice…they all are beautiful movers who come to class each week and give it their all.  It reminds me of one of my favorite Joe quotes,” Patience and persistence are vital qualities in the ultimate successful accomplishment of any worthwhile endeavor.”  These women live that quote and I’m extremely honored that I get to be part of their journey watching them grow in their movement practices and learning from them every time I teach them. Now that I’m done bragging about my rock star clients, let me get to today’s blog…   patience-quote

My Pilates practice last week got kick started by my Saturday morning Return to Life Pilates Mat Class crew.  Our class focus last week was flow and transitions.  If you practice Pilates you know this is code word for “no rest between exercises” and “Pilates just became a cardio workout”!  The class started standing, transitioned to the mat and nobody quit moving until they finished standing after their last Pilates push up.  I can tell you that this type of class leaves you feeling taller, stronger, fully mobile in your spine and kind of ready to collapse and take a nap! It’s the kind of class that takes every ounce of your determination and will power to stay focused so that you can give it your all and finish the whole thing with as much control and fluidity as when you started.

So when we finished just a couple of minutes before class end time I was a little surprised at what happened next.  Once of the women said,”Hey, we’re here anyway let’s finish it out with some squats.  How about 50?”  In my head I was thinking,”Really… you just did this amazingly hard, super intense workout and you want to throw in some extra squats??” But when I looked at everyone else and asked “Who’s in?” EVERYONE said “let’s do it!”  So we did 50 squats and I joined in (because if they could do 50 squats after the workout they just did, surely I could do them after a morniimg_8903ng of teaching!).

I’m not going to lie…I was sore.  I was sore that day and for probably 3 days after!  All I could think was clearly I need to be doing more squats in my life!  I also kept thinking,”How cool is it that I have such an amazing job where I not only get to do something I love on a daily basis but I also get to be inspired by amazing clients on a daily basis!!”  In case you’re wondering…I’ve been doing more squats throughout my days and it must be helping as when this Saturday rolled around and we decided to do those 50 squats again at the end of class they were a little easier!

And to complete the story, we decided this week to include the other Saturday morning classes and clients who were at the studio in our squat fun.  So this week we grabbed the other class that had just finished and those coming in to attend the class after and we did our 50 squats.  My Return to Life crew was calling out the count as we went(apparently they don’t trust my counting!) and by the time we got to the last ten everyone in the room was counting down, smiling and finishing up their 50 squats!  Afterwards there was lots of positive chatter…”great job, way to go, glad you joined us, etc.!”

I don’t know about you, but I rarely take it upon myself to do 50 squats(even though I know how great they can be for your body..).  It’s not that I mind them so much, I just don’t think of it or find the time. I’m so grateful for all of our amazing supportive clients at the studio that help create an atmosphere of comaraderie, health, and inspiration that has me happily doing 50 squats on a Saturday morning…just for fun!  And if you’re coming to class next Saturday…I hope you’ll join us!