My First Pilates Class
Turns out there’s the right class for you out there… but turns out there are also the wrong classes out there too. My first class was definitely not suited to my abilities at the time.
This blog is a personal story of my own experiences with Pilates and is in no way designed as an advice article – drop me a line if you have any questions.
I ventured into Pilates after a physiotherapist friend recommended it to me for the injuries I had associated with having hypermobile joints. I was feeling really nervous about attending my first class but I knew how important getting myself back to regular exercise was for my well-being so I decided to be brave and give Pilates a try.
1st class – abdominal muscles burning… from laughing hard at myself.
I was a part of a medium-sized group of people who looked distinctly like dancers – tall (at 5’9” – I was the short one!), svelte, and held themselves with grace and elegance, and had the media’s idea of what “good posture” should be.
The class started. First exercise: a Roll Down – a classical Pilates exercise of bending the spine forwards from standing in a controlled manner from the neck down to the pelvis to test mobility and muscular flexibility… Despite having hypermobility, my muscles were so tight I could barely reach beyond my knees!
Glancing around the room, I could see that all the other attendees were with hands to the floor and some weren’t far off having their elbows to the floor! Oh dear… good start, Heather(!)
As the class progressed, we moved through stretching and mobility work which felt limited for my tight muscles but felt absolutely like what I needed! We then moved onto floor work, including strengthening and stability exercises.
Now, as a complete beginner, this was an absolute shock to the system! I was huffing and puffing, struggling to work out left from right, couldn’t keep up with whether I needed to be on my side or my back or my front… It was a whirlwind.
At the end of the class, I spoke with the instructor to find out what I could do to help better prepare myself for next time… Turns out, I had my schedule all wrong - the beginner’s class started straight after the advanced-level class I had just attended.
Beyond that 1st class … BINGO!!!
It is fair to say I went back to Pilates – to a small group beginner’s classes so there was a lot of support from an instructor who got to know me quickly.
Being an osteopath, my anatomy and function knowledge was extremely useful in working on my bodily awareness and being able to understand the purpose of the exercises.
Something in those early classes just CLICKED. I had found the form of exercise that I love – it supported my bendy joints so it didn’t leave me in pain for days and days after, it was fun, it helped me to relax/de-stress, it helped with controlling flexibility and building strength and, by extension, my confidence too.
I hold myself differently, I walk differently, I have more energy, and the knock-on effect on my overall health and wellbeing has been, without being too cliché, life-changing.
Still to this day I practice Pilates one to two times a week as a part of my fitness plan. I complement it with some cardiovascular training (running, swimming), and strength/resistance training (free weights, kettlebells etc.).
Since having found Pilates, I can honestly say I haven’t looked back. It truly inspired me to train as an instructor with the Australian Physiotherapy and Pilates Institute to allow me to potentially be able to help individuals in the many ways that I have found it has helped me.
It is important to remember that we all need to start somewhere - to be that beginner, to allow ourselves to learn and develop, and to find that motivation to invest in our health and well-being.