*Say hi to Kara! Today Kara is sharing her first experience with Pilates. I have never done a Pilates class on the reformer but I am very intrigued after hearing about Kara’s session!
Hi everyone or rather as Mattie put it, hello world!
I’m Kara. I moved to Boston on a whim from Vermont and fell in love with the city. I have been in Boston for almost 4 years now, have been a personal trainer for 5 years and have been a trainer at Equinox on Franklin Street since I moved here. I dabble in fitness modeling too, which is so fun! I love all things fitness and I love to cook and bake.
I’ve known Mattie for over a decade and I am so excited to join her blog and to be able to share health and fitness with everyone! Stay tuned for some great workouts, recipes, stories, motivations and just some all out fun and exciting journeys that life takes us on. I can’t wait to hear all about yours!
I recently did my very first Pilates session which is unheard of! I have never been a fan of Pilates as I thought it wasn’t a real workout because you don’t really sweat, but boy was I wrong.
I am the kind of gal that loves to lift heavy, sweat and to work to the point of total body exhaustion, like in Crossfit, but that all had to be put on hold because I had hip surgery in January, which meant I didn’t do much working out for 3 months, which meant I didn’t do ANY core work, which means now I am paying for it.
I am 10 months post-surgery and still can’t workout the way I want but I am slowly getting there. One of the things holding me back is the strength of my core to stabilize my hips, which are still very weak.I told the instructor Megan that I thought my pelvic floor was a tad weak. Little did I know, that was a huge understatement! Pilates focuses on exactly what I need in order to return to the level of activity I desperately want.
The class was super challenging and made me hurt so good which I have been desperately wanting. We ran through a bunch of Pilates moves. We started with me laying on my back pulling in my abs. Megan told me to pull them in more, suck them up and in…I was like, “really, you want me to do more??” Somehow I managed to do it but it was hard! To add more torment to my body, she had me lower my legs to the table while continuing to draw my abs up and in. My body had never done so much shaking. My abs, quads and butt were on fire here!
Then I get on the reformer for some footwork and had to keep my knees close to engage my inner thighs, pull my toes up and press into the bar…I learned I have no inner thigh strength either.
I was working muscles that I didn’t know existed! Moving plank (long stretch), anyone?
Oh hey, a Pilates chair. An assisted step up should be easy, right? Wrong! Don’t let the smile fool you!
At the end of the hour, I hadn’t sweat at all but the burn in all the muscles that I’ve never properly worked before made me a believer in Pilates. I am proud to say I will never scoff at this practice again and I will be doing much more. It is a great compliment to any exercise you do, whether it’s heavy lifting, running, yoga, spin, or any other activity.
Kara
