learn pilates

For a couple of months now I have been doing the basic exercises on an almost daily basis. Never managed to get much further, since a) I’m obviously too lazy to read on and b) it already works for me. I needed something to strengthen my back to get rid of pain there and this worked just fine.

A couple of weeks ago I watched the first half of a Pilates DVD and realized I should focus a little more on stretching, but was already too bored to watch the rest. So I guess my “learning process” will proceed slowly for a very long time, but it really does not matter since the most important part is doing “something” not completely wrong on a regular basis. Doing it better or more advanced would be a nice goody, but so I have something to look forward to if I get too bored with my current routine (which is already enhanced by non Pilates crunches and push ups).

So I’ve been doing the basic exercises for about a month with only a four day interruption while visiting friends. Today “the hundred” was really 100, not 70 or 80 like usually. When I started I was in agony after 50, so the training seems to work (no surprise here).

A couple of days ago I watched the Germany:Italy WM 2006 soccer match at the largest fan area in Berlin. I’m still have no clue about the rules and am not really interested in the game, but I like frenetic crowds, so watching a soccer game with 1 mio crazy fans seemed like a great opportunity. The whole thing lasted 120min plus breaks. My last experience with standing that long was in March and it was torture.

While standing I usually develop a bad pain in my back within an hour and have to sit down. Very bad if you like going to concerts, because the focus shifts from listening and dancing to surviving the whole thing. Although the 120+min did not pass unnoticed by my back, I was surprised to be standing through it at all. All I’ve done to improve the situation during the last months is a) a lot of running and b) pilates. Since my back did not really improve much during 2003, when I was running almost everyday, the winning ticket here seems to be pilates. Which is right on target with why I started to do it in the first place.

For the last two weeks I have done the basic exercises every day. As expected over time they got easier and smoother. But one thing I didn’t realize before was exposed.

Some of the exercises require to form a C with your lower back, e.g. “rolling like a ball”. I already knew that I have a swayback, primarily due to lack of trained muscles/exercise: It is impossible for me to lie on a flat surface with my back touching the ground without raising my legs. I can move into the C posture, but will usually snap back into my hollow back almost immediately like a spring. Thats not so much because it is hard to hold the C, I can do this for minutes. It seems to be more a problem of concentration, the very moment I lack focus I just snap into “normal” mode.

“Normal” mode being not normal or healthy at all, I find this somewhat disturbing. This is one of the things I expect to change if I stick with pilates, so there is hope.

‘The hundred’ is killing me. During the last four weeks I did the basic exercises about ten times, intend to make it a daily routine. Everything that relies mainly on activating the power house is a problem, but this was expected and the primary reason to pick up pilates in the first place.

Since the precision of execution is an important part of the exercises, I now see where an actual trainer would be helpful. I rely on the book and videos, but some questions cannot really be answered that way (e.g. ‘should the shoulder tips rest on the ground here or not’). It seems that the exercises get ‘smoother’ the more often I do them, so I expect that some of these questions will resolve themselves once I got a feeling if something feels right or not.

Now all I need to do is to continue this for the next 50 years.

I picked up running as cardiovascular exercise, but am stiff as a poker with a guaranteed back pain after some hours of standing, demanding some action. I am interested in Pilates since I like the idea of self balance and hate any kind of sport that require any tools, training equimpent, fixed hours or locations. This also means that I will have to pick it up from books (Ungaro: Body in motion) and videos (Winsor). There are even some free videos on the web.

The book has been on my shelf for about half a year now, and reading it has been a permanent guest on my todo lists, but no action so far. I’ll give it another shot this weekend.