I have several projects I have been working on (more in future posts), but this post I want to talk about what I have been up to these last couple months. In a previous post, I mentioned that I have been going to Pilates, I now go 5-6 days a week. I have been doing this for about 2 months.
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I love the studio I attend. The teachers are super friendly, and the studio is just a beautiful and peaceful place to workout.
I mostly do mat Pilates with one reformer or tower class each week.
But here’s the thing: I used to do CrossFit for years.
I enjoy lifting heavy weights. My favorites are the power lifting moves (not so much the Olympic lifts).
Deadlifts are my absolute favorite. Bench press comes in a close second. A good heavy back squat feels amazing.
Working out is something I can do consistently, when I am doing it.
What I mean is: I did CrossFit 5-6 days a week for 6-8 years. (Honestly I can’t recall when I started) But once lockdown hit during COVID, my consistency slipped. I still worked out, but the gaps between my workouts got longer and longer.
For a while, I had a gal I knew come over to workout with me to keep me working out consistently (she was working on her revenge bod because of a nasty divorce) but she started taking advantage of my time and often came 20 minutes late when she only lived 5 minutes away. (This became an issue to me and to avoid conflict I told her I needed a workout break and just never asked her to come back.)
I am an annoying stickler for time but only in my head, I try not to let others know my irritation unless you are related to me.
Time is a weird quirk of mine:
I can’t comfortably start a show or movie without knowing how long it will be. (My family knows this as one of my weird things.) I am almost always early and rarely late.
Why Pilates? My kids actually suggested it.
I had a series of falls, not because I have balance issues, but because sidewalks have crack issues, and I have “not paying close enough attention” issues.
I am in my mid 50s and I don’t recover as fast as I used to. Those falls happened close together and my knees (which have never given me trouble) have felt a bit wobbly since then.
Pilates help them feel less wobbly to be honest.
That might also be because I am living a walk-centric life as opposed to a car-centric life. The studio is about a 10 minute walk from my apartment. Even if it is freezing outside, I can handle 10 minutes of cold.
So I finally looked up Joseph Pilates.
My instructors mention him a lot. I confessed I had never looked him up. So I did that, while I wrote this post.
Here’s my takeaway:
He was a German man imprisoned in England during WW1. In camp, he used the bed springs and whatever he could find to create the exercises for himself and the other inmates to stay healthy. He lived a long life (born in the 1880s and died in 1967). So he was impressive.
He also designed the equipment the Pilates studios still use. My studio has many of these contraptions. I have only used a few, like the reformer, tower, ankle weights, wrist weights, a weighted bar and random cushioned blocks of different sizes.
When I did CrossFit, my gym was part of a larger facility that also had a yoga studio and a Pilates studio. The Pilates studio gave us a free session once, but they only had reformers. I didn’t even know Pilates could be done so many other ways. My new studio is so much better.
Do I have a favorite move? Not yet.
But I really like the magic circle. A circle two pads you squeeze to increase the resistance and engage your core or stabilizing muscles.
The hip-focused moves are intense and good for me. If I sit too long, my joints need a few steps to feel comfortable again.
Getting older is a privilege but some of it can suck.
I found my workout home.
I’m happy to go there almost daily now. I started out going just a couple days a week, because I am weary about meeting new people. But they welcomed me with open arms, the other attendees, the instructors, the whole vibe.
What types of exercise do you like to do?
If you aren’t doing something, why not?
Drop your answer in the comments. Let’s do healthy together. I plan to keep up with Pilates and eventually add some weight training again. But I am not ready yet, but that’s a future post.
