30 Days of Pilates - Challenge

"In 10 sessions you will feel the difference, in 20 you will see the difference and in 30 you will have a whole new body." - Joseph Pilates

I'm going to take the old man up on that and challenge myself to this promise. Partly, because my own practice has been slacking and I need a do-over. And partly, because I want to be constantly reminded why I'm doing, what I'm doing.

So, I will commit to at least 3 Pilates classes per week (shooting for 4, if time and space allows). Self practice will not count. One hour counts as one class. (My studio offers some half-hour classes back to back, so two of those will count as one class). I will note my progress every 10 days to see what's going on in my body, what's changing and what's challenging. 

On the side, I will keep my diet as clean and balanced as possible (as I'm currently pretty good at that). I will also keep up my occasional runs (2.5 miles, about 3 times a week) and my weight lifting regime (also about 3 times a week). If nothing else, maybe this will push me past my plateau that I've been sitting on.

My first class was earlier today, after a 10 day break. I felt the need to concentrate more on balancing and stabilizing. It's definitely the right time to be doing this, full force! I wanted to go for a run after, but it was too hot and so I kept it at a fast walking pace. 

I have another class planned for tomorrow (half mat, half reformer) and Thursday.

Let's do this!

Pilates Teacher Training: The Reformer

We're in week 9 of our training, and not only is time flying by, it's also getting more intense and overwhelming with every session. The exercises themselves are the easiest part. Wording and cueing, finding the correct spring tension and remembering the actual names of the exercises and their countless variations - not so much. At this point it's really just a matter of studying. Sitting down in a quiet space and concentrate on the content. Study. Easier said than down, seeing that I haven't done that in quite some time. Life also seems to be getting busier and more hectic every week. Excuses, excuses, I know.

So far I've 'taught' four hours of mat and one hour of reformer. Not my proudest confession. I know I need to get over this hump, push through and jump right in, but this is probably one of the most challenging things I've done in years. It's scary to put yourself out there and pretend to be knowing what you're doing, when really, you're pooping your pant. Not to mention the damage you could be doing to another person, that's relying on you to get them in better shape, not worse.

Matwork - check!

The first three weeks and six classes are behind us and therefore we completed our mat-section of the program. We had a little (2-hour) verbal and practical test at the end of it and now we won't be seeing or hearing much of mat pilates until our final test out in November/December. Time flies (although three weeks don't seem terribly long), but I want to say that I'm keeping up nicely. Although my practice teaching sessions and observation hours could use some more, consistent attention. Collecting hours in general seems like it'll be a drag.

I also don't feel all too comfortable with the mat content itself. I know the exercises, the breathing is starting to come more naturally, but I'm far from confident about it. Teaching my classmate is one thing, she knows what she's supposed to be doing, so my cueing doesn't make much of a difference. Whenever I practiced teaching on a Pilates newbie, I had a ton of trouble getting her to do what I wanted her to do, without showing too much myself. I'm hoping that it'll all come together once I start teaching more, but as of right now I feel very unsure.

I want to skip this whole part and just be that gracious and elegant, confident instructor that glides through the room and owns their practice. I just want to get to the point where I know what I'm doing and where I'm not terrified of doing something wrong. I know, I know, that's how I'll learn, but it's still no fun. And my tendency to blushing and panicking isn't helpful either. 

I'm hoping that the reformer content of the program will make it all better. Altogether I can't wait to become the teacher I know I can be. 

My first practice teaching session!

Pilates Teacher Training - Week 1

I'm currently on my second week of the program and while it's getting more overwhelming with every class, I'm still enjoying every moment of it.

In our first 4-hour class we mostly went through the basics of the program itself, signed some more paperwork and made sure everyone understood what it's all about and what to expect moving forward. Luckily (?) there's only one other student in my class, so we'll be getting a lot of attention in our, basically, private sessions. We also discussed observation and practice hours, exams and projects that we will have to work on throughout the next couple of months.

Then we went straight into the material and started discussing the Nuts and Bolts of Pilates. Posture, alignment and main body parts to look out for, what to adjust, how to adjust and, and, and wow. We also started reading through Grounding, which is basically a warm up and breathing exercise for Pilates.

In the next session we finished Nuts and Bolds and jumped into Philosophy. Now that was a lot. I still haven't gotten around to reading through it again, let alone study it. And I'm already halfway through week 2 at this point. Oh my, I need to work up a study plan immediately. Any advice and tips are more than welcome. HELP!

My classmate was missing for the first part of the class and so I went through a lot one on one with our teacher, really looking into involved muscles, looking up pictures of everything, as I'm a visual/practical study type of person it seems. Time flew by and before I knew it, we had covered 65 pages of material and therefore finished our first week of "basics". Detailed basics. The most detailed basics in the history of basics. Haha!

The Beginning

I've finally found something in my life that continuously fascinates me, while also keeping me on my toes. General fitness and health have become a steady part of my life long ago, and the more consistently I stuck to a healthy regimen, the better I felt and clearer it became that this 'hobby' of mine needed to be a bigger part of my life. I took a Sports Nutrition Consultant Certification workshop and learned a lot, yet not quite enough. Months went by and I eventually ordered books that should help me become a personal trainer. A year went by and although I've attempted to study numerous times, not much stuck. And the things that did stick weren't of much use to me, as I still had no idea how or where to go from here. Self study clearly wasn't my strong suit and even if I were to make it happen, I'd still lack the guts to get out there and get practical. I found a weekend workshop that was supposed to turn me into a master trainer, and though I passed the final exams and got the certificates, I still didn't know anything about the real wold and I was starting to doubt my approach.

Now, I know there are plenty of 'trainers' out there with less educational background, "just doing it". But that wasn't for me. (Nor is it safe.)

At this point, I was already working at a gym and had more insight then ever, when my boss mentioned that the studio was hosting a Pilates teacher training. While expensive, it would be hands-on and practical, learn a trade and be ready for a new career. That kind of thing. So I started researching, intensely, for hours, if not days.

Pilates has been a part of my exercise regimen on and off for a couple of years, more so since I started working at the gym that had an attached Pilates studio. Employee benefits include a few classes per month. So it's been there. I've always liked it. At no point did I consider myself a Pilates fanatic, but the more I looked into it, the more interesting it became. The history, the benefits, ...the whole practice just made sense to me.

As I was trying to make up my mind whether or not to invest in this training, the start date kept getting pushed back for organizational reasons. In the end it came down to my apartment's lease expiring and nothing holding me in LA. And then my boss finally set a new and definitive start-date for the program. Sure, I could do it anywhere in the world, but I already work at the place. I'm comfortable with the people, I know where things are, I know the rules and details of, well, everything. On top of that, my research confirmed that it was a legit program, with the necessary 450 hours to qualify for the PMA Certification, all in 16 weeks, rather than one or two years (which seems to be the standard in other programs). And since I already have full access to the studio, my observation, practice and apprenticeship hours should be fairly easy to obtain. All and all, I couldn't think of any reason not to do it - other than hiking rent-costs in LA - and so I extended my lease for 6 months. So I'll have 2 months after completing my classroom hours to collect all other hours.

Which brings us here. As I was researching, I couldn't find much on experiences throughout the training. No blogs documenting it. I found one or two videos on youtube, but nothing continuous, which was fairly disappointing.

So, here it is, the very beginning, with so much to come.