This week saw me once again, come way out of my comfort zone into the dark underground world of what I will describe as the 'Pilates Mafia'.
It was different to what I was expecting, certainly. Arranged by one of my colleagues almost all of our company turned up to this small little frosted-glass shopfront and stepped inside.
Now, you hear the word 'Pilates' and you can be forgiven for thinking we were met with whale music, woodland aromatherapy scents gently wafting in the air, being greeted by an androgynous character with a top-knot, a knowing smile of peace, and a 'namaste'.
... we weren't.
No no.
We walked into a room with low lights, silence, two muscular men in PPE masks and with a bunch of machines laid out that could only be described as some bastard cross between a torture rack and a sex swing. Part of me was waiting for someone in a gimp mask to leap out.
The gimp never appeared, but we were taken through a top to bottom series of lunches, crunches, pulls, squats etc that had my glutes screaming (an already known weakspot) and my troubled calf and ankle grumbling.
The instructors were nice and quickly picked up on any cheating, just to make it hurt even more and embarrass myself further at the lack of mobility and strength I still have in certain problem areas. But that's good. Get the form right. You can imagine my anxiety when while stretched out on this machine, bent over, and a muscular guy steps behind me and a hand is placed on my hips.
I steeled myself in the comfort that I was wearing joggers and hadn't shaved. The 'sledge' (sex-swing contraption thingy) had different springs, pads and ropes. The studio had all round mirrors as well, just so I could be further reminded of how ridiculous I looked in some of the exercises.
But that was OK. Despite the dark room of being stretched and contorted on the sex swing-sledge I made it through. ...and I was pleasantly surprised. It was certainly hard enough and I can see how the exercises can be progressed to be very tough; but the biggest thing for me was how certain muscles felt. I could really feel my glutes working very hard, along with my core. Being heavy, the fact a lot of bodyweight comes into the exercises definitely pushes me. I could feel the benefits of this workout immediately. I felt planted and better balanced than I've felt with feet on the ground in a very long time. Paradoxically, I felt lighter on my feet and certainly more nimble and flexible than an hour earlier. These are VERY good things for me given my age and challenges.
The Pilates Mafia had done a cracking job and I will be taking a class each week for sure!
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