If someone had told me two months ago that every morning I would wake up excited, no, thrilled about the prospect of doing exercise – specifically a pilates workout– I would have told them to stay delulu.
You see, exercise and I have always had a complicated relationship. I’ve always fancied the idea of it, of being one of those people that can seamlessly integrate workouts into their busy schedules, but I struggled for a long time to find the right workout routine for me.
Gyms never appealed to me, group classes always made me feel like I was doing something wrong, running was more painful than endorphin-inducing, and the only time I could go for a hot girl walk, owing to work commitments was when it was dark, which I didn’t always feel comfortable doing.
Two years ago I started swimming three times a week, and I still love it, but after a bout of sciatica I wanted to pick up an exercise that could strengthen my hip flexors and boost my body’s strength. Enter: pilates.
I had tried pilates a couple of times in the past and had found it challenging, but only now do I realise that this was due to starting at a level I wasn’t comfortable with. So, a couple of months ago, armed with a yoga mat, space on my living room floor, and access to YouTube, I typed in ‘beginner’s pilates’ into the video streaming service and clicked on the top result (which happened to be MoveWithNicole).
The 25-minute pilates workout started slowly, focusing on breath and gradual, controlled movements that worked my core, arms, glutes and legs. It placed emphasis on pelvic floor muscles, rib to hip connection, and posture. By the end I felt thoroughly stretched and dead calm – and I immediately wanted to do it again.
I had initially told myself that I would incorporate it into my routine a few times a week, just as I had with the swimming, but I found myself eager to do it again the next morning, clicking onto another one of Nicole’s videos and enjoying it just as much as I had the previous one. The same thing happened again the next day, and the next, and now here we are two months later and I’m still carving out that precious half an hour to fit in a routine every day – both because I enjoy it, but also because I have started to notice the results of regular pilates practice.
It is worth noting that I am still doing the beginner classes. At one point I may move onto the moderate, and then even to the intermediate, but the beginner classes are slow, soothing, and gentle, while still feeling challenging in parts. I think this is part of the reason why I’ve stuck with it. I know myself and if I don’t enjoy something, I’m not going to be eager to do it, but after each class I find myself feeling a little bit lifted – both mentally and physically (plus, my posture has never been better).
I’ve also noticed that my core is stronger than it ever has been, just from the gentle daily movements. This is something that has become apparent while swimming; I can feel my core engaged and working just that little bit harder during the strokes, something it wasn’t doing before. I no longer feel a warning pain in the nerve where the sciatica first hit, something that had been happening previously if I had been sitting at a funny angle. My hip flexors in general feel stronger and more limber, and I have muscle definition coming through in my thighs and triceps for the first time in my life too. My back pain is all but non-existent.
Despite all the physical changes, the one that has surprised me most is the mental change. I’m sleeping better, I willingly choose to exercise during painful period cramping (something I actively avoided before), and I feel as if my mood is more regulated, especially as I always finish the sessions feeling calmer and more relaxed than when I started.
While I know this is all anecdotal evidence from my experience, there is science to back this up too. One study from 2011 found that regular pilates can boost flexibility as well as abdominal and pelvic strength, while another study from 2018 determined that pilates can decrease the likelihood of depression and irritability through its controlled breathing techniques. A separate study from 2020 found that pilates practice can also lead to a decrease in PMS symptoms, which is something I have noticed myself (so long, mood swings!).
So, as it turns, out all the people who have been preaching the benefits of pilates for years were actually onto something, I had just always thought that it was for the intensive style of pilates that I’d tried in the past. But no, gentle pilates can be just as transformative – and now that I've joined the club I will probably never stop raving about it.
This article first appeared on glamourmagazine.co.uk
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