Pilates, May 27

We had Pilates lessons again. I’m pleased that our group has finally moved up to the Intermediate level. We had a nice, relaxing lesson at Coyne Pilates.

Pilates lesson, December 3

I booted back from Brampton to a short Pilates lesson featuring lots of core body exercises.

Pilates lesson, November 12

It was time for another lesson at Coyne Pilates, I drove down from Brampton, which took more than an hour.

Instructor Jennifer made us work on muscular strength, especially of the core muscles. We did some one-leg bridges and quite a bit of curling up and down. The classes are slowly getting more difficult.

Then I went home, where there was hot soup and re-heated pizza.

We got to sleep in today because the pool was closed, so there was no morning swim.

Pilates lesson, November 5

There was a small class tonight. Our instructor, Jennifer Coyne of Coyne Pilates, concentrated on the technical points of keeping a stable core, using the right muscles, and relaxing unused muscles. We did some of these one-leg bridges, which I find challenging.

A couple of us might go in for another lesson on Monday to make up for a missed lesson.

Pilates lesson, October 29

LotStreetWiz was travelling and there were only two of us at the Pilates lesson, so in practice, we had a semi-private lesson from Jennifer Coyne of Coyne Pilates,

We concentrated on using core muscles properly, relaxing other parts of the body, and evenly curling and uncurling the spine. Staying flexible is one of the secrets to staying young.

Pilates lesson, October 23

I had a private lesson tonight, with lots of concentration on core muscles, breathing, curling and uncurling, and stretching.

I’m always impressed with how well our teacher can detect tiny little muscular readjustments and see if we’re doing the exercises properly.

more funny animals

Pilates lesson, October 22

After missing a couple of weeks, I got back to Coyne Pilates for a group lesson. I think the class has progressed a bit while I was away. It was pretty tough just holding the poses.

Exercising for health

It’s increasingly clear that to feel good and be healthy, a person has to get some exercise.

I’m trying to add some more activities to my modest mix of swimming a couple of times a week and doing Pilates once most weeks. For one thing, I can practice Pilates exercises at home. And I can switch the swimming from 1-hour skills sessions to 1.5-hour, coached lane swims.

I would like to add regular walking and regular bike rides, at least until the snow is on the ground. By that time my walking should be jogging or running. And I can switch to an indoor bike trainer.

There’s also contra dancing about three times a month, for the price of a movie and a snack. Indeed, there are other regular opportunities for folk or country dancing.

That’s one of the things I like about Toronto: whatever you like, you can find people to do it with.

I probably won’t be keeping detailed notes here the way I do with swimming. But in the background, I hope to be working out more. I’ve made a modest start with a very slow bike ride of about 14 km (9 miles) this weekend, in the Don Valley.

Pilates lesson

It’s back to Pilates, and a good thing, too: I was getting stiff. We did a lot of body core exercises. We raised and lowered our legs. I tried to learn to relax my back and thigh joints while holding my legs up. We curled and uncurled on the floor. We twisted from side to side through the ribcage, without moving our hips. We lay on our sides and swung our legs back and forth.

Another Pilates season

It’s time to start another semester of Pilates training. with Coyne Pilates. Pilates is a stretch & strength system of exercise that concentrates on spinal flexibility and core muscle strength. It’s named after its inventor, Joseph Pilates, who went from being a sickly child with rickets to the model for anatomical illustrations because of his perfect body.

Pilates has become a popular form of exercise and the benefits are well known, so well known that I’m “borrowing” them from the Absolute Control Pilates site.

Benefits of Pilates:

• Develops longer, leaner muscles (less bulk, more freedom of movement)
• Improves postural problems
• Increases core strength/stability and peripheral mobility
• Helps prevent injury
• Enhances functional fitness, ease of movement
• Balances strength & flexibility
• Heightens body awareness
• Non-impact – easy on joints
• Can be customized for everyone from rehab patients to elite athletes
• Complements other methods of exercise
• Improves performance in sports (golf, skating, dance, etc)
• Improves balance, coordination & circulation