Why I Love Pilates and Fitness

When it comes to your hobbies and interests, have you ever taken the time to figure out what it is, exactly, that you love so much about them? I’ve been thinking a lot about why I love Pilates and fitness, and the answer didn’t surprise me. It does, however, explain why I fell hard for Pilates even when it’s so different from any other type of fitness that I did before.

My Favourite Types of Fitness

When I first started doing Pilates, it was a way to get out of the house one night a week and do something for myself. My husband took care of the bedtime routine for our three little girls and I got a break. Honestly, I didn’t love Pilates at first. I liked it enough that I kept going back, but the slow, quieter, stretchy movements were not my jam.

My first choice of fitness classes tended to have names like Sweat Class, High-Lo, Butts & Abs, Drills & Hills, or Beats Class. I loved fast-paced, high-energy, loud music classes. I also loved to go in the weight room and lift heavy. Outdoors, you could find me running or riding, pushing myself to go faster or tackling challenging hills. 

Fitness wasn’t something I did to relax. Rather, I gravitated to activities where I had to give 100% of my focus to that one thing. When I was challenging myself, it was really difficult to think about anything else. I liked to be super-focused and in “the zone”, and (at first,) I didn’t find that in Pilates.

How I Fell in Love with Pilates

I liked Pilates enough at the beginning that I decided to do my mat Pilates certification. I thought it would be a good thing to have on my fitness resume, and I genuinely like learning new things. It was while doing my 40-hour certification that I met my first Pilates mentor. 

She showed me how the Pilates method is super technical, and how the smallest change in movement can change each exercise so much. Learning about these micro-changes in body position and becoming aware of them made the exercises more challenging both in mind and body. There were so many layers to the method that I didn’t know yet, and I saw that I had only scratched the surface. 

Then I saw the Pilates apparatus and learned of the 450+ hours of training that I could do. I hadn’t even finished my 40-hour training when I decided that I needed to keep learning this Pilates “thing”. Once again, I had found something that made me focus and put me in the zone. 

Now, over a decade later, I’m still learning more.

A Tough Lesson in Pilates

I believe that Pilates came into my life at the exact right time. With all the high-impact and repetitive exercises that I loved (and still do!), I was never one to stretch. I would get random pain in my knee or shoulder now and then, but I was great at ignoring it. I’d push through and hope the pain would go away. In my twenties, it often did. But those habits will catch up with you.

Pain is your body’s way of saying something is wrong, and if you ignore it too long you will likely end up with an injury. Then you’re in the place where you may need to stop doing your favourite activity. If you’re doing that thing to make you feel good, then stopping isn’t ideal.

I learned this the hard way, even with all the things I know about fitness. Over the pandemic I allowed my Pilates practice to dwindle while I increased my running. This literally stopped me in my tracks with intense plantar fasciitis pain and I thought I might have to quit running for good. It’s taken me several months of rehab and getting back into a balanced routine of strength training, stretching, and mobility to get rid of the pain and back to running again. 

I’m so grateful to have found Pilates. It checks the box of getting me into the zone, but it also allows me to do all the other things I love, too. 

What Are The Reasons You Love Pilates & Fitness?

I often ask my clients why they’re so passionate about their sport or fitness activity of choice. They say things like: 

• It clears my mind
• It helps me sort my thoughts
• I come up with my most creative ideas 
• I just feel good after
• It clears the stresses of the day
• I need it for my mental health

Most of the people I know who love to exercise as part of their regular life do it because they feel better in mind and body. What’s the reason you love what you do? I’d love to hear from you.