What It’s Like To Do Pilates

It just so happens to be Halloween, a day that can be exciting and fun for some, or spooky and scary for others. Maybe even a little bit of both! What it’s like to do Pilates can be very similar, depending on where, why, and how you practice it. If you’ve tried Pilates once and decided it wasn’t for you, I’d encourage you to try again. At the same time, if you do the same Pilates class over and over, branch out – try another studio or teacher. You might be surprised by what you discover. 

If Pilates Scares You

When you are new to anything, it might seem scary at first. If you have only seen photos or videos online, you aren’t getting the full picture of what it’s like to do Pilates in real life. Often, you are seeing very advanced exercises (or possibly even things that aren’t Pilates!). It can be difficult to weed through all of the information to know what Pilates is, what it isn’t, and who can do it. 

The truth is that Pilates is for everyone! Pilates is designed to help you become more flexible, mobile, and strong; which means you don’t need to have all those things in place before you can begin.  The way I’ve been taught to teach Pilates is progressively. We start where you are, and with the foundational exercises, to help you build up your strength, flexibility, and mobility. As your ability increases, you will advance to more intermediate exercises. Will you one day be able to do the advanced, “scary” exercises? Maybe! But it certainly isn’t where we start. 

Pilates Can Be Fun

When I first started Pilates, the mat classes were what was well-known. It wasn’t until I went to a Pilates studio to do my mat Pilates teacher training that I first discovered the apparatuses. I hadn’t even known they existed! Using them wasn’t part of my teacher training, but I was intrigued. So I was thrilled when I was invited to be a “student” for other teachers in training on the reformer. 

It was fun, felt good, and was a new challenge. This is when I realized that Pilates had so much more to offer than I first thought, and I couldn’t wait to learn more. Once I started doing reformer and tower Pilates workouts, I lost interest in the mat work for some time. It wasn’t until I was re-introduced to it at a conference where we did a lot of mat work that I started to understand the whole system. Now, I love it all, and yes – it’s still fun for me! 

What if Pilates is Too Hard?

I’ve heard of many people who attended their first Pilates class and it was way too hard. In most cases, this is when the space or teacher was not right for you. I have a family member who used to be a marathon runner. She would travel for races and loved it, but now is in a place where she can’t run as much. Her sister, niece, and daughter all encouraged her to try Pilates, but it was a bad experience for her. 

She ended up going to a group class that used the reformer. She couldn’t keep up! By the time she figured out how to get the food straps on, the others were already taking them off. By the end, she was frustrated and felt “too old” to do Pilates. I hope she’ll try again, but with smaller or private classes in the beginning. 

Or Is It Too Easy?

What it’s like to do Pilates will definitely vary depending on how long you’ve been practicing it. Pilates can feel easy for many people in their first few sessions. The foundational exercises can seem simple, but you need them to build a solid base from which all the other exercises are built upon. There are also a lot of things to think about in your first few sessions: body position, breathing, learning the names of the exercises, etc. As all of it comes together, the exercises can get more difficult. Ideally, the teacher builds that solid foundation with you will also help you find challenges along the way. 

If you talk to anyone who has done Pilates for a long time, they will tell you how the workouts get easier in some ways, but also much harder the more you practice. You know what to do and how to do it, and you will start to find deeper connections. You’ll be using all of the parts of your body, which means more muscles are working, and it gets harder! Plus, as you progress you’ll start doing more difficult exercises. 

Pilates Is a Lot of Things

Pilates is a lot of things to a lot of people, and what it’s like to do Pilates may differ based on your reasons for doing it. Pilates is… 

• A way to prepare for or recover from surgery. 
• For runners wanting to avoid injury and run faster.
• Great to help relieve back pain.
• Simply a way to keep moving well in all the things you do in life.

All of these have the same goal: to feel better! Whether it’s a prescribed “chore” from your doctor or something you searched out, what you think about Pilates in the beginning will likely change as you learn the system and your body starts to feel better (often in surprising ways). 

Almost everyone I work with has a reason that they started Pilates… and a totally different reason that they are still doing it now. I started out of curiosity and convenience, and here I am nearly two decades later still going strong. I love how it helps me with my running, riding, hiking and boxing, but also how it’s given me an awareness of how I move in general. And Pilates can do all this for you, too.