Are you out of breath when you go up the stairs? Maybe you are out of breath when you go down the stairs? Ouch. We know just what you need. Learn how to keep yourself in shape with your hectic lifestyle. Get serious about yourself and your health. It's important to check with your doctor before beginning any new exercise routine, so please do so first. Then, check out the links below:
My name is Beth LaFarciola and I have been practicing the discipline of pilates for the past eleven years! Prior to my involvement with pilates I was a student of yoga. I truly loved yoga for my mind therapy. At the time my children were small and I relished my yoga classes as a time to settle my mind.
In 1997 I underwent spinal surgery. I herniated a disc in my back fifteen years prior and after three pregnancies I was in agony. I developed sciatica and my disc actually started to fracture and it compressed my sciatic nerve root. Sounds painful doesn’t it? You bet it was! I literally drug my right leg for a year before finally opting for surgery.
They always say that surgery is your last resort. I was at my last resort! No cortisone shots for me. I wasn’t looking for a temporary fix, I wanted a permanent solution.
It was during my recovery that I started to research other forms of exercise that would strengthen my back as well as my front! That is when I found pilates.
I became an avid fan instantly! My feeling with pilates is that you either LOVE it or you hate it. I LOVED it!!! I attended classes three times a week for over 3 years! I felt my body get stronger every class and noticed a dramatic change in my posture. Friends and family also noticed a change in me. I decided to pursue pilates even more and became a certified instructor. Pilates had made such a huge difference in my recovery that I wanted to share it with others!
My husband Paul is a Captain at United and he used to take my pilates classes all the time. After his first class he told me that he had never been so humbled in his entire life! Paul has always been athletic and physically fit, but pilates got him in touch with muscles that he didn’t know that he owned! He noticed a tremendous difference in his flexibility, range of motion and overall feeling of increased core strength. His golf game improved and his love handles were gone!
Pilates is not an easy discipline. A lot of people think that pilates is lying on the floor and stretching. Yes, you can lay on the floor for an entire one- hour workout and you will definitely be stretched out at the end of the hour, BUT what goes on with your body DURING that hour is INTENSE!
Pilates will work you from the inside out! You will work your deepest muscles that support and stabilize your body’s postural alignment. You will feel your body shake and tremble as you ask it to give just a little more! When your workout is done you will feel as though you had a full body massage. You will feel relaxed and invigorated at the same time! It is an amazing feeling!!!
Because pilates is an intense workout you shouldn’t lift weights or go for long runs on the same day. Your body is working incredibly hard during your one- hour pilates workout and it needs to have recovery time.
Pilates is for everyone. It is not a “chick” thing. I have plenty of male students who have reaped the rewards just as much as their female counterparts! As with anything else in this world, you will get out of pilates what you put into it. Don’t expect to change your body overnight. It took while to get it where it is and it will take awhile to change it, BUT pilates is one of the few disciplines that will allow you to see a change after your first month of faithful pilates practice.
Expect to complete two workouts per week giving yourself a day off in between. If you can get up to three times per week you are at the optimal level of pilates intake!
Check out my weekly blog for a look-see into the world of pilates. I will walk you through an exercise and you will be able to practice it throughout the week. At the end of the month we will put them together and make a short, but effective workout that you can take on the road, or in the skies, with you! You will need to invest hard work, but the pay-out will be spectacular!!!
