Everyone has a story behind their first Pilates experience or what brought them to Pilates initially. Now it’s time you learned how I started doing Pilates.
When I first moved on my own to Columbus, Ohio after college to pursue a job in my business degree for Marketing I began running more often. My best friend asked me to run a 5K when in college and after college I kept up with it and challenged myself with my first half marathon. The half marathon went really well so I trained for a second and ran at a much faster pace. When looking at training programs I read about the importance of cross training and had it on my training plan but didn’t put much stock into it. After quite a few races and no other variety to my workouts, I ended up with a sports injury. The sports doctor I saw said my IT Band was weak/inflamed and suggested PT to focus on more core strength.
What’s important to remember here is the core isn’t just your abs, it’s the muscles from your shoulders to your hips. Think about your core being like a tree trunk and your limbs are tree branches extending from your core (trunk). My mother actually suggested Pilates to me and I started attending mat classes. I also watched a couple of on demand videos of Mari Windsor Pilates.
While living in Columbus I considered starting a Pilates teacher program because I was really enjoying my Pilates classes. Before I started a program we moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin and it was there I had my first mat class that pointed me in the direction of The Pilates Center program.
To this day I still run but not the distance I used to but I advocate to my running and triathlete clients how important it is to keep up with their Pilates practice. Pilates has helped improve my form, think about my stride differently, increase my endurance and breathe better while running.
