.

Setting Pilates Goals

It’s not too late to get back to your News Years resolution about improving your health. In fact the majority of people have put off their resolutions or never got them started or kind of started but then stopped. Welcome to mid-February. It’s a month so ugly spelling it is difficult and requires a day of love and family to get through. I didn’t bother making resolutions in January. Never do. Because it’s the worst time to seek change. The holidays and their after effects will get in the way.

Our first pilates class of 2011…brutal. The first Monday in January no less! We even joked about how if this had been someone’s beginner pilates class based on a resolution they would have really struggled. Maybe even given up. Our small group, including instructor Angela Barsotti, moaned and groaned through our routines.

Setting pilates goals doesn’t require a new years resolution. You can set goals at any time!  A private pilates class is perfect opportunity to talk to the instructor about what you would like to see happen in the next 11 months. My first Ugly Duckling Pilates private class we set some goals. A wee bit of homework, about 15 minutes a morning, has given me the results I was seeking.

Angela enthused about how proud she was last week. Pointing out how I should be very proud of pilates progress. I’m not sure how many people have noticed the improvements. My instructor has and her encouragement is awesome. When I started a year ago, my fibromyalgia, scoliosis and seizure disorder had really taken a toll on me.

I had just finished three days a week physiotherapy on my left shoulder. I used the determination I developed to not lose the mobility of my shattered now recovering shoulder to pilates class. BTW I have about 85 per cent mobility, when doctors predicted possibly 65 per cent. Getting through fifteen minutes was challenging, but I was determined.

A year later I can do a whole one hour pilates class now.  [it took matt about three months to get so he could handle half an hour at a time, watching him roll through an hour class and be ready for more is inspirational -angela]  Doing a variety of pilates routines. The timing couldn’t be perfect to set new pilates goals.

1)  Retain current targets (attend class weekly, 15 minutes daily, develop stomach muscles, breath, flex spine)

2)  One private class a month (this is more financial than physical but they do play on off each other. The healthier I feel the more productive pro blogger I can be. )

3)  Write one blog entry a week. Follow my progress. Read my insights.

4)  Develop chest muscles.

5)  Stretch the lower half. Quads, hamstrings and calf muscles. We do this in class and I’ve added it to my home routine.

6)  Learn new pilates routines

7)  Work harder (in the spring when my fibromyalgia is done flaring up)

—

matt mernagh’s blog