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Mom Meets Machine – # 3

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I was so excited to go back the next day for my private Pilates lesson on the Reformer.  I stood looking at the machine while my teacher gave me a rundown of it’s features. She claimed that you could do a complete, full body workout on this thing, but I had my doubts. I had been a gym rat for over a decade and had used just about every type of fitness machine ever invented. I wasn’t sure how this one little machine could possibly replace the dozen or so machines that I was used to in order to feel like I had gotten a complete a workout.  The Reformer was simple. It consisted of nothing more than a moveable carriage with a place to put your head and two shoulder blocks that kept you from sliding off of the machine while it moved back and forth by pushing against a bar with your feet. Then there were these two leather straps that I couldn’t even begin to imagine how they were used, and a row of industrial springs that were attached under neath the carriage that were added to increase resistance. So far the only drawback to the machine that I could see was this hideous sea foam green upholstery that covered the carriage. I kept thinking “Who would pick this color!?”  as the instructor opened her manual and had me lay on the carriage to begin my workout.

She referenced her manual through my entire lesson making sure that I was in the right position as I went through the exercises. I felt completely uncoordinated, as if I was trying to walk for the first time. It wasn’t that the exercises were hard to do, in fact many of them were similar to what I had done in the past. It was the focus, which needed to stay on keeping my navel on my spine while moving and breathing. It was a lot to think about at once, but by the end of my lesson, I thought that the reformer was really cool.

Pilates was hard, but it wasn’t impossible. It would take time and patience to become familiar with not only the exercises, but a new way of doing things. I had only had two Pilates lessons, and already my body felt different. I was so thankful to my teacher for not only introducing me to this system of exercise, but I was convinced that she had cured my mysterious pain in my ribcage.  As I shared my story of frustration with the medical field she offered the most logical explanation that I had heard so far. It is not uncommon for women to bruise the muscles in their ribcage during labor and delivery. Apparently, the birth of my son caused an injury to the muscles between my ribs known as intercostal muscles. That explained why the pain would intensify every time I tried to take a deep breath. In my last two days at Miraval, I had taken more deep breathes, than I had taken in the past year. It was the emphasis on breathing which seemed to be the answer to my problem. Basically, the problem that three different doctors in three different specialized fields of medicine wanted to fix by blocking a nerve in my spine could have easily been fixed with a few breathing exercises.

I scheduled as many lessons as possible because I wasn’t sure if I would be able to find anyone back in Pennsylvania to work with. Even though my teacher assured me that there were lot’s of teachers teaching Pilates, I had my doubts. I lived in the Lehigh Valley and we never did anything trendy, hip or healthy until at least a decade after the rest of the world was doing it. If Pilates was going to be the next big fitness trend to hit the area, I would have to be the one to introduce it.

 


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