Sweatilates

Pilates intrigues me. It always has. As a person who follows celebrities entirely too closely, I noticed that most of them would answer the question of "how they stay in shape" with "pilates."  I also noticed many of the people who took pilates at Metro Fitness, and especially those who were pilates instructors, had these long, lean bodies that I was envious of!

One of my  mom's dear friends, Denise Swann, has always been in shape and had a great figure, but I noticed she was starting to get that long, lean look about her too.  Come to find out, she started doing pilates and raved about the Sweatilates class that Pam Carson taught at Metro Fitness on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.  Because it was pilates class and I didn't have to pay extra for the class,  I was all about trying it out!

What an experience that first class was!  Sweatilates really did make me sweat! As an onlooker, the pilates moves appear so easy.  Yet, my legs had never burned like they did in that first class. I was so sore the next day and decided I needed to keep going back for more! Give me that long, lean look, please!

Side Note: I have literally been trying to write this blog about Sweatilates for about 3 weeks now.  I kept trying to explain things through words, but felt it was boring and couldn't illustrate what we do only through my writing.  After tons of writing, erasing and re-writing, I decided to go with pictures and illustrations. Please also note that I do not know the names of any of these exercises, but try to explain them as best as possible :)


Here is an exercise that lifts your butt, works your core and gets those pesky inner thighs.  As you might notice, form is key! No matter what you do in pilates, you must always check that your shoulders are back and relaxed, you back is straight, and your tummy and butt are tucked. (This can be incorporated in other workouts and applied in your every day life ,whether you are sitting at your desk or putting up the dishes)



This exercise looks so simple, but it isn't! You must keep that tummy tucked to protect that lower back! This is another great move for your core, butt and inner thighs.  That standing leg (the one not off to the side) also gets a good work out.





Here we look like ballerinas.  The bar is there for our stability, but if you notice, this exercise is performed on our tippy toes, which really burns those quads and calves.  Even keeping your arms up in this exercise is challenging!

I love this move! It works on your stability as well as working your core (especially obliques), legs and especially those saddle bags!



Well there I am in all my glory with no make up at 5:30 a.m. We  use these 1 lbs. weights for working our upper body.  Don't let their tiny size fool you...when done with a lot of repititions, you can feel the burn! 
For this particular exercise, I simply keep my upper arms aligned with my shoulders and move the weights back and forth from underneath my arm pit and then make my arms straight (palms facing down).  This really works my shoulders and biceps.



This is another example of  a time when you must be aware of your posture. (back straight, core is tight, my shoulders are down and relaxed so not to hurt my neck). 

So you've seen a few shots from our Sweatilates class.  I love our little class, and I can see results in every single person who has taken this class.  We can complain at times, but Pam pushes us and we get the job done.  If you are looking for something different to do in your workout routine, I encourage you to try Pilates! It will not only help give you that long lean look, but it will help you in your other work outs and your posture.