Exercising has become a part of daily activities for most people in Singapore. It is not only essential to maintain a healthy lifestyle and it also helps to ease the stress and exhaustion from daily work. There are many different options to incorporate exercise into your daily life: you could have a walk in the park or lift some weights in the gym. But many of us simply don’t have the time to step out of the house or commit to a rigid routine.
Here comes the solution: Pilates.
As a system of exercise that is designed to improve your physical strength, flexibility and posture, Pilates is simple (or so it seems) and convenient. All you need is a soft Pilates mat and you’re all set! You can do it anywhere and anytime; it’s the perfect exercise for people who can’t get out of the house. But what if you don’t know how to do Pilates? Don’t worry, because there are classes where you can learn!
Pilates: The Easy Part
As someone who has never done Pilates before, I have always been interested in it, but I was worried that I would injure myself in the process. So, I decided to try out a class with my internship colleague, Farhah. We went to a Pilates class at SAFRA Choa Chu Kang and we got to experience for ourselves what Pilates really is like.
Going into the class, I did not have much expectations. Because of the lack of expectations, I was also a bit scared. The first part was still easy and doable, just a few simple breathing exercises and meditation. This really helped me relax my body and everything felt peaceful. But the peace did not last… For the next part, when I say nothing, I mean NOTHING could have prepared me for what I was about to go through!
Stretching My Muscles To Its Limits
Before I knew it, I was getting my body into many different positions – I was lying on my back, on my tummy, my sides, all while using the other different body parts to support my weight and balance out. I stretched every muscle in my body, even parts of it that I didn’t even realise existed.
There were certain moves I found easy, like the bridge and the single leg stretch. Those were simple enough for me to execute and not subject my body to too much aches. But the other moves were on another whole new level altogether.
The exercises I found the toughest were the ones that required me to use my core. I had to lift my neck while keeping my legs elevated at different angles, which made my core hurt so much. Another one was called “Swimming”, where we laid on our tummies and our limbs were off the ground. I found the look of the move to be very funny, but I immediately stopped laughing once I began “swimming”.
After doing all of that, we had to roll like a ball and rely on our core to roll ourselves backwards and forwards, which was so tough for me. I struggled to roll myself forward, making a funny moment for me and Farhah to giggle about.
Some of the moves literally had my limbs shaking from just how much strength I had to exert; it was exhausting to say the least! Looking at all the other students, I was impressed at just how strong they were. Some of them were much older than me, yet they were executing the moves much better than me, they were barely even breaking a sweat! I guessed they must have had lots of practice.
Final Thoughts
I have never felt so relieved in my life when I stepped out of that room. My initial impression of Pilates being a relaxing and easy exercise were debunked from the get-go. I am someone whose only form of exercise consists of just taking slow walks, so this definitely tested my limits.
Pilates has also made me realise just how inflexible I am, but it also helped me stretch my muscles and even discover new ones. Will I do this again? Probably! It definitely loosened my body and the less strenuous exercises helped me relax quite a bit. Not only that, it is super convenient as I just need a gym mat and I can do it at home too… now that I have some knowledge on how to!
Want to try getting into Pilates? Click here for more information on the Mat Pilates lessons at SAFRA Choa Chu Kang and sign up today.
SAFRA Members’ Perk: Enjoy special price of $16.40 per lesson when you sign up.
