For those of you who don't know, I do Pilates aside from dancing; I've been doing it for about 4 or 5 years now, and the combination of Pilates + dancing is won-der-ful.
As I mentioned in my previous post, I have tons of complications from sustaining multiple injuries because of dance, and Pilates really does help me recover! I think it's an especially fantastic work out (or therapy program) for dancers who get injured very easily—Martha Graham and George Balanchine did Pilates, if you were wondering—or want to strengthen their bodies for dance (I know it's helped me a lot in terms of flexibility, strength, and endurance). However, I am just speaking from my own experience, so I obviously have no idea if this will be suitable for everyone but I definitely think you should try it out :D
My bow-and-arrow, 6 o'clock, and scorpion aren't perfect, I know. But doing Pilates really improved my flexibility, strength, and endurance so that I could actually go into those positions and hold it for longer :D
Pilates has helped in correcting my posture and bone structure, which is something I'm very thankful for. I used to have something called lordosis*, which is a type of spine curvature disorder, and to this day I don't know exactly what caused it—although I'm 95% sure it was because of dance—so my Pilates instructor always had me do (and she still does) a certain series of exercises to re-adjust my spine. Even after all these years, I can't say that my back is in perfect condition now because I think I first had this disorder when I was around 5 or 6 years old, I don't know. However, the posture of my spinal column has visibly improved, and it doesn't bother me as much anymore.
*Lordosis is a condition wherein the spinal cord curves inward too much, making it absolutely impossible for the person affected to slouch, even when he/she tries his/her hardest to. Although some people think it looks pretty, because this disorder does give the illusion of having a stronger back, in all actuality it is not, and it causes quite a bit of pain. ._____.
Back when my lordosis was still at its peak, a lot of my friends used to compliment me for having such "great" posture because I literally wouldn't even slouch when I sat down for hours on end; some of them also asked me to teach them how to do it, and I would just reply, "What in the world are you talking about? This is not something I wanted." It was actually quite a pain in the a%# because, as I found out later on through Pilates, lordosis actually caused issues in other parts of my body structure that also contributed to more pains. My back is still unfortunately as straight and stiff as a board, but thank the Lord in Heaven it's getting better.
Aside from all of the things I mentioned above, and honestly speaking on a more vain note, doing Pilates (plus dance) really changed my body! I don't go on diets like Atkins, no gluten, eating clean, or veganism—the closest I've ever done to "diet" is restrict my junk food intake, and increase my vegetables and fruits consumption; I also don't eat chocolate and peanuts *cue sobbing (CHOCOLATEEEEEE T_____T)* anymore because they make me break out, but that's a whole other story—so I can safely say that dancing and doing Pilates regularly has changed my body so much. I've had to get rid of a lot of my jeans, skirts, and a few shirts because they became too big to wear, and I even had to alter the size of my dresses to make them smaller, which makes me happy because I've lost weight without even trying to. That's another reason why I think Pilates and dance make such a great combination :D
I dropped 3-4 sizes in jeans, possibly about 2-3 in tops, and maybe 2 in dresses.
I lost fat here and there, but gained muscle mass from working out, so I can't really talk about my weight change.
One of the benefits of doing Pilates and dance combined :D
In all honesty, even though I'm very happy with the physical changes I've seen on my body, the best part of working out in my opinion is getting to know the limits of my strength and endurance, and testing them over and over again to eventually surpass those boundaries. To me, there's something satisfying and almost addictive in getting to see my body being capable enough to withstand what I like to call "the legal form of physical torture" that is intermediate/aerial Pilates. I've said tons of great things about this form of exercise, but let's be honest here, no work out is ever easy. I've been doing quite a bit of aerial stunts in Pilates lately—my instructor especially loves to have me do it whenever somebody stops by to observe the class—and even though it is extreme muscle torture at its best, I always end up feeling so proud of myself because after years of training, my body has finally become strong enough to do stunts on the trapeze or Redcord ropes (that's exactly what it is: two or 4 ropes suspended from the ceiling for us to do stunts on). Of course, I always say a little prayer before doing these stunts: "Lord, please don't let me fall, please don't let me fall, please don't let me fall, please don't let me fall, please don't let me fall." and I repeat this over and over again until my feet land safely on the ground.
I just had Pilates class today, and one of the junior-rank instructors jokingly said, "Jenn, you're being tortured every single time you do Pilates, yet you still come for every session." Well, what can I say? I'm an over-achiever, and I like challenging myself in every way possible; Pilates is just one of those things that sparks my interest and motivates me to challenge my body in ways I've never done before aside from dancing :D
The bottom line is, Pilates has a lot of benefits (especially for dancers) and I fully encourage every one of you to try it out! For those of you who are new to working out, or want to try something new, don't be afraid to do this; Pilates has little risks and a ton of advantages! It's great for people who aren't huge fans of sports or going to the gym to weight-train, run on the treadmill, do the elliptical, etc. as well, because I know I have an aversion to those things. I'll be the first to admit that I am such a klutz when it comes to sports, and weight-training or doing the things people usually do at the gym bores me to death, so Pilates is a great option! All the best to all of you who will try :D
Much love,
Jennifer W.
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