Following the success of my Yoga workout last week, I said I’d have a go at a Pilates session on my watch, specifically a workout called Pilates for Runners. So here is… the eagerly anticipated Pilates post!
The Yoga session was long, taking in over 90 different moves over 30 minutes. It was fast paced and difficult in places to keep up with. The Pilates workout was around half as many steps in a similar timeframe delivered at a simpler pace. There was an added bonus of five rests mixed in with the steps. A serious improvement for me, although unfortunately these breaks were only ten seconds long – I could’ve done with a couple of minutes each time!
Pilates appears more fluid than yoga, involving a more complicated range of moves. Complicated to me anyway, a complete novice in the world of organised stretching. As with the Yoga, I copied the man on my watch as he moved through each step. It was not always easy as sometimes you don’t have sight of him, but each step lasted for 45 seconds to a minute, so there was always time to catch up again.
The 25 minutes or so workout was challenging. It worked the core well and stretched my legs with the help of a resistance band in some steps. Some of the steps hurt, some were fun, (check out “Rolling like a ball” – just called “Rolling” on the app), some I wanted to stop with 30 seconds left to go on it.
This was all new to me, so there was some uncordinated moves, some groaning, some realisation that my legs just don’t stretch that far. Definitely one to do behind closed curtains! I noticed afterwards that the app details the muscles worked in each step, which will help target different areas in the long run when I get more familiar with what I need to do.
The best part of these additional workouts is that they are something new and different. I’ve written in the past about the great benefits we get through running on our mental health and well-being. A wonderful part of learning something new is the dopamine hit the body gives us as a reward. And while this wasn’t really learning something new, it was just copying body shapes that a little guy on my watch was making, I did get a sense of reward associated with the exercise.
The real benefit, I suspect, is the mixture of exercise. A new string to an old bow. A new challenge and a new tendon stretched in a pleasing way. No gain without pain, right? Let’s hope so, there was certainly the pain here.
I’m inspired by the new workout routines and will look for more, perhaps my watch will give me some others to work through. There appears to be workouts for Stand-up paddle boarding, Cross country skiing, even yard work. On send thoughts, I might not want to get too far down that track, I might end up with a list of unwanted jobs, all in the name of fitness.
run another 