I have a secret that you may not know. If you are a regular client of mine, you may have figured this out already. I think it’s OK and encourage my clients to not always give 100% in their workouts!
Let me explain. First, let me just say that I know how challenging Pilates can be. When you are giving 100% and paying attention to every little detail of your alignment, engaging your core and staying balanced, it can be intense!
When I’m teaching you, and you’re giving it everything, I can feel that work! If you work with me regularly you know there are times, I’ll “ask” for that effort more often than not and you always do your best.
But, if you work with me on a regular basis, you’ll also find sometimes I specifically don’t ask for it. There are days when I really believe that the most important thing you did for yourself that day was to show up! Not because I don’t think you can do the work, but because I truly believe that not every movement experience needs to be an all out 110% effort kind of movement session to be an effective part of your movement practice. There are some days when a little extra stretching and breath work will allow you to reconnect with your body, de-stress and just plain feel better than if we did your most challenging Pilates Mat workout. Even if you are not working at 110%, I guarantee you are still working! You are still strengthening, gaining flexibility and working on maintaining a strong balanced body!
When I say some days, I’m talking about the days when it would have been so much easier just to shut the alarm clock off and go back to sleep instead of coming to the studio, the days when you had a stressful day at work and would much rather have a glass of wine than go to your Pilates session, or maybe the day when you are feeling a little sore and would love to just take another few days off. Even on those days I truly believe that doing something movement wise (even if it’s at 75% instead of 100%) will make you feel better and keep you and your body much happier in the long run!
As an instructor, I really try to check in with my clients and tailor their workouts to what their body and their life needs on any day. You might wonder, does this mean clients aren’t getting the most out of their workouts? Absolutely not! By tailoring workouts to the person (and their life on any day) I’m encouraging clients to show up more often, listen to their body more often and create a more regular movement practice in their life. I call it balance!
Life is about balance and that includes your movement and workout sessions. I hope that next time you’re considering skipping your movement time you’ll think about this and maybe decide to just do something. Listen to your body, move it in a way that feels good to you and be proud of yourself for making movement a part of your life!
