by Elaine Rensing

I love teaching (and taking) group classes- the energy of the group is infectious as classmates commiserate over doing the hundreds or a second (or third or fourth) set of squats. The joint suffering of doing yet another plank can be highly motivating and such a great bonding experience.  But did you ever have that one Pilates exercise that never made sense?  You were doing it but not sure you were using the right muscles?  Or maybe you’re stuck at a plateau and wondering how to get out of it?  Have a knee injury but want to train for a marathon?  Or maybe you’re tired of doing what’s best for everybody else and it’s time to really really focus on yourself. 

At BerryPilates I like to think we help you to experience the best of both worlds.  I’ve been so inspired by what my private clients achieve in our Pilates studio and outside of it.  There’s my trapeze artist who wants to know how to get that perfect line of her leg and foot. Or my yoga teacher-in-training who wants to know how to engage her hip muscles in half-moon.  My lawyers who work ridiculously long hours (how do they sit still that long? I can’t.)  And of course the most awe-inspiring are the mommies who come in with no sleep but still manage to squeeze in a session. I thinkPilates is designed to improve quality of life and make us better at what we love.  That could be feeling strong enough to hold your grandson or keep your lat engaged in latin dance.  I’d like to attribute it to the fact that Pilates makes us aware of our bodies and how they work. 

Alignment can be such an intricate thing- stomach in, shoulders back, now breathe.  How to put to all together? And what if you have shoulder that’s higher? Having knowledge about your own body and how to work with it can be highly rewarding. Imagine being able to really engage the low abdominals for the first time and taking that experience and applying it in spin class.  Picture being in your favorite cardio dance class and when the teacher tells you to pull up your core really knowing whats she’s talking about.  A private session allows the teacher to focus on your goals, and the investment pays off quicker than you might think. 

I have a client that had gained over 30 pounds before she started Pilates was able to get back into her holiday party dress after five weeks of twice weekly sessions.  One of my clients who has taken Pilates classes for years was surprised how much harder her Pilates session was when she was on her own, because we could go from one challenging exercise to the next at such a fast pace and with many repetitions. 

A great thing about our studio as well is our semi-privates which give so much more variety than the traditional reformer class.  One week it’s the wunda chair, the next the tower, or Tower of Power as my clients have started calling it.  My clients find as we go between different apparatus and their bodies are challenged in new ways their bodies respond and change very quickly.  Semi-privates allow you to workout with a buddy but still enjoy the personalized attention and laser focus that you’ll receive from the teacher in an individual session. One of my duet clients after a month of once weekly duets has happily reported to me that she can now see ab definition.  She works long hours and can’t get away every day to work out so a semi-private is a perfect answer to get results in a short amount of time.  Pilates is such a great and invaluable tool and I encourage everyone to take advantage. 

So the next time you’re in bootcamp and the teacher comments on your great form, you can secretly smile to yourself and say, “I know."