#pilates

#pilates

When Joseph Pilates developed what he first called Contrology in the early 20th century, there were no dedicated studios or intimidating contraptions. There wasn't even a reformer yet. (That came later, improvised from leather straps and hospital bed frames.) The idea was simple then, and it still is now: Pilates asks you to work with what you already have. Your body does the work, and a mat just makes it more comfortable.

I walk a whole lot. I garden a whole lot. I go to work in New York [City] pretty much five days a week or do my traveling," she said.

Q&A is incredibly important to me as a coach because it represents a return to strategy: solving problems and decisively moving forward helps you train more effectively. Without this clarity, you may waste weeks, months, or even years of time with subpar approaches to running. You might... never add more weight to your lifts in the gym, preventing any strength progression only do pilates, thinking that it's "enough" when it comes to getting stronger desperately try to run a faster marathon... but never run more than 40 miles per week try every recovery strategy imaginable to stay healthy, while you never strength train at all

As the (frequently) sole male in pilates classes, I wonder if the reason pilates and the male psyche don't seem to connect (Letters, 19 October) is that the language is directed towards women and their anatomy. On more than one occasion, when I have clearly been confused as to what bit of myself I am meant to be concentrating on, female instructors have whispered crown jewels in my ear.

For Ong, the studio is the realization of a dream more than a decade in the making. After moving to New York in 2011 and spending years in the corporate world, she told Brooklyn Paper the dream of creating a Pilates studio never left her. "This has always been my dream," Ong said. "Ever since I started Pilates 10 years ago, it's been helping me. I always had that entrepreneurial spirit when I was [working] in corporate and I'm always into the health, wellness and fitness space."

"I was shaking the entire time," creator @allisonlloydfit said in a viral clip, while @selenaamae said just the warm-up alone had her entire body "on fire."