To the core.

I love Pilates! Why?

1. It's a calm way of exercising
2. No pressure on joints i.e. don't have to lift a 30 kg to do squats so that you have a good butt
3. Tones muscles you didn't even know you had or that you knew you had but could never activate them
4. Pain and injury reliever

That last point is really important for me. I feel that we are forgetting the real reason for Pilates. It's become this awesome fitness/best way to get Miranda Kerr's body craze that blogs, websites and magazines are writing about. Wouldn't we all like to look like Miranda, but it's so much more than that! Did you know that it was originally created as a form of rehabilitation? I did a bit of research and found out that soldiers returning from the war and ballet dancers were the only ones who ever really used it: rehabilitation.

I had a back injury several years ago and these days, I have recurring back problems. With my initial back injury, I was constantly doing Pilates, however, once I thought my back was all better, I stopped it and decided to do other forms of exercise. I stupidly and naively thought that Pilates was just there to help relieve my back during an injury. This has been the cycle for the past few years: stop Pilates, back problems, go back to Pilates, stop Pilates when my back is better, back problems. 

(Image from Q Pilates website)

It's only now, after years of this cycle and after years of being told by my mum and physio that I need to maintain Pilates, that I'm realising that it's not just a form of exercise that you do sporadically. I need Pilates every week and pretty much for the rest of my life to stay on track and keep my core and back strong, injury or no injury. This year, I will be maintaining Pilates through Q-Pilates and my gym, Pure Health Clubs. Yes, I'm hopefully going to look like Miranda, but all I know is once I stop Pilates, my back is going to cop it and I'm sick of that happening. I need Pilates to rehabilitate and get back on track. 

So this year, I will not put up with the winning of the sore back! The only thing that will be sore, is my core!

Pilates for the win! Go team.