Tina’s Pilates Journey

1. How long have you been practicing pilates for?

I first started practising weekly four years ago and kept it up for about a year and a half. When Studio 70 began offering classes a year or so ago I started back up and that’s been me since.

2. What keeps you coming back to your mat every week

Pilates is sneaky! The movements are small and tend to focus on isolating muscles, but they are deceptively tough. I often wake up the next day with painful muscles I had no idea existed. I always leave a class feeling strong and that’s pretty awesome. Also, the teachers at the studio are great at tweaking exercises to suit different people in the class.

3. What are the benefits of having a regular pilates practice?

For me it’s benefited my running because of all the core and hip strengthening. I’m quite injury prone and have had problems with my knees in the past but since practising Pilates again consistently I have remained injury free. There are mental benefits too which I think a lot of people don’t realise because that’s normally associated with yoga. Lots of repetitions of tiny movements require a lot of focus and that’s something I carry with me through the rest of my day.

4. What’s your favourite pilates movement and why?

I like roll ups, which focus on the abs, because they’re so versatile and can be adapted easily depending on how much of a challenge you’re after.

5. Can you tell us how pilates complements your yoga practice?

I feel like I flow more easily through a Vinyasa class because of the strength and mobility work in Pilates. In particular, poses that require a lot of core strength, like Plank or Chatturanga, feel more solid to me now.

6. Tell us a fun fact about yourself! 

I’m currently learning Gaelic from scratch!