If I were a better person, I would like Pilates

I tried yogalates today, as my trial of barre Pilates resulted in knee pain. No knee pain this time- I just didn't like it- in fact I liked it even less than the barre class. It was even less fun.

If I am going to do something hard and uncomfortable- which Pilates is for me- it has to be at least a little bit fun. It just wasn't. It just felt like exercise, and I didn't like it. Yoga doesn't feel like exercise to me. Hiking doesn't feel like exercise to me. If I lift weights, I am at least excited about the amount of weight I am lifting- this was just no fun. No distraction.

So even though I have a weak core, I have decided no Pilates. I need to find exercise that I actually enjoy. Maybe I can just do some planks every day. If I remember... And I will try to get a third yoga class into my week, instead of trying to find a Pilates class.

But I did get one good thing out of the class- which was just to use the ball to sit on- and to pick up one foot, and then to try to pick up the other foot and still balance. And then to try it with eyes closed. I have no balance with eyes closed, I really need to work on that. I liked the ball- I think I just might have to buy one.

Getting old is a bitch

I don't think of myself as old. But every now and then I get a twinge in my knees to remind me that I am not immortal. And now, after my second pilates Barre class, my knees are very unhappy, the most unhappy they have ever been. I don't think I have more Barre Amped classes in my future. I hate to give up so easily, but I'd rather protect my knees. It's not like I live for these classes.

Still, the class did such a good job of working my core and my quads. I will have to find other ways of doing this. They have a yogalates class. I think I will try that. Maybe I can tolerate that better. Or mat pilates.

All my patients tell me not to get old. Unfortunately, there is only one way to avoid doing that.

Yoga I love, Pilates not so much (but I need it)

I went to my first Pilates class on Wednesday. I can't say I loved it. It was more like climbing a difficult mountain, and mid way up you start wondering why you are doing this and maybe it would be nice to stop. But at the end, you are glad you did it.

It was really hard as I have really weak abs and my quads aren't too strong too, apparently. We were working on quads on the mat. And then it came time to stand up- and my right quad just said no! I wondered if people sometimes got stuck on the ground. I managed to get up by putting my weight on my left leg. But then we did some standing work, and every now and then my quads would just start shaking, and I started wondering if people ever fell in class...

No, I did not fall. But I can still feel my quads, even today. Enough to remind me that I need more than just yoga. I need to do Pilates. So I will go back next week.

So I have three evenings a week spoken for, my early work nights. Yoga, pilates, yoga. Maybe I'll eventually get really ambitious and do a weekend class. But I'm not pushing it. Yet. This has only been a month since I started with the yoga.