Day 16 - Awesome Twosome

Alliteration is the commencement of two or more words of a word group with the same letter. For an example very close to home, we have the Pilates Place.
But that’s not the only one available – there’s also Jacq and Jack. We all know who Jacq is… but Jack?

Well, Jack is short for Jackie, who is the other half of the twosome who brought The Pilates Place to us mere fitness mortals. So far, my interactions with Jackie have been confined to chats before or after pilates classes but today, we were taking our relationship to the next level ;)

I was to participate in a class that Jackie would lead. This was going to be interesting. If you’ve never met Jackie, she’s a really nice person and she has the best posture I’ve ever seen. Like, ever.

The class started with a few limbering movements and then we moved onto the reformer. Within a few minutes of the session, I was already corrected for my form – I was not keeping enough of a neutral spine. That made me more conscious for the rest of the class and was a big help because I could actually feel the difference.

Jackie’s choice of movements, was different from Jacq’s – which is great because it added even more variation to the repertoire that I had been exposed to. Not that Jacq’s classes were routine or predictable, No No, not at all.

What I AM saying though, is that the styles and approaches of both Jacq & Jackie complement each other, making them a truly awesome twosome.

Day 12 - Just a notch

It might have been my imagination but I could have sworn that today’s class was a shade tougher than the usual work out. Jacq seemed to be leading the class at a quicker pace and the movements seemed more challenging – raise your legs, point your toes, exhale, flex up and raise yourself to a teaser position… Oh! And while you’re at it – maintain your teaser position, stretch your left hand across to your neighbour on the right and poke her in the ribs. It was that complex.

After class, I hung back to chat with Jacq & Jackie – I was concerned because despite losing inches off my thighs and hips, the weighing scale said that I was the same weight!?

Now… I’m never one to trust the scales – who could blame me? I had been on the wrong side of 50kilos since I was a teen! The years of trauma led me to develop a mantra: As long as I looked good, I didn’t care how much I weighed.

The plausible explanations were:
1. I was retaining water. Possible…
2. I was gaining muscle. Equally plausible.

I thiiiink… both were probably happening at the same time. And, of course, I was looking better, which is the whole point ;)

Day 11 - The return to Tras

After a hiatus of 4 days, I was a little nervous that I wouldn’t get past the Thursday evening group lesson without substantial internal injury. Nonetheless, I was glad to be at The Pilates Place again. The woody décor of the studio and its row of reformers was familiar and comforting while the scent of tea tree in the air was at once calming and invigorating.

True enough, I didn’t breeze through the lesson today. I had to concentrate harder to get the movements correct. In just 4 days, I had somehow forgotten to breathe correctly and I found my movements and breaths out of sync.

I latched on to Jacq’s voice and her instructions, trying to clear my mind of all preconceived notions of how I should be performing the movements. Perhaps Jacq sensed my struggles – I hope that they were the struggles of the other ladies in the class as well, but her advice came as such: Exhale for one second first to activate the core muscles and then begin your movement.

I obeyed dutifully and it made all the difference.

Day 8 - Armchair Pilates

It’s my first morning in lovely, sunny Phuket where I was to be sequestered in an air-conditioned conference room, with the curtains drawn, facing presentations all day with respite only available during the designated tea & meal breaks.

Fortunately, I had a chance on Sunday (yesterday) to get out and enjoy the sunshine and scenery afforded by the Laguna Golf Course. Even then, pilates was on my mind – the new & killer routine that Jacq had put the class through on Saturday had focused on the upper back muscles which made me acutely aware of my upper back muscles with every golf swing that I took.

Being away from Singapore meant that I had to stay disciplined and put myself through the Theraband exercises that Jacq taught me after class on Saturday. Diligently, I had copied the details down but had somehow neglected to bring the sheet with me to Phuket. Sheer brilliance.

I tried to jot a couple of the movements down from memory but couldn’t recall much, which is when I decided to check out Youtube.com for videos. It turned out to be a great resource. Although… I suspected that nothing could beat my experiences of a real lesson at The Pilates Place.

Day 7 - The Contender

Bring it on! Was my reaction to Jacq when I received her text message when I landed in Phuket. Turns out that someone emailed her and wants to challenge me to a Pilates duel. Quizzically, you frown wondering how on earth 2 individuals can duel in Pilates.

I have absolutely no idea. But whatever or however… I’m game. Let’s do this ;)

Day 6 - Do you Measure Up?

It’s my 6th consecutive day of pilates training and my body felt good – I felt taut, hell, even svelte. The kinda slim-feeling you get after emerging from a strict month-long low-protein, high exercise diet. Except that this was 6 days.

I think Jacq saw a difference as well, which probably prompted her to measure my various problem areas again. We took 1 set of measurements before my first lesson and 6 days and 6 sessions later, I was at the altar of reckoning, the moment of truth.

Arms – no change (ok-aaay, I felt tighter though)

Waist – no change (how can that be? I thought I saw a slight waistline in the mirror this morning!)

Hips – slimmer by 1 inch (YES!)

Left thigh – slimmer by 1 inch as well (WOOHOO!)

Right thigh – slimmer by ½ inch (so I’ll have unevenly slimmer thighs, works for me!)

Jacq telling me that I’ve improved significantly since Monday – PRICELESS

Day 5 - Real women do Pilates

It’s 12.23pm and I’m still in the office - running late for class AGAIN. Dammit.

I switch out my work heels, put on my trusty flip flops and do a quick trot over to Tras Street, arriving just in time for my second group lesson in 2 days and per the day before, I’m joining a group of ladies who are seasoned “pilateans” – if such a word exists.

Thankfully, I’m not the latest and I wriggle out of my work clothes and into my pilates kit whilst Jacq explains the differences in the Stott machines to the group.

It is, as always, an enjoyable hour. The springs in the reformer hum rhythmically as Jacq guides the class through her Pilates Athletic repertoire. My eyes start to blank out – I’ve reached a state of pilates nirvana where I’m looking but not seeing, my ears home-in on Jacq’s voice and my mind focuses on the lengthening & contracting of the muscles in my body as I breathe steadily.

After class, I pad back to the office and en route, realize that I had really missed out the last couple of years, by not being a part of the sorority of pilates loving women.

I had loved jogging - feet pounding the pavement, feeling the burn and letting the perspiration soak through my t-shirt, congratulating myself that THAT was real exercise. In my mind, pilates was the realm of chi-chi tai-tais who needed an easy, glamourous, time-filler before the next high tea or mani-pedi.

I couldn’t be further from the truth. The ladies I’ve met so far did not fit the stereotype. Don’t get me wrong - they all looked good but they also had real jobs… they had families… they had schedules…

Day 2 - Come Hail or High Water

Cats & Dogs... It's lunchtime on a Tuesday and it's raining cats & dogs on Shenton Way. I'm due for my second pilates class with Jacq in about 10mins.. as usual, i'm going to be late!

Well, a little rain never hurt anyone and besides, i wasn't about to reschedule on the 2nd lesson and appear uncommited to my cause. No! Even if i had to be soaked to the bone, drenched and dripping with rain water, speckled with bits of mud and dirt kicked up by my Havaianas, i'll make it to class, dammit!

So I wind my way through the crowded maze of underground (read: sheltered & dry) walk-ways to get myself as close to Tras Street as possible. Emerging at the Peck Seah Street entrance of the Tanjong Pagar MRT station, i roll up the legs of my jeans - ignoring the smirks on the faces of the office ladies huddled under the shelter, waiting for the rain to dissipate - and I open my umbrella with a flourish, stepping out into the rain. As the water droplets thud lightly on my brollie, i glance backwards, victorious... My turn to smirk.

I arrive at the studio. Conscious of my lunch hour, we launched into the sequences immediately and it was nothing short of amazing. Just a day after my first lesson, I already felt a marked improvement in the way my body was reacting to the workout. As Jacq predicted, my muscles were now clued-in on the manner in which they would be (and were being) worked and I found the pilates moves much easier to execute than the day before.

Movements that had me shuddering and straining only yesterday, seemed more natural today. I felt greater stability. And with the stability, i gained confidence. Relieved that i did not resemble a Cirque du Soleil act gone-awry, i diverted my energies toward adding mental focus in controlling and sensing the contractions of my ab muscles and adductor muscles.

What. A. Difference. I found myself perspiring - not just tiny beads but rivulets of sweat. For that one hour, i was entirely devoted to me, my movements, my muscles and my breathing. Fabulous.

It had stopped raining by the time i stepped back on the street. 8 minutes later, i was back in the office, at my desk, tapping away on my keyboard, thinking that it was not at all, a bad way to spend my lunch hour.