Pilates and a home workout

By Melissa Noble
LMP, STOTT PILATES® Instructor and Instructor Trainer

You have been doing pilates faithfully, either going to class or doing a private once or more a week. Maybe you can’t afford to add another class or private, or maybe your schedule doesn’t allow for more than one trip a week to the studio. This is the perfect reason to have a home workout. Now before you lie down on the floor and start pumping away with your 100’s, there are a few things to consider and prepare for a comfortable and safe home workout. You don’t need fancy or expensive equipment to make a “home studio”. The minimum requirement is to have a good, thick mat to protect your spine while you do those lovely rolling through the back exercises pilates is famous for. Please don’t just use a yoga mat. These mats are made for yoga, not pilates, and do not have enough padding to protect your spine and sacrum. Spend a little more money to get a thicker mat. A physio ball and a TheraBand are inexpensive but very versatile. Other small and inexpensive pieces of equipment are a roller, mini ball or toning balls. You can purchase much of these at Target or sporting goods stores or you can find them online at STOTT PILATES and many other websites. Now you have your equipment, what do you do? Despite the fact that we repeat many of the same exercises week after week in a class or private lesson, it is harder than you think to remember them once you’re lying on the mat without the instructor telling you what to do. One strategy many people like is using a DVD, kind of a surrogate instructor. Don’t just order the cheapest DVD, you will get what you pay for. Go to a reputable site or ask your instructor for recommendations. STOTT PILATES has wide range of DVDs for many of the small pieces of equipment. Another idea is to ask your instructor to do a private with you and make a workout designed just for your body. This is great for many reasons, the main one being that a DVD may not address what your body needs. Or you may have an injury that prevents you from doing many of the exercises on a DVD. The instructor can design a workout just for you and make sure that you are doing it correctly. This also allows for you to progress as your body is ready and in the way that is best for you as an individual, unlike a DVD, which will have a set program. Whichever path you choose, you will notice that adding even one day a week more to your current workout will show results. Once you have the equipment and the workout, the only thing left is to actually do it. The best recommendation to achieve this, is to put your home workout times in your schedule like any other appointment. And like any other appointment, if you need to break it for some reason, try to re-schedule. Congratulations on opening your own home studio, now go for it!!