Pilates Comes to Town

By Maria Martinez
Blog Content Contributor

Exercising every day is an essential part of having a healthy and balanced life. The Student Recreation Center at Texas State offers students a variety of classes to choose from. This semester, Pilates is one of the classes being taught and I could not be more excited.  

I am not the type of person who likes very intense workouts, because I always get dizzy and nauseous and it gets me unmotivated to keep exercising. I discovered Pilates eight years ago and I fell in love with it on the first class. I like it because it is the perfect combination of intensity and relaxation. You work out every muscle of your body, without bulking it, and it reduces your everyday stress with the help of respiration techniques. In class, we use different equipment such as balls, elastic bands, weights and the pilates ring.

Confusing yoga with Pilates is very common because they share some similarities. I have taken both classes and I enjoyed them a lot, but I prefer pilates. Pilates is more intense and can help you get quicker body changes, whereas yoga focuses more in balance and endurance, which is why it is common to keep a complex pose for a long time.  Pilates classes are more structured in a way that you know what to expect when you arrive to class. Both classes are a fusion of body and mind, but yoga adds the spiritual part as well.

This summer, my body changed drastically by doing Pilates and ballet barre almost every day for one month. My core and legs started to tone and my arms were stronger since the very first week. When I was coming back to San Marcos, I started to look up Pilates studios near here and there are almost none. This is why when I saw pilates in the group exercise schedule, I could not believe it.

Pilates helps you get a dancer’s body, which is strong and lean. The main benefits of practicing Pilates are:

• Flexibility
• Strong body, especially core (abdominal region)
• Great posture
• Reduces stress, since you have to concentrate in your breathing while at the same time be making the right move.

I took the Texas State class and I liked it a lot. I felt relaxed and happy after I was done with my workout. Sarah is the instructor for this class and she was amazing. The pace was slower in comparison to the rhythm I had from my previous studio but it is understandable since it is a group exercise class.