Plotzing Back into Shape

November 22, 10:00 AMCharleston Family Life ExaminerCynthia Nirenblatt

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So, I've decided to get back into shape because I can no longer carry my three-year-old son on one hip, my overweight purse on the opposite shoulder and keep up with my daughter while running across a parking lot carrying a bag of stuff from Target.

Of course, I don’t know too many women who can do that either, but maybe I need to lower my expectations.

After using a gym (lots of them), trying personal trainers (aka meanies with weenies), forgoing the yoga craze (too much performance anxiety) and just plain old walking the dog (stopping every five seconds to sniff something new), I’ve decided to try something new. It’s called Pilates, or as I like to say in Yiddish- Plotzes.

It actually isn’t that new. Pilates was started way back during World War I by a man named Joseph Pilates who thought that soldiers returning from war needed to stretch their muscles while laying in bed to stave off atrophy. 

The reason I started this new routine was because one evening, my daughter and son were playing a game around the dinner table asking what land we live in. I sarcastically answered, “Mommyland- a land of never ending dishes, laundry and Band-aids.” My daughter said she lived in “Horseland.” My son answered he lived in “Sillyland” and my husband grumpily answered “I don’t know what land I live in.” 

My daughter then replied, “You live in stress land!”

That was it...time to take action. So for our anniversary, I got him 10 personal training sessions (for the number of years we've been married) with Mt. Pleasant Pilates and Wellness on Coleman Boulevard. And frankly if People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive Hugh Jackman, can do it, then so can my husband. On Mt. Pleasant Pilates and Wellness' website, I knew this was meant for me (I mean him) when I saw the quote from Joseph Pilates describing our lives.

“If at the age of 30 you are stiff and out of shape, you are old. If at 60 you are supple and strong then you are young.”

That was it, we’ve become old and someone else in their 60s is living the life we should be living.

On the first day of class, Nicole Lucas, owner of Mt. Pleasant Pilates and Wellness, told me the first rule of Pilates is breathing. "Great," I thought. I can do that. Well, it turns out I’ve been doing it wrong for the past 37 years. The reason my stomach is “well-rounded” isn’t just because I like Baskin Robbins and Milk Duds, it’s because I’ve forced the muscles in my tummy to strengthen the wrong way. If I learn to breath in and out differently, my stomach and my back will naturally become stronger and I’ll begin to see a difference in just three sessions.

“Sign me up!” I said.

It took me the entire hour to learn to breath correctly, but as I’m writing this, I can tell you that I’m sitting up straight in my chair, using my core muscles of my stomach to support me and to keep me in line and my shoulders are naturally held back not in their typically slumped over position.

There are all sorts of classes available and I’m so excited to already be seeing some minor results after just two sessions. Yes, I’m sore, but I’ll tell you there's another benefit I can't wait to see the results of. Lucas says a lot of the excercises help with the pelvic floor muscles.

So ladies, start the jokes and funny stories again. All that c-section damage will be coming to an end! And for those of you with children, you know what I’m tinkling...I mean talking about!