Being a skateboarder, I am constantly plagued with injury. I currently have a bruised left hip, a tight sharpness going across my right kneecap and some lingering pain from when I sprained my wrist over six months ago. That’s all fine with me. You’ve gotta’ pay to play, as they say, but my gripe is that due to these injuries I cannot exercise like I normally do. I feel myself transforming into a slug.
Pull-ups and push-ups? Forget about it. My wrist wants no part. The old jump rope? My knee says “absolutely not.” Sit-ups? I stopped doing sit-ups on my last day of high school gym class. All I can really do is stretch around my booboos.
My weekly Reformer class was today. I was going to skip it due to my knee pain but I thought “what the heck” and threw on a cheap knee brace, then went ahead and “Pilated.” I let my instructor, the wonderful Nancy, know that my knee wasn’t tip-top before class started. She inquired a little further and then we began.
An hour-long class and I didn’t feel any pain whatsoever. Even now, six hours later, I am feeling superb. I don’t know if this blog post is a testament to Pilates, to Balanced Body instructor training, to Nancy or to all of the above, but I am very thankful to have come across Pilates. Now I can feel good even when I feel bad!
Note: This article was written last year. All mentioned injuries have now healed.