We’re hitting our stride, friends! Spring training got us through those April showers, and it’s been great to see so many of you in the studio–again and for the first time! We’re looking at offering a few hybrid mat classes soon so those of you online can enjoy the energy of a studio class, even when you’re up at the cottage, working from home, or just playing it safe.

This month, we’re talking about getting strong. For those of us who’ve been bit by the Pilates bug, our Pilates practice plays a significant role in building and maintaining strength. We all have classes we love and even favour because of how they make us feel. But let’s be honest…what’s your reaction when your teacher asks you to add another spring or a little more resistance?

The benefits of weight lifting or resistance training go beyond bulking up and building muscle mass. Experts list a multitude of positive effects including improved posture, better sleep, gaining bone density, maintaining weight loss, boosting metabolism, lowering inflammation, and staving off chronic disease.

When you work out you are actually breaking down your muscles by producing micro tears in the muscle fibres–this happens when you bring a muscle to failure. Muscle failure is key to muscle growth. The actual building of muscles doesn’t happen while they are being worked, but afterwards while your body is resting. While at rest, the body fuses the muscle fibres back together. In order to have muscle growth, you need to lift weight that is heavier than your body is already accustomed to lifting. This is why you need to progressively lift heavier weights in order to see muscle growth.

Pilates challenges our bodies in many different ways, but let’s not shy away from the fact that it helps make us stronger. And that’s a good thing! I’ve seen this phrase floating around lately: Strong is not a look. As in, there’s no such thing as a Pilates body. Strong isn’t always synonymous with thin or lean or built. Strong is internal as well as external. Strong got us through the last two years. Strong is its own thing. And we can afford to get a little stronger.

Pam Ferguson
Retrofit Master Instructor
Lead Instructor/Operations Associate