‘No pain no gain’ isn’t true. It just rhymes. It’s easy to remember because of the rhyme, but it’s not true. Pain is your body’s way of telling you that something’s wrong.
Don’t push through it. Stop what you’re doing and adjust.
Do you know why you sustain injuries in sports and at the gym?
Because you’re likely using too much weight, and not engaging the right muscles to handle the load.
Pilates teachers help so many people who have injured themselves in the gym, playing frisbee, golfing, and even doing yoga, because they’ve injured themselves in tough classes that they wanted to do but weren’t actually strong or conditioned enough for.
Lowering the weight doesn’t mean that you’re weak.
You can actually have a very challenging Pilates workout using light springs, because it requires that you control your body and engage your deepest core muscles.
The toughness or difficulty of your workout has zero correlation to its effectiveness.
If you want to get stronger, start with a basic Pilates class and build from there.
Here are three Pilates props that build strength while keeping the workout free of stress and pain.
1. The Twist Ball
If it’s a nightmare to wrangle your bags from the trunk or your groceries from the back seat, use the Twist Ball to help with rotating your body and correctly transferring your weight. When we’re able to fly again, you’ll have no trouble getting your bags from the overhead bins or your suitcases from the baggage carousel.
2. The Edge
The edge will help you to properly engage your abs and to keep your spine healthy and mobile. It’ll make all of your ab work stronger, so that you really feel your abs working. It’ll relieve tightness in your back and help you feel more coordinated.
3. The Stability Cushion
Standing on a stability cushion is one of the best ways to better balance because it challenges you to stay upright. You can do the same for your balance if you stick it under your tush while seated. You’ll feel your abs kick in right away as your body works to keep you centered. If it’s hard to feel your abs working when learning to imprint and release, sitting on the cushion or sticking it under your pelvis when you lie down instantly makes your abs kick in, so you can tilt your pelvis correctly and stop unnecessarily gripping your bum.