Pilates

I feel like I've been getting distinctly flabby over the past year and putting on inches and weight as well. So I really do need to start more muscle building exercise as my favourite form of exercise, aikido, may be great for many other things but it's definitely not a good way to lose weight. That plus since I've just been having a lot of problems with my left knee so I need an exercise regime where I'm in a lot of control over what I do.

So I finally braved a pilates class at Amore again where I'm a member. I have discovered that I like the instructor at the Heartland Mall branch a lot more as he's more patient with beginners like me and will actually adapt the positions/movements etc so that people like me with weak core muscles can still derive some benefit and actually do something as opposed to flopping like a fish out of water.

He was distinctly more encouraging this time as well compared to the last time telling the class at the end that those who are just starting out need to be patient with themselves and the class since it takes a while to build the strength in the core.

Looks like over the next few months I'm going to be a bit more regular and try and make it to pilates once a week. My Saturday yoga class is already part of my regular schedule so now I have to step things up on Sunday.

Human Pretzel

Yoga stretches parts of me I usually forget about. I'm reasonably flexible about the shoulders and the hamstrings but not around the sides of the waist, hips, knees or ankles. I've resumed yoga practice since joining Amore and as they have a branch at Heartland Mall, I try and make it there on Saturday morning when they have a very good instructor whose name escapes me at this time.

Last Saturday we were doing a lot of asanas which stretch the side just above the hip and twists which work the entire waist including the side. And given I feel like I'm developing a little paunch, I felt it was much needed.

We did an asana which was new to me: do the half lotus tree pose with one's hands together above the head and then bend and hold to either side for at least 30 seconds each time. We also stretched our sides in another asana where we were also in half lotus but with our knees on the group rather than either of our feet and this was a similar stretch for the waist.

We also did a very elegant (when properly done that is) dragonfly pose which involves lying on one's stomach and raising one leg straight up backwards as far as one can go and propping that leg up with the other leg. So it looks great but for me, my foot just kept pulling my track pants down steadily so I would give up at the point where it was going to lead to some immodesty although given that it was a room full of women, that didn't really matter.

Hopefully if I remember to stretch my waist, hips and ankles, they'll slowly become more flexible with time.

Stretch and Ache

My tummy has been noticabely expanding and so I finally decided to stop being in denial and return to the gym. Aikido is great and I do not want to have to cut down on my thrice weekly practices but it simply doesn't keep me in shape enough.

So I signed up at Amore Fitness which is a gym just for women. It's not that I demand an exclusively female atmosphere but I was looking for a combination of convenience in terms of location and a selection of classes I would like to go to at the right time. Amore fitted that bill this time and offered a once a week package which is costing me S$70 a month for a year. It's expensive but I'm hoping that after a year I will be in decent shape and can go back to just aikido.

I was sold 20 minutes into the Belly Blitz class which is a class based on belly dance movements because I was having sooo much fun with it. I figure it's good for my sense of coordination and my belly but I noticed that it was not my abdomen that ached the next day but my shoulders. I've since tried another Belly Blitz class with my brand new hip scarf which shimmers and jingles along with the music but sadly I was a lot less coordinated that day so despite the adornment, I'm sure I looked more clumsy than sensuous. And this is one class I'm glad is being held in a women's only gym since I'd be a lot more self conscious if there were men around.

So I then decided I should experiment around with the other classes to see what else would suit me and tried out the pilates class yesterday. It was a slow moving workout concentrating on a lot of the smaller muscles which was interesting. I discovered that my lower abs are very weak and some of the muscles which help with my balance in my legs also need strengthening. But oddly enough my left shoulder is very free of tension which surprised me since I spend a lot of time on the computer...must be all those nikyo pins during aikido have stretched that joint out nicely. My right shoulder joint is also nice and loose but is slightly more tense than my left. It's actually very useful doing this class because now it gives me a better idea of what areas of the body I really need to work on and lower abs is really one thing I'd like to improve. Other than of course overall fat reduction and toning.

Tomorrow I'm hoping to try out the yoga class and the abs, hips and thighs session as well.