5 Summer Activities & Pilates

By Nathalie Gonthier-Thomas

I am over 50 AND I just spent the summer hiking, biking, kayaking, swimming, river rafting, and surfing. The most amazing thing to me was to be able to do all that with ease and pleasure because my body was following and doing exactly what I wanted to do. 

At a younger age, I wasn't thinking twice about the difficulty, the strain, the fatigue, or the pain my body could endure. I wasn't even thinking that my body could be a stopper. I used to practice rock climbing and never thought about what my body could do. I just looked at the height, the difficulty level, the rock and started moving.

Now at 50+, I would be more hesitant to engage in a strenuous activity if it wasn't for Pilates. My practice over the years gave me strength and a better understanding of what my body can do safely.

While doing all these fun activities, I also realized how amazing the Pilates method is as I kept finding similarities in the pilates exercises and the movements required to do anything else outside of the studio. I couldn't stop my brain thinking Pilates was in everything I did.

Surfing

The "Swan" and the "Swimming" exercises on the Mat gave me the extension of the back and opening of the chest I needed to paddle out. The "PushUps", "Going Upfront and Side", or the "Mountain Climbing" on the Wunda Chair was there to help me get up on my surfboard with better balance and coordination. Also, “Rolling like a Ball" when falling off my board and getting into a ball rolling under the waves protecting my head from the fins with my arms.

Kayaking/River Rafting:

The "Stomach Massage series" and the "Short Box" on the Reformer helped me while Kayaking and Rafting. The rotation of the spine and the lifting of the back while keeping my legs reaching to paddle in the currents. 

Swimming:

All the extension and reaching in "Swan dive", "Swimming", "Breaststroke '', "Backstroke" were there once in the water. Even the "Leg Pull Front/Leg pull back", feeling the reach from my center and the opening of my chest. 

Biking:

The  "Long Stretch series" and the "Knee Stretches" while biking, I kept feeling the reach of the legs from my center, pushing my feet into the pedals as I would push on the shoulder blocks on the reformer. Feeling in control of all my movements as I was riding on the rocky trails.

Hiking:

The "Footwork series", "Running", "Pelvic lift", the "Splits" series at the end of the Reformer, all helped me reach with my legs while lifting my back to not feel the fatigue of carrying a backpack, or just the normal gravity pull that makes us hunch. Feeling the stability of my feet, hips and whole body no matter how steep the trail was.

The System designed by Joe was right there in all of my actions and activities. Joseph Pilates had such an understanding of the mechanics of the body that I felt safe moving, knowing that I had already in me what a consistent practice of Pilates had trained my body to do, giving me stability, balance, strength, coordination.  And I had fun trying to find them all in me connecting the dots. All the years practicing Pilates have helped me understand how to use my body in anything else I do with less fatigue, less injury, more flexibility. 

Imagine your body doing exactly what you want to do. Not counting the years. 

Keep practicing Pilates to keep enjoying life.