By Taylar Powell
On the crisp morning of January 16th, whilst my friends were tucked up warm and cosy in bed, I found myself walking down the King’s Road in Chelsea to Bluebird, as the restaurant was playing host to the brand new MOTR Body Blitz class by Bootcamp Pilates.
trying something new
A one hour Pilates class is definitely not how I would typically spend my Saturday morning, however with my ‘try something new’ and ‘seize every opportunity’ resolutions still fresh in my head, and focusing on the brunch that was to follow the class, I wandered in to our makeshift studio admittedly nervous, but full of optimism at the prospect of trying something completely new.
core support
We were met by Elliott, both an instructor at and the General Manager of Bootcamp Pilates, and became familiar with our equipment: a foam roller with resistance bands -- very in keeping with what you would expect to find in a typical reformer Pilates studio. As a complete beginner to Pilates, I was pleased to hear that the main focus of Pilates is to strengthen and support your core. As I have suffered with back issues in the past, core stability is very important to me.
a full body workout
The aim of the class was to get a full body workout, using a combination of cardio, HIIT and Pilates training. I pulsed, squeezed and groaned through the next 45 minutes, amazed at how engaged my muscles felt throughout each exercise. Additionally, I felt the impact on muscles that I never used in workouts before despite the fact most of the sets contained ‘typical’ exercises such as squats, lunges, crunches and planks.
Elliott was a great coach, constantly making sure each of us were completing the exercise correctly and he even managed to force me to crack the odd smile between each wince and groan! It was extremely satisfying knowing that aside from the expected benefits of your standard HIIT class, the Pilates element meant that I was building and strengthening muscles that were positively impacting my overall health and physiology.
post-class brunch
Once the class was over, I was definitely feeling proud of myself for pushing myself to try something new and challenging my body in a completely different way. Even though my muscles were sore and aching already (but nothing compared the ache that was to follow over the next few days!), I felt energized and relaxed and ready to tackle anything the rest of the day threw at me. Being able to mingle and chat with the other participants of the class over a delicious brunch of muesli, fresh fruit and yoghurt and poached egg and avocado on toast was a great way to wind down after the class, and to talk to other people about their experiences with Pilates.
So there it was, my first ‘try something new’ of 2016 completed and with a Bootcamp Pilates studio around the corner from me in Notting Hill, I am determined to make it a permanent Saturday morning engagement heading into the rest of the year.
To find a Bootcamp Pilates class near you visit bootcamppilates.com!
