REVIEWS
CUSTOMER REVIEW: SANDY S.
When did you start Pilates and how did you hear about it? A friend had tried to get me into Pilates about 30 years ago but never could. I guess wisdom comes with age. I started with Marlborough Pilates in November, 2014, and now I'm a Pilates junkie.
You have taken almost every type of class we offer with all our teachers. What do you notice as benefits of taking classes with different teachers? Learning Pilates is like learning a foreign language. It helps to hear it described differently by different speakers. Each teacher brings their own personal verbal cues to class, impressively translating the physical movement into a verbal "image" that I can use. For example there's "The Hundred". I was cruising along thinking "this is pretty easy", but in a recent Arc class, Deb said to keep that belly button still. Keep it still? Mine was pumping up and down like it was on a trampoline. I had read about and received instruction before on "The Hundred", but this simple cue clicked for me. But I couldn't do it! I so appreciated that Deb returned at our next class having thought about how to verbally get through to me and described how to keep those muscles "zipped". It was so helpful. I'm not there yet, but like a language, repeat, repeat, and it will come.
You have also taken some private sessions. How have those helped you? Pilates is hard. Period. And for me, it's hard both physically and mentally. With some exercises, I confess that I just don't get it: how do I get my quads out of the action and get my core working? How do I maintain a neutral spine? How do I engage the underside muscles during side leg work? A private session allows me the luxury to focus on my issues ad nauseum, which out of respect for my classmates, I would never do during class. Sometimes it's hard to make that mind-body connection. Your instructors have worked with me using infinite patience, creativity and energy to help me figure it out.
What would you say is the biggest benefit that you have received from engaging in Pilates regularly? Flexibility. More strength. More body awareness. Overall feeling of well-being. At age 62, I blamed aging for the everyday stiffness I felt and my recurring back pain. Being a stubborn old bird, I have always put the task at hand before my body's well-being, and inevitably injure myself in some way, mostly my back. Then I would mope around because I had hurt myself again. Pilates has corrected me physically and mentally. It has made me realize the importance of taking care of myself. Like Pavlov's dogs, I respond to Pilates' positive reinforcement. Take care of your body and it will reward you. Mind-Body Awareness. I feel GREAT. I LOVE MARLBOROUGH PILATES!
You have taken almost every type of class we offer with all our teachers. What do you notice as benefits of taking classes with different teachers? Learning Pilates is like learning a foreign language. It helps to hear it described differently by different speakers. Each teacher brings their own personal verbal cues to class, impressively translating the physical movement into a verbal "image" that I can use. For example there's "The Hundred". I was cruising along thinking "this is pretty easy", but in a recent Arc class, Deb said to keep that belly button still. Keep it still? Mine was pumping up and down like it was on a trampoline. I had read about and received instruction before on "The Hundred", but this simple cue clicked for me. But I couldn't do it! I so appreciated that Deb returned at our next class having thought about how to verbally get through to me and described how to keep those muscles "zipped". It was so helpful. I'm not there yet, but like a language, repeat, repeat, and it will come.
You have also taken some private sessions. How have those helped you? Pilates is hard. Period. And for me, it's hard both physically and mentally. With some exercises, I confess that I just don't get it: how do I get my quads out of the action and get my core working? How do I maintain a neutral spine? How do I engage the underside muscles during side leg work? A private session allows me the luxury to focus on my issues ad nauseum, which out of respect for my classmates, I would never do during class. Sometimes it's hard to make that mind-body connection. Your instructors have worked with me using infinite patience, creativity and energy to help me figure it out.
What would you say is the biggest benefit that you have received from engaging in Pilates regularly? Flexibility. More strength. More body awareness. Overall feeling of well-being. At age 62, I blamed aging for the everyday stiffness I felt and my recurring back pain. Being a stubborn old bird, I have always put the task at hand before my body's well-being, and inevitably injure myself in some way, mostly my back. Then I would mope around because I had hurt myself again. Pilates has corrected me physically and mentally. It has made me realize the importance of taking care of myself. Like Pavlov's dogs, I respond to Pilates' positive reinforcement. Take care of your body and it will reward you. Mind-Body Awareness. I feel GREAT. I LOVE MARLBOROUGH PILATES!
CUSTOMER REVIEW: DAVID M.
You have been doing Pilates for 2 weeks now. What have you enjoyed about it so far?
It's a nice break to look forward to in my week. There is plenty of work to do and it demands my full concentration. For the entire session the only thing my mind is on is Pilates, which is good for my body, and that's a nice break from multi-tasking.
What have you found most challenging?
Getting my body to do as I am commanding (or requesting) it to do can be momentarily frustrating. I'm used to just overpowering things when they don't yield. Sometimes I come at them from a different angle. In Pilates I have to keep the balance and angle and somehow find muscles that don't really seem to be cooperative or are hard to find. Instead of playing to my strengths I have to discover a way to recruit my weaknesses if that makes sense.
Have you noticed any improvements in strength, balance, posture, flexibility or any other areas so far?
It's amazing how many past injury areas have revealed themselves. Busted ribs, separated shoulder, and all manner of things are maybe not quite as fully recovered as I thought they were. For instance, my bottom ribs on my left side are finally starting to tuck in so I can twist down past my hip bone again. It's great to have that range of motion back again. I thought it was fine until I had to do some of the exercises and wasn't able to do them on each side symmetrically. I'm pretty close to even now already which is incredible. I guess my abs/obliques or whatever had kind of a flinch and weren't engaging before.
What would you say to other guys who think that Pilates is just for women?
I'd say they're entitled to their opinion. Then I can go back to listening to sob stories about their backs hurting, etc. I always thought complaining about stuff and not wanting to hear about how to fix it was kind of a chick-ish thing. I'm more of a "fix it" kind of guy, but I guess some guys would rather complain: such is masculinity these days. I'm sure there are plenty of guys that would check it out if they knew it was open to men though. I had no idea it was open for guys until I saw about a study on men in Pilates in the paper. Come to find out it was started by a German boxer. Who knew?
It's a nice break to look forward to in my week. There is plenty of work to do and it demands my full concentration. For the entire session the only thing my mind is on is Pilates, which is good for my body, and that's a nice break from multi-tasking.
What have you found most challenging?
Getting my body to do as I am commanding (or requesting) it to do can be momentarily frustrating. I'm used to just overpowering things when they don't yield. Sometimes I come at them from a different angle. In Pilates I have to keep the balance and angle and somehow find muscles that don't really seem to be cooperative or are hard to find. Instead of playing to my strengths I have to discover a way to recruit my weaknesses if that makes sense.
Have you noticed any improvements in strength, balance, posture, flexibility or any other areas so far?
It's amazing how many past injury areas have revealed themselves. Busted ribs, separated shoulder, and all manner of things are maybe not quite as fully recovered as I thought they were. For instance, my bottom ribs on my left side are finally starting to tuck in so I can twist down past my hip bone again. It's great to have that range of motion back again. I thought it was fine until I had to do some of the exercises and wasn't able to do them on each side symmetrically. I'm pretty close to even now already which is incredible. I guess my abs/obliques or whatever had kind of a flinch and weren't engaging before.
What would you say to other guys who think that Pilates is just for women?
I'd say they're entitled to their opinion. Then I can go back to listening to sob stories about their backs hurting, etc. I always thought complaining about stuff and not wanting to hear about how to fix it was kind of a chick-ish thing. I'm more of a "fix it" kind of guy, but I guess some guys would rather complain: such is masculinity these days. I'm sure there are plenty of guys that would check it out if they knew it was open to men though. I had no idea it was open for guys until I saw about a study on men in Pilates in the paper. Come to find out it was started by a German boxer. Who knew?
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Marlborough Pilates Studio Plus 2020