Deb’s Pilates Success Story

We love to hear about how Pilates helps our members reach their goals! Read on to find out how a regular practice healed Deb’s broken body and got her back to the Rugby field:

“On Monday last week, I played Touch Rugby for the first time in about 3 years, just a few weeks short of my 53rd birthday. So what!?

Well, about 3 years ago I had to stop doing pretty much everything I enjoyed….. touch rugby, step aerobics, netball, because my body was broken. I couldn’t even bend over to put my own socks on. After years of being physically active, but if I’m honest not really looking after my body properly, it all caught up with me. I thought I was doing the right things at the gym – work hard, lots of reps, no pain no gain etc etc., and just assumed that pain was what happened at my age. But at 50, I was way too young to write myself off as someone who just couldn’t move that well anymore.

I got in touch with Pilates Instructor Steff Affleck, who I used to play rugby with (the full contact variety), asking ‘do you think you can help me?’

I remember our first session very well….. I pretty much hobbled into her studio, my back being so inflexible it simply didn’t move properly! I lay on the mat and did some very basic and simple pelvic tilts, and honestly thought to myself this won’t work – it was too slow for what I had been used to. If you don’t push until it hurts, it’s not working right?

Cue weekly sessions in the studio, using all those very strange looking bits of equipment (pre-COVID), and then maximizing Zoom sessions to full effect during the pandemic. I subscribed to Pilatesology, and found some wonderful short sessions that I have managed to incorporate into my daily routine. Literally just 15 minutes each morning. The transformation has been, well, transformational.

I have gone from being an inflexible Pilates-skeptic to a flexible Pilates-cheerleader. I recognize and appreciate that little & often is enough, and no pain no gain is a total myth! Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined being able to do a spine stretch forward and actually reach my toes. Or being able to balance almost perfectly in an open legged rocker. And wait for it….. being able to put my socks on, unaided!!!

During this time, I have been able to return to netball and step aerobics. But touch rugby eluded me….. if you’re not in the know, touch rugby requires, amongst other things, being able to bend down a lot to place the ball on the ground or pick it up – both of which were just too difficult for me to do. But finally, this week, I tentatively returned to touch rugby, as I felt in the best shape I had been for a long time. And here’s the thing…. I managed the whole session! And I didn’t seize up afterwards, or the next day.

Absolutely transformational. Thank you Steff.”

Thank you for sharing Deb!

If you have a Pilates success story that you’d like to share, please send us a note at info@pilatesology.com.