I’ll judge my growth in handstands.
I’m on a mission this summer to get stronger. I’m ISO a powerful core. I’m on the hunt for a strong lower back. I’m in search of the power it takes to be able to do a handstand with ease again.
And to find these things, I’m headed off for my first Pilates session at Atlas Pilates, in Seattle’s Queen Anne. My primary goal: Strength. My secondary goal: Flexibility. My penultimate goal: A body more like the sculpted physique of my more athletic days, and less like the post-grad school writer form I’ve taken on recently. My final goal: To shed a few pounds along the way. This, though, would be a happy happenstance. I’ll leave skinny to other means.
In addition to measuring my improved strength in handstands, I hope to see the change on the volleyball court at Alki this summer, and on the slopes at Crystal this winter. I want those short, quick movements that used to having me diving across the sand for a volleyball. I want to be able to respond swiftly in the bumps, really drive my snowboard through Cascade cement and have fluid stability when my snowboard is buried in light powder this winter. And, when I learn to kiteboard this summer, I want it to be easier.
Is that to say I want it all? Perhaps. Still, I’m hoping some time spent in the studio at Atlas will help me get it all, or at least get a good deal of it.
I blame my weak core in part on lack of discipline on my part and in part on a serious surgery two years back. In 2007, at the age of 36, I had my hip completely rebuilt—a periacetabular osteotomy. Between the surgery itself (lots of cutting of bone, detaching and reattaching muscles, etc.) and the long, long recovery time on crutches, I’ve lost a fair amount of the strength I had.
To get at least some of this strength back, and to make sure I have a body that supports my lifestyle, I made a deal with Atlas Studios: I’m trading some writing work for some Pilates work.
I figure Pilates will be a good fit for me for a variety of reasons. First, it’s said to strengthen and elongate muscles (Teresa, at Atlas, actually says people sometimes get taller through Pilates practice) and therein improve muscle elasticity and joint mobility. Good things for a girl with hyper extensive, and sometime cantankerous, joints. Second, Pilates works those deep abdominal muscles, improving back stability and bumping up core strength. Added benefit? It also tends to result in tight, toned thighs and tummy. And, the exercises workout the whole body, resulting in strength in the feet even, and improved balance.
So, those are my reasons for doing Pilates, and my goals. I’ll keep this page updated weekly with a review of what my sessions have been like (I promise not to complain about getting my tuckus handed to me too often) and results.
Handstands, here I come. Look out cartwheels, you might be next.
