Is it possible I feel stronger already? Realistic, perhaps that’s what I really mean, because yes, after just my second private session at Atlas Pilates I leave feeling stronger, more engaged.

This is not that kind of gym workout muscle strength—you know, where you feel like you could suddenly out-bench your high school gym teacher along with her 40 pound glasses and shoes? No, this is all in the core. It’s as if my stomach muscles—from the top of my hip bones to the bottom of my sternum—have finally decided to stand up and take notice. They’re pulling in, engaging. It’s a bit like flexing a muscle and keeping it flexed, with just a little conscious effort and yet without fatigue.

I’ve done a little Pilates in the past: I took a mat class through the UW Women’s Center several years back. This, though, is different. At Atlas my instructor, Danae, is introducing me to machine work. The resistance is all spring driven and I’m constantly being reminded to pull my stomach muscles up and in, or told to drive a stomach muscle down deep, as if I’m trying to connect it to the bench below me. This, I know, will serve to make my stomach stronger and therein protect my back.

My first day at Atlas was somewhat introductory. Danae and I learned about each other and she evaluated my capabilities. I had a good workout even on the first day, but on the second she really began shaping the exercises for me. Every Pilates practice, Danae tells me, is based around a stable of exercises, but from that base the instructor customizes the exercises for the individual client. For me, there are poses that force me to really work hip and gluteus muscles that seem to have given up on me a while ago. This, Danae explains, is likely why the right leg adductors—that long muscle that runs roughly from the groin area to the inside of the knee—are always so sore. Those adductors are constantly doing the work other muscles are slacking on. We want to change that. And so, Danae is building a repertoire exclusively for me.

And already my stomach feels empowered. I walk around like this for most of the day: Conscious of keeping my stomach muscles engaged; aware of the power I seem to hold in my core. I squat to pick up the paper; I activate my obliques when I reach for the dish soap. Of course, by the end of the day I’m lazy and slip back into my old habits and bend over for my shoes; let my stomach sag into its familiar shape. Lazy me, perhaps. I plan to be get better with time. Still, at less than a week in I already feeling stronger. I can’t wait to see where this goes.

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.