This past weekend you could definitely have classified me as the resident ‘grouch’. Why, you might ask? Well, Saturday morning at Little Athletics I found myself in a little spot of bother. I’ve heard the story so many times, you know the one that goes something like this; “I was just turning around to pick a toy up off the floor and bang, this sharp pain in my back and now I can’t move…” However for me it went something like this; “I was just swinging my bag over my shoulder and bang, I got this massive stabbing pain in my neck that radiated down the left side of my body”!

By the time we arrived home a good 3 hours later I was nauseated by the pain and a little teary too. I had a bad case of the ‘why me’ thing going on. Why me? I’m fit, healthy and strong. I pride myself on looking after my body – exercise is as much a part of my day as brushing my teeth. Over the weekend my emotions went from sad to anger to simple down right grumpiness!

On Sunday night, by which time Joe had just about had enough of me, he decided, very bravely to make a suggestion. He began by saying that maybe, just maybe my exercise over the past few months had been more about really pounding my body – tough sessions, the type that make your muscles and bones ache and leave you sweaty and exhausted. Maybe, I needed to be a little kinder to my body, treat myself to a little ‘exercise therapy’.

So what is Exercise therapy?

Exercise therapy is the type of activity that leaves your body feeling better. You feel longer, like someone’s stretched all the aches and pains out of you. Your movement is improved, you stand taller, shoulders back, tummy in and you hold this position with improved strength. Exercise therapy allows you to feel lighter, more energetic and dare I say happier. My exercise therapy of choice is of course Pilates. Swimming and yoga are other examples of exercise therapy.

Now thinking back to when I did my very first Pilates instructors course. It was 4-days back-to-back each consisting of 8 solid hours of Pilates. After day one, I had no idea how I would get through the remaining 3 days. My body ached all over and I could barely walk. Day 2 was gruelling, every movement was restricted and painful and I was utterly fatigued from head to toe. Surprisingly I actually began to feel better during day 3. My movement freed up and everything started to get easier.  Day 4 I was on fire! Not only had my movement, flexibility and strength improved significantly but I was energised and stood taller with a heightened sense of body awareness. I felt down right good and I want to feel that again!

So this is what I’ve decided to do. Over the next 30-Days I’ve committed to a minimum of 45-minutes of Pilates EVERY DAY! I’m sick of all these niggles and aches and pains. I want my body to feel lengthened and strong. I want better range of movement so that when I do pound my body during a tough session, I don’t put my neck out the next day. So this is my public commitment starting today. I’m excited to see what this journey brings and I’ll be reporting back regularly on my progress. Keep tuned on our Facebook page (If you haven’t yet ‘liked’ us, click the ‘like’ button in the Facebook box on the right-hand side of this page)