Experiencing the journey as it unfolds is as important as reaching your destination. We must celebrate little victories along the way.
Let me share a short story. I recently went on a 2-weeks "hardship hiking and camping trip" to exotic outer Mongolia. One item on the itinerary was to climb up a 900 metres sand dune. A 900 metres hike is pretty easy to hike up a standard mountain track but it's massive work on a sand dune! If you have not tried climbing a sand dune before, let me tell you - it is one step up and two steps down. The soft sand sinks with every step you take; it is major quads, hams and balancing effort to keep yourself upright against the steep sand dunes. To actually make progress on the soft sand, I not only need to have the strength but also to double my speed to prevent myself from climbing on the spot like a silly girl!
Halfway through the climb, I was thinking to myself - Why did I put myself through this? Why am I paying so much money to torture myself? Is the scenery at the top really that awesome? And how am I going to get down later???
I toyed with the thought of going down mid-way. And then, I saw my friends waiting for me at the top, waving at me and cheering me on with big smiles on their faces. That was when I realised that they were so happy because they have won (not because they were at the peak). They had won the fight against themselves. They persisted despite sliding down again and again. They were so pleased with themselves for not giving up.
And so, encouraged by them, I took every step up as a little victory. Slow and steady, I ascended and reached the peak (see picture below).
Every step is important - no step is ever wasted. It is not just about meeting our goal; it is about believing in ourselves and that we can achieve anything as long as we keep trying.
Only he who gives up is defeated. Everyone else is victorious! ~ Paulo Coelho
With this, I would like to encourage you to attend at least 2 Pilates classes a week at Pilates Fitness. Redeem a bonus gift from us at your second class of the week between 5 October 2015 to 31 October 2015. We have new prizes for you every week.
With the haze saga still brewing strong, exercising indoors is the best way to keep yourself toned and aches-free!
To join our Pilates Reformer group class at our Singapore Pilates studio, you need to be at least 13 years old with a minimum height of 1.4m and mobile. For instance, you are able to walk approximately 10 minutes to your nearby grocery store, buy 2 -3 bags of groceries and able to carry them to walk home without help. Our Pilates Reformer group classes are suitable for all genders and fitness levels.
There is no limit on age or height for our Private Pilates classes.
The other day I was chilling with my buddies at The Basket, and I casually asked them, “What’s stopping you from trying Pilates?” Now, I have to mention that by this time it was already in the wee hours of the morning and we had a couple of drinks… You know people are most honest when they’re drunk. Anyway, one of them actually blurted out that he had wanted to try Pilates for the longest time, but was too intimidated by how difficult it looks. I laughed, because I’ve been there. I know many others find themselves in similar situations of wanting to do something but not finding enough courage to actually do something. It led me to ponder … Is Pilates difficult to do?
At Pilates Fitness, 90% of our clients today attended their first class with no Pilates experience at all! I guess you can say we’re pretty serious about training newbies. So… what do we do here that is so special and different?
If it is your first class with us (regardless of whether you have done Pilates before), it is compulsory for you to attend our Reformer Introduction Class before the actual 55 minutes class commences.
What will be done in the Reformer Introduction Class?
Under the guidance of our experience and motivating Pilates instructor, the 30-min Reformer Introduction Class allows you to familiarize yourself with the reformer machine and to also go through some basic Pilates exercises that will be used in class. The Reformer Introduction Class is compulsory if it is your first time in our studio due to safety precautions. First-timers will benefit greatly from the Reformer Introduction class as they would know what to expect during the actual class and be better prepared for it.
How much does the Reformer Introduction Class cost?
The Reformer Introduction Class is provided FREE of charge for anyone who signs up for their first class with us. The easiest way to get started is to book in a Pilates Discovery Pass with us, you will get 3 classes with one Reformer Introduction Class (as part of your first class with us).
There is a maximum capacity of 10 pax for each class. The small class size allows instructors to pay more attention to each client and correct their postures more effectively.
All classes are customized by the instructor, according to the strength and weakness of each client. Hence, we do not categorize our classes into Beginner, Intermediate or Advanced levels. We acknowledge that each of us are different and we aim to challenge each client at their own pace in a group class environment. The instructor will adjust the difficulty level of each exercise to make it challenging for everyone regardless of differences in strength. For example, a male client may have to put on a heavier load than a female client if the instructor feels that they can cope with the exercise.
The reformer machine complements your body weight with resistance from the springs of the machine. This means that working out on the reformer machine provides support and guidance as compared to free-play on the mat. The resistance from the reformer machine also tones up your muscles much faster than mat Pilates. You will also experience zero-impact to your joints when using the reformer machine, which means that the silver population, athletes, people with bigger body size, or even those recovering from an injury can still do Pilates!
So my answer to “Is Pilates difficult to do?” is quite obviously a “Nooooo”. For first-timers, it is normal to take about a 2-3 classes to get used to the flow of a class. Be sure to remain focused throughout and you’ll be just fine. 🙂
If you have created your Aliv Door App account for our Singapore Pilates studio but forgotten your Aliv App username, simply click "Forget Password" on the Aliv App and an email with your username will be sent to you to reset your password. If you remember your password, you can ignore the email and continue to log in your username and password.
If you have created your Aliv App account but forgotten your password, please click "Forget Password" on the Aliv App.
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We encourage you to attend Reformer Pilates classes at our Singapore Pilates studio at least 3 times a week!
“Candice, I went to doctor recently and he told to continue whatever I’m doing because my high cholesterol is managed! I told him, the only change I did was attending Pilates classes thrice a week at Pilates Fitness. I’m so happy that my bad cholesterol levels went down!” Chirped a happy client (let’s call her Client A) at the end of her Pilates class.
In the past few months, I spent a lot of time at the front desk or covering Pilates classes as the team takes turn to go on leave. I always treasure these extra hours as it provides me a chance to interact directly with my clients and learn more about them as individuals. In fact, what Client A experienced is medically proven. Pilates can lower high cholesterol levels. There was a study released by Journal of Exercise, Nutrition & Biochemistry (2014; 18 [3], 267–75) that shows that consistent Pilates classes may help people to improve “good” HDL cholesterol levels.
Recently, I’ve paid more attention to incurable but non-terminal diseases such as high cholesterol levels, diabetes and high blood pressure. Although these medical conditions can be managed and may not be terminal, one who has any of these medical conditions will need to lead a structured lifestyle of daily medications, diets and regular medical checks. Prevention is better than cure – in this case, there is no cure.
Cholesterol is a waxy substance also known as lipid that your body requires for many functions, including the production of new cells. Your body can produce cholesterol or you can get it from the foods you eat.
Anyone 20 years old or older need to check on his/her cholesterol levels at least once every 5 years. You can go for a blood test call Lipoprotein Panel to measure your cholesterol levels:
| Total Cholesterol Level | Category |
| Less than 200mg/dL | Desirable |
| 200-239 mg/dL | Borderline high |
| 240mg/dL and above | High |
| LDL (Bad) Cholesterol Level | LDL Cholesterol Category |
| Less than 100mg/dL | Optimal |
| 100-129mg/dL | Near optimal/above optimal |
| 130-159 mg/dL | Borderline high |
| 160-189 mg/dL | High |
| 190 mg/dL and above | Very High |
| HDL (Good) Cholesterol Level | HDL Cholesterol Category |
| Less than 40 mg/dL | A major risk factor for heart disease |
| 40—59 mg/dL | The higher, the better |
| 60 mg/dL and higher | Considered protective against heart disease |
Source: NIH Medline Plus
The reason why we need to do regular test of our cholesterol levels is that having high cholesterol levels does not give rise to any symptoms. As such, you may be a sufferer of high cholesterol levels and not know about it until it escalated into something more serious such as coronary heart disease, stroke, peripheral vascular disease, diabetes and high blood pressure. You can also read more about other issues associated with high cholesterol levels here.
Foods high in saturated fats (fats from animal sources) or trans fats (fats from processed food) would increase your cholesterol levels.
Some examples are:
Think of cholesterol as a salted egg bun – the salted egg center is the cholesterol, the bun on the outside is the protein carrier that carries the molecule through the blood. The molecule that the salted egg bun carries is called a lipoprotein and it can be either low-density lipoprotein (LDL) (bad cholesterol) or high-density (HDL) (good cholesterol).
Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) or the bad cholesterol has more salted egg center and smaller proportion of bun and vice versa. “The good cholesterol molecule prevents the buildup of cholesterol in your arteries whereas the cholesterol molecule leads to buildup, and eventual blockage, of your arteries.”
The magical chant is the same for all incurable diseases – exercise, healthy diet and maintain healthy weight for your height. The issue is not how. The issue is what and where. What exercise should you choose? What should you eat? Where can you do them?
Pilates classes at Pilates Fitness are more effective in increasing the “good” HDL cholesterol levels because all Pilates Fitness classes are of medium to high intensity and provide both resistant and cardiovascular training. To the modern office warriors – Pilates classes at Pilates Fitness are extremely time efficient. You only need to do one hour of Pilates to complete 2 tasks that you normally need 2 hours to complete - tone your muscles and perform cardiovascular exercises. In fact, the slowest class such as the Core and Body Aches Pilates classes at Pilates Fitness can be benchmarked against intermediate classes at other Pilates studios. Our full time Pilates instructors are trained in a way to conduct these Pilates classes safely so that you enjoy greater benefit at a shorter time. In addition, Pilates provides more than the fitness benefits – Pilates corrects your posture and teaches your body how to move effectively, thereby reducing muscle tension and body aches.
Lastly, we all know that there are many things that we should do but it is difficult to ensure we do that - too many temptations! It is easy to get distracted with the issues of life and discontinue regular exercise. Hence in order to reduce your bad cholesterol levels, it is important to 1) find an exercise that you enjoy and 2) ensure that you can exercise in close proximity to your work or home. If you enjoy the activity and it is close to your work/home, it is easier to clock in 150 minutes of mid to high intensity exercise a week.
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