joe pilates – Personal Euphoria: Pilates & Fitness Classes in CT

Naked Pilates: What Workout Clothes Should You Wear?

Joe Pilates in typical workout attire.

I’ve done Pilates naked and it’s not pretty. I personally don’t recommend it. That being said when we practice Pilates nowadays we actually wear a lot of workout clothes. Joe Pilates had people train with minimal clothing. He basically wore swimming trunks that looked like black or white tighty whities and women working with Joe often wore leotards. I would not attend a Pilates class today if they required me to show up in a leotard.

There was a method to Joe’s madness though. He wanted people unencumbered by clothing, although arguably being comfortable makes you feel freer to move. I’d be really encumbered if I had to do exercises in front of people in a leotard. Last fall I almost went out in public in a unitard—a near disaster. Joe also wanted the skin to be able to breathe. I get that too, but I’m pretty sure our skin can breathe with a little more clothes on. And he wanted to be able to see his clients better. That’s helpful. If you show up to class wearing more form […]

Client Corner: 100 Days of 100 Complete!

Sue doing the 100!

Sue has been taking Pilates in Glastonbury for over 6 years. While some people groan when it’s time for planks, Sue’s personal nemesis is the roll up. Her goal is to one day do it without using a flex band.

With that in mind, when her instructor Maggie mentioned an abdominal challenge in class, Sue was interested to see if it could help her build core strength for the roll up. She thought to herself “this is probably a challenge I should take on.”

The challenge was 100 days of the 100, where participants were asked to do the Pilates exercise the 100, one hundred days in a row. The 100 is an exercise that you’ll find in almost any Pilates class. It consists of lying with your back on the mat, upper body curled up, legs in the air (usually) and completing 100 arm beats while holding the position. It typically comes early in class and gets the entire body warmed up by getting you in tune with your breath and your blood pumping. To read more about why we do this challenge check out […]