No pain...?

Another lovely rest today, with a bonus pilates session where we focused on stretches. And that was music to my ears, because what with **the wrong shoes** and all (as in, "and all the exercise"), my bloody peroneal tendon was still giving me grief today. It did give me cause to think of a couple I used to know in the States, where he was a bit of an obsessive with weight-lifting, and she would have nothing to do with exercise. He used to trot out the old "No Pain - No Gain!" each time he'd come back from weights. She'd look at me, raise her eyebrows and say "I prefer my saying - No Pain - NO PAIN!"

Anita asked me today if I was still using the Wii Fit. "No, I've got enough to cope with from Sal, thanks", I replied, "Anyway, it would probably just be rude." "I just don't understand how you can bear to take instruction from a machine" she said. "That's no way to talk about Sal," I told her. Anyway, I  was curious as to whether my exercise regime has made me as hideously aged as I feel, so I got it out tonight. Interestingly, it didn't berate me for my long absence, it said "I haven't seen Frank for a while, have you?" (That is true). Anyway, much to my interest, I haven't lost any weight since I was last on it, just before I started training, and my Wii age is 25! Nay bad at all!

But, remember my observation that Anita and Sal would get on well? So the eventful part of today's session was a brief interchange about broken pelvises and the wisdom of the expression "if it hurts, don't do it". However this was followed subsequently by an exercise called "the corkscrew". Now, this is a strength exercise, not a stretch, I think I'm right in saying.

If you want to have a go, lie on the floor (carpeted - or get your yoga mat out) on your back. Make sure your spine has the curve in it that it would have if you were standing (we call this neutral spine). The main point of pilates is to strengthen the muscles around your back and waist to support this position, giving you core stability. IMPORTANT: seriously, if this hurts, Stop. Now, raise both knees (bent at first, while you get used to their weight) and then straighten them in the air, so you are almost in a right-angle (keeping the curvature in your spine). OK? Right, keeping both legs together, make small circular movements, as if your feet are drawing circles. Now comes the fun part. Keep making these small circles, but make the movements downwards, towards your right side. Stop before you tip over -  make sure your shoulders stay on the floor. Circle back up to the ceiling, and then do the same towards your left side, and back up to the ceiling. And relax.

If you could have heard the groans around the room! I have to say, I do quite like shared pain. It makes me feel a lot better. Reflecting on these groans, however, I said to Anita "I thought you said 'If it hurts, don't do it'?". "Yes," she said "but that's a different kind of pain."