Back in High School, when I first began to study dance, I loved to stretch. You could bend me in any direction and I would not complain. Did this make me a good dancer? No, it did not. An insightful dance instructor was kind enough to explain my problem. To this day, her words still ring true:
In fitness and in life, one should never be more flexible than strong. In other words, you should never be able to bend over backwards for anyone or anything in less you have enough strength to pull yourself back up!
Her words were reinforced by a college kinesiology professor, who told me that my fitness career would end prematurely if I did not balance my yoga teaching with some serious strength training. However, as my fitness career developed, I noticed that many people would find themselves “stuck” in one dimension of fitness. For some, venturing out into other realms of conditioning was akin to visiting another planet.
When I began running marathons, I noticed that many distance runners would stretch, but avoid strength exercises. Meanwhile, at the gym, some of the serious weight lifters would not stretch. Some erroneously believed that doing any sort of aerobic work whatsoever cause them to “lose muscle.” At the other end of the spectrum, members of the cult of aerobicizers would demand more step and high impact cardio classes on the schedule.
Years later, when I trained as a Pilates instructor, I was told that Pilates was the end all and be all, encompassing strength flexibility and cardio. Pilates was in fact an excellent way to develop flexibility and strength simultaneously. The Pilates principle of “strength with length” is certainly valid. However, try as I might, I could not buy into the idea of Pilates as aerobic exercise. Additionally, some training organizations believed that the technique should be practiced in the exact way that Joseph Pilates created it in in the early 1900s, despite the fact that a century of new research has been performed since then.
Published by Lisa Marie Mercer
Fitness professional since 1973Owner: Mountain Sport Fitness Frisco CO.Fitness Coach: Epicski AcademyActress: Backstage TheatreAuthor: Open Your Heart With Winter Fitness View profile
