The Practice of Consistency

What’s the difference between doing Pilates and having a Pilates practice? In my opinion - consistency.

The kind of consistency that builds on an idea over time, focuses on an area of the body, and builds progressive strength, not necessarily rolling out a mat and doing a Pilates workout every day. This type of approach to movement and exercise takes a level of knowledge, but more so it takes a health dose of curiosity. There are so many resources available online, and endless exercise methods to subscribe to, so how do we maintain consistency by really wanting to exercise and staying curious about the way we move?

Everyday Movement as Medicine

I’m going to divert for a minute…When I was a kid my mom had a bunch of VHS tapes of Jane Fonda’s workouts and I always thought they were really fun. I actually enjoyed doing them with her from time to time. In my twenties when I had been working out regularly for years I read an article in a magazine where a middle-aged Jane Fonda told readers her secret was that she moved a little bit every day. The exercises that were pictured alongside that article were not what I was used to seeing at the time, she was using her own body weight mostly and the exercises looked more like everyday movements than a typical workout. She just repeated them and practiced these movements consistently. Jane is still advocating this kind of approach to movement today, and her workouts have seen a revival in 2020.

Jane is obviously the GOAT and is a living example of how consistent exercise can have a positive effect on a person’s life. She also knows a lot about HOW to move her body. For me, I really only started to make Pilates a consistent practice after being certified as a Pilates instructor. It became easier to move more regularly and for shorter more effective durations when I knew what to do, which exercises to choose, and why. Whatever modality of exercise we subscribe to I think it’s important that the method feels engaging, that you’re learning, and you trust the thought behind it.

Committing to the Process

I started to develop The Fine Tune Series a few years back, which is a class I put together quarterly based on certain themes and movements I was working on in my own practice or with others. It’s meant to be practiced and repeated until the movements are familiar and your curiosity can lead. Then the series changes and a new set of movements and themes are introduced. It was originally taught in-studio but it’s now available as a video you can practice wherever you are. My hope is that The Fine Tune Series acts as a foundation or starting place, and that it helps guide you toward a consistent and lifelong relationship with exercise.