New Year New You?

Happy New Year! 
Many people are beginning their New Year with a resolution to start the year better than they ended last year; many of you may have vowed to lose weight, get in shape, and even eat better.  Good for you.

I've personally vowed (now hold your tongue until I am all done)... to Do Less and Expect More!

Now I know you are thinking I must be really lazy, or that we already live in a society which promotes doing little and getting a lot... but hear me out as this applies to your own New Years Resolution to lose weight, get in shape, eat better and more!

Do Less Expect More, relates to using the least amount of time and energy in order to accomplishing your goals.

Do Less, Expect More simply stands for becoming more efficient at what you do!
Simple.

In terms of exercising many of us (including myself) have fallen prey to the "I need to work out as hard as I can for as long as I can so I hurt like crazy the next two days and can feel like I've worked out as hard as I could for as long as I could" mentality!  (Whew, I am just worn out typing that!)

Here's the deal... Pilates has taught me that that mentality is not only unnecessary when it comes to exercise but is actually counterproductive.  Here is why:

When we work out hard (as already described above) we are wearing our body down; as we wear the body down we are more prone to injury and burn out (not wnating to stick to it). 

Jospeh Pilates theory was opposite of that, if you teach a person to purposefully use the entire body every time they do any movement they will have to do less to achieve more results!

hmmm sounds something like my New Years Resolution...

Do Less, Expect More. 

It's the whole "six minute abs" concept.  Basically Pilates can get your abdominal muscles stronger. flatter, and looking better in only 6 minutes a day; oh wait in 5 moves a day!  Seriously cool marketing concept which I stole from the Movie "Something About Mary." 

Really! It's totally true, but you need to know what you are doing to accomplish this.  (more on knowing what you are doing in a later blog).

Here's the deal, over the last 10 years Pilates has taught me how to work out less and see greater results. Just to prove my point, I have not lifted weights in 4 years and can now do 5 unassisted pull-ups, which I never could do before! All because of working on a variety of Pilates Equipment (not just Reformers)

That said, one of the main reason Pilates is so effective relates to the fact that it is something you WANT to do on a regular basis because you feel better when you do it, and your not having work hard, work long, and fatigue yourself into unfunctional pain for two days!

While I have figured that out with exercise, I am now going to attempt to apply this same concept everything else I do.

Wish me luck!