What do you need for March MATness?

[ChannelRunner2]

Well, a mat, of course! The 34 original Contrology exercises developed by Joe Pilates are now simply known as Mat Pilates - and are done on a mat, as the name implies. You can do the exercises standing and I'll try to provide videos for those variations as well (I am still searching for versions off Instagram...).

If you do want to do the mat exercises closer to the original design, you do want a mat. You could get The Mat, based on Joe's original design, though those are pricey. Like 500-600€. 😮 And more. (See here, for example: pilatesscandinavia.com/prod... ).

If you're like me, you probably don't want to spend that kind of money, so what mat might you want to get? If you're just wanting to follow March MATness you can get away with a yoga mat. Preferably two as you might want more padding for the rolling exercises. If you're looking for a new mat anyways, buy a thicker one. I bought an OLIVER exercise mat that's about 1 cm thick at the beginning of lockdown and it has served me well (not sure if they're sold in the U.K., here's a source in Germany: sportlaedchen.de/marken/oli... . This might be a comparable option: amazon.co.uk/Yoga-Mat-Thick... )

And if you don't want to go shopping and still want to get into the spirit, you can watch this interview with John Howard Steel by one of my favorite Pilates teachers Beth from Trifecta Pilates (who is hiding her lastname very well...): youtu.be/mDphjxVXnX4(Not working as expected?)

Steel was a student of Pilates himself and he shares his experience with the exercises and with the man as well as some of his historical research. You'll quickly learn that there is a lot of mystery around Pilates, the man.

Or if you'd rather walk or run while listening to an interview, check out Darian Gold's interview with historian Eva Rincke in two parts: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podca... and podcasts.apple.com/gb/podca... (or search for "All Things Pilates" on your fav podcast app. Just be careful! She has a lot of fascinating interviews on that podcast 😉).

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★ March MATness summary page: healthunlocked.com/strength... ★

[Wine 30D Graduate]

Can't wait

[CBDB Administrator Graduate Gold]

I’ll think I’ll use my yoga mat! 🤣🤣🤣 Didn’t know there was a thing like an elevated Pilates Mat! But that price! 😳😳😳😂 Looking so forward to it!

[dijep 30D Graduate]

Fascinating 🤔 I've only watched half the video so far but it's really interesting. I had to Google the lawsuit reference and what on earth "The Teaser" was .I've got a thick mat with my thin yoga mat on top as I'm on floorboards which are a bit hard 🤣

It was good to hear that if I can only lift an inch off the ground then Mr Pilates himself would say I'd done the exercise... That's a relief 😂

Roll on March 😊

[ChannelRunner2 in reply to dijep]

Yes! That reference to Joe's approach to the exercises has helped me many times!

Sadly, there's currently another lawsuit going on. From what I've seen similarly, uhm, strangely argued than the one back in 2000. There are some links with more info here: linktr.ee/pilatestransparen...

[ChannelRunner2]

Just a quick note that I'll be offline until Wednesday, 22 Feb... 🙃 I'll chime back in once I am back!

[CBDB Administrator Graduate Gold in reply to ChannelRunner2]

👍🏽👋( safe travels!)

[ChannelRunner2 in reply to CBDB]

It was absolutely wonderful! And I did some running! And hiking! Plus I rediscovered volkssporting - something I had (ironically) discovered in the US, even though it's originally a German thing and I grew up in Germany...

There were quite a few self-guided and well marked hikes around the Laacher See developed by the German Volkssporting Association (DVV). Here's a view onto the lake from the 15 km hike I did yesterday:

View through foliage and trees of Laacher See

[CBDB Administrator Graduate Gold in reply to ChannelRunner2]

oh, wow! I’ve been there! It’s the one close to Koblenz, right? I lived in Koblenz as a kid, and we went a couple of trips. Once as a school trip as it’s volcanic in origin (if I remember correctly), and once with family and friends.

Beautiful! Looks a gorgeous place to hike, walk and run!

[ChannelRunner2 in reply to CBDB]

YES! It's close to Koblenz!

[Leotigris]

I had been hoping to join you for March Matness but I had a hernia repair op on Friday so will be out of action for approx 8 weeks 😟. Will you be doing this again (or something similar) in the future?

[ChannelRunner2 in reply to Leotigris]

Ouch! That sounds painful, @Leotigris! Wishing you a quick and full recovery!

I haven't looked further ahead than this March and the Matness happens every year, so I am sure there'll be other opportunities even if I won't offer it in 2024.

[Leotigris in reply to ChannelRunner2]

Thanks ChannelRunner2

[CBDB Administrator Graduate Gold in reply to Leotigris]

oh dear! Sending you lots of patience for your recovery period. I’m sure we’ll be doing other Pilates things as well, in time. And depending on how the videos are configured, they might still be available afterwards and the posts will all stay on here. We’ll probably be able to “package” them up for anyone to do them in their own time.

In the meantime, we do have a specific folder for very targeted workouts. So there might be something you can still work on that during your time on the injury couch.

Maybe targeting ankles and feet mobility, which is never a bad thing?

Here is a link to our folder for targeted workouts:

healthunlocked.com/strength...

Sending you speedy recovery!

[Leotigris in reply to CBDB]

Thanks CBDB, I'll have a look at that folder

[Oldfloss Administrator]

Thanks you!