Seven years ago...

Seven Years Ago…

Pilates can be challenging. Each of my clients feels both parts challenged and supported, but as an instructor and coach, you don’t really expect that to be true for you.

Seven years ago I had a client that really challenged me.

Seven years ago, I received a call from a Physio asking me if I could see a client of hers. She counselled “Sam, her body is riddled with pins and plates from her head to her toes.” She told me that this client had been in an extreme car accident and that it was pure luck that she had survived. 

I didn’t even think about it, I was up for the challenge.  I organised with Margaret to have her assessment session. Then, the more I thought about it, the more apprehensive I became. Even though I was trained as a rehab pilates instructor, I hadn’t really worked with anybody who had been that seriously hurt. 

The car arrived and slowly Margaret emerged with two walking sticks. 

My brain started to race to think about what exercises I had planned and which ones we could possibly start with. Thank goodness the walk was slow from the car to the studio, I had time to gather my thoughts and start to process the exercises for her session. 

Margaret couldn’t bend properly at the knees, had plates in her hips that were giving her some pain, and couldn’t lie on her side, she couldn’t get up from the floor unassisted. 

As the list of “can nots” added up, the list of exercises planned got smaller.

After that first session, we worked together three times a week for over two years. 

We went right back to basics and relearned how to recruit certain muscles for everyday tasks. 

We didn’t just focus on Pilates exercises.  We developed functional movement exercises that Margaret could do both with me at the studio and at home. At every opportunity, I created an exercise that she could incorporate to help her to get moving without the walking sticks, which was her main goal. I thought — why just hang your laundry, when you can strengthen your glutes and quads at the same time by incorporating squats and lunges. Not only were these good and meaningful exercises for her, but they gave Margaret a sense of strength in her mind and body. 

She was determined that her body was going to work for her not against her. The exercise plan was simple and effective and still felt like a challenge. 

I have never met a woman with such determination and willpower to walk again unassisted. 

Margaret charged through every exercise I gave her with no complaints, and believe me, once I knew what she was capable of I through some pretty challenging ones! 

Seven years later Margaret attends two classes a week in my studio. Boxilates™ (that is a cardio based class) and a Pilates Studio class. Margaret gets no special treatment, she does the same exercises as any other client with some slight modifications. 

There is no whinging or complaining, just a pure smile of happiness because she has conquered the world.  Margaret is not only walking unassisted but is participating in exercise classes that she once thought were unattainable.

Joseph Pilates designed a series of extraordinary exercises for all types of injuries and ailments. I feel proud to be able to teach these amazing moves to clients as I wholeheartedly believe that these exercises help people with not only moving their bodies, but their minds too. Margaret is the true embodiment of this.  

As Joseph once said  “It is the mind itself which builds the body”