photo from allezhop.net

When I was a kid I would often hang from a tree branch in our front lawn imagining myself a gymnast or a circus performer. I would use the metal bar on the double-deck bed and do as many flips as I could until my arms would go numb or, when out on the playground, spend as much time as I can at the monkey bars. Such childhood memories were brought back when I saw a trainer demonstrate the use of the Pilates Cadillac machine, one the many equipment Joseph Pilates invented.

Named after the famous automobile in America, the Cadillac was devised by Pilates to rehabilitate his bedridden patients when he was a hospital orderly during World War 1. Also, known as “The Rack”, this piece of equipment looks like an orthopedic bed; a  four-poster bed frame with various bars, straps, springs and levers that may be adjusted variably to help facilitate more movement and flow into your Pilates exercises. It also has a push-through bar, which can be sprung from above or below, a roll-down bar, a trapeze or cross bar, arm and leg springs, thigh and ankle cuffs and hanging loops that you grab to raise your body up the table.

If you’re the adventurous  kind and fancy yourself a trapeze artist, you will be surprised at how you are able to make your body move in ways you never thought possible while suspended in mid-air. Through its repertoire of exercises, the Cadillac stretches the body, strengthens the back and spine, making it more flexible, while further developing the core abdominal muscles. Its a bit more complicated than the Reformer, another Pilates equipment mentioned in my previous post, so you definitely need a trained instructor to guide you on how to use it safely and effectively so you get the most out of your workout.

Most hospitals are equipped with the Cadillac but few regular fitness gyms have this type of equipment. Allez Hop Wellness and Balance Center tailor-fits their Cadillac Pilates program based on their clients’ needs, be it as a form of regular exercise or rehabilitative therapy. Either way, imagine how much fun your work out would be sans the hospital setting.

I myself have begun to think about getting myself re-acquainted with Pilates, which is offered at the gym I regularly go to, if only to get out of the exercise rut I’ve been in the past few weeks. It pays to really inject something new and different into your exercise regimen so you don’t slack off, and eventually lose interest in going to the gym altogether. And one thing about going around and finding places such as Allez Hop is that you are able to discover new ways to exercise.

photo from allezhop.net

I have only tried Pilates thrice since I became a Fitness First member if only to find out why some people get hooked on it. Body Balance/yoga classes being offered at the gym remain one of my favorites, along with Retro, Latin and Body Jam. Only last year has Pilates Ball beeen included in the menu of classes owing to its growing popularity among gym enthusiasts.

There are many kinds of Pilates, differentiated only by the type of equipment they use. At home you can do basic Pilates using an exercise mat, very much like yoga. Pilates Ball uses an inflated ball that allows the movement of limbs to increase core strength by strengthening the abdominal muscles along with increasing flexibility in the limbs. There exists, however, another kind of Pilates that uses a machine called the Reformer,giving one an increased range of motion and support, or helping one ease into some of the more complex Pilates movements. I got acquainted with it when I went to Allez Hop Balance and Wellness Center, a boutique gym located in Makati.

Its close proximity to Makati Medical Center  makes the center an alternative to those who may want to undergo rehab therapy. The center, however small, is surprisingly better equipped than most regular gyms I’ve been to. The Reformer alone costs around USD2,300 and the center has two machines which requires quite a bit of floor space when in use.

At first, the Reformer might look like a rowing machine I regularly use at the gym. It looks simple enough, yet upon close inspection and while observing a client at the center using it, I found it to be well-designed as to allow the user a full range of motions, from the basic movement to the most difficult and challenging. It actually assists the user into doing the exercise the proper way, with supervision from a trained instructor.  Like most  of the other Pilates equipment, the Reformer helps to improve core strength and, in turn one’s balance and posture.

Resistance is key in doing Pilates exercises with the Allegro Reformer and its sliding platform and color-coded springs allow the user to change the level of resistance when doing Pilates exercises.  Surprisingly, most of its users are one in saying that the less resistance there is, the more difficult it becomes because it is your own body that does the work. With more tension in the coiled springs, you have more assistance performing a particular exercise. Using less tension on the springs means using more tension in your own muscles. 

These strengthening exercises make it best for those who want a strong and well-defined body without being bulky.  Apart from the aesthetic benefits however, enthusiasts are one in saying that most rewarding thing about Pilates is increased srength that allows one to perform day-to-day tasks such as lifting or going up a flight of stairs with ease.   Some clients regularly come to the center for pain management after having gone through an injury or accident. The Allegro helps them in that respect, allowing them to move and function without pain or discomfort.

In a world where our body is under constant stress it pays to keep the mind and body in top form. Don’t you agree?

Photo of me on a treadmill.

The issue of a treadmill at home has been hounding me for quite some time. To purchase or not? I am still undecided because I lack space for it. I have tried out quite a few especially the folding ones that can be stored under the bed, also the small treadmills on sale that cost around Php5,000 at Toby’s but because I am so used to the big treadmills at the gym, I find it too wobbly; I can’t even get on it comfortably and swing my arms freely as I do at the gym. The trampoline I had parked infront of the TV hasn’t been used for quite sometime because it has been folded and placed behind the piano. If I get the folding type that has to be moved around (okay, I’m lazy, I admit) chances are it’s going to be the same thing with the trampoline.

Fitness First has Precor and Technogym treadmills. What I like about these treadmills, specially the Technogym treadmills, is that they have big handles that help me balance my weight around the machine and I don’t feel like the person next to me is too close for me to smell his odor (my friend laughed out loud when I said this). Yeah, I’m such an OC over personal space.

Run or walk, the belt on the machine is long and wide enough which allows me ample space that my feet won’t hit the front deck, nor get caught on the sides of the tread. I’ve seen this happen once because a woman was holding her cellphone and texting while on the machine. Stupid, and very dangerous. I once closed my eyes while wiping off sweat from my forehead while walking at a fairly moderate setting and lost my balance.

I’ve been experiencing joint problems of late, probably from all the running I do, whether at the pavement or on a treadmill. Typical problem that affects runners, they say. Cushioning becomes important at this point. Gym treadmills have shock absorbers that give me the cushioning I need so much so that when one foot hits the tread, I get the spring that I need for the next step.

What I do when get on the treadmill is that I set it to 5.5 miles per hour (mph) for 5 minutes at an incline or gradient of 1.0 degrees. This is like hiking up a moderate slope to strengthen the legs a bit. Don’t be fooled by the speed because as slow as it is, walking at an incline burns up more calories as do running at a pace of 8.0 mph at zero incline/gradient. After my five-minute briskwalk, I set the speed range to about 8 to 8.5 for 10 minutes, keeping my breathing even and pacing my steps carefully so that I won’t tire so easily; one foot after another, concentrating as much as I can. I don’t have time to spare; I just want to do my workout and leave the gym to do other stuff like writing or errands, unlike some people who distract themselves with the TV or fidget with their water bottles, cellphones or clothing. Towards the end of my 10 minutes, I sometimes feel like breaking into a run and set it to 9.0 for 3 minutes. I taper off by going back to 5.5 and then meander for quite a bit till I’m done.

The important thing to remember is to get the heart racing at 60% of your maximum  heart rate. Ace, my fitness trainer at Fitness First (FF) Manila, taught me how to get my maximum heart rate. You determine your maximum heart rate by taking the number 220 and subtracting your age. I used to program my run when I had Ace for my gym trainer. These gym treadmills are helpful in that respect. The machine’s console has program settings so that you keep you heart rate at a level that you have pre-determined. The consoles has programs for speed, calorie and distance so you know what speed you are going, how far you’ve gone or how much time you have left. The monitor shows this at intervals; you don’t have to push buttons for the info. It has steel magnetic handles you can place your hands on as it reads your bpm (heartbeat per minute). The treadmills at Fitness First are user-friendly as it has less buttons in its console (they probably did a study on this). For people like me who want to get moving right away, the quick start button is very helpful. I rarely program my run and the arrows that move up and down allows me to operate manually, set my pace as I see fit.

At the end of the day, I feel like I’m still not sold out on the idea of a treadmill purchase, one big factor being it takes up so much space for the type of treadmill I want and need. Just thinking about it, well, I would rather generate energy when out running outside my home, rather than consuming energy when I plug on the treadmill. Think of how much electricity I can save. I just might have to content myself with running around our three-car garage; running in circles perhaps (LOL)…