Pilates Changed My Life: See What this Type of Exercise Can Do For You

I hate exercise. There. I said it. That word alone is enough to make me cringe. I have always viewed it as a chore until recently. Up late one night with nothing to watch, I flipped on the tv and started channel surfing. Infomercial after infomercial passed me by until I came to one of Amercia's finest shopping channels, and was captivated by this svelte looking woman with an entrancing english accent and fantastically toned arms. I instantly thought, "she must be a balerina or something." I was going to switch the channel, but she started talking about an injury she incurred and how pilates had helped her not only recover from her injury, but get her in the best shape of her life.

The product she was promoting was a Pilates JP 4500 machine. It was being sold for a little under $200 and came with power cords (for added workout) and 2 videos. She talked of her age, this being 50 at the time. She moved so graciously and effortlessly on that machine. No sweat. No out of breath. Hmmmmm. She transitioned from one move to another with ease. Then she tells the listening audience that doing it 20 minutes a day changed her life! "Yeah right," I thought. Having danced in hip hop/jazz for years, I knew what it took to have a body like that.....hours of sweat!

Now, if you are like me, and are skeptical, or know what it takes to look svelte, you would have changed the channel by now. But, I began to notice something interesting. It was almost 2 am eastern time, and the testimonial phone calls were coming in like crazy from women (and even a man) who were acheiveing, or had achieved success with pilates. Again, being a skeptic, I thought, "these people must work for this tv station."

So, I waited. The pilates presentation ended and the next product was showcased. No testimonial calls. I watched yet another presentation. No testimonial calls. Now I was intrigued.

I had done pilates in the past without much success. Most of the programs I tried were all floorwork and mat exercises and caused more harm than good to my body. I wondered what could have made this machine so different from the floor exercises I was used to doing with pilates matwork.