While most people opt for sun-kissed naps at the beach, I tend to go for the more active route. When I came across Paddle Pilates, a new group exercise class that combines stand up paddle boarding and Pilates, I knew I had to try it.
But before I could even set foot in the water, certified Pilates and Paddleboard Pilates instructor Jules Gennari took me and the rest of the class through some safety tips and a basic warm-up.
The warm-up helped me learn how to control my breathing and stretch out all of the muscles I needed for the class – like the abs and oblique muscles.
After the warm up, we paddled out, and I immediately felt my core working to prop myself up on the board. Many people mistake “the core” as just the abdominal muscles, but it also includes major muscle groups like the spine, oblique muscles and gluteus.
Joseph Pilates, the founder of Pilates, defined the core as the “powerhouse.” With a powerhouse, or strong foundation, Joseph believed that you can have basic control of any body movement. Once I found my balance on the board, I was able to use my powerhouse from teaching Ultimate Abs at the Recreation Center to paddle with my upper body. In my half-hour long Ultimate Abs class, I help the FIU community and myself build a strong foundation with various types of crunches, planks, sit-ups and other exercises used to engage the core muscles.
Using the board as our mat, Gennari brought us through a series of Pilates moves, including the Pilates one-hundred, flutter kicks and planks. Similar to my Ultimate Abs class, each move engaged different parts of the core, and some exercises had multiple purposes. For example, the Pilates one-hundred helped us warm up our abdominal muscles and learn how to control our breathing as we did the exercise. I learned that the name, Pilates one-hundred, comes from the 10 breaths that you take during the exercise. Each breath consists of inhaling for five seconds and releasing the air out from your lungs for another five seconds.
As I worked through my first-ever Pilates class, the challenging moves combined with the uneven and unpredictable ocean waves tested my ability to keep the board steady and engaged my stabilizer muscles within seconds. After a while of combating with the current, I finally channeled by inner balance and enjoyed the fresh ocean breeze.
That is another great thing about this class; rather than lying on a foam mat in an enclosed classroom, students benefit from the soothing sounds of the water. As a college student, I could not think of a better way to escape from the endless papers, exhausting exams and constant reading that builds up the stress in our lives.
And the benefit from being outdoors does not stop there. While sun exposure has been linked to harmful diseases like cancer, in small doses, UVB rays promote the vitamin D growth that our bodies need for sustained bone health.
Overall, my love for an active beach day was satisfied from the optimal core workout that I received from Paddle Pilates. If you are looking for challenging exercises, a great tan, an escape from college chaos and are up for something new, I would definitely recommend taking your workout afloat with Ft. Lauderdale Stand Up Paddle’s Paddle Pilate Class. For more information on location, prices and booking a class, call 954-625-5798 or log on to www.fortlauderdalesup.com.
Fit for Life! is a bi-weekly fitness and nutrition column. Look for it every other Friday this Fall.
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