The Link between Bucks Fizz and Pilates Flow

When was the last time someone suggested you “gotta speed it up and then you gotta slow it down”?

And “if you believe that our love can hit the top, you gotta play around”?

And claimed that this is necessary because “soon you will find that there comes a time for making your mind up”?

Was it in a Pilates class?

(Well, maybe not the ‘love can hit the top/play around’ bit…though we could substitute love for core could we not…?)

Moving on…

Regular readers of our Vita blog will surely remember my missive citing fave 80s boyband A-ha, (The Link between progression in Pilates and Morten Harket), so I return here once again to some musical inspiration through the glory of the bubbly 80’s band Bucks Fizz and, of course you all recognised, their Eurovision winning song “Making your Mind Up”.

And this links to Pilates how?

Well, today dear reader, I’m thinking about Zones. Obvs.

In The World of Exercise, there are Heart Rate Zones and also Psychological Zones. In terms of heart rate zones, traditional Pilates should usually put you in zone 1 to zone 2. We don’t intend to get our heart rates up to tax our cardiovascular system, we intend to keep movements quite slow and thus controlled to improve body awareness, flexibility and core stability. Some people find this actually really hard. But we don’t want to work up much of a sweat, really more a little gentle radiating. What we really need to do is get a little more in a psychological zone, that state of flow that Mr Pilates cited as a key principle of his Contrology method. And try to really be in the moment, often called ‘the zone of optimal functioning’. To basically just give your body and movement some attention and think about your speed.

So, sometimes to help us find this sense of control, it’s quite fun to channel a bit of Bucks Fizz into our classes just to remind ourselves that we ‘gotta slow it down”. What happens to your core stability if you really do ‘speed it up’ on a Single Leg Stretch? You rock, and not in kick-ass good way. You lose a sense of rhythm in your breath. It’s quite fun, mind. But you may lose that lovely simplicity of an exercise that challenges you to be aware of your core muscles whilst organising your legs to massage your colon..(.you did know that right? Mr P loved a bit of stomach massage).

But let’s also heed the advice of the thrilling-champions-of-Velcro-skirt-spinning-off-ness as they head to their chorus: we must all find our own speed, and our own personal Pilates Zone.

Don’t let your indecision

Take you from behind

Trust your inner vision

Don’t let others change your mind

So, do ignore whatever speed the person next to you is choosing. You certainly ‘gotta play around’ a bit to see how it all feels, but honestly, this is your class, your body and your time, “for making your mind up”.