Pilates Celeb, Brooke Siler, Says: Sweat!

Brooke Siler is the author of 2 popular Pilates books: The Pilates Body and Pilates Body Challenge. She has a CD set called The Pilates Body Kit that you may have seen in any number of stores. And, she is a Pilates trainer for many of Hollywood's elite. Brooke was recently interviewed by the New York Times about how she deals with a life filled with travel in little airplane seats when she is 6'1". I feel for her. I have a hard time and I'm only 5'5". But that's not what caught my eye.

What caught my attention is that Brooke reported that when meets new people in her travels, they often tell her they like Pilates because they don't have to sweat. Uh. Oh. This was Brooke's reply: Here’s a news flash: You are supposed to sweat. Otherwise you’re not doing Pilates as it was originally intended. She is right. Joseph Pilates designed challenging workout programs and expected people to get their breath and blood pumping.

There are, for some people, valid reasons for not working out very hard. And yes, you can get lots of benefit from keeping things slow, focusing on alignment and the basic Pilates principles. But if you are hanging back just to keep from sweating, you might want to think about how to maximize your class time -- burn some calories, challenge your muscles, refresh your body with lots of new air and go for the gusto. It's almost the new year. It's time to get moving and sweating!