Pilates Class By Sara Jane Coffman |
I don’t know about you, but every now and then – like when I can’t get into my favorite skirt -- I realize I’m out of shape. I should try to get some exercise. But exercising on my own is boring. So then I thought – maybe if I took a class I could have some fun AND get back in shape. I happened across an ad for a Pilates class. I knew nothing about Pilates, but I went ahead and signed up. How hard could it be? When I walked into the first class, I could see I was in trouble. I’d assumed my classmates would be women my age. These gals were all in their early 20’s. Most of them had just completed an hour-long cycling class and weren’t even breathing hard. The instructor began by telling us the history of Pilates, which I couldn’t hear
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because the music was so loud. Then she asked us what we thought about the level of music. Thank goodness! She was going to turn it down. “Could you turn it up a bit?” someone asked. I took a spot in the back row and unrolled my brand-new exercise mat. The instructor began by having us bend forward and touch our toes. She looked over at me and said: “Or your ankles.” She looked over at me again and said: “Or your knees.” After we did a few more stretches, we got into the more rigorous exercises. I quickly discovered I could do one squat, one crunch, and one leg lift for every ten squats, crunches, and leg lifts the other gals were doing. But that was partly because I was having trouble with my mat – it kept sliding around on the floor. I had to keep getting off my mat and repositioning it so I wouldn’t bump into the gals around me. Then we laid down on our backs and squeezed an exercise ball between our knees. MY ball kept popping out and rolling away. I had to keep getting up and going after it. Throughout the class, the other gals drank from their water bottles. I hadn’t brought a water bottle, so I had to get up and go to the drinking fountain . . . on the far side of the room. While the other gals were bending, squatting, crunching, and lifting their legs, I spent most of the class repositioning my mat, chasing my ball, and going for water at the drinking fountain . . . on the far side of the room. This was definitely the wrong class for me. I couldn’t wait to get out of there. Finally, the class ended. The other gals chatted on their way out while I just laid there, panting, on my mat, trying to recover. One of the young girls came over to me and whispered: “If you put the rubber side of your mat face down, it won’t slide all over the floor.” Now you tell me. Using the last bit of effort I had, I got up and began rolling up my exercise mat. That’s when I heard the instructor call across the room: “You’re not leaving, are you? This is just the break.”
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Abo ut PURA News The Purdue University Retirees Association newsletter is published for official retirees of Purdue University, and prepared by the PURA Communications Committee. Send suggestions or ideas for PURA or the newsletter to:
Office of Retiree Affairs 2550 Northwestern Ave., Suite 1100 West Lafayette, IN 47906 Telephone, via Purdue Benefits help line: (toll free) 877-725-0222 Email: pura@purdue.edu
2023-2024 PURA Communications Committee:
Chair: Karen Lembcke
Members: Connie Bilyeu, Jo Thomas
www.purdue.edu/retirees |
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Zoom Connection Information for PURA Meetings
The Zoom connection information for PURA monthly meetings is shown below. The link, Meeting ID, and password will be the SAME for all future normal monthly meetings. Members who wish to join via phone call audio only will need the separate Passcode shown below. (The password/passcode for that method is different from the normal “computer connection” to Zoom.)
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Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/97285398989?pwd=MlB4U0FudEplMFRoWm1GTkZzNmYrZz09 Meeting ID: 972 8539 8989 Passcode: BoilerUp One tap mobile +13126266799,,97285398989#,,,,,,0#,,41051096# US (Chicago) +19292056099,,97285398989#,,,,,,0#,,41051096# US (New York) Dial by your location +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) +1 929 205 6099 US (New York) +1 301 715 8592 US (Germantown) +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose) +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) Meeting ID: 972 8539 8989 Passcode: 41051096 Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/acvQQKVcnE
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