Pilates with the Help of a Husband and a Dog

The face that appears if anything fun is going on in the living room.

As long as I can remember, I have had a thing about arms.  I have always wanted a good set of toned, fit-looking arms.  As a runner who mostly (okay, only) likes running, I am not super balanced where that is concerned.  I have major muscles in my legs and absolutely nothing in my arms.   I have always believed (rightly or wrongly) that a truly fit runner has a good pair of strong arms, and yet I have never really been able to attain such (aka, stick to a weight/yoga/pilates/etc routine long enough). 

Being pregnant has only made this worse since parts of me are going to have to grow and I have absolutely no control over those parts.  So, in an effort to feel better about the growing parts, I'm focusing on the parts I can control - my arms!  And since I'm not running the kind of mileage I ran before pregnancy, I have a little more time and energy (and motivation) to devote to other areas of my body.

I think I mentioned in a previous post that I purchased a set of prenatal fitness DVDs with yoga, pilates, and weights all included.  I did those workouts on and off for a while before finding the parts of it I really liked.  I am currently on week 2 of consistently doing these workouts 3 times a week (I know, not much, but I'm pretty excited about it given my previous history with non-running workouts).  There is a 15 minute full body weight routine and a 20 minute pilates routine that I like.  I can handle 35 minutes and I'm actually starting to like it and look forward to the workout (making me hopeful to continue this habit after pregnancy).

This morning was on my schedule as a pilates/weights day, so when Jason said he'd be getting up to ride on his trainer, I told him I'd be getting up to do my video.  His trainer is set up in the living room where I'd be doing my workout.  He usually watches sports as he rides, but he said he didn't mind if I came in to do my video.

He'd been riding about 30 minutes when I came in and started the DVD.  I began with weights and as soon as the video started, I glanced over to look at Jason.  He was grinning.  I think he was trying not to, but he couldn't help it.  I laughed and told him to watch it or he would have to do his prenatal workout as well.  While I continued with my weights, I not only had commentary and encouragement from Jason as he mimicked the lady leading the workout, but Chance (my boxer) decided I needed assistance as well.  He stood as close to me as he could, resting his head or paw on my knee if I was still long enough.  When I laid down on the mat for my pilates segment, he laid down beside me.  By this point Jason had finished his ride and was back in the bedroom getting ready for work, but every once in a while I'd here him say, "perfect" or "great job" in the same tone as the instructor in the video.

I'd just like to note here that it is really hard to focus, breathe, throw your leg around and laugh at the same time.  It was hilarious.  At one point I caught Jason trying to get a picture of Chance "helping" me, but by then Chance had opted to see what Jason was up to in the kitchen.  

Before this morning, I don't think Jason had really seen the video I'd been using to do my workouts.  I will admit, it is kind of funny.  There are three women doing the routine.  The instructor is the one you follow if you are in your first trimester, and the other two women are both pregnant with one in her 2nd and one in her 3rd trimester.  As you do the workout, you are to follow the woman who is in your trimester.  While it is a great workout for me, I will say it is also cheesy and I was very aware of this with Jason in the room.

I'm not sure Jason and Chance were all that helpful during my morning workout, but they certainly added humor and fun to the mix.