I first met Dave – entrepreneur, dad, and avid biker – almost two years ago when he started Pilates sessions.  This weekend, Dave will be biking from San Francisco to Sonoma as part of the Bike MS: Waves to Wine ride to raise money for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.  Way to go, Dave!

Like many of my clients, Pilates is a key component to Dave’s active lifestyle and keeping his body healthy and moving well.  Here’s Dave:

Why did you originally start Pilates lessons? 

“I started because I had pain in my shoulder and was worried I had an injury. I saw a bodyworker who told me I just needed to retrain the deep muscles to stabilize my shoulder, and referred me to see Julia. He said, ‘Come back if it doesn’t work, but I expect you won’t be coming back,’ and he was right.”

Have you improved since then?  How?

“I’ve improved quite a bit! I understand my shoulder much more now, and I know how to keep from getting it out of joint, and how to lift or carry things etc. My balance is better, my posture is better, my body is more flexible. Since I’m over 40, I wanted to start strength training, something I’ve never done well or consistently, but I was worried that I’d hurt myself in the process.  Julia has provided really good analysis and advice whenever I’ve been concerned about my knees, back, just my alignment in general.  Pilates has helped me avoid injury in weight training –  even though my strength trainer is probably not too careful regarding proper form – he’s a self-professed old-school meathead!”

What is your favorite exercise or technique that you’ve done?

“My favorite moments are when the instructions make no sense to me the first time because the point of the exercise is to activate a muscle I am not aware of. Julia will say, ‘Now do X without moving Y.’ Initially it doesn’t seem likely, but gradually it becomes intuitive as the body learns how it is supposed to move.”

Joe Pilates famously thought that if the members of the UN could just do his first 10 exercises, we would finally have world peace.  What challenges – big or small, physical or mental – do you feel Pilates has helped you overcome?

“Pilates has reversed bad habits, improved my balance and posture, and helped me avoid injury.”

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