#30before30 – Gym Stories

I’ve been having some technical difficulties with my laptop lately and I apologize for the delay in posting some blogs, so today I’m going to write about a bunch of things I completed for #30before30. If you have been reading this blog you all know about my Pilates instructor Christina and how much I love Pilates. It’s all thanks to my good friend Orly that I started Pilates. A while back Orly introduced me to my first Pilates instructor Kathy, I immediately fell in love with Pilates. For those who don’t know, Pilates is a type of exercise you do on a reformer that has springs with different amounts of tension that allows you to work out your whole body, a lot of the time, while you are lying down (which is one of the best parts ;)) jk! Now I absolutely love my sessions with new friends like Naomi and Kim and old friends like Katherine and Orly!

So with all of the other physical challenges I gave myself I decided that I really wanted to master an advanced level skill in Pilates, I chose the Dolphin with a standing split. Now, admittedly, I can’t quite do the standing split….yet, I know I will get there. I can tell you however that at the beginning of this challenge I was barely able to do the normal Dolphin exercise. Now I am happy to report that I can basically do it on one leg, check out the Pilates pics below. I wanted to show you what it’s really supposed to look like but I couldn’t find any pictures (even on google!!) so I’m showing you a picture of what it looks like on the floor, just imagine that on a reformer.

Speaking of Pilates another thing on my #30before30 was to convince a guy friend of mine to try Pilates. Most guys tell me that Pilates is a sissy workout for girls, which is totally untrue! So when my gym, Victoria Park recently had a member’s appreciation night and we were allowed to bring a guest, I brought my friend Dan to try a Pilates class with me. I’m happy to report that he tried and said it was no joke (which may also be because I had him do it after an extreme circuit, but that’s a different story)! Unfortunately I did not take a pic of him doing it but you can ask him, he really tried it.

At the same event I was given the opportunity to try something new, which I obviously jumped at the chance to do. This time it was something relaxing and calming, unlike most of the other things on my list, it was a reflexology session. I had no idea what reflexology was when I signed up for it; basically it’s an amazing foot massage. Apparently the foot has connections to every other organ in your body and by massaging your feet in the right way you can cure other ailments. They had me at foot massage. My session was incredible and I highly recommend it for runners or people who have spent a lot of time in uncomfortable shoes.

So tomorrow is my 30th birthday, no more #30before30 but due to an overwhelming response I will continue to blog. Firstly because I have a few things to write about (including my epic party and a recap of the last 30 days) secondly because I have learned how you can improve yourself and your life significantly by taking on challenging yourself and doing things that scare you. This challenge has given me so much that I’ve decided to give myself at least one challenge a month for the next year, I’ll be sure to blog about it and let you know how it goes, now I need a new hashtag, suggestions welcome!

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