Welcome to the May edition of Pilates Central News.
In this edition:
- Pilates in the Tardis
- Keeley Saying something
- Ring of fire
- The joy of socks
Pilates in the Tardis
“How Ncuti Gatwa trained to be the first ‘buff’ Doctor,” exclaims the Evening Standard in a piece to coincide with the return of Doctor Who. The paper spoke to personal trainer David Higgins, who helped Gatwa get in shape during the filming of Barbie, where he played one of the Kens.
The Standard reveals: “Higgins explains that his method focuses on core body control, and he bases a lot of his moves on Pilates. There’s a base weights programme with repetitions that are challenging, but not ridiculously heavy. Meanwhile, his cardio sessions similarly involve 25 minutes of a mix of things like squat thrusts and mountain climbers.”
During the filming of Barbie Gatwa was doing Pilates every day. It’s good that after 900-odd years the Doctor has discovered Pilates and we hope he has a studio on board the Tardis. We can even suggest a new plot for showrunner Russell T Davies. In the 2010 story Vincent and the Doctor Matt Smith’s Doctor visited Vincent Van Gogh and revealed to him that his art was now world famous. Wouldn’t it be good if the current Doctor could visit Joseph Pilates in 1960s New York and tell him that his ‘contrology’ is now known throughout the world and even bares his surname? We’re sure Joe would be moved. Over to you, Doctor.
Keeley saying something
Keeley Hawes only took up Reformer Pilates a year ago when she participated in her first class and told the Times, “ I thought I’m going to get caught up in a tangled up mess and turn into a meme, but actually it was great.” Now Keeley, who recently starred as royal private secretary Amanda Thirsk in Scoop, the drama about Prince Andrew’s ill-fated interview with Emily Maitlis, is clearly a convert.
Hawes, who has also starred in Line of Duty, The Durrells, It’s a Sin and The Bodyguard, now goes to a public Pilates class alongside 19-year-olds and an 80-year-old. She tells the Daily Telegraph: “I absolutely love it. I tried so many other things; because I’m 48, I want to feel better and get the endorphins going, and it’s good for mental health. But before this I hadn’t found ‘the thing’.”
Pilates is also helping her age naturally, which has been good for her career. “She could never have played Mrs Durrell, she has said, if she’d had her lips done. You wouldn’t see DI Lindsay Denton with a duck pout,” writes the Telegraph. Nor is she addicted to make-up. “What’s the worst that can happen if you go out with no make-up on? Women are gorgeous,” says Hawes. “If you get papped you do get savaged in the comments. But you can’t live your life worrying about the comments, can you?” Well said, Keeley. And we’re very pleased she’s found her ‘thing’ in Pilates.
Ring of fire
Rarely does an issue of Marie Claire arrive without an article on Pilates, and most recently writer Anna Bartter supplemented her Pilates classes with two-weeks of trying a Pilates ring at home. She describes the ring as, “small but mighty, packing a proper punch, benefits-wise.”
Bartter does a ten-minute workout involving leg squeezes, roll-ups and back work, assuming she’ll cope easily, only to discover why they call it “the burning ring of fire.” She writes: “I naively assumed that I’d segue seamlessly from move to move, completing the reps like a pro. Reader, this is very much not what happened. Whereas usually, I’d happily work on sets of ten reps fairly comfortably, with the ring involved – I was struggling to hit three reps. Who knew something so small could be so effective?”
Once Bartter tried the “less-is-more approach reps-wise” she gets on much better with the ring, also finding that is good for stretching after a running injury. “ I interspersed my usual weekly Reformer class with ring-based mat work, and while I didn’t necessarily feel like I’d worked out super hard (I wasn’t drenched in sweat, put it that way), I knew from the muscle soreness I was soon experiencing that I’d been activating something, at least – the DOMS don’t lie.”
Would she use a Pilates Ring again? “It’s a hard yes from me – in fact, I’ve gone out and bought one – a testament to how effective I believe it is. Whether you’re a runner, a yogi or simply wanting some post-injury recovery, the magic circle really is magic.”
The joy of socks
“Sports socks pulled over leggings has won fans the world over,” reveals the Times. Fashion editor Karen Dacre is a fan and in her feature writes: “Adopted by everyone from Pilates girlies (among whom the combo is as essential as a Stanley travel cup) to Crocs-adoring Gen Zers, leggings plus sport socks sartorially defines a cohort who agree wholeheartedly with the suggestion that trainer socks (an early-Noughties hangover) might just be the unsexiest item of wardrobe paraphernalia on Earth.”
The look even has a thread on Mumsnet and has been adopted by celebrities like Hailey Bieber, Kaia Gerber and Kendall Jenner. Brands such as Alo Yoga, Varley, Sporty & Rich are all now selling “colourful statement socks”, designed to be worn over leggings.
But Dacre points out the look actually has its roots in the 1980s, in films such as Flashdance and the success of Pineapple Dance Studios. She adds that for many, “the look will also conjure memories of a streetwear trend popularised in the late Nineties, which involved teenage boys wearing their sports socks pulled over their favourite pair of trackie bottoms (see also a baseball cap with the peak set at two o’clock).”
She admits that she normally eschews trends that are too popular, but says that comfort trumps all other factors. “Try pulling a pair of sports socks (I live in a pair of tie-dye pink ones from Nike) over your comfiest pair of black leggings… and I swear you’ll never look back. Is comfort a cliché? Whatever, I’m here for it.”
Here at Pilates Central we’re yet to decide on a sock aesthetic policy, but you’ll be welcome here however you sock it to us.
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The Pilates Central Team