Just as I’d promised myself, I kept up a dance holiday to focus on exercise. I didn’t manage the amount I would have wanted because of work pressures steppng up slightly, but I did manage to “change tracks” for a while to become as preoccupied with Pilates as I was with dance. Well, almost.
I have only managed to do a round of Pilates about every alternate day for between 30 to 50 minutes. But even in this short time of not-quite-enough exercise, I am amazed at the difference it makes. Now, I have not shed a whole lot of weight or anything like that. It’ll tke sensible combining with cardio or long sessions of intense belly dancing to do that, but I do see tangile differences in toning, strength and flexibility. Even more amazing is the fact that this seeps everyday activities like climbing the stairs… I can’t believe it.
I always resented the fact of having to climb the stairs two flgiths up to my apartment. Specially after work, when I step sleeepily out of the car and just want to eat soemthing and sit around like a lump of cement. I would find myself leaning on the railing a bit or becoming a bit unbalanced. But now, I climb them briskly and quite upright. In just ten days or so? Incredible.
I also find a difference in my balance. I have always had very bad balance and couldn’t even do that tree pose in yoga that everyone manages just fine. I’d just topple over – quite straightforward. But I tried various balancing poses recently (from general fitness exercises and ballet) and found there’s a new strength making it begin to happen! Possibly a strengthened core.
Today I got back to dancing by doing the East Coast warm up. I was gong to do mroe but had a visitor so stopped. Now I saw the difference the pilates made to this old favorite warm up. Hugely enhanced flexibility, for one. And a lot more precision and control. And also range of motion, which wasn’t small to begin with.
Understandably, I’m quite sold on these Pilates things! I’ve acquired a ton of fitness videos and will try to review them here. For now I’m sticing with a fairly basic but obviously effective one called Pick Your Spot: Pilates. It’s wonderful to work with and I’ll continue to use until I feel the exercises are being done very precisely and cripsly.
The best part of this whole experiment has been that I’ve felt no pain. Certainly some of the moves are tough and I hate having to rasie the neck and shoulders off the floor for exercises like the single leg stretch but that’s more because my neck hurts at that time, not because I’m getting post-exercise pain.
I highly recommend a spell of exercise familiarity for anyone who ins’t getting exercise. But especially for learner dancers. It makes a difference to everyone, including dance moves you thought you were already good at. I can do undulations in any direction any time, any number.
wow Mala sounds great!!!!!
I need to get this dvd of yours!
I slogged through Asharah’s warmup, but got weighed down by other stuff, and it got too familiar. I like Anasma’s workout, though I’m taking it slowly, just once a week. I’ve ordered Love Potion and Sadie’s Complete Bellydance Guide, so I don’t want to buy any more fitness dvds before I’ve worked through Autumn’s flows. The pilates sounds interesting, though.
If you don’t mind too much information, one of the things interfering with my dance routine is the fact I have very irregular periods, with all the mood irritability and physical fatigue that brings.
I’ve also slowed down on Asharah’s warm up because I’ve stuck to it like glue for over a year and definitely one needs a change. Anasma’s is nice too. There are some exercise DVDs that seem to include a lot of what’s on these programs – I’ll get down to reviewing those.
Hmm, that irregularity can be very upsetting and annoying. But you know what, I’ve heard that exercise is one thing that actually helps stabilize this! Check with a doc though.
But you might want to try Callanetics. That’s so nice and gentle that you may well find it’s doable any time!
I’ve been doing exercise for the full body since I was 16 (11 years now), every day all through school and university. Now I find it a bit tough doing it every day time-wise.
I can only say I’ve told many girlfriends when they had these problems to work out, ESPECIALLY abs exercises. Yes, it aggravates the discomfort for about the first 5 min. Then the problems disappear I swear. Work your abs as long as you can – 15 min would be good, or a bit longer. The cramps and other discomforting feelings in the belly area disappear.
That is because blood circulation is enhanced by the exercises.
The tough thing is to get up to do something at this time of the month. But if you manage to work the abs I promise you’ll feel like on any other day!
Ok. I got a little enthusiastic, and did 3 rounds of the first 10 minutes of Anasma’s workout. This has definitely confirmed for me that I have lower back problems. Could you recommend me a dvd or preferably online exercises that would help build up strength and flexibility in my lower back?
Sajia, have you ever consulted a doctor on this? Is the back pain bad enough for that? Because there are at least two possibilities:
1. You have a basic back problem being triggered off by the dancing
2. Your dance posture is not yet good enough to correct for all the pressure on the lower back.
For the first, a doctor will have to tell you. For the second, I can say this much: I’ve been dancing for about 8 years and belly dancing for 4 and it’s only very recently that I’ve become properly “back-aware”. It’s only now that something in my brain gets triggered right off if there’s the faintest pressure on my lower back. And it’s only now that I know how to quickly tuck in to elongate and ease the pressure. Perhaps it’s this skill you need to develop and it’s particularly needed for drills and tribal moves that need hard control.
I’d stay away from any exercises like Pilates if you have back pain. But there are yoga videos and programs specially for back pain. There’s even one by WDNY but that one is very slow and difficult to handle. It doesn’t engage properly right from the start. Only the extremely patient would be able to handle it. I do however remember coming across more yoga videos specially for back pain. Do a bit of a search on that because it’s really yoga that can strengthen your back.
If you have a big problem, the doctor will have to give you finely targeted exercises that you’ll have to do gently when pain isn’t acute.
Can you see a good physiotherapist? A few sessions if you experience the rise of some problems is such a good investment.
They will check if there’s damage done already, they will show you the best exercises for your particular issues..
After a history of very serious knee pain and less serious other problems in the past years, I can say the money I invested into my excellent physiotherapist was the best way of spending it. Better than all of my dvds, and that tells a lot if you know me
So, I just saw my physiotherapist. She says it’s mostly a problem of fatigue and core weakness, so she gave me some good exercises. Thank you, Mala and Dina, for the advice!
Yes, you do sound like you overdo it!
But you know what, I meanwhile found some Pialtes videos specifically for back problems and back strengthening!
Sajia, be careful.
Years ago I hurt my knee because I was doing all kinds of dances (Latin fitness, hip hop..), Thai boxing, and my regular weight training per week… I could not do much for years. I still cannot do the “jumpy” stuff like THai boxing and hip hop, and what annoys me the most it sometimes affected the oriental dancing, too, although it s not strenuous (I tend to be worried and tense when shimmying because of the knees – something I never had before the injury).
Be very careful to not overdo your exercise.
It would bite you you know where
Hi
I developed sciatica 5 months ago. I have been goingfor deep tissue massages which work wonders. I also took up pilates and have done about 8 sessions now. Occasionally, i will wake up the next day with my butt cheeks in absolute agony. Is that to be expected? The pain is almost paralyzing…