by Maria Martin
I have suffered from chronic back, hip and knee pain for over 3 years and to be honest I felt ancient! at 50 years old I thought my physical life as I knew it was over!
I’m a keen walker and spend a lot of time up north walking in the hills with my dogs for hours at a time. It seemed I could only manage half an hour before the pain kicked in and I would have to turn back and go home.
My physio Melanie suggested I try ‘Pilates’ and gave me Karen’s details, so with some reservations I got in touch. The setting is perfect for me, I’m no ‘high impact girl’ and lots of women in tight lycra displaying tanned bodies to pumping music scared me to death! No worries on that score, Karen’s classes are small, 3-4 max and personal, Karen is dedicated to your time with her and gives each of us the attention we require to perform the exercises properly for the best results.
I’ve also been taking circuit training sessions with Karen and feel sessions like these have been good for me, something I never thought I’d manage to do, getting the benefits of a cardio work out without agonising joint pain is what I’d been looking for, I discovered you don’t need to train to the point of exhaustion to feel the benefits! plus my physio feels it’s doing me good too!
The encouragement has seen me through some ‘Low points’, my confidence in my ability to attempt some of the more challenging exercises is growing, I’m stronger and I even remember to use my ‘Core’ during daily life. I think my turning point was when I decided to really invest in my health, buying clothes, bags, shoes and other luxuries have never been an issue but investing in my health always seemed to be last on my list.
It’s a big turn around for me and I am now reaping the benefits, after all, no point in buying beautiful shoes, if you’re not strong enough to wear them!! and show off a great posture! So if you are reading this blog, take my advice and give it a go, be patient and watch what happens, as the advert says, ‘your worth it’! Huge thanks to you Karen, couldn’t have done it without you.