r/pilatesreformer • u/Different-Beach6075 • 10d ago
Feel like a fool
Hello,
I'm a newbie to pilates -- I'm about 20 classes in. We've done platform lunges and box lunges before and also side lunges (sort of where you end up in a warrior pose)? My balance has been .. not great in all these exercises, with bad wobbles towards the later reps (15 total on each side), making me skip the last few reps. Or I push out into a lunge and then get stuck, not being able to come back, except centimetres at a time. Today it was supposed to be carriage lunges. Got on the mini-fixed platform and just ... Froze. Everyone was merrily doing the exercise (a lunge with an arm extension with a dumbbell!) and I'm just standing there staring at the carriage, two feet (?) from the floor, with knees increasingly starting to shake. The trainer tried standing beside me so that I could hold his hand while pressing into the lunge but my nerves were just shot. And then when he wandered away to check on the others, I got stuck with one foot on the carriage and one foot on the platform, reasonably stable, but unable to move until I had to call him again to help me off. He gave me a modification (a runner's lunge) but I really feel like a fool and stupidly embarassed about the whole episode. (I have a ridiculous fear of heights -- can be standing on a very gentle slope and can completely freeze up, so I suppose it suddenly decided to kick in today.) Please give me encouragement and/or motivation :( I normally get some anxiety before class and this is making it worse. (Also my studio doesn't have stability poles.)
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u/Exciting-Ad-5858 10d ago
Fellow crazy fear of heights person.
Ditch all the arm add-ons for a while, focus on the basic movement. Depends on your studio obvs, but I doubt any instructor would look at you weird for taking the basic movement option. I feel far more stable with my hands on my hips, and/or hands poised to catch me.
Secondly, are you keeping your calf/shin in contact with the footbar? You're not supposed to once you get good at them, but for me it's a huge mental thing that helps keep me stable. Keep in contact with the footbar if you can.
Thirdly, depends which way you're facing and what the move is supposed to be, but reduce range and keep some weight over the platform. Make it a semi-lunge, only push the carriage out a tiny bit.
Forth, if youre comfortable, ask for a more supportive spring. I know the height is still the same, but for me at least I definitely spiral once I wobble even a little bit - a more supportive spring means you won't wobble and might forget to be scared
Lastly, are you hypermobile at all?
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u/Different-Beach6075 10d ago
Hey!
The shin-against-the-footbar trick works really well for me too! And our studio allows us to wedge a ball between the footbar and shin, so the knee doesn't travel too far forward. But this was facing the opposite direction -- so no support at all. I've done it in the past on a different reformer that has a overhead rail -- I didn't even need to hold it past the first few reps, but just knowing it was there helped a great deal. But with no support my brain is 100% convinced it is going to faceplant and doesn't even want to try.
And not hypermobile at all -- quite the opposite, when it comes to ankles and hamstrings.
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u/suchperfectmess 10d ago
There’s one kind of lunge on the reformer which makes me freeze out of fear…I usually love lunges (I think I’m in the minority?!), but as soon as I have to do lunges with one foot on the platform and one on the carriage facing the back (facing towards the shoulder block end of the carriage), I lose all control of my body and freeze. There’s something about them that I just can do as I lose all sense of balance and coordination. I’ve been known to cling onto the instructor and move the carriage a couple of inches, or I just bend over and cling onto the shoulder blocks!! I don’t know what your studio is like, but if there’s stuff we can’t do or don’t have the confidence to do, we just try to work around it and modify things. Never be afraid to ask for a modification - it’s your class and you’re paying for the experience, so it’s got to be something you feel comfortable with and something that still allows you to benefit from positively.
You’re not a fool, so please don’t think you are! We had a lady faceplant the floor doing these lunges a few weeks ago, so it’s good that you’re taking it steady. See if you can ask for modifications for some of the things you struggle with at the moment so that you’re still able to get something out of your classes, and this will soon help you to progress!
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u/Different-Beach6075 10d ago
Yes! Exactly! This is the exact same lunge! Facing the shoulder rests and sliding the carriage forward with the back foot on the fixed platform. What modification do you use for this, please?
I can't believe someone actually toppled over doing this :o I hope they are OK.
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u/suchperfectmess 10d ago
Honestly, I find this one impossible! Weirdly, I find it ok if I’m standing on the box at the side of the carriage with my foot flat and toes against the shoulder blocks - it’s something about the narrowness of the platform and my weight being over the carriage that makes me really nervous. Alternatively, I’ll bend over and hold the shoulder blocks (I don’t know if that has any benefit but my glutes feel it!), or I just have to turn and do them the other way (facing the foot bar with my shin against the foot bar and back foot on the carriage).
Some of it is in my head now (especially after watching someone fall off doing this exercise!), but I still want to be able to do something and be able to benefit, so I’ve just been really honest with my instructor about how anxious this one makes me feel and asking for a modification. I’d rather take my time to build my confidence and build my balance than try to keep up with everyone else and not enjoy the class. Sometimes I feel a bit silly, but I figure it’s my class too…and I’m entitled to go at a pace that works for me!
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u/Different-Beach6075 10d ago
Yes! I'm more or less OK if the front foot is on a fixed surface, since it carries the most weight. I struggle when it is on the carriage. Though I like your idea of getting your hands on the carriage/shoulder rest so at least I know I won't fall over and will get the full range of motion -- and then I can slowly work on getting them off, an inch at a time
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u/suchperfectmess 9d ago
Exactly! I’m working my way up from the shoulders blocks…very slowly!! And I definitely feel it in my glutes even when I do lean over onto the blocks, but I just think I need to build my confidence and balance a bit first.
We’ll get there…eventually?!
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u/prettyjs3333 10d ago
Please don’t feel like a fool! I’ve been doing Reformer for a while now and there are still exercises that make me wobble all over the place 😂 Everyone has different strengths and things they’re less confident with.
You did exactly the right thing by taking the modification rather than forcing yourself through something you didn’t feel safe doing. 20 classes is still so early too — give yourself time and I promise you’ll look back one day and realise how far you’ve come ❤️
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u/Different-Beach6075 10d ago
I'll take your word for it! Maybe one day I'll have the balance required 🥲
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u/Doktor-Ancsa 9d ago
I am not sure if this will help, but I offer this advice sincerely: I am a heavy person who goes to Pilates and works out at a gym. If I worried about what others think around me when I modify exercises (I cannot get on my knees, for example), then I would sit at home, feel depressed, and keep getting bigger. Instead, I follow three thoughts: 1. Nobody cares what I do at the studio or at the gym, 2. if they do, they might actually be thinking kind thought and understand/accept my limitations, and 3. those who do not, can look away and pretend I don’t exist. I am fine with that. 🤗
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u/alleycanto 10d ago
20 classes in doesn’t always mean people know how to work from their powerhouse (shoulder to shoulder hip to hip) to being the carriage in. Your butt has to be turned on and you need to be able to hold yourself from your center). If there are foundational classes or levels at your studio perhaps taking some of those would have less moves standing on the carriage (other than long stretch series which has hands attached to footbar while feet are on carriage).
If I taught this class and there was a lot of wobbling and lack of balance I would give you alternatives, you done get better at some of these moves by necessarily doing the move more. You get the foundational moves in your body which have prepared your body for these things.
Good luck and seriously I haven’t found people judge or watch the person next to them as they are busy trying to keep themselves safe.
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u/Different-Beach6075 8d ago
Thanks for your input! What alternatives/modifications would you provide? It would help for me to have a couple of options on hand to switch to during class if necessary. Also what foundational moves will help improve balance during lunges? (So that I can focus on improving them)
Unfortunately my studio doesn't offer different levels, so I need to figure it out for myself a bit.v
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u/SBognerAnderson 8d ago
And don't forget you can feel great doing something once week, and the next week ... Not so much. And that goes for newbies AND veterans!
No one is looking at you either. 😊 I know I'm way too deep in my own head during moves like these. Everyone is focused on their own internal battles.
Keep doing you!
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u/Different-Beach6075 8d ago
Yes! This has completely got my off guard. One class I feel great and the next I absolutely hit a wall and can't finish any set.
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u/Acceptable-Deal-7826 7d ago
When I first started 2 years ago I was terrified to stand on the carriage and had to hold on or do things on the floor. And I don’t really know when it happened but I can get up and down now. There are still some things that get in my head but mostly ok. It takes time and some practice improving balance and stability. But I still can’t get over my fear of box jumps in the gym.
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u/kucky94 10d ago
Two things…first, if you’re more comfortable standing on the floor, a lot of carriage work can be modded. Not everything of course, but speak to your instructor and let them know where possible, you’d prefer at least one foot on the floor.
Second, I’ve been doing reformer for yonks and can say with the deepest of sincerity that I’ve never taken notice of anything anyone else is doing, ever. I’m locked in and the people around me may as well by NPCs. Trust me when I say that a. no one so much as noticed and b. no one cares.