Finding Your Ideal Pilates Time
I had a question this week: “how long should my Pilates workout be?” I, actually, really love this question, because I know it’s coming from a place of somebody who’s, like, really trying to put their schedule together, make sure that they’re getting the most out of their Pilates practice. And I just wanted to kind of give you some frame of reference on some things.
So, you didn’t have an appointment to Joseph Pilates’ studio. In fact, you just would go, like, that’s what happened. People would just go, and they would just wait their turn, or they’d find a piece of equipment, and they would work out, and then when they were done, they were done. So I heard that there was this guy who used to come in and hang out, stay down for 15 minutes and leave. That was his practice. And then there’s other people who’d be there for like an hour and a half doing their practice. And I share this because really, how long your Pilates practice should be is on a couple of things. One, where are you in your body and your life and your day, right? Like, are you in a place where you can do an hour a day? Do you need an hour a day? And then also, you know, if you’re brand new to this, maybe 15 minutes is all you need?
Short and Effective Pilates Practice
So, when you’re doing your Pilates practice, I don’t know who came up with that it has to be an hour. I’ll be really honest—that’s research I would love to do. It ties into the broader question: how long should a workout be. Same thing goes with training, like I do 30 minute weight training classes or 20 minute weight training classes, and I get such a good workout. And I used to work with a trainer, and I freaking love my trainer, but we spent 10 minutes warming up, and then we’d spend about 30 minutes doing work, and then he always stretched me for 20 minutes. And I was like, you know, I can actually, really condense this down, you know? So I really love that the trainer I work with, like, we do hardcore 20 to 30 minutes, and then that’s it. Same goes with your Pilates. Like, if you are new to Pilates, if all you do is 10-15 minutes, using my Intro to Pilates classes, that’s amazing. That’s 10 to 15 minutes that you are working your entire body out from the center outwards, right? That’s 10 to 15 minutes that you are dedicating to your brain and body being connected. That is huge. It’s a lot. It’s a lot, especially in a busy day, it’s a lot for a lot of people. And that is an absolutely wonderful Pilates practice. You could do that for weeks or even months if you need to. I will be really honest, most days I go to my studio about 15 minutes on my Cadillac, and I feel really good about that. And I recently got to be with my mentor, he had not seen me work out in about a year and a half, just because the pandemic and everything. And I amazed myself. I was so strong, even just doing daily 15 minute practices, and then a few days a week doing 30 minutes or 40 minutes.
Design Your Ideal Pilates Routine
So here’s what I’m going to say when you are designing your workout routine, I want you to just be really honest with yourself. I would rather you do 15 minutes of your practice than the hour workout that you put off till tomorrow, okay? So looking at your schedule, are there days where you definitely know that if you did Pilates, you’d feel so good about your day but the reality is you only have 10 minutes? Do 10 minutes. We have a ton of people on OPC who log in, press play, set a timer for themselves, timer goes off and wherever they were in class, it’s over, ended, done. And that is okay with me. Finishing is optional, because I made the class 30 minutes, it doesn’t mean that you can’t do it unless you have 30 minutes. And then you have other days where you know that you do have a little bit more time where you could do 30 minutes, or maybe there’s one day a week you could do 45 minutes. All of that is really great. So it’s a non-answer to this question that one of you sent me. How long can a Pilates practice be? It really needs to be what you are able to do that day, and that’s enough.
Small Steps, Big Pilates Results
And if you were reading this, going “Okay? Lesley, hahaha. Like, is it though, is it really enough?” Yeah, let me just talk to you a little bit. On Sunday, we are kicking off my challenge the hundred with me. I’ve talked about with you guys before. I really, I really want you there. I know you love our videos. If you love these tutorials, I promise you’re going to love spending 30 days with me in this challenge. We do a live workout every Sunday, and there’s a replay for that. So if you can’t make it live, there’s a replay. And then the last half hour, I teach you about either how to create healthy habits, how to make more time in your schedule, how to troubleshoot when things don’t go the way you want them to go, how to celebrate yourself. Oh, celebration is so key. And really, truly teach you how to be consistent in your life around Pilates. With these tools, you can rinse and repeat with anything you want, reading, journaling, running, being kind to others. So check out 40 days of Pilates for $40 offer, and we have people who are doing it, and they’re only going to do five minutes a day. That’s what they’re going to do. Five minutes a day, that’s enough. It has to be enough. It has to be enough that if you focus on five dedicated minutes to your Pilates practice, that is enough. That’s all you have. That’s great.
There is no shame in a five minute workout game, there just isn’t okay? It is integral. It’s essential that we get okay with being happy for ourselves when we did something, even a portion of something that we wanted to do. Because what happens is the dopamine that you get in your brain when you do that, that dopamine, it truly does make you feel super good. It makes you want to come back for more, it makes your brain seek out other five minute opportunities. And when you have more energy, guess what happens? You get faster at doing things. You get faster at the grocery shopping. You get faster at the emails. You get faster at cleaning the house. What does faster mean? It means you have more time. And so what will end up happening is maybe you start the challenge with five minutes a day, but then by week two, maybe you’re at eight minutes. Maybe at week three you’re at 20. Do you see how that compounds? And then maybe by the fourth week, you’re finding 30 minutes, four or five days a week. Why? Because you feel good. When you feel good, you want to do more things. So I want you at my challenge because I really want to have 30 days where I get to pour into you, 30 days where I get to help you see that you should be celebrating even those little things, 30 days of feeling super good for yourself. And I really want you to be in that community, because when you change your environment, you change your life.
Consistency Over Duration in Pilates
And if I haven’t convinced you that your Pilates practice can be any length of time that you can do, then I’m going to do it in that challenge. And I want you there, because I used to do the Mat work every day, and I would do it in 21 minutes every day for 90 days. Like, that’s not a lot of time. Sounds like a lot, but it’s not a lot time, like you scroll on Instagram longer than 20 minutes. And I used to do 30 minute Reformers, or 40 minute Reformers, or 15 minutes on the Cadillac.
So the point of me sharing this is that it’s really important that I get in your brain, and I get you understanding that whatever amount you can commit to doing to yourself consistently is so fucking great, so key. And then, because you’re consistent, by doing that, time will expand. You’re going to find more time to give to yourself. And maybe you never go to an hour. That doesn’t mean you won’t have more time, you’ll still have tons of time, because we’re doing 30 minutes every day, feeling so good, so energized, so strong. Stamina is amazing. And just so connected to you. So check out 40 days of Pilates for $40 and let me know what you did in the comments below. And whatever you do, as long as you’re doing Pilates, the amount of minutes doesn’t matter. The fact you’ve showed up for yourself is what’s important. Celebrate that. You are awesome. Thank you for being here.