2023 Wrap Up

As 2023 draws to a close, we look back on this year's episodes, look forward to 2024, and reflect on the incredible milestones met this year. Tune in! 

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Transcript

[00:00:00] Hello, and welcome to Pilates Students' Manual, a podcast helping you get the most out of your Pilates classes. I'm Olivia, and I'll be your host. Join the conversation and share your thoughts on Instagram at @pilatesstudentsmanual. You can support the podcast by visiting buymeacoffee.com/OliviaPodcasts. Let's learn something new.

[00:00:39] Hello. Hello, everybody. Welcome back to the podcast and the season finale of Pilates Students' Manual for 2023. Today's episode is going to be looking back at the topics that we covered this season, as well as sharing some stats and some updates and some pretty [00:01:00] cool milestones that have happened on the podcast this year and looking forward to 2024, what magical Pilates goodness awaits us in the new year. 

[00:01:12] Two very exciting things that have happened this year. One is this is the 70th episode of Pilates Students' Manual, which is pretty darn cool. We also broke a hundred thousand downloads this year, which is amazing and absolutely incredible. 

[00:01:32] The top listening app is Spotify podcast. It overtook Apple podcast this year, so that is neat. However, the most listened on device is still the Apple iPhone. I'm an Android user myself, but I know that there are lots of iPhone users who also happen to listen to the podcast, which is pretty swell. 

[00:01:56] Top listener locations for the [00:02:00] podcast this year are the United States, then Australia and the United Kingdom coming very close in second and third. However, the most listened to cities are all in Australia, Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane, all showing up on the most listened to city locations for listeners. And then LA and Monroeville, Pennsylvania, which I didn't expect, but huge shout out to listeners in Monroeville. That was really cool to see. 

[00:02:33] Over the course of 2023*, we covered so many awesome topics on the podcast, including whether adding springs makes exercises harder or easier. We talked about a Pilates body, giving Pilates a second chance, how often we should do Pilates, why Pilates exercises are all core exercises. Tips for your Pilates class and studio [00:03:00] etiquette talking about props talking about mat Pilates and reformer Pilates or equipment based Pilates we talked about Pilates jargon and we talked about absolutely normal human variability that Different bodies will look different when they make the same shape.

[00:03:18] So I really love this. I feel like a lot of episodes were answering questions that I either got on Instagram or got from students in my classes that they wanted to know, you know, why do we do exercises on the springs that we do them? Should I add a spring here? And sometimes the answer is, yeah, you should add a spring here, especially as you get stronger, especially as what you're looking to challenge yourself in the exercise changes adding a spring is amazing, um, but so is subtracting a spring. 

[00:03:52] As always, ask your Pilates teacher. Um, if you can have a one on one session to really talk through, Hey, these are [00:04:00] exercises that show up a lot in classes and I'm not feeling challenged here. Like, what can I do to, you know, take this exercise to the next level? Pilates teachers love talking about that stuff, and they would be more than happy to work with you and help you find a new way to challenge yourself in every exercise. 

[00:04:20] A lot of myth busting in terms of Pilates bodies. Ideally, moving away from a very toxic marketing strategy that, you know, if you do Pilates, you will look like a ballerina. That may not be the case, whether it's from a genetics thing or it's like, what do we actually want our bodies to do? Aesthetics is one piece, but there is so much more that we can do in Pilates. So much more, more ways to grow, in my opinion, I think a little bit more interesting ways to focus our energy doing really cool stuff through Pilates.

[00:04:55] We talked about giving Pilates a second chance. So [00:05:00] sometimes you try Pilates. I think reformer Pilates, some of us, we get on the reformer. We absolutely fall in love. Some of us get on a reformer and are like, what the heck just happened? What was that? And if you were in the camp that, Oh my gosh, what was that? Do I like that? I don't know. It was pretty weird. We definitely talked about giving Pilates another try with an open mind because it is very different from other forms of exercise. 

[00:05:26] You know, Pilates has its own language as we talked about in Pilates jargon. There's a lot of anatomical words that come up. There's a lot of Pilates vocabulary talking about the apparatus and the exercise choreography that is like super specific to Pilates. So if you tried it and you weren't entirely sold, definitely recommend trying it again. 

[00:05:45] As far as how often you should do Pilates, I feel like a lot of the question answers are like, it depends. But depending on the intensity of the exercise that you're doing, depending on what other types of exercise you're [00:06:00] doing in your week, depending on what your physical capacity is. So if you are already exercising a ton and then you're adding Pilates in, it's going to be very different than if you haven't exercised at all. And now you want to start Pilates, like maybe Pilates every day isn't the starting point, but maybe once or twice a week is. So it really depends on how Pilates is going to fit into your overall wellness picture. 

[00:06:28] But we know from physical activity guidelines, which was an episode way back in the day that we want to be doing two to three strength training sessions per week, and then 150 minutes of moderate intensity cardiovascular activity. And you can check all of those boxes by doing different types of Pilates by doing, you know, a cardio sculpt class or a jump board class or a circuit class, or maybe you also jog to get your cardio. Um, and then Pilates would be your strength training. So two to three times a week is a great place to be. But every day [00:07:00] Pilates is also a great place to be, but every workout may not be the most intense super strenuous form of Pilates if you're doing it every day, or maybe that's what you want to build up to. You know, we have different goals. 

[00:07:12] We talked about how the core shows up in Pilates shows up in all Pilates exercises because Pilates is an integrated system. We're not doing one movement with one muscle in isolation, all movements are really full body movements are really big movements, and, uh, we need our core to support us in our breathing, to support us holding us upright, holding us in a plank, um, just giving that support to exercises, let alone contracting and making shapes as well.

[00:07:44] We talked about Pilates class etiquette and tips for taking class, really setting yourself up for success in your studio classes. We talked about using props because props are amazing and they can add challenge. They can give us support. They can [00:08:00] do both things at the same time, which is pretty awesome.

[00:08:03] We talked about different styles of Pilates. A lot of times mat classes will exist where the equipment used is just the mat. And then there might be reformer classes that are just reformer or maybe equipment classes that have multiple pieces of Pilates equipment. Not all Pilates studios have all the pieces of Pilates equipment, or maybe they only have them in the private studio for one on one sessions.

[00:08:26] Maybe you do Reformer Pilates and it's Reformer and Chair, or maybe it's Reformer and Tower, something like that. But we talked about what those different class types will entail, as well as the pros and cons for each of them, talking about the price point, as well as the adaptability. All Pilates is groovy Pilates, and Pilates, it's all good. And depending on where you are in the world, depending on your budget, that might influence what types of classes you take, but there is no bad type of Pilates. There is no less [00:09:00] worthwhile form of Pilates to do. 

[00:09:03] Um, and then the episode for last month talking about normal human variability and just recognizing that not only are all of our bodies different. So it makes sense that exercises will look a little bit different. We also have things that we're innately good at. We have parts of us that are really strong are really flexible. There are shapes that we make that might feel amazing and there are some shapes that might be more difficult for us based on the size of our body, our proportions, any of those things.

[00:09:33] But that it is okay for the exercise shape that you're making to look different than your neighbors, to look different than how your teacher is doing it, to look different than how you saw it done on Instagram. It is all still part of the work and completely valid. 

[00:09:52] This was a really excellent year, both for Pilates in general and on the podcast. I hope that you had a great time going through [00:10:00] those topics with me. As always, if you have questions, feel free to reach out on Instagram or send me an email. The December newsletter, the last newsletter of the year will be going out on that buy me a coffee page. So there is still time to get in on a coffee chat.

[00:10:16] Maybe you have some burning questions that you really want to ask me or some stuff that you want to talk about in your own Pilates experience. I'm always happy to have those conversations. Just visit that buy me a coffee page and join the project 

[00:10:28] In 2024, we've got more good things. I am so inspired by, um, the people on buy me a coffee, by supporters, by people who reach out with questions or who share stories about their Pilates journey. Like that is so inspiring to me. And that's what inspires me to keep doing the podcast. I'm really looking forward to more episodes and more adventures in 2024. I hope you have a great few weeks and I will see you in the new year.[00:11:00] 

[00:11:08] Thanks for tuning in to this week's episode of Pilates Students Manual, a podcast helping you get the most out of your Pilates classes. Be sure to check out the podcast Instagram at @pilatesstudentsmanual and subscribe wherever you're listening. Interested in teaching Pilates too? Check out Pilates Teachers' Manual, available everywhere you listen to podcasts.

[00:11:31] I hope to see you next episode. Until next time.[00:12:00]