We are very lucky to have amazing clients, people from all walks of life that find the time to put up with our madness and our silliness as we work together to improve their physical performance and general well-being. I count myself fortunate to do a job that has such an incredible perk and recommend it to anyone that is looking for a worthwhile profession.
I am humbled on a daily basis at my clients’ hard work, good humor and loyalty. I know it’s not always easy to be in the studio at 6am in the Winter when it’s bleak and dark, or even during the day when they have jobs to do or kids to manage. Or when they have a bed to drop into after a late night shift. But they do come and hopefully we are worth the effort.
Sometimes our clients want to let us know we are doing our job by telling us ‘Thank You’. We don’t ask for it; I never ever would. But I’d be a lier to say it means nothing to me.
Sometimes they throw us a joke or a smile as they emerge from a long sojourn in a pain cave. Sometimes they make us cookies (we love cookies…who doesn’t?) or send along a progress report from their chiro or physio or massage therapist.
Sometimes we get a hug (we love those a lot).
And on occasion, the ‘Thank You’s’ come as an email like the one below. Anthony has been a very steady customer of our DynamiCore class on Friday’s at 6am. He and his fellow triathletes from Stadium Triathlon Club are super loyal attendees and allowed us to turn this members-only class into one of our popular regular open classes. If you haven’t done so, please book in and have a sweat and a giggle with us.
6 yrs ago I was approaching middle age and relatively inactive, exercising maybe one or two hours a week in a bid to stave off weight gain and the seemingly inevitable heart attack. Then I followed my wife Justine into triathlon and quickly transitioned from short course to half Ironman to Ironman in just over 12 months.
This was initially ok as I gradually improved and pushed myself harder and longer but soon regular hamstring injuries and other niggles like shoulder injuries and lower back pain began to plague me. After about 2 years of physio and hamstring re-injury it was clear that after a life of semi-sedentary pursuits and study/office work my body was not ready for the demands of an endurance sport like triathlon.
Getting answers to my problems was surprisingly difficult, however after seeking chiropractic help to realign my pelvis and free up some fused joints which was the “beginning of the end” of the saga it finally became clear to me that I needed ongoing work on my strength and flexibility to prevent injury recurrence.
Pilates kept coming back from the medical professionals as the long term answer and this proved to be the “middle and end of the end”.
I commenced Neil’s Friday morning DynamiCore classes around 3 years ago and have been a regular attendee ever since. The main benefits have been:
- Improved strength particularly core, shoulder and glute.
- Improved flexibility, particularly in hamstrings and upper back.
- Enhanced triathlon performance through improvements in efficiency across all three disciplines of swim, bike and run as a result of increased strength (particularly core strength and glute activation) and flexibility – yes, Pilates actually makes me go faster!
- Decreased lower back pain on the time trial bike.
- Freedom from injuries to optimise training and race performance!
I moved from wondering if I physically had what it took to participate in this sport to looking forward to the next challenge. I have now completed 6 Ironman and about 10 Ironman 70.3 triathlons with virtually no injuries for the last 4 years. Along with Justine (who incidentally attends the DynamiCore sessions as well and has completed 9 Ironmans), I have truly embraced the triathlon lifestyle and lifetime fitness. This is in no small part due to Revolution Pilates DynamiCore Pilates classes which thanks to Neil’s excellent instruction and engaging personality are safe, extremely beneficial and a whole lot of fun. Anthony
No, Anthony: Thank YOU!
