did someone take a rib from him...

or me?

i've been doing pilates and honestly i feel like my whole ribcage was crushed and every muscle around it hurt so bad. it is so sore, and i can see how all this lengthening and stretching really works. i am noticing me, noticing more about my posture, how i sit, how i breathe, all those healthy things.

Here is a picture of Joseph Pilates the founder of this movement at 86 years old. Like many artists, his work is only now appreciated after his death. they say he was 50 years ahead of his time. he was sad that doctors of his time didn't recognize how beneficial his exercises could be. if he could see how far we have all come, he would be so proud. as of 2005 there are 11 million people who practice the discipline regularly and 14,000 instructors in the United States.

info about pilates. an interesting story:
Joseph Pilates was originally from western Germany. As a child he suffered from asthma and rheumatic fever. during the First World War with the proposal to improve the rehabilitation program for the many returning veterans. Joseph Pilates believed mental and physical health are essential to one another. He recommended a few, precise movements emphasizing control and form to aid injured soldiers in regaining their health by strengthening, stretching,and stabilizing key muscles. as a youth he experimented with different forms of physical training which developed into his own very specific “Art of Controllogy“.

Joseph Pilates was enamored of the classical Greek ideal of a man who is balanced equally in body, mind, and spirit. He came to believe that our modern life-style, bad posture, and inefficient breathing were the roots of poor health. He designed a unique series of life enhancing physical exercises that help to correct muscular imbalances and improve posture, coordination, balance, strength, and flexibility, as well as to increase breathing capacity and organ function. There are six principles that are the basis for the Pilates method of body conditioning.

Breathing
Joseph Pilates believed in circulating the blood so that it could awaken all the cells in the body and carry away the wastes related to fatigue. For the blood to do its work properly, he maintained, it has to be charged with oxygen and purged of waste gases through proper breathing. Full and thorough inhalation and exhalation are part of every Pilates exercise. Pilates saw forced exhalation as the key to full inhalation. “Squeeze out the lungs as you would wring a wet towel dry,” he is reputed to have said.[citation needed] Breathing, too, should be done with concentration, control, and precision. It should be properly coordinated with movement. Each exercise is accompanied by breathing instructions. Joseph Pilates stated, “Even if you follow no other instructions, learn to breathe correctly.”

Centering
Pilates called the very large group of muscles in the center of the body – encompassing the abdomen, lower back, hips, and buttocks – the “powerhouse.” All energy for Pilates exercises begins from the powerhouse and flows outward to the extremities. Physical energy exerted from the center coordinates one's movements. Pilates felt that it was important to build a strong powerhouse in order to rely on it in daily living. Modern instructors call the powerhouse the "core".

Concentration
Pilates demands intense focus. For instance, the inner thighs and pelvic floor may be assessed when doing a standing exercise that tones the triceps. Beginners learn to pay careful attention to their bodies, building on very small, delicate fundamental movements and controlled breathing.[citation needed] In 2006, at the Parkinson Center of the Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, Oregon, the concentration factor of the Pilates method was being studied in providing relief from the degenerative symptoms of Parkinson's disease.

Control
Joseph Pilates built his method on the idea of muscle control. That meant no sloppy, uncontrolled movements. Every Pilates exercise must be performed with the utmost control, including all body parts, to avoid injury and produce positive results. Pilates emphasizes not intensity or multiple repetitions of a movement, but proper form for safe, effective results.

Precision
Every movement in the Pilates method has a purpose. Every instruction is vitally important to the success of the whole. To leave out any detail is to forsake the intrinsic value of the exercise. The focus is on doing one precise and perfect movement, rather than many halfhearted ones. Eventually this precision becomes second nature, and carries over into everyday life as grace and economy of movement.

today i did 45 minutes on the stairmaster, 110 floors 410 calories 129 average heart rate.
i also did 1 hour of pilates/core