Win prizes in our March MATness challenge!

March Matness started back in 2013 when Pilates teacher Benjamin Degenhardt decided to create kind of a March Madness for Pilates enthusiasts.. He posted a picture each day of March with one of the 34 original Pilates Mat exercises bringing awareness to the exercises, the Pilates Method and to the people who love to practice Pilates. You can read the story of how it all started by clicking here. 

Looking back through social media I found some March MATness videos from 2016 that I believe was the first year we officially started celebrating March MATness as a studio! I included the video below from the first day of the challenge in case you want to see some footage from the first year!  

Funny things: Watching this video now drives me a little crazy because in the 2016 video I kept calling the exercise the Hundreds. The official name of the exercise is the Hundred and some time after that was recorded I realized that I was adding that extra  s, making it sound like you might have to do multiple sets of a hundred pumps…

11 years after it all started and 8 years after we started participating, the Pilates community and RCP still celebrates March Matness as a fun way to bring awareness to the Pilates exercises and to share our love of the Pilates  Method!

Join us in participating in March MATness by participating in our March MATness challenge.  

We’ll share the exercise of the day on our social media sites and our Youtube Channel.   The easiest way to earn entries into our prize drawings is to watch our daily video where I explain the exercise of the day and comment on the video so we know you watched it!  Click here to see the entire playlist of exercises!

Try out the exercise of the day practicing it your way!  Remember,  it’s just practice…we don’t expect you to be able to do all of the exercises perfectly…the fun is in practicing!   

Too busy (or too far away) to come to the studio?

Want to see what a regular Pilates Mat practice could do for you?  While we’d love it if you came to the studio, we also have options if you’d like to start your Pilates practice at home!  


From now until March 1 you can get 50% off your first month of our Pilates Mat subscription (normally $34.99/month) or our Have it all subscription (normally $39.99/month).  Cancel your monthly subscription at anytime.


In March we’ll be giving away special prizes all month long to our On Demand Library subscribers! Win prizes for things like getting the most classes in, being the most consistent and completing our daily March MATness exercise of the day.

Purchase a Pilates Mat Subscription!

Am I ready to take Return to Life Pilates Mat Class?

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Every Saturday morning at 9 am I teach a class titled: Return to Life on the Mat. The class is a Pilates mat class that flows through the original Pilates Mat work sequence that Joseph H. Pilates created in his 1945 book titled: Return to Life.  It’s probably one of my favorite classes to teach because I love how truly invigorating and empowering a Pilates Mat practice is!

It’s the only class on our schedule right now that we require instructor approval before clients take it, but you might be surprised at the prerequisites we consider as instructors before we give you our approval.

My impression of what clients think about this prerequisite is this:

  • I have to be able to do all the exercises at their fullest expression (ie most challenging version).
  • no chronic injuries or tightness or minor pain in your body
  • I need to be super fit, strong all over and approaching my ideal body weight and size (whatever that is…)

These are NOT what I consider when I give my approval to a client.  I believe we should do Pilates to return to life just like Joe talks about in his book.  The very reason I do it myself is so that I can balance out my body and get rid of pesky aches and pains. I do it so that I can do all the fun physical things I want to do in my life (climb, hike, paddleboard, keep up with my kids, whatever!) If I used any of those above criteria to judge whether I was going to do my Pilates Mat practice- I would never do it!!

[tweetthis hidden_urls=”http:/pic.twitter.com/WsYNigfjPg” remove_hidden_hashtags=”true”]If a #pilates class requires approval do I have 2 be skinny and fit?[/tweetthis]

The requirements for taking this class have to do with having an established practice and being present in your body so you stay safe and continue to progress.  During Return to Life we incorporate the Pilates principle of flow and keep participants moving from one exercise to the next and we don’t have the time to teach an exercise from the beginning or teach it as we would to those newer to Pilates.  We will still teach the intricacies of the exercises but we probably won’t go over in detail how to do things like engage your deep abdominal muscles and other basic fundamental skills. 

Here’s the things I look for when giving a client approval to take our Return to Life Mat class–

  • He/She has been practicing Pilates and has a good understanding of each exercise in their body. It’s important to have a basic knowledge of each exercise so that you are not spending time wondering what to do but you can do the exercise and listen to the instructor for fine tuning..taking your practice to the next level.
  • You know what your working level is and how to adjust it.  You see there is a version of each Pilates Mat exercise that you can do no matter where you are in your body.  As long as you know what that version is and know how to adjust it in your body you would be fine in a class setting.
  • Confidence in your Pilates practice.  You don’t need to be able to do the full expression of an exercise, but you need to know how to do the exercise safely in your body and you need to be confident enough that you can do your version of an exercise even if everyone else is doing something different!!  You need to be confident and comfortable doing a smaller range of motion than what your neighbor is doing in class or maybe even doing something that looks completely different.
  • Know how to listen to your body and adjust accordingly- again not also an easy thing to do in a group class setting if you are worried about keeping up with everyone else.  Just because you have done an exercise in it’s fullest expression doesn’t mean you’ll do it that way every time you do it.  If your back is feeling a little tight and achy one day you may need to adjust your entire workout and your range of motion to adjust for this.

Wondering if you’re ready to try Return to Life?  Review the list above and check in with your instructor to get their feedback.  We’d love to see you in class but more than anything want to make sure you are being safe in your body!  Want a bird’s eye view into what Return to Life Pilates Mat Class looks like?  Check out the video below where we recorded one of our classes! 

 

March MATness 2018: Join the Movement !

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Ready to join the movement? Fantastic! March is a particularly great month to embark on a Pilates Mat practice because the entire Pilates community is helping you get inspired and educated. Perhaps even
pick up a copy of
Return to Life through Contrology, the original Pilates book by the method’s founding father himself! We have some copies available at the studio.
To participate in the Rivercity Pilates #MarchMATness2018 daily challenge simply post a picture or video of you doing the exercise of the day and use the hashtag #MarchMATness2018 .  If you tag Rivercity Pilates we’ll enter you into our drawing jar every time you post and you’ll be eligible to win great prizes in our weekly drawing!!
We know not everyone wants to post something on their social media page and that is OK!  Here are all the things you can do to participate: 1) We still want you to watch our daily videos and work on your movement practice daily so you can join along in the fun! Comment on our post to let us know you practiced and get your name in our drawings  2) You can simply share our posts on social media.  3) Pick up a tracking sheet at the studio (available at the front desk) and track your daily movement progress at home and turn in your sheet at the end of the month to be entered into our prize drawing!
1. #hundred
2. #rollup
3. #rollover
4. #onelegcircle
5. #rollingback
6. #onelegstretch
7. #doublelegstretch
8. #spinestretch
9. #rockerwithopenlegs
10. #corkscrew
11. #saw
12. #swandive
13. #onelegkick
14. #doublelegkick
15. #neckpull
16. #scissors and #bicycle
17. #shoulderbridge
18. #spinetwist
19. #jackknife
20. #sidekick
21. #teaser
22. #hiptwist
23. #swimming
24. #legpulls (front and back)
25. #kneelingsidekick
26. #sidebend
27. #boomerang
28. #seal and #crab
29. #rocking
30. #controlbalance
31. #pushup
MarchMATness Tips
  • Note the date(s) for each exercise
To synchronize the campaign, the number on the list above corresponds with the day of the exercise’s turn; March 15 is The Neck Pull, for example.
  • Add hashtags
To connect with everyone participating, use the corresponding hashtag as listed above with each exercise. HINT: add #marchmatness2018 and your public social media post will appear in the live feed on the website!
  •  Spread the word!
Post on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, tell your friends! Be sure to tag us to get your name in the weekly drawing! Share with us at the studio how you’re doing!!
  • Practice!
Simply search the hashtags to get inspired and fall in love with your daily movement practice!
Want to learn more about the March MATness social Media campaign?  Click this website to read more and see live feed of posts throughout the month of March!

March Matness 2016: The Push Up

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A push up is a push up right? Like many of the movements and exercises in the Pilates Mat work the Push Up is not “new”. Joseph Pilates did not create the Push Up, but he made it more than a push up when he sequenced it with the rest of the Pilates Mat work and incorporated the Pilates principles and ideas into the exercise.  A Pilates Push Up starts by rolling down through your spine, unrolling your spine as you gracefully walk out into a plank, doing your Push Ups ( with perfect form of course!) and then rolling up through your spine to walk back to your legs and rolling up through your spine to finish your Pilates Mat work standing tall, strong and aligned so you can leave your workout feeling so much more alive and energized than when you started! There is something quite empowering about completing a Pilates Mat workout and mustering up enough control, strength and balance to finish strong with this challenging exercise!

 

March Matness 2016: The Control Balance

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The name says it all when it comes to the Pilates Control Balance exercise. Joseph Pilates says,” Maintain balance on your shoulders, arms and neck” and then alternate grasping one foot firmly while the other reaches toward the ceiling. All of the Pilates principles of centering, concentration, breathe, precision, flow, and control are needed to practice this challenging exercise!

March Matness 2016: #Rocking

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Rocking is kind of like Roll Back inside out…which makes it very challenging!  Instead of flexing your spine forward into a rounded shape to rock we are extending our spine, trying to reach back and grab our ankles or feet and then press our legs into our hands to rock back and forth on our front side.  There’s a reason this challenging exercise is at the end of the Pilates Mat sequence when you are fully warmed up and moving fluidly through your body!