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TAMU | Wellness > Health

In My Pilates Era

Valeria Villarreal Student Contributor, Texas A&M University
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at TAMU chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

I have been doing Pilates for a few months now and it took me a while before I actually started enjoying it. Starting Pilates, even with the easier videos, was still hard due the core strength, balance, and flexibility that you need to properly execute all of the moves.

The first Pilates Youtuber that I tried out was Lidia Mera. I usually did her 30–40-minute videos and I loved them. I will admit that it took me about a week to be able to get through one of her videos without pausing and looking back at it. Now her videos seem so easy. I can’t even remember how long it took, but it feels like I hadn’t been doing Pilates for long before it started getting easier and I was less tense. I started looking forward to following her videos every day.

After a while it did get a bit too easy to do her videos and I was looking for something a bit more challenging. That’s when I moved on to Move with Nicole. I was surprised with how much more intense her videos were. Her videos weren’t just Pilates exercises that pushed you to work your muscles; some of the moves she would do required balance that seemed impossible for me. It took me a bit longer to get used to her videos, but I remember feeling so refreshed and relaxed after. I think balance was the main problem for me, so it was fun to try out new poses and exercises from her videos and feel myself getting better every day. I followed the videos from Move with Nicole for a while longer before I tried out another YouTuber.

While the videos from Move with Nicole are still a great workout, I wanted something a bit more demanding for working your muscles. Thats why I’m currently doing Pilates with PILATES BY IZZY and let me tell you it is not for the weak. I couldn’t even get through the first video with how much my arms and legs were shaking. While some of the exercises she used were similar to what Lidia Mera and Move with Nicole do, a lot of the moves she used required a lot more balance and core strength. If that weren’t hard enough, almost all of her videos used weights. I have only been doing her videos for a week, but I do see some progress. I also feel a lot sorer with her videos than I felt with any other Youtuber, which is probably because of the weights. I’m not going to lie, her videos make me miss Lidia Mera’s videos a bit with how hard they are but I’m going to stick with it. Hopefully I’ll see even better results by the end of spring break. I’m so excited.

Valeria is a member of the Her Campus TAMU chapter. She is a part of the Public Relations in this organization and is excited to explore and fine tune her writing techniques.
Beyond Her Campus, she is also involved in the Pre-Law Society and Visual Arts committee. She is currently studying Political Science and is eager to start her journey towards attending Law School.
In her free time, Valeria enjoys reading, journaling, and trying out new recipes for different dishes and treats. She is currently getting more engaged in Bible study and is enthusiastic about developing her understanding of the Bible and in turn strengthening her faith.