Pilates is the godfather of core strength training. Your core, or commonly called, the powerhouse, is comprised of the upper and lower abdominal muscles, the lower back and the buttocks. Pilates exercises are designed to stabilize your torso and work the muscles of the powerhouse lower, deeper, and more intensely. All movements are initiated from your powerhouse, increasing flexibility and strength.
The principles of Pilates... 
Source: http://www.thepilatesflow.com.sg/pilates-and-you/about-the-pilates-method/
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My love affair with Pilates begun with Alice, my colleague's wife, who was trained in classical ballet at The Australian Ballet School and Ballet Theatre of Victoria. She was also a soloist in Alberta Ballet (Canada) and Zurich Ballet (Switzerland). Here's our gorgeous instructor, Alice!
Source: http://www.chengballet.org/shop_assemble.html
I thoroughly enjoyed the classes held at our office gym last year, where we were introduced to Pilates exercises. Alice incorporated some ballet exercises upon request. It was excruciating at first, but my body gradually got used to it and it was a most pleasurable workout that I dearly looked forward to :). I managed to have a flat belly with visible abdominal muscles... until we stopped and the "little pooch" - according to my husband - grew :P.
One thing that Alice emphasizes, which is key to Pilates, is the breathing that goes into each movement i.e. knowing when to inhale and exhale. I also like that she focused on our alignment, as I was at times overconfident that I was doing the right thing, only to have my posture corrected gently. I recall that the class would end with planks, which were simply torturous given how beat we were at the end of the session ;). Her music selection choice was also really good, and that helped pace us as well as put us in the right mood.
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When that ended, I signed up for Pilates as part of NUS Aerobics. Classes were held at NUS Sports and Recreation Centre's dance studio. Had ~3 lessons with this male Ballet-Pilates trained teacher. I liked that he had a good sense of humor, sadistically enjoying pushing us beyond our "limits" (don't you just love instructors who finish counting down, and then ask you to hold it there for awhile more...) and incorporated ballet routines. However, the class was simply too crowded for my liking. It was really cheap (SGD$5/class) and because of that, there were 40-50 students?! Although I enjoyed the poses which were challenging, it felt more like a Physical Education class than a Pilates session i.e. too routinized, without a good "flow". I enjoyed the later classes where we begun the use of resistance bands, which really made my upper arms ache, an area that I dread working out...
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The day before my wedding (Nov 22, 2013), I went for my SGD$25 trial offer at PilatesFlow@2 at Bukit Timah. This was exciting as it was my first time trying Reformer Pilates. Armand was my personal trainer, and he was a bulky guy who was patient with me but I felt that I couldn't really click with him. He demonstrated the use of the various Pilates equipment, before allowing me to try it out myself. Well, the conclusion is that I prefer Mat Pilates to Reformer Pilates, despite the benefits of Reformer Pilates (more resistance...).
Source: http://blog.moveyourframe.com/properly-fit/don%E2%80%99t-be-scared-by-reformer-pilates
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I decided that in 2014, I shall keep a proper exercise log and so here goes:
Jan 6: First Yoga class with Amy, organized by NUS Aerobics Club and conducted at the University Town gym studio. My first time trying Vinyasa flow yoga, which is more fast-paced. I enjoyed doing yoga to the upbeat music. Amy's a little aunty in demeanor, but very hyper and she certainly puts people at ease. Most enjoyable Yoga class to date! We utilized the mirror to support bending backwards to touch our toes, as seen below. This is known as the plough pose. I was proud of my achievement until my lower back started to ache immediately, and the two days following that...
Source: Plow Pose (Halasana)
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Jan 9: Final Pilates class with Renee, as part of the NUS Aerobics Club, conducted at the UTown gym studio. Renne is trained in Fletcher Pilates. According to an article Wikipedia cited, Fletcher incorporated Martha Graham-based (modern dancer) elements of movement and dance into the equipment-centric structure of Joseph Pilates’ original creation. This is why I love Pilates, because it really helps the dancer in me.
We incorporated the use of dumb bells for some exercises, which pushed me as I have weak arm strength. She's a strict instructress (and was a tad condescending during the first class). She remarked that we were surprisingly silent... little wonder. I was motivated to push myself for fear of ridicule :\. However, the good thing is that this forced me to concentrate on my movements, which is a key element of Pilates. To be fair, she was very diligent in correcting us and serious in making sure we practiced properly. It just killed off the fun... that's all :P.
I recall her requesting us to have more energy in our movements during the first class, and also to have control over our movements. I liked that she explained what constitutes our core muscles. I also liked the intense abdominal exercises, which is why I'm drawn to Pilates more than Yoga. Muscles felt the ache the day after, but went ahead with Pilates the following day...
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Jan 10: First Pilates intermediate class by Rachel as part of the NUS University Health Centre's initiative, conducted at NUS Sports and Recreation Centre's dance studio. Rachel is a Stott Pilates certified trainer. The most significant difference between Stott Pilates and Joseph Pilates's original method of the early 1900s is that, where the original method uses a straight spine during exercise, Stott Pilates focuses on maintaining the natural curvature of the spine. Stott, a ballerina, discovered that the original Pilates method, while highly effective, did not conform to the modern principles of postural alignment and exercise sequencing. She thus developed her own method (http://www.livestrong.com/article/38767-difference-between-pilates-stott/).
We were advised to bring our own mats and I purchased an expensive yoga mat for this (SGD$40), which proved redundant - for the day at least - as gymnastics mats were laid out, so we used that for support. I liked that she focused on the fundamentals of breathing, pelvic placement, rib cage alignment and scapular stability and head and cervical placement. She reminded us to imprint our spine on the mat, especially when we do our hundreds. We utilized resistance bands for warm down stretching. Rachel looked like she was enjoying herself and had good rapport with the other students. I was happy that I was motivated by my own desire to improve.
Source: http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photos-yoga-pilates-background-image18997563
Looking forward to next Tuesday's Yoga with the colleagues!
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