PILATES HELPS YOU TO FIND YOUR INNER BALANCE AGAIN Dr Martina Fenselau is a pulmonary specialist and has been a Pilates teacher since 2019. In our interview, she explains why, in times of high stress, regular training helps not only to strengthen the body, but also the mind. Why is Pilates helpful during coronavirus? Many people complain of a lack of structure in their everyday lives in these times. Pilates helps to structure your day with defined training times. The exercises are very easy to do at home – you don’t need more than a yoga mat and ideally a laptop. Do you also have online groups yourself? I teach Pilates at a sports club once a week. At the beginning of the second lockdown, in October 2020, we migrated from our beautiful room at the club to the internet. Almost all our participants have stayed with us. Some new ones have even been added. Can everyone deal with the technology? This isn’t really a problem anymore. Perhaps the only positive aspect of Covid is that we have all learned how to use video conference tools like Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Jitsi. Of course, you need a reasonably stable internet connection. Are home workouts the future? I think they will be offered in addition to classroom sessions. Training alone at home can’t replace the community feeling of being in the studio. It is also much harder for the instructor to correct postures over a screen. There are also a number of pieces of sports equipment in the gym that are missing at home. But online training does have its plus side. If, for example, you are restricted by illness or childcare or you live a long way from the studio, you can still join a Pilates group from home. Do you have any tips on self-motivation when it comes to exercise? It is easy to motivate yourself if you set a specific date and time each week. Sometimes it helps to
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