Pilates: My Latest Health Obsession (and Hip Healing Workout)

Piriformis Syndrome, tensor fasciae latae pain, strained ischial tuberocity…. If these words mean anything to you, you’re probably a runner (or a physical therapist or a Pilates instructor).

In the summer of 2015, we had just moved back into our house after a nine month remodel. After running on a treadmill in the tiny gym in our apartment complex for all those months (with no tv, I might add), I was excited to start running outside again. And run I did! Through the hills, on the trails, all over my neighborhood. It was blissful.

Whether it was the angle of the roads, my lengthening stride, or the hills, just about the time I started get in super good shape, my hip began falling apart.

Two years later, I’ve tried everything – chiropractic care, active release technique, physical therapy, yoga, acupuncture – and nothing has worked.

But following a tip from my super-fit sister-in-law who has had many of the same hip problems I’ve had, I started going to a mat Pilates class.

I can’t say enough about this class and the benefits of Pilates. In a very short time, my core is stronger, I’m more flexible than I was before, and my hip issues, while not completely gone, are greatly improved. And I only go once a week!

Needless to say, I’m totally sold on Pilates with the zeal of the newly converted. My enthusiasm, however, isn’t enough to make up for my weak Pilates uniform.

Workout clothes are workout clothes, right? Does it really matter than some clothes say they’re designed for one form of exercise or another? It turns out, it does. I learned this rather quickly at my first class when I wore a pair of tights with a zippered pocket in the waistband on the back and had a zipper sticking into the back of my hip bones for most of the class.

As exercise classes go, mat Pilates is fairly inexpensive, so once I started going regularly, I decided it was time to invest in some Pilates-friendly clothes.

There’s a lot to love about these tights, sweater, and sports bra from Athleta.

For starters, theses tights…I could sleep in them. They’re so, so soft and pliable (yet still tight enough to keep everything inside of them looking firmer than it may actually be!). And, thanks to my three children and the 40 pounds I gained with each pregnancy, the high rise waistband is a must, especially in a packed-to-the-gills Pilates class that includes lots of planks and other poses where my body and muscles tighten and move one direction, but my skin decides to just pool towards the floor like it wants to take a nap.

Since the classroom is always chilly to start, I like a lightweight sweater like this honeycomb thermal, since it’s easy to remove. (By the way, it looks super cute with a pair of jeans, too, which is a major bonus!). A dark colored sports bra like this jacquard version with the criss-crossing straps in the back is great, too, since it hides all manner of unsightly sweat stains.