By Catherine Stewart (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: July 2, 2014
I was once perusing YouTube (probably looking for videos of my favourite TV show couples, not going to lie) when I found this horribly wonderful channel called Blogilates, which would quickly come to destroy my life.
Blogilates is run by Cassey Ho, who turned to Pilates 10 years ago as a “fun way to tone up.” It wasn’t long before she came up with the idea to create something called POP Pilates, also known as a legal way to commit murder. POP Pilates is exercising to upbeat music in order to convince yourself that, although your legs may be about to fall off, this is your jam, so the pain is worth it.
At first I figured it would be like yoga. Except when Cassey made a pose, she would then start moving. Let me tell you, she made it look easy. Each video is usually from three to five minutes long, and at first you may think that that’s not nearly enough time. Trust me, it is.
Each video includes a well-known, upbeat song to motivate you to move your body. Cassey’s instructions are clear and she shows you how to correctly do the moves, instead of just jumping into it and hoping you’ll catch on. She encourages you every step of the way. At some points she will even complain about her own fatigue, as you lie on the floor, motionless and wondering why you thought this was a good idea. But she never lets you give up. She seems to know just when you’re about to throw yourself to the floor and wave your white flag. This makes her push you further to finish those last three reps.
Along with the YouTube videos, Cassey has her own website for Blogilates. There you will find meal plans to help keep you on track, recipes, and before and after pictures to show you that your goal is possible.
One of the things I admire is how Cassey is always putting her viewers first. She’s involved in their lives and truly cares about how they’re doing. “Transformation Tuesday” on her blog is when she will post pictures of one person’s progress so far. She rejoices with those people at the same time as motivating the rest of us to keep on going.
With a great instructor and good music, it’s easy to get sucked into the four minutes of excitement. By the time the song ends, you’re exhausted and making plans on how to access food without moving. But after a cool-down period, you’ll click another video, and another, and before you know it, you’ll be hurting so good that you won’t know what hit you.
