Work Out of the Week

Boulder Bodyworks, 4865 Riverbend Road suite 100, Boulder, 303-444-2739, boulderbodyworks.com

Instructor: Gina Hughes, of Broomfield. Hughes started doing Pilates as a dancer in college and became certified to teach in 2001. She has been teaching at Boulder Bodyworks since.

In 2004, she had a serious car accident that she says allowed her to see Pilates through a different perspective, of pain, injury and recovery.

In 2008, she had a baby, so she also understands the physical issues of pregnancy. While pregnant, she says Pilates was her “saving grace,” because it helped her release tightness, increase blood flow and support her body.

“My background is built on being an athlete, dancer and having had a debilitating injury,” she says.

What is the workout? Prenatal Pilates is a class that uses Pilates equipment and principles to help strengthen and open the front of the hips; decompress the lower back; stretch and strengthen the pelvic floor; and integrate the feet and legs into supporting the pelvis, lower back and weight of the baby.

What does it cost? Drop-in rate is $35. You must register due to limited space.

Who does it? Class has space for five women, starting in their 10th week of pregnancy. Some women continue classes until a week before they deliver; my class had a woman in her 37th week. (Bless her tough soul.)

When: Classes are an hour long 11:30 a.m. Saturdays. A 10 a.m. Wednesday class is in the works.

Level: Beginners to advanced. Classes are tailored for each woman. I found the class an appropriate five on a 10-point scale. It was more difficult than prenatal yoga classes I have taken, but it didn’t strain or stress me in any way. Most of my challenge was balance and coordination, which would improve with more training.

Format: Theme and focus varies. Most classes start at the feet and move upward, opening and building strength to the pelvis, spine and upper body. Classical Pilates classes tend to move straight to the core, but Hughes says it’s helpful for pregnant woman to first feel the “support from underneath.”

Equipment: Mat, the Pilates Total Workout System (also called the Pole or Cadillac System) and various props, like Magic Circles, Therabands and foam rollers. All equipment provided.

What to wear: Comfortable clothes, no shoes. No shorts because your feet are up in the air. No jeans. Bring a bottle of water.

Muscles worked: Full body, with a focus on balancing the muscles around the pelvis, shoulder girdle, ankles, knees and upper back. In addition to stretching muscles, this class focuses on supporting the joints.

“When they’re strong and balanced and powerful, it feels supportive,” Hughes says.

Pilates equipment uses springs, which are simultaneously strengthening and supportive, so your muscles are elongated while they’re being worked. This feels different than yoga. I think it gets to your muscles deeper; I can feel it all the way to my skeleton, the way I move my bones and how they connect with my muscles and overall body.

If there is time, Hughes works on opening the neck and shoulders.

One new move: I was surprised by the “mini roll up,” which looks like (but is not exactly) an abs exercise safe for pregnant women.

Place feet under a strap with a blanket under your glutes for support, hands down on the mat behind you. Curl forward a very small amount. This helps move and decompress the lumbar spine and lower back.

“Whenever you have that much weight in the front, your lower back is squeezing tighter, narrower and holding the weight,” Hughes says. “It feels relieving to balance that, decompress the vertebrae of the lumbar spine and engage a little abs support without doing a full roll up.”

I was also surprised that we were on our backs for many of the exercises, because doctors caution about spending much time lying on your back after the 12th week; it can cut off circulation to the baby.

However, Hughes says she believes every woman has a unique pregnancy with different limitations, and she encourages women to follow their own needs. If you have trouble breathing or feel nauseous, uncomfortable or lightheaded, she says use mats, blocks and blankets to prop yourself up. I found lying on my back felt good, allowing my weight to even itself out on my hips and release my lower back.

Hughes doesn’t recommend lying on your back for longer than 10 or 15 minutes, so her class keeps participants moving and not in one position for long.

What’s different: Regular Pilates follows a more specific order of exercises with fewer modifications, props and supports. This class has a greater emphasis on supporting the spine, head, neck and shoulders.

A Pilates mat class typically includes upper spinal curls (sort of like sit-ups) to strengthen abs muscles.

“There are ways of activating and firing the deep core muscles without lifting your head up off the mat,” Hughes says.

What I loved: I’m short. I’m running out of space in here. This class seemed to make more space. And the side stretches and shoulder circles felt amazing.

In Hughes’ words: “When you take an average Pilates class it feels good anyway, but it’s magnified when you’re pregnant. It feels so good for them in a deep way, like my body needs and craves this. I can’t imagine being pregnant and not doing Pilates.”

I also enjoyed Hughes’ hands-on help to assure that each student got the most out of the moves and stayed safe.

What I didn’t like: Are you kidding? If I could afford it, I would make this class my new religion.

Inspiration for class: Hughes developed the class in 2003.

“I delight in knowing I’m helping women who are carrying life. It’s such a beautiful energy to teach a class — there are five in a class, but I feel like I’m teaching 10,” she says. “It feels like a sacred class. I cherish my prenatal women and think they’re beautiful. I want to honor and support them.”

How I felt after the class: Glorious. I had a busy Saturday ahead, and I believe this class is the only reason I made it through the day without hurting or needing a nap. I was able to do things that are otherwise a physical struggle.

How I felt later: I woke up slightly sore three days later. Apparently, we’re running a little slow around here.

– Reported by Aimee Heckel.

Willow Way Wellness, 303-530-1415, willowwaywellness.com

Instructor: Zia Parker, of Longmont. Parker has a master’s in movement therapy and wellness design, and she graduated from the Boulder School of Massage Therapy in 1977. She began Aston-Patterning training in 1982. She says she was intrigued by how Aston empowered the individual and “asked them to be involved in the process of accessing their own body’s wisdom.” Today, she is a faculty member of Aston-Patterning.

Parker has taught in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas in a range of healing arts, including movement education, bodywork, dance/theater and “Permaculture.” She also has developed a fusion of aquatic bodywork.

What is the workout? Aston Fitness is a way of working with your own body to understand what its particular needs and movement patterns are. It works with three different aspects: loosening for release, stretching for balancing the structure and toning for strengthening. Parker calls it “kind of a niche between therapy and exercise class.”

What does it cost? There are no drop-ins. An introductory five-session class is $125.

Who does it? Anyone who wants to be in their best body, who wants to be on the cutting edge of their capacity, Parker says. She has worked with various types of people, from elite athletes to quadriplegics.

She says Aston is especially good for people who are recovering from injury; aging athletes; and pregnant women.

“It really helps jiggle some more space into the joints,” she says.

Intro classes are limited to four people and ongoing classes are six to eight participants.

When: Classes are 90 minutes long. The next intro sessions run 11 a.m. Wednesdays Oct. 21-Nov. 18, and 5 p.m. Thursdays Oct. 22-Nov. 19. Ongoing classes, after the intro class, are 10:30 a.m. Tuesdays.

Level: You can create your own level, from beginner through advanced. I found the class intermediate. Even though the moves themselves were not difficult, getting my body used to them — especially the small details about my specific movements — felt foreign. Class is not aerobic, although the loosening and the toning got my heart rate up a little.

Format: Each class begins with a check-in to see how the participants are feeling, and the class is designed around these needs.

Classes start with loosening, a “loosey-goosey, jiggly wiggley movement” directed into specific body parts, Parker says.

“This is the big missing link in most exercise systems. We don’t address the needs to release our hyper-contraction,” Parker says. “It’s so good for any kind of neuromuscular aches and pains, and it’s fun. It’s easy. It’s goofy.”

She says our uptight culture doesn’t think enough about letting go, and Aston teaches that skill in an intelligent and individualized way.

After loosening is stretching. Unlike regular stretching and yoga classes, this stretching does not stress the joints. It works with fluid transitions that emphasize how you get there more than the actual position.

Then the class does toning, or strengthening, to wake the muscle up along the entire length of the muscle. Many strengthening routines, such as machines, bunch the toning around the joints and limit the range of motion, Parker says.

Equipment: Various bands, mats, blankets and weights, all provided. Parker also teaches how to create the same equipment at home for less than $15.

What to wear: No shoes, comfortable clothes.

Muscles worked: Whole system and all muscles, including the equilibrium and subtle micro-movements.

One new move: Sewing grain: Pretend you’re picking up grain from a bag near your left ankle. Fling the grain up and around you in a 360-degree arch. This is mostly a full upper-body loosening move, but it also teaches how to use the ground to support movement in your upper body.

What’s different: The loosening aspect is especially different than anything I’ve ever done before. All of the wiggling around made me laugh, which was a nice way to start the class.

What I loved: Plain and simply, this class felt good. Especially a loosening move with our arms above our head, where the weight of gravity made your arms somehow massage your shoulder blades. Aston Fitness is unique and a great way to better understand your body movements.

What I didn’t like: I’m glad no one was video-taping me “loosening.” That would be a classic on YouTube. Also, there are some pretty hard abs moves that would appeal to Boulderites who are tougher than I am.

Inspiration for class: Parker opened the studio in October of 2007. In her words: “The massive willow tree in the courtyard spoke to me. I saw it before I saw the place. I was leading a workshop in the Agua Alma aquatic bodywork I’ve developed — in that workshop, in a meditative state, I saw a massive willow. The next day, my friend showed me this place; I knew something was happening. I ended up buying the place, and thus, the name Willow Way.”

How I felt after the class: We spent a lot of time focusing on our walk throughout class, and by the end, my walk felt more connected to the Earth and I felt more in balance.

How I felt later: I was not sore, but I felt hungry and alert all day.

– Reported by Aimee Heckel.

Fleet Feet Sports, 2624 Broadway St., Boulder, 303-939-8000, www.fleetfeetboulder.com

Instructor: Lilly Johnson, of Boulder, originally from Ecuador. Johnson was a professional runner for 10 years, even winning the Bolder Boulder’s Citizen’s Race two consecutive years. She originally hoped to compete in the Olympics, but had to stop competing four years ago due to a heart condition that left her heart beating too slowly. Compounded with knee injuries, she was forced to find another sport. That’s when she got involved with Nordic Walking. She has been teaching Nordic Walking for three years.

What is the workout? Nordic walking, which originated in Finland, is at its core walking with poles, which look similar to ski poles or hiking poles. The poles add the upper body to walking, allowing you to get your heart rate up higher and walk faster. It kind of looks like cross-country skiing without the snow or skis.

What does it cost? Clinics are free and open to the public.

Who does it? People of all ages and abilities, children to seniors, including runners whose knees need a break, people with injuries or in rehab, pregnant women.

The first clinic boasted more than 50 participants. Clinics now are typically 10 to 20 people. Ages range from 27 to 84, with the average age of 45. Most participants are walkers, although several are runners.

When: Clinics are 9 a.m. the first and third Saturday of every month, weather permitting. (Classes taper off in the winter.) Upcoming classes are Saturday, Sept. 4, Sept. 18.

Level: Nordic Walking is appropriate for all levels, even very beginner. Increase the difficulty by walking faster, with wider paces, or leap, walk uphill and add strength-training moves. My experience was a perfect five on a 10-point scale, which was where I wanted to be. I did break a sweat, and I was surprised by how hard I could make it.

Format: Our class started with basics: How to size the poles, what are the different components and features. Then we practiced walking, until participants got good enough to take a walk through a nearby neighborhood. After a brisk walk, we stopped and learned stretched and strength-building exercises involving the poles. Then we walked some more and cooled down with stretching.

Equipment: We used Leki Nordic walking poles, which are lightweight and made out of aluminum or carbon. They also have adjustable, releasable hand straps, and rubber tips of different styles for different terrains. If you don’t have poles for the clinic, you can rent them.

What to wear: Comfortable clothes and athletic shoes.

Muscles worked: Full body, but especially external and internal obliques and triceps. It also works the biceps, traps, rhomboid, glutes, quads and biceps, Johnson says.

Johnson says Nordic Walking aims to work the lower body less than the upper body, which is good for people with knee injuries. Because it is low impact, it’s easy on the joints, but you still definitely get a cardio workout. When I was in the flow, it felt similar to to elliptical machine, except it was harder and more fun.

One new move: Nordic walking was more difficult than I expected — and I consider myself coordinated. It takes practice to find the right positions of the poles, keep your arms straight and put it all together. It typically takes about 10 to 15 minutes for people to figure out the technique.

I highly recommend a clinic before just buying some poles and going at it. Proper movements help you get the most out of the workout.

What’s different: Nordic Walking burns more calories than walking over the same distance and same speed without poles. It is different than hiking with poles, too. The poles themselves are different. Nordic Walking has a specific placement of the poles, and hikers don’t push off on the backswing.

What I loved: This might be my new favorite low-impact exercise. Sure, it looks funny. But it was such a simple way to get a great workout, without the jarring impact of running.

What I didn’t like: Well, we did get a few curious looks. And I stopped tripping all over myself when I stopped overthinking it and just had fun.

Inspiration for class: Fleet Feet started offering Nordic Walking clinics three years ago.

“We know everybody is not able to run,” Johnson says.

And offering walkers help can help them get more out of the experience.

How I felt after the class: Energized and inspired. The instructor, Johnson, was so pleasant that she put me in a good mood.

How I felt later: My triceps and obliques were a little sore.

– Reported by Aimee Heckel.