Action Research Project

Finding Energy through Pilates

Kelly Wilson EDUC 526: Capstone Professor: Matt Hixson APU Murrieta Campus July 25, 2013

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Abstract: My plan of action is to see if doing Pilates for at least 30 minutes five days a week will help me gain energy and also relieve me of some of the stress I carry. I tend to carry all my stress in my shoulders and neck and the pain I have been experiencing due to that stress is leading to a lot of headaches and sleepless nights. With not sleeping well, I find that I am often very tired. I heard that Pilates helps alleviate stress and that it also helps one find more energy. Introduction: About two years ago I was on vacation and woke up one morning and had sporadic back spasms in my lower back. When I returned home, I immediately went to see a chiropractor and he told me that a lot of my issue was due to stress and not doing the right kind of exercises. He told me that I needed to find some sort of outlet for my stress. Now two years later, I am still looking for that outlet. I am about to embark on a very stress filled time as I am getting married in a few short months, starting a new job and finishing up my multiple subject credential here at APU. Knowing that I am headed towards a stress filled time, I knew I needed to find something that I can physically do to relieve some of that stress and help energize me. I have been told by many people that Pilates is not only a great, low impact form of exercise but that it also helps relieve stress and boost ones energy. With it being summer, my stress from work is pretty nonexistent but I am in the midst of planning my wedding and my goal is to try and get as many of the details done before I start back to work on August 12th. My fianc and I have a small budget and with the cost of weddings today it has been pretty stressful trying to find an affordable venue, food, my dress, etc. I also have to work on a lot of these details on my own as my fianc has a very busy work schedule.

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Implementation: I decided to set aside at least a half hour each morning to do Pilates to see if I had more energy and if I felt less stress. We have Verizon FIOS at home and there are different videos that I can use on the On Demand for free. I decided to first try some of these videos out to see if I liked doing Pilates before taking the next step and buying equipment or looking for a class somewhere. I also use an exercise ball, which I already had, for some of the moves the videos have me do. My goal was to do this routine at least five days a week for two weeks to see how I felt at the end of the two weeks. One of the biggest barriers I ran into was finding the motivation to do Pilates each morning and finding the space in my house to do this without interfering with those I live with. I had to force myself to do it and deal with the lack of space my bedroom afforded me. Another barrier I ran into was how out of shape I am. The past year has been a pretty hectic one where I was getting up every morning at 5:00 for work and not getting back home until close to 5:00 p.m. after a long day of work. I was also in class two days a week which caused me to get home after 8:30 most of the time. This particular schedule had me extremely exhausted and the last thing I wanted to do when I would get home was exercise. Its amazing how quickly the body forgets and falls out of shape! My routine: Get up in the morning and assess my energy and stress level Put my exercise clothes on Find the video on the On Demand Do at least 30 minutes of Pilates Re-assess my energy and stress level

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Results: In doing this routine for two weeks, I started to notice a little bit of a change in my stress level, as well as, in my energy level. With being out of shape, it wasnt easy to get back into the routine of exercising. I found that some moves were difficult for me to do and in all honesty, I wanted to give up often. They say that in any new exercise routine, it takes a couple of weeks to get over that hump and the moves begin to be a little easier. Through this study I think I have started to reach that point where it will become a part of my life, or at least I hope it will. The true test will be when I go back to work in about a month and have less time on my hands than I do right now. As you can see by the chart below, my energy levels increased somewhat and my stress levels went down a little.

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Day 8 Day 9 Day 10

Beginning Energy Level Ending Energy Level Beginning Stress Level Ending Stress Level 80% 82% 55% 53% 80% 82% 55% 53% 80% 85% 50% 48% 85% 87% 50% 47% 85% 90% 47% 45% 85% 87% 47% 45% 85% 88% 47% 45% 85% 90% 45% 43% 87% 90% 45% 43% 87% 90% 45% 41%

Conclusion: The biggest conclusion I drew from this study was that implementing an exercise routine into my life is a very good thing. I was able to see where adding Pilates to my life showed me how out of shape I am and how much I can get out of doing this type of exercise on a regular basis can improve my overall health. Although it was minute due to the short period of time this

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study was conducted over, I saw where my energy level had begun to increase and my stress level had begun to decrease. My hope is that I will be able to implement this as a regular part of my life when things become hectic again with the start of the new school year. The one thing that I might want to change would be to have someone do this with me. I find it is always easy to come up with excuses as to why I cant take 30 minutes of my time to do this routine and having someone keeping me accountable would be very helpful. General Comments: I thought that doing this project was a great way to get a person motivated to do something that they have needed to be doing all along. We all have areas in our lives that wed like to see improvement but it is so easy to allow life to get the best of us and so we put those things we need to do to improve our lives off until before you know it, youre completely out of shape and the thing that you should have been doing all along becomes that much harder for you to accomplish. I really enjoyed doing this project.

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