Since mid-February, I’ve been utilizing Pilates Physical Therapy to strengthen my recurring L4/L5, L5/S1 lower back injury.  My injury has derailed me from 4 different half marathons but Pilates has been instrumental in helping me to begin to develop some of the core strength I need to be as active as I want to be.

Now that my physical therapist has cleared me to take outside classes, I’ve decided to work with WundaBar Pilates on the next phase of my rehabilitation.

WundaBar Pilates has allowed me to take 3-4 group reformer classes each week for the next 60 days in exchange for documenting my experience here through a series I’m calling WundaWednesdays.

WundaBar, with 4 locations in California, has been offering small, intense 50-minute group reformer classes on their one-of-a-kind reformers called WundaFormers since 2011.

Maybe it was no accident that I was drawn to WundaBar. It was founded by a former marketing executive (like me) who found Pilates to be a “motivating and mind-saving place” and wanted to bring “health, strength and good things to client’s lives” (which sounds like a dietitian’s mantra to me).

I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of WundaBody I’ll have after 60 days worth of classes that fuse traditional reformer Pilates and ballet-barre fitness with Wunda Chair and jump-board moves.

You know my philosophy about scales and monitoring my weight, but I also know important it is to measure how my body changes as a result of this challenge.

With that in mind, I headed over to Fit-Fax to measure the baseline of my body composition details. Fit-Fax is owned and operated by a trainer and powerhouse triathlete, Sarah Lynn Dephouse, who has worked in the fitness industry for over 15 years.

Sarah Lynn’s mission with Fit-Fax is to “measure your fitness progress beyond the scale” using a non-invasive analysis of body composition, lean muscle and body fat in less than 30 seconds.

According to the analysis results, I fall in the normal range for body weight, skeletal muscle mass, body fat mass, BMI and body fat percentage.  The “D” curve in the Body Composition Analysis section also indicates that my body falls under the “Strong” type (vs. the Standard or Obese types).

Normal and strong … not bad.

Sarah Lynn found that my body is symmetrical in my segmental lean muscle analysis; she didn’t expect this in light of my long history of injury on my right side.  Maybe Pilates PT has helped me achieve some muscular symmetry?

I’m excited to begin this journey with WundaBar.  I won’t lie, if 60 days gets me closer to wearing a bikini for the first time in my adult life, I’d be thrilled but what I want most after 60 days is to gain core strength and be as active as I can – mind, body and soul.

*This post is part of my series WundaWednesdays which I have agreed to write in exchange for classes at WundaBar Pilates for the next 60 days.  As a dietitian (coach per Fit-Fax) my body composition analysis was complimentary.  All opinions are my own.  Photos used with permission from WundaBar Pilates.