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Date: 1/20/2022
EAST LONGMEADOW– Pilates Instructor Mary Ryczek – much like her work – has had to be flexible over the past two years.
Ryczek has been teaching Mat Pilates at Healthtrax for 19 years and at the Jewish Community Center for eight years. When COVID-19 hit in March of 2020, both centers shut down and she began teaching Pilates on Zoom. While both centers have since reopened, the ladies and gentlemen taking Ryczek’s class preferred to remain on Zoom. In August of 2021, Ryczek decided to branch out and do a Mat Zoom Pilates class for all levels of ability from her home.
Pilates is a structured workout; stretching and strengthening all the muscles in the core as well as the entire body. Mat Pilates is a Pilates training practice that can be done on the floor on a mat.
Ryczek is a certified Pilates instructor by the Pilates Institute of America, a Silver Sneaker Instructor and a Spinning Instructor. “Pilates is good for anybody because it builds all the muscles that work together,” Ryczek points out. “Whether it’s you’re a biker, golfer, swimmer – whatever you do Pilates builds your body, strengthens flexibility and improves your balance.”
Before she became a Pilates instructor, Ryczek was the director of prevention for the Springfield Public Schools. She was an educator for 35 years with a doctorate in math education. She’s also a runner, and went to Healthtrax to start doing weights and to build up her body. Ryczek shared, “I took a spinning class and some Pilates classes. Then the director there asked me to become certified in spinning and in Pilates so I did.” She continued, “I taught spinning for a while, but I thought the spinning was too much for my knee and I stopped. I just really like Pilates so I stayed with it and I’ve been teaching Pilates for almost 20 years. As a runner, Pilates is good for my body and it builds my muscles.”
Ryczek begins the Mat Pilates class with five minutes of warm up. Next, the core work that includes sit ups, push-ups and back work; exercising their entire body from their feet to their legs to their arms, neck and shoulder. Ryczek told Reminder Publishing they examine every body part and then the last five to 10 minutes they stretch to cool down their bodies. Pilates is a low-impact exercise which tones every muscle in the body and improves posture and flexibility.
Though she still teaches one in-person class in Healthtrax and a couple of classes at the Longmeadow Senior Center, Ryczek said she will continue doing Zoom classes as long as she’s able to do it because it’s convenient not only for her, but for the people who take her class. “Everyone should think about being safe, being healthy, being strong, being positive and taking care of themselves,” Ryczek concluded. “If you take care of yourself by doing some kind of stretching or relaxing whether it’s Pilates, yoga or meditation, if you take care of your mind and your body, you’ll be fine, everything else will work out.”
The Mat Zoom Pilates class is every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9-9:45 a.m. with an average of eight people per class. Those interested can pay $5 a class or take as many as 12 classes for $30. Email Mary Ryczek at maryryczek@yahoo.com or text at 335-1134.