Educated Conditioning
Written By Asia Howe
“[A] body freed from nervous tension and over-fatigue is the ideal shelter provided by nature for housing a well-balanced mind.” — Joseph Pilates
“Everyone these days is trying to find some way to workout,” Hauʻoli Viritua declares, his tone blasé. He adds a tad more excitedly, “‘Working out. It’s not just for bodybuilders and gays anymore.’” He laughs, “Imagine that as a gym slogan.”
Viritua, a twenty-five year old University of Hawaii at Hilo (UH Hilo) senior, will have attended all of the Pilates courses the college offers after the spring semester. In addition to the classes his English major and Hawaiian Studies minor demand, the active senior has taken Pilates Beginner Matwork (DNCE 110) and is now engaging in Pilates Intermediate Matwork (DNCE 210). Both of these one-credit courses focus on body conditioning through the exercise system Pilates.
UH Hilo senior, Haʻuoli Viritua. Photo provided by Haʻuoli Viritua.
Although the classes might seem like something a student can attend at the Student Life Center, there is an applied learning aspect not really seen in gym courses. DNCE 110 students read a textbook as they learn Pilates moves. “The book itself said which muscles should be relaxed, which should be engaged, and where [there] should [be] stability,” Viritua professes. “The instructor (a lecturer named Kristi Kapahua) doesn’t have enough time to walk around and correct everyone so the text was an assistant. Like ‘Oh, that part of my body isn’t supposed to be moving.’ Then when you start doing it right, you’re like, ‘Oh now I can feel it working out,’” said Viritua.
“Anyway,” the senior concludes laughingly, “it’s [DNCE 210] is my weekly workout. It’s a class so I am required to go, [as opposed to the] weekend courses [when there’s] a choice. It makes me more accountable for my health.”
