I’m 83 & still fit – I even stunned doctors with how fast I snapped back after childbirth, it’s all in a fitness craze
SIX decades of Pilates has kept one woman youthful into her 80s —and it's had plenty of other perks along the way.
The fitness method helped Joan Breibart's body snap back after childbirth, with even doctors in the maternity ward shocked about her recovery.
Breibart, 83, credits herself as the woman who popularized Pilates in the 1990s.
In 1991, she opened the Institute for the Pilates Method, the world's first Pilates Certification organization.
Within a decade, thousands of Pilates teachers trained at the institution and learned methods created by Joseph Pilates himself.
Today, she still owns and operates the same Pilates Institute, now called PhysicalMind.
READ MORE FIT AFTER 50
She also educates people about health and wellness after 50 in her Body Conversations podcast.
"Pilates is not hard. I say this as a client for the past 60 years," she told The U.S. Sun.
Breibart always thought of herself as a "genetically strong" person and took to Pilates quickly in the '60s.
She is 125 pounds and stands five foot six inches tall.
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Before there were reformers and machines, there were basic movements and exercises that targeted muscles.
Those same exercises helped her get through and quickly heal after giving birth to her first son, Peter, in 1977.
Because she was 36 at the time, medical staff wrote in her records that she was having a geriatric pregnancy, a term used for women over the age of 35.
HER SNAP-BACK UTERUS SECRET
They wanted Breibart to have a cesarean, but she told them to "get lost" and went through with a natural birth.
He says, 'Everyone, look at this thing. Her uterus has totally gone back.'
Joan Breibart
When an intern came to check on her, she said he had a distinct look on his face as he looked at her uterus.
"He comes back with a resident and the resident looks. Pretty soon there's a crowd there. Then they get my doctor, Dr Silverman, who was like a big shot on Park Avenue," she explained.
"He says, 'Everyone, look at this thing. Her uterus has totally gone back.'"
Normally, Breibart said, the uterus is pushed up to your belly button and takes at least seven to ten days to descend — but hers was back to normal the next day.
They were all curious about why it happened.
"I said, 'Oh, that's just Pilates.' And in '97 nobody knew what I was talking about," she added.
BE YOUR OWN BOSS
After starting her institute in 1991, Breibart created the first group reformer class, which she called "a complete failure."
"But now, of course, it's a huge success," she added.
The key to getting the most out of it, she said, is to know that you — the one doing Pilates — are in charge.
"They have to understand they're the boss, Not the teacher, not the influencer," she said.
"They need to be able to take charge of their body."
BUSY BACKGROUND
At 83 years old, Breibart said that she is "always learning," and that's exactly what contributed to keeping her young mentally and physically.
She stays active with Argentine tango dancing, tennis, and golf, and still does pilates regularly.
"The brain-body connection is really important," she said.
"I have what tennis pros call good hands. So when I'm at the net, I can switch my hands. How did that happen? Maybe it happened through Pilates."
Your personal best is what you feel at the moment, what works for you at that time.
Joan Breibart
Breibart said she tries to have a "serious" class every week in which she’s “working on things” with an instructor.
No music is playing, and she is focused on her breathing, while the instructor has their hands "all over her."
"Your personal best is what you feel at the moment, what works for you at that time," she said.
One of the best Pilates teachers she has worked with for over 30 years doesn't have the typical Pilates physique.
"She's short. She's big. She doesn't look like she does Pilates or has a Pilates body. But remember, she's got a lot of other things," she added.
COMBATTING BODY STANDARDS
"Your body is different every single day," the founder said.
"I had a moment of truth in 1968. I was at the Pilates studio at Bengals.
"There were all these mirrors, and there were two reformers. I was right next to a woman I'd come to know," she explained.
I think that what people have to understand is that a lot of things you do to your body, to your face, and you have to think about why are you doing it."
Joan Breibart
"She and I were the exact same height, same waist, and same size, and everything was very similar. You would think two peas in a pod, right?"
"I looked at her hips, and I looked at mine, and I thought, 'I will never have that line.'
"I will never, ever have what she has and I wanted it. I still want it, but I won't have it. And I knew it."
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Joan had an important body-positive message about honing in on your reason to live a fit lifestyle.
"I think that what people have to understand is that a lot of things you do to your body, to your face, and you have to think about why are you doing it," she said.
