Class schedule   Sessions cost from $10 to $15. The eighth class is free with the purchase of seven classes.   Contact Mary Gordon at 977-1004 or plussizepilates@cox.net for more information.   ● 3-4 p.m. Mondays - Naturally Women, 6880 E. Broadway. Membership required.   ● 2-3 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays - A class will be starting this month in the Catalina Highway area.   ● 6-7 p.m. Wednesdays - Tucson Touch Therapies, 3903 E. Pima St.   ● Noon Thursdays - Sierra Fitness, 5455 N. Kolb Road. Starting soon.   ● 6:30-7:30 p.m. Thursdays - Physicians' Institute of Exercise Physiology, 4570 N. First Ave. 293-1456   ● 8:30-9:30 p.m. Saturdays - Fit to Be Tried Plus Sizes, 4748 E. Grant Road. Starting in April.     Traditional vs. plus-size Pilates   Mary Gordon has modified traditional Pilates poses, such as movements requiring the exerciser to roll into the form of a ball, to accommodate large bellies and other body parts.   All of the postures used in plus-sized Pilates are crafted to work for those with a round, rather than slim, shape.     The 100   Begin as shown, with legs bent or straightened at 45-degree angle. Engage abs and bring chin to the chest. While breathing, deeply pump arms up and down.   Swan rocking   Start on the stomach with hands directly beneath the shoulders. Push up into the position shown in the first picture.   Rock forward, bringing feet off the ground and into the air. Return to starting position.   Mermaid   Begin with hand on the ankle. In a smooth motion, sweep arm around until in position 1. Rotate body around to end in position 2, and then come back up and around to ankle.   Side passé   Start by lying on your side. Bring the toe to the knee. Straighten leg as shown with a pointed toe. Flex foot, and slowly lower entire leg down.   Open leg rocker   Begin balanced as shown. Rock back, touching back to ground - roll only as far as shoulder blades - and rock back up into starting position without touching the floor.

Mary Gordon, a Pilates instructor for plus-sized women, doesn't use the word "fat." The women she teaches her modified curriculum to are "round." Two-and-a-half years ago, Gordon, who has 25 years of nursing experience, 50 triathlon races and a few years of personal training under her belt, noticed that some of the heavier women couldn't physically do many of the stances. "With regular Pilates, you need a slender body to do it well," Gordon said. So Gordon, 62, started tweaking the positions to make them easier for her clients who weren't skinny. Now, she works almost entirely with plus-sized and obese women. Some of the women who regularly take her classes of two to eight people weigh 300 pounds or more - not exactly the typical Bally's frequenter. "Some of the ladies in my classes have legs that weigh 80 pounds," Gordon said. Someone at that size is literally unable to do traditional Pilates successfully. Roxy Elliot, 35, has been working with Gordon since July 2004. As a massage therapist and former gym worker, Elliot has been around her fair share of exercise classes. But she said she found going into a room of "stick figures" a bit daunting, even with her athletic background. "Mary's creating a safe space," she said. "Being in a group of people who share in an element of your life that makes it safe, that makes it awesome." Gordon concurred. She purposely holds classes outside of a gym environment because "it's very difficult to get overweight people into a gym." Jeri Cantrell, 60, used to take aerobics classes but found she was hurting herself by trying to keep up with those more physically fit than herself. With the plus-size Pilates classes, she doesn't feel the need to compete. And she doesn't have to deal with an über-perky instructor telling her to try just a little harder. "Mary's very encouraging without being patronizing," Cantrell said. "And if you're doing something that might hurt you, she's right there, correcting you." Gordon describes plus-size Pilates, a phrase she has tradenamed, as her "cause" - she's written a 12-page manifesto on what she perceives as the stereotyping of overweight people. "I've gone off the deep end on it," she says. She's in the process of training more teachers, setting up corporate classes and trying to get on the "Oprah Winfrey Show." "It's all about doing what we can do. We're still doing it, but we're doing it our way," Gordon said. "We're doing what the rest of the country is doing, but the way we can." Class schedule

 

Sessions cost from $10 to $15. The eighth class is free with the purchase of seven classes. Contact Mary Gordon at 977-1004 or plussizepilates@cox.net for more information. ● 3-4 p.m. Mondays - Naturally Women, 6880 E. Broadway. Membership required. ● 2-3 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays - A class will be starting this month in the Catalina Highway area. ● 6-7 p.m. Wednesdays - Tucson Touch Therapies, 3903 E. Pima St. ● Noon Thursdays - Sierra Fitness, 5455 N. Kolb Road. Starting soon. ● 6:30-7:30 p.m. Thursdays - Physicians' Institute of Exercise Physiology, 4570 N. First Ave. 293-1456 ● 8:30-9:30 p.m. Saturdays - Fit to Be Tried Plus Sizes, 4748 E. Grant Road. Starting in April. Traditional vs. plus-size Pilates

 

Mary Gordon has modified traditional Pilates poses, such as movements requiring the exerciser to roll into the form of a ball, to accommodate large bellies and other body parts. All of the postures used in plus-sized Pilates are crafted to work for those with a round, rather than slim, shape. The 100

 

Begin as shown, with legs bent or straightened at 45-degree angle. Engage abs and bring chin to the chest. While breathing, deeply pump arms up and down. Swan rocking

 

Start on the stomach with hands directly beneath the shoulders. Push up into the position shown in the first picture. Rock forward, bringing feet off the ground and into the air. Return to starting position. Mermaid

 

Begin with hand on the ankle. In a smooth motion, sweep arm around until in position 1. Rotate body around to end in position 2, and then come back up and around to ankle. Side passé

 

Start by lying on your side. Bring the toe to the knee. Straighten leg as shown with a pointed toe. Flex foot, and slowly lower entire leg down. Open leg rocker

 

Begin balanced as shown. Rock back, touching back to ground - roll only as far as shoulder blades - and rock back up into starting position without touching the floor.