Interview by Mena Ianculescu



Marga, you have practiced many sports but chose pilates and yoga. Why so?


The surprise occurred at a cross-fit contest between teams of colleagues, fitness and aerobics professionals. It was an exercise program that contained tractions, bench presses, back leaps, pushups, bench leaps, planks, etc. I didn`t expect to be the best in isometry and to hold the most planks. Cardio and fitness trainings produce stamina, but endurance cannot be acquired without body awareness and self-control, both practiced in pilates and yoga.


Can you explain in a few words the difference between pilates and yoga?


Just like alpinism, pilates is an extreme sport, where intense effort, dosed and directed thoroughly, it completely reshapes the body, mind and soul, depending on your emotional disposition. The pilates trainee uses positions that are different from fitness or aerobics and, working muscles that the body never knew it had, 100% present, attentive to your breath and an aligned body. Compared to yoga, which is a complete system of self-knowledge and awareness, pilates is focusing on applied therapy, punctually and rapidly, reshaping and harmonizing the trainee, while Yoga is a way of being and living on a spiritual coordinate, not just physical and material.


You have introduced a new concept of pilates in Romania. What is this all about and what is its purpose?


Yes, it is called Exo-Chair Pilates and it is a new concept of practicing body intelligence, efficient movements, an intense and dynamic Pilates Cardio training, with influences from yoga, dance and ballet.


We all want to be healthy and to have a beautiful and harmonious body.  According to the 21st century, beauty standards mean slim and toned muscles. How do yoga and pilates classes help achieve these goals?


Exo-Chair Pilates training is shaping the body in a unique, personalized, isolated manner, focusing on deep muscles, not just on the large muscle groups. Both combined muscle groups are worked, within the harmony of a choreography that is scientifically produced in order to obtain quick results and long term changes. We need a strong body center, just like a belt that provides stability, to harmoniously tone and develop the body; the necessary stability is acquired by contracting the pelvic muscles, thus activating the deepest transversal abdominal muscle and the back`s closest stability muscle, providing force to the body; the work is done from the inside to the outside, and the final result is a perfect abdomen and a toned body.


Sometimes we do not find our balance despite financial success. From your long experience, does sport help?


Money doesn’t bring happiness, but it pays for the pilates subscription that helps you find the lost balance!


Some of us love outdoor running, mountain biking, spinning, fitness or pilates. How can we manage all these offers? How can we decide what the best subscription would be for us?


At first, it is good to do something that we like and provides physical and mental comfort, in order to get results and feel motivated. Then, to prevent routine and monotony, we should diversify with other trainings, until we discover the things suitable for us that could become a hobby, a passion, a way to know ourselves better through understanding our own strength and limitations.


What is the training you would suggest to someone that is stressed and has many responsibilities?How can such a person release all the negative vibes?


Because of the daily concerns, worries and stress, we have the tendency to form a hump, a kyphosis; we shut down and only very seldom we open our arms and expand them. In order to eliminate the daily tension and stress, we stretch the body by activating external rotators, an exercise that prevents depression and induces wellbeing, and we practice exercises to stretch the spine and to correct the kyphosis.


If we are to summarize our talk, what would you recommend to those who want to lose weight, tone their muscles and relax by doing sport? And, most of all, how long does it take to get results?


‘The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step’ said Lao Tzu, the famous Chinese philosopher in his book called ‘Tao Te Ching’; in other words everything that seems difficult, almost impossible, starts with a step, with simple things and then we follow a pilates training according a clear program, combined with outdoor running and with yoga in particular, having relaxing moments, meditation, going back to the inner self, peacefully breathing and aiming for serenity. This way, the results are quicker, more sustainable but the practice must be constantly maintained in order to feel the power of unity and harmony.


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Pilates Benefits:


  • Pilates practice leads to an passionate sex life due to the training of the central area, which is the body`s strong center.
  • Pilates helps obtain emotional balance.
  • A fluid, controlled movement of a TONED AND HARMONIOUSLY DEVELOPED body, together with good breathing, generates wellness and vitality.
  • Practiced meditation in movement through aligning , focusing the attention.
  • A more fluid breathing releases stress and prevents aging.



Yoga benefits:


  • Serenity, peace and calm.
  • Increased awareness and focus on the inside, being present here and now.
  • Self-union, integrating all the being`s elements, harmony and integrating into the nature and the universe.
  • Self-knowledge.
  • Spirituality.