Last fall my husband participated in a Pilates Mat Challenge I was doing - basically because I begged him.
He was having a really rough time with some of the mat work because his daily habits had changed since he'd last done mat. He'd been sitting a lot more at work because he'd transferred to a work from home program 7 months before due to the pandemic. His hamstrings were tight - and as he said "they were on fire" during his mat work.
It was a huge disappointment for him to have trouble with the challenge. He's always been a Tower guy - loves Tower and he even gets a little upset when the Reformer/Tower combo is switched over to Reformer :) He'd fallen off track a bit with doing his Tower routine before starting the challenge.
Tower is absolutely amazing, and it was design to help with mat work. I recommended that he get back into his Tower routine and throw in a few mat exercises on the Tower to prepare his body for mat.
Our bodies accept exercises differently each day.
It's easy to get really upset when you can do an exercise one day and then can't do even part of it the next. There's nothing wrong with us when that happens.
Life influences our movements.
No matter where you are in your practice:
Beginner
Stagnant for months or years
Equipment only (and maybe only occasionally)
Multiple times a week practitioner
Your body will learn and your body will remember your movements.
You just need to give yourself grace and a little bit of time.
Pictures show a bit of a mat struggle
