Grace Under Pressure

摘要

A few months ago, as my jogging companion and I huffed and heaved our way through Central Park, I gasped out, "There... must... be ... an easier way." "There is," she responded. "Pilates." She knew how to pronounce it (pi-lah-teez), she knew who did it (Julia Roberts, Sharon Stone, Madonna), and she knew it had completely changed Melanie Griffith's life. But neither she nor any of my other friends, all of whom were suddenly talking about it, could actually describe what it was. I gathered that it was some sort of stretching regimen that could magically make you longer and stronger, without the sore joints and the dripping sweat.