This Mat & Chat was hosted on Saturday, August 1st, 2020 on Instagram Live. The chat followed a 25 minute mat workout based on Alycea Ungaro’s SpringTone workout.
Victoria: Let’s go back and talk through what we just did again. We mentioned at the very beginning, but if you’re just tuning in, that was SpringTone. SpringTone is a class that Alycea Ungaro created 7, 8 years ago?
Sam: I was there from the inception, so yeah, I would say about 8 years ago.
Victoria: And so, as Sam said in the beginning, basically we like to try and describe it to our clients as sort of a Pilates boot camp style class. Traditionally, we are using the tower unit, so you would have all of the springs as opposed tow eights. But it’s a class that if people are interested in learning about, you can become trained to be a licensed SpringTone teacher. I took the training a few years ago, and Sam has been teaching for about 8 years. During quarantine, during Covid, Sam decided that since it was a class that was already on her schedule, that she was going to keep it on her schedule but make is SpringTone for the Mat. So you guys just got a very- well, you got the big parts, but it was a brief sampling of what SpringTone is. Obviously it’s usually 45 minutes. I took it once, and it was so hard. I cannot even imagine. Already I’m like: “Ow!” So…
Sam: *Laughs* Yeah, so it’s not for the faint of heart. Do what you need and take out what you don’t, is what I like to say.
Victoria: So why do you think you embrace SpringTone so easily and so well, and why do you think people- they either love it or hate it. People are diehard SpringTone fans. Some people come to Real Pilates just to take SpringTone- seriously. So what do you think is your attraction to it? What make it unique to you, and why do you think it’s so effective?
Sam: Well, I have an exercise science and sports studies background, so I’ve always had an athletic background, in personal training, in different modalities of exercise. So, this really appealed to me because I also cross-train, I do weights and different things, so this really appealed to me because I like that kind of intensity to it. Clearly I love Pilates, but I was like: “Oh my God, a hybrid of the two- Alycea, this is genius, this is amazing.” And I’ve always loved teaching it- it’s fun, there’s energy throughout the whole class. It’s a fun thing to teach, and it has that athletic base to it that I love, too.
Victoria: Some people, when they think of Pilates- and they’re incorrect in thinking this- but a lot of people think: “Oh it’s low-impact”. Well, it is low-impact, but, sorry, they think: “It’s low-intensity, and I want to really work, I want really sweat.” Even though we all know that we can really work, and we can really sweat in an average, normal session, for those people with that mindset, SpringTone is really great for them because it targets that deep, deep burn, while building strength at the same time.
Sam: Totally, absolutely. Yeah, it’s a good hybrid for sure
Victoria: So you just mentioned that you have a sports science background- is that what you studied in undergrad?
Sam: Yeah, that’s what I studied in undergrad. I’ve kind of worked with- it runs the gamut of people- I’ve worked in senior living facility homes, training Alzheimer’s patients to do workout programs, like way back, early in the day. I’ve trained people that have just come out of Lap Band and Gastric Bypass surgery when I was a fitness specialist, back in the day, to athletes and celebrities.
Victoria: All in Florida? Like, before you came to New York, was this all Florida-based?
Sam: Yeah, all in Florida.
Victoria: You went to school in Florida?
Sam: I did, I went to the University of Tampa, really close to where I’m living now.
Victoria: Right down the road! And then why did you, or how did you move to New York City?
Sam: Oh, so at that time I was helping another woman run a Pilates studio here in Tampa. I always just kind of felt like I needed more. I needed to learn more, I wanted to get better at my craft, and I wanted to meet people who were better than me at what I’m doing. I was fully-booked, I had tons of clients who I loved, but I wanted more. I asked my mentor, Connie Borho, who is a Peak Pilates certified trainer: “Do you think I could make it in New York? Do you think I could do it?” And she was like: “Yeah, you got this!” And it’s one thing if your parents are like: “Oh yeah, we’re behind you.” But for her to say that, I was like: “Okay, I’m going to send my audition tapes in- I’m going to try this.” So, I sent it to Alycea at Real Pilates-
Victoria: Oh my God, you sent her an audition tape!?
Sam: Yeah, I sent it in!
Victoria: Do you still have that?!
Sam: *laughs* Yeah, I still have it.
Victoria: Oh my God, I have to see that! You have to share that.
Sam: I feel like I was probably shaking my whole time that I was doing it. These were the big names that I had seen on the Internet, but I had never met them in person. It was really kind of eye-opening to get there. So I moved there, and the rest is really history.
Victoria: So you moved to New York City to work at Real Pilates?
Sam: I moved there to get better at what I did and for my career. I didn’t move there for the glamour, let’s put it that way. I was the girl on the couch at my friend’s house for the first few months that I was living in New York, for God’s sakes. So, I really wanted it, and I wanted to make a name for myself in the fitness industry, and I really think that I accomplished that to some degree.
Victoria: Hell yeah! Whether or not you make your way back to the city when we have a better idea of what’s going to happen with Covid- I mean, obviously there’s a huge gap that’s left behind, so it’s going to be a different studio without you, but at least we have you virtually! It’s so sad.
Sam: I know, it is sad.
Victoria: But, ok. So you moved to the city, you couch-surfed, and you started working at Real Pilates. At what point in that journey with Real Pilates did you go back and retrain for a Lead Trainer certification?
Sam: Oh, so, I don’t know the exact date, but I would say midway through when Alycea started doing a Teacher Training program. I was Peak Pilates certified originally, and it wasn’t a fully, fully comprehensive program at that time. It was levels- different levels. So I felt like I was missing some history and some archival work that I didn’t know about, and stuff like that. So I decided to go through her training and become a lead Teacher Trainer. One of my goals was always to teach other teachers- not just clients and everyday people. To teach other teachers has always been interesting to me, because I want to pass the knowledge on. I love the enthusiasm those students have. I decided to go through it and travel with the teacher training team, and I met so many amazing people. It’s been pretty life changing.
Victoria: So someone- I think last week, at some point, I did one of those time-lapse videos of me doing SpringTone on the tower here and posted it on my story saying: “Who else misses SpringTone?” And someone responded to my story, and I don’t remember her name off the top of my head right now, but she was like: “Oh my God, I do! Sam Datz actually traveled to Michigan…” And I’m pretty positive I remember this trip.
Sam: Yes!
Victoria: You went to Michigan and it was literally negative five degrees, the worst weather, so cold, and you were there to teach this SpringTone workshop. I was like: “I definitely remember this weekend.”
Sam: Yup, that was in the middle of January, and it was- oh my God. I’m from Florida for God’s sake, and I don’t know snow like that. Their snow? That’s next level. That’s next level snow. But yeah, it was an interesting trip. It’s a beautiful little spot, I’m sure in the summer as well. I was there in the dead of winter.
Victoria: Yeah, exactly. That was funny. I was like: “Oh, actually Sam will be on [the Mat & Chat]…” but I didn’t give too much away. So hopefully she’ll tune in and watch it later. Okay, so you’re a Lead Teacher Trainer and you’ve been able to travel with Real Pilates, and your goal was just to keep doing that until this hit, right? Just keep doing your thing?
Sam: Keep doing it, yeah! We have a few things in the works for overseas, in Korea, and all kinds of crazy stuff. But the universe had different plans. I would like to think it’s not forever- this is not forever- so at some point, we’ll pick up again with that, if travel ever becomes a thing again! *laughs*
Victoria: I know. I have soo many airline credits- it better become a thing.
Sam: Or we do virtual! I do so much virtual testing out of teachers, and training of teachers, so- you know, this is here to stay for a long time.
Victoria: This is here to stay, and I think that’s the best thing we’ve learned over the last 4-5 months. Everyone is going to keep at it, you know? I have clients that have Pilates stuff in their homes- some people have summer homes, and some people have apparatus in their summer homes, and some people would be like: “I’m going to be gone for the next couple of weeks, but I’ll see you at the end of August.” Meanwhile, I’m like: “You know we could have been doing this whole virtual thing the whole time? You have a reformer!” And they’re like: “Oh, yeah!” So even if you don’t have any apparatus, everyone is getting so accustomed to doing the matwork, and they’re getting stronger, so I think it’s here to stay for sure.
So what other cross training do you do? I think you’re unique in that sense, because so many Pilates instructors are so dedicated to Pilates as their number one and most important- I think that’s great, but I know you do so much else. You don’t get muscles like that- !
Sam: *laughs* I run a lot, moreso now than I’ve ever run before, just because it clears my head and gives me peace of mind. I do weight training, free weights, I do Juan Estrada’s mat classes almost every day. Almost every day.
Victoria: Really? Good for you!
Sam: Just because usually his times work with my times, and he’s a kickass trainer. And then I do barre classes, I really like barre classes.
Victoria: You definitely had an exercise bike in your childhood bedroom- I saw it.
Sam: I do. I love spinning- I don’t want to say that I’m a Peloton cult person, but I do love the app. My dad and my sister both bought one of those spin bikes on Amazon- it’s a phenomenal bike, it’s a Schwinn spin bike- before they all sold out. It was the best thing they’ve ever bought- for my personal use too. I was living with my parents for four months- I’d roll out of my bed and get on the bike, like: “This is awesome!” And I’d use the App with it. So I’ve been doing that quite a bit, and just doing mainly home-based everything for the past four months.
Before all of this, I wrote a blog, too- SharetheGlam.com- it was an exercise and fitness blog. So I would go to different studios all over the city, and I would take their classes and I would review the classes and do a write-up on the workouts and stuff. I did some crazy stuff.
Victoria: That’s interesting to me. Light bulb! Did you only go to classical studios, or all sorts?
Sam: All sorts- you name it, we did it. New York is like the mecca for people that have these ideas that they think are just going to blow up and take off, and sometimes they do, but sometimes they don’t. What is it called when you swing from the- it’s acrobatics-
Victoria: Like aerial yoga?
Sam: I did that, but- trapeze! I did that in Brooklyn somewhere, in a warehouse. Actually, all of the things. I’m kind of crazy like that. I will try anything one time. If I like it, it sticks. If not, I’ll never do it again. Yeah, I’ve always considered Pilates my foundation, and what keeps me injury-free, and pain-free, and solid, and in good form in all of the other stuff that I do. I explain that to my clients all the time. Pilates
really such a solid foundation to have, no matter what other workouts you do aside from it. I always come back to Pilates. Always.
Victoria: And what do you think differentiates “Joe Pilates” Pilates from other Pilates you might have tried when you ran your blog?
Sam: Oh, yeah. I mean, it is harder- in a nutshell. If you do the exercise properly, to what it was supposed to be, without any modifications or watering down anything, it’s frickin hard. Whether you’re doing it on equipment or doing it straight-up on the mat- yeah. I find that the real, 100%, true Pilates is harder than a lot of the other Pilates classes I’ve ever taken in my life.
Victoria: I would agree.
Sam: Simpler is always harder, right? More complex doesn’t mean that it’s harder. Simple can be really hard.
Victoria: Oh, yeah. And for those of you who don’t know Sam- obviously, it’s funny, because we have had Juan, we have had Tela, we have had you, and you know, I taught a Mat & Chat last week. I was kind of laughing to myself as we were doing this just now, because the people we’ve had from Real Pilates are examples of- well, everyone killed me! Killed me. I’m like: “Oh God, everyone’s probably thinking that Real Pilates is this crazy place where they do these crazy, difficult things.” But, to be honest, I was thinking as you were teaching that that people would probably be like: “Oh, she’s got some Juan in her.” Someone said that about me last time. I think obviously that we do, we are all in the same studio, and Juan actually taught me with Keren [Folman-Cohen] during my teacher training. But, something that is so unique to you, and something that I always try and be more like you is that you are so slow and controlled. Even just those shoulder bridges we did, those are so hard. You force people to stay in something for longer so we can go past our comfort zone, and it gets to be so painful! And I think like you’re saying, sometimes just keeping things simple- you don’t need to do things ten times, if you can do it three times really well.
Sam: No, and the power of just the words: “Hold it”? It screams- in your brain you start going to this crazy place. You’re just holding it! When you give a new exercise to somebody that’s a little more complex, I say literally: “Just hold this!” And that in-and-of-itself is half the battle, half the work. Just being able to hold an exercise and not necessarily go boom, boom, boom. Repetition is not necessarily what it always takes. Sometimes holding and just isolating a muscle can be so much harder.
Victoria: Definitely. And you know, sometimes in the classical work- and SpringTone is different- but the most you ever do of something is maybe like, ten? I mean, I think that’s the most he ever prescribed in Return to Life, especially. And people are always like: “Why is it such minimal reps?” Especially in some exercises, it’s just five leg circles or three pullstraps, but that’s all you need. If you’re really working that deeply, you don’t need to do it ten times. Also, if you’re doing it correctly, you won’t have the energy leftover to do it ten times, right?
Sam: True story. You got it right. You won’t. You can do three of something, and if you do them- it’s quality versus quantity, right? That’s a general rule, and then in essence you don’t really need to do three sets of ten reps, or whatever it is, for sure.
Victoria: Which is so unique to Pilates. I find so may exercise modalities to be so repetitive, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I have a Peloton bike and I love it, but it’s literally the same thing over and over again- you’re just pedaling your feet around. So there’s something to be said for being really diverse. You’re targeting extension, flexion, side bending, twisting, rounded back, flat back- it’s just everything, and you’re never there for too long.
Sam: Right, yeah, agreed. I call it my moving meditation, because you don’t have a chance to get into your head too much, because you’re constantly listening to what is the next thing I’m doing? What’s happening next? And there’s this flow within the structure that is so appealing to me, and kind of is in a weird way, a calming force that kind of makes you really tap deeper into your own body, I think.
Victoria: Okay, so one final question before we go into our speed round, and this doesn’t need to be super long or lengthy, because obviously Sam, you are super strong and capable. If you see her in real life, she is an incredible powerhouse. So I often wonder- as I was doing SpringTone, I was like: “Does she do this shit? Is this hard for her?” So I want to know- what’s the hardest exercise for you? For whatever reason. But what’s the toughest thing for you that you should probably work to improve?
Sam: In SpringTone, or in general?
Victoria: No, in general in Pilates.
Sam: In general in Pilates. Oh let’s see- there’s gotta be a few. Kneeling side kicks! Kneeling side kicks is one of the hardest things ever- my hips are tight, and every time we get to that particular one, I’m cursing in my head so hard, f bombs flying in my head.
Victoria: Okay, that’s one of mine too, for sure. It’s nice to know that we have a similar weakness.
Sam’s Speed Round
City or beach
Sweet or savory?
Cat or dog?
Adventure or comfort?
Books or movies?
Nights in or nights out?
Summer or winter?
Tea or coffee?
Early bird or night owl?
Pizza or pasta?
Europe or Asia?
Spring or fall?
Breakfast or dinner?