Issue link: http://www.wacmagazine.com/i/101127
written by Diane Mapes photography by Luke Rutan Clockwise from top: Paul Ravetta with physical therapist Stuart Eivers; with Pilates instructor Marywilde Nelson; after a workout in the pool; and a post-workout stretch. When Paul Ravetta joined the WAC 10 years ago, his workouts consisted of lifting weights and running on the treadmill, exercises that dovetailed nicely with his tri-weekly soccer games. But when his SI joint became aggravated, he was forced to tweak his routine. ���It started impacting my quality of life and general comfort level,��� he says. In response, running and weight lifting came off his standard exercise program. ���I became a swimmer and a Pilates user,��� he says. He also started physical therapy. That all happened around 2007. The good news? After a year of physical therapy and a few years of Pilates, he returned to his beloved soccer games. The bad? He promptly suffered a sports injury. ���It was a real bittersweet thing,��� recalls the 44-year-old money management professional. ���I was healthy and mobile again and started playing soccer and tore my ACL. I was lying on the field and I thought, ���I���m done with soccer.������ He was not, however, done with living an athletic life. Within two weeks of his knee surgery, he was back at the WAC, putting in work on the Pilates reformer with his bandages and stitches and crutches. With some modifications to standard exercises, he developed a workout that didn���t involve his left leg. Today, Paul is a different kind of athlete. Gone are the running and the soccer. Now he swims regularly and has a standing appointment with WAC Pilates instructor Marywilde Nelson. 32 | Washington Athletic Club Magazine | JANUARY 2013