A Pilates instructor shares her realistic weekly workout routine designed to look after her mental health as much as her physical

A Pilates instructor stands next to two students, who are exercising on Pilates reformer machines. She is holding the calf of the student nearest her, who has her leg extended upward.

Carrie Minter Ebers is a Pilates instructor based in Dallas. Although Pilates is a key part of her training, she says she makes time for other types of movement in her weekly routine too.

“I love working out, not just for physical health, but for mental health—it's helped me so much with anxiety and depression,” she tells Fit&Well.

The instructor explains that she tries to do something active every day, even if it’s just a simple dog walk or playing with her friends' kids.

(Image credit: Carrie Minter Ebers)

Minter Ebers is also the founder of Carrie's Pilates, which has five locations across the US and Canada. Her classes incorporate a piece of apparatus called the transformer, which is similar to the Pilates reformer, but bigger and designed to focus on strength training.

Here’s what a week of workouts looks like for her.

Carrie Minter Eber's weekly workout routine

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Monday 12pm
Full-body Pilates transformer workout

Tuesday 10am
30 minutes of fast walking on a treadmill and 30 minutes of dumbbell exercises with dad

Wednesday 12pm
Dog walk

Thursday 12pm
Teaching and participating in three Pilates classes

Friday 9am
45-minute full-body mat Pilates class

Weekend
Rest!

Carrie Minter Eber's three tips for developing an exercise routine

1. Give yourself grace

“If there's one day where I'm really not feeling [working out], I might let myself have that day off because to do something active seven days a week, or even five days a week, is a lot,” Minter Ebers says.

“I'll give myself some grace and I won't be too hard on myself.”

2. Get organised

Minter Ebers likes to write down her goals, which helps her stay committed.

“If I set my goals for the week in my notebook and plan my workouts in advance [...] I'm way more likely to stick to it,” she explains.

3. Start with walking

If you're not currently exercising, you don't need to start with a complicated gym-based workout.

“Definitely just start walking. If you're able to, get outside and start walking,” the Pilates instructor recommends. “That's what I did with my dad – started walking.”

Once the instructor had gotten her dad into a regular walking routine, she was able to convince him to join her in the gym, so walking can be a great first step to doing other workouts, too.