What are Pilates Exercises
Are you looking for ways to improve your fitness level? If yes, then Pilates exercises might be the answer. This type of exercise focuses on core strength, flexibility, balance, coordination, and posture.
Pilates exercises are great for toning muscles and improving overall health. They also provide excellent benefits for pregnant women and those suffering from back pain or injuries. Learn more about these exercises and how they can benefit you.
What You Really Want to Know About Pilates
It has been proven and is fairly well known around the world that Pilates is one of the most effective methods for strengthening core muscles and improving overall fitness. A true benefit of Pilates Exercises is that not only are they pretty challenging, but the value of these Pilates Exercises really lie in the fact that they target every major muscle group in the body.
Pilates can literally be done anywhere, these can be done in areas with limited space, such as at home, and when and where conducted correctly, it really does not require that much space to set your Pilates workout area up.
Another benefit of Pilates is that it helps people lose weight. When we feel better about ourselves it has been shown that we will tend to eat less, and be more motivated to stick to healthier eating habits, and meal plans.
What is Pilates?
Pilates is a form of physical fitness and body conditioning developed by German gymnast and dance teacher Joseph H. Pilates in the early part of the 20th century. He began developing his method in Germany during World War I, when he noticed soldiers suffering from war injuries. After the war, he opened his first studio in New York City and continued to develop his methods. He called his system “Contrology,” and he believed that people needed to learn how to control themselves physically and mentally to achieve good health.
Pilates Exercises focus more on muscle tone and strength, rather than building the actual muscles and specifically focuses on your core muscles, and as a low-impact exercise, the aim is to strengthen muscles while improving posture and flexibility. Most people would think that your stomach/abdomen area is the main part of your body. Your core does, in fact extend well beyond this area too. If you consider your muscles, nervous system, and your actual skeleton itself, you should come to realize that everything is connected, your core muscles serve as a “foundation” for your other muscle groups, and help promote your wellness and well being.
Pilates Exercises can be performed with or without equipment, making it extremely accessible wherever you may find yourself. Today, there are three main types of Pilates classes: mat work, reformer, and equipment-based. Mat work focuses on core strength and stability, whereas reformer classes use equipment such as springs, bands, and weights to increase resistance. Equipment-based classes include those that incorporate machines, free weights, and bars.
What are the benefits of Pilates?
As we have discussed, Pilates is a great means of improving your health overall by focusing on strength and endurance for and throughout the entire body. By targeting every muscle group, Pilates exercises help you working out muscles that are easily overlooked or not focused on in traditional exercise routines, such as the hamstrings, calves and your gluteal muscles.
Given the underlying fact of muscle strengthening, Pilates exercises are low impact and therefore “gentle” on your joints; this can be amplified by the use of equipment, where one may have specific joint issues or perhaps discomfort.
Although Pilates exercises have typically been considered a workout for women, and “traditionally” conducted within Pilates studios, this is hardly the case anymore. A studio is not required to work out regularly and effectively, whilst Pilates exercises have become easily accessible, and beneficial to all genders and ages. For specific areas of improvement and benefit, webmd.com provides that one stands to benefit from the following perspectives:
- Flexibility
- Strength
- Low-impact
As the saying goes “Prevention is Better than Cure”, Pilates exercises does indeed help us get into and stay in form, which goes a long way in ensuring the minimalization of injuries sustained in sport, and even day to day living, where one might take a clumsy fall, or strain a muscle doing something routine. It certainly is well worth the time and effort in looking into the variety of Pilates exercises available today.
The 6 Pilates Principles
You will undoubtedly come across the mention of the 6 Principles of Pilates. We have summarized this briefly below, and cover it more in depth on our website.
#1 – CENTERING – Bring your awareness to the centerline of your body.
#2 – CONCENTRATION – Complete muscular control requires conscious, deliberate movement.
#3 – CONTROL – Sustained awareness ensures that each movement is precise.
#4 – PRECISION – Sustained awareness ensures that each movement is precise.
#5 – CONFIDENCE – Confidence builds slowly over time.
#6 – POSITIVITY – Positivity is contagious.
Our website aims to educate and motivate you to improve your health and wellbeing, whilst providing the best resources and information we can on Pilates Exercises, equipment and more.
