The Benefits of Pilates

As we get ready to move into our new Mindful + Movement studio in May 2021, we are so excited to offer both Reformer and Mat Pilates classes. While the Pilates movement has continually increased over the last two decades, the terms “Pilates” or “Mind- Body” may still serve as buzzwords in your fitness dictionary. In this blog we hope to better define what this practice consists of, as well as it’s amazing benefits. 

What is Pilates? 

Pilates is a safe and innovative system of mind-body exercise that can be practiced on a floor mat, reformer, or by using other various types of equipment. “It evolved from the principles of Joseph Pilates and can dramatically transform the way your body looks, feels and performs.” This practice teaches simple, graceful movements to improve your mind-body awareness, posture, and overall flexibility/range of motion. It’s also not limited to any age or condition as anyone can benefit from it’s practice.

Benefits of Pilates

Mind-body Awareness

In Pilates, quality is valued over quantity. By this we mean that the quality of your movements is more important than the quantity of repetitions. By putting emphasis on proper breathing, correct spinal/pelvic alignment, and concentration of movements, you become increasingly more aware and in tune with your body - creating more control over its movements. In addition to this, learning how to breathe properly during the exercises can help decrease stress. 

Core Strength & Stability

Your core consists of your deep abdominal muscles, as well as the muscles closest to your spine. By integrating the trunk, pelvis and shoulder girdle, the movements in pilates help strengthen the center and core of your body.

Lean Muscle & Flexibility

Traditional workouts that focus more on weight training build short, bulky muscles, which are most prone to injury. In contrast, Pilates focuses on elongating and strengthening muscle elasticity and joint mobility. 

Improved Sports Performance & Prevent Injuries

As mentioned above, a lot of traditional workouts tend to focus on the same muscles, which ultimately leads to strong muscles becoming stronger, and weak muscles becoming weaker. This results in muscular imbalance which can be a primary cause of injury or chronic back pain. In contrast, Pilates conditions the whole body, which helps a muscle group to not be over/under trained. This allows your body to practice sports or activities with better muscular foundation - leading to high performance and lower chances for injury. Many professional sports teams are now implementing Pilates into their training for this very reason. 

Gentle & Efficient Movement

Most of the Pilates exercises are low impact and performed in a reclined or sitting position. Pilates exercises are so gentle and safe, that they are used in many physical therapy facilities to help rehabilitate injuries. Although the movements are gentle and low impact, they also train several muscle groups at once. “By developing proper technique, you can actually re-train your body to move in safer, more efficient patterns of motion – invaluable for injury recovery, sports performance, good posture and optimal health.” 

Challenging

Although Pilates is gentle and mostly low impact movements, it’s not to say that the workout itself is not challenging. Pilates is an extremely flexible exercise system, and can be modified by range of difficulty -  from beginner to very advanced. 

Resources 

https://www.pilates.com/pilates