It’s the exercise program with universal appeal. Whether you’re a fitness buff, a couch potato, or anything in between, Pilates can fit easily into your lifestyle. Read all about this popular method of improving your health and reducing stress.
Types of Pilates
There are two kinds of Pilates techniques. The first involves use of specially-designed machines fashioned after Joseph Pilates’ original apparatus. Use of these machines normally involves signing up for classes, which are guided by a qualified instructor.
The second type of Pilates, known as body control Pilates, consists of exercises performed on a floor mat. These exercises are designed to utilize the body's own weight as resistance.
What is Pilates?
Pilates (pronounced puh-LAH-teez), is a means of conditioning the body that helps build flexibility, strength, endurance and coordination without adding muscle bulk. The program also helps to improve circulation and sculpt the body. Since the body’s “core,” or torso, becomes stronger, people who practise Pilates are generally less prone to injury, have better posture and benefit from improved overall health. Followers of Pilates also attest to the feeling of well being and reduced stress they experience.
The Pilates system is named after Joseph H. Pilates, who developed the series of gentle exercises in the 1920s. As a child growing up in Germany, Pilates was rather frail and found participation in sports to be difficult. However, he was determined to overcome this and began an intensive study of health and fitness literature. As a young adult, he moved to England. Here, he was placed in a camp for aliens when World War II broke out. Within the confines of the camp, Pilates taught boxing, wrestling and self-defense to anyone wanting to learn. His interest in the strong, healthy body led him to design exercise apparatus for immobilized internees using bedsprings. Pilates went on to design a machine consisting of cables, pulleys and springs, and a series of exercises designed to strengthen the torso. These he referred to as “contrology.” Following a move to New York, Pilates opened an exercise studio which became popular with dancers, actors and others in the showbusiness spotlight.
Pilates Today
Today’s Pilates participants are just as likely to find themselves performing movements on a mat, as on a Pilates machine. The eight principles of Pilates are: relaxation, coordination, breathing, concentration, flowing movement, alignment, stamina and centering.
Pilates focuses on the breathing and utilizes slow and controlled movements. Unlike most exercise programs, such as running or swimming, you do not have to be “reasonably fit” to start. Your level of fitness will gradually increase as you follow the program.
The Pilates method incorporates Eastern and Western philosophies of physical and mental conditioning. This helps create a blending or fusion of mind, body and spirit allowing a person to function as a coordinated whole.
Types of Pilates
There are two kinds of Pilates techniques. The first involves use of specially-designed machines fashioned after Joseph Pilates’ original apparatus. Use of these machines normally involves signing up for classes, which are guided by a qualified instructor.
The second type of Pilates, known as body control Pilates, consists of exercises performed on a floor mat. These exercises are designed to utilize the body’s own weight as resistance.
Who Can Benefit?
Anyone who wants to improve health and reduce stress may benefit from practising Pilates. When performed correctly, the specific movements are beneficial for athletes, the moderately fit, those who want to start a fitness program and people recovering from injury or managing certain conditions such as arthritis, osteoporosis and fibromyalgia.
Please be sure to check with your doctor before starting any exercise program. This is particularly important if you are over 50, if you have a disease or disability, or if you are taking medication.
Although Pilates helps improve overall fitness, it is not aerobic and therefore does not substantially improve cardiovascular well being. You should therefore include an aerobic activity in your fitness regimen.