The Power Of Pilates

"Pilates! I thought you said Pies and Lattes?"

Let's get straight into it, what is Pilates? And how does it benefit me?

Pilates was developed by Joseph Pilates in the early 20th Century... wait what? It was developed by a man? Yip, that's right ! Joseph Pilates believed that ones mental and physical health were interrelated, without all the boring details Joseph Pilates' fitness movement known as "Contrology" back then, is what we commonly know as Pilates today.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF PILATES?

Pilates has many physical and mental health benefits to name a few:

- Improved balance and spinal posture

- Core strength and stability

- An improvement in coordination

- Improved flexibility

- Reduced lower back pain

- A greater over-all body awareness

Okay, but is there an age limit? No! That's the beauty of it, anyone can start Pilates no matter your age. I always like to tell my clients that they're working from the inside out, because a lot of the Pilates movements and exercises are based on strengthening the core and preventing back pain, the movements tend to be more controlled and therefore take a whole lot more concentration than your normal gym workouts. Pilates uses core stabilization, breathing regulation and internal resistance to help sculpt those nice long, lean muscles.

HOW PILATES BENEFITED ME:

I could probably write a book about all the benefits I've personally developed through Pilates. Being a dancer I constantly battled with trying to exercise and gain strength without "bulking." I was constantly scrutinized in my dance class for either being too weak and not having enough muscle, or when I was going to the gym I was being told that I was "bulking." Now I faced the dilemma of trying to strengthen my body as well as, keep that lean ballerina aesthetic. I'd heard about Pilates and how many dancers had used it as a rehabilitation to help strengthen their bodies particularly after injuries. I found this quite intriguing as I was at that time battling with a severe ankle injury and after many physio and chiropractic visits my ankle was still not healing fast enough. I stumbled across a local Pilates studio and couldn't believe how weak my core was, I mean I was a dancer after all, aren't we meant to naturally have strong cores?

After a few private sessions my interest in Pilates started to grow into a full blown love affair! Not only was my ankle on the mend but, my constant back pain (hyper extension in my spine due to a weak pelvic floor) began to improve drastically. After a month of doing Pilates I could feel the inner strength and my dancer teachers had began to see an improvement in my over all body strength and postural improvement. Needless to say by this stage I was hooked! I have seen many different clients ranging from young to old, from knee replacements to spinal surgeries and all those in between and I can only advocate how I've seen each client benefit from Pilates in some way whether it be mental vitality or physical strength, the outcomes are remarkable.

So to end off I challenge you to give Pilates a go because you have nothing to loose and everything to gain!