Is Pilates for you?

Find out if Pilates is the 'perfect' fitness workout you've been waiting for...

You've probably heard the hype about Pilates for a while now, but how can you be sure it's the right fitness workout for you? If you want to improve your strength and flexibility in a gentle but energizing workout, then the Pilates method may be a good fit. Pilates develops specific muscle groups, stretching and mobilizing them. These exercises are combined with a philosophy of movement akin to disciplines such as yoga, the Alexander technique and Feldenkrais.

Pilates firms and tones muscles without adding bulk, explains Lisa Bloomquist, a certified Pilates teacher at the Center for Health and Healing at St. Vincent Medical Center in Los Angeles. "It works specifically on the deep abdominal and back muscles that support the spine, resulting in a decrease in lower back pain and an improvement of posture."

The idea is to stabilize the body's center. That's why Pilates focuses on strengthening and lengthening "core muscles" - including pelvic floor and shoulder stabilizer muscles - that support correct postural alignment.

Is Pilates for You?

Pilates is the brainchild (and namesake) of German immigrant Joseph Pilates. While interned in Britain during World War I, he devised a form of rehabilitative therapy that could be practiced lying down, modifying a hospital bed into an exercise machine. This formed the basis of the method, originally called "contrology." Later, together with his wife Clara, Joseph established an exercise studio in New York City, where he developed his ideas further. Initially popular among dancers, Pilates is now practiced by people of all ages and degrees of fitness.

"Pilates is gentle enough for post-rehab clients and challenging enough for professional athletes. And it's easily adaptable for older populations and people with disabilities," says Peggy Wallin, Director of Finetune Pilates Studio in Brooklyn, New York. "Its benefits are many, including improved muscle control and posture, muscular endurance, coordination, balance and tone; it's an important strength and flexibility component to a weight-loss program."

Pilates is particularly beneficial for people over 30, the age at which we start to lose lean body mass. Athletes, too, may find that the method improves performance and stability, helping reduce the risk of injury.

Those who do Pilates feel energized by the deep diaphragmatic breathing and concentrated work involved in this discipline. "Pilates changed my approach to exercise from 'no pain, no gain' to 'less is more,'" explains Jean Diedrich, Group Exercise Coordinator at the Five Seasons Country Club in Burr Ridge, Illinois. "A few exercises done in a concentrated manner yield the same results as (more) done in an unconcentrated manner."

Types of Pilates

Pilates can be undertaken in two ways: as mat work (performed on mats on the floor, using the body's own weight as resistance against gravity) or on machines, based on equipment designed by Joseph Pilates himself. These machines - principally the Universal Reformer and the Cadillac (also called the Trap Table) - use springs to create resistance against the user's movements; they may also assist movements, often in different phases of the same exercise.

Private sessions on the machines tend to be more expensive than mat classes, but you'll benefit from individual attention from an instructor. Also, says Archer, "The machines increase the number of exercises you are able to perform, and assist in targeting certain functional movements."

Mat-based Pilates can be harder to master at first, especially since you, not the machine, are supporting your own body weight. On the plus side, it can be done anywhere - at home, even while on vacation, freeing you of the necessity of finding a studio with Pilates equipment.

Whichever type you embrace, the important thing is to stick with it. "Consistency is the main key to success in Pilates," says Bloomquist. She recommends taking two to three classes per week - mat or machine-based, or in combination - and says that regular practitioners should start seeing results within a month.

Learn more about Pilates exercise and see for yourself just how effective it really is!

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More resources:

Wikipedia - Pilates