The exercises originally developed by Joseph Pilates in the 1920s focus on improving your body’s flexibility and core strength. Pilates is effective for a wide range of people and has become one of the most popular exercise programs in the United States in recent years. This article explains more …
Athletes and dancers love it, as do seniors, women rebounding from pregnancy, and people who at various stages of physical rehabilitation.
The top benefits doing of Pilates exercise that people report are that they become stronger, longer, leaner, and more able to do anything with grace and ease.
More: Get in Shape with Pilates
What is a Pilates Body?Pilates is an Adaptable Method
Modification is the key to Pilates exercise success with a variety of populations. All exercises are developed with modifications that can make a workout safe and challenging for a person at any level.
Core Strength
Core strength is the foundation of Pilates exercise. The core muscles are the deep, internal muscles of the abdomen and back. When the core muscles are strong and doing their job, as they are trained to do in Pilates, they work in tandem with the more superficial muscles of the trunk to support the spine and movement.
As you develop your core strength you develop stability throughout your entire torso. This is one of the ways Pilates helps people overcome back pain. As the trunk is properly stabilized, pressure on the back is relieved and the body is able to move freely and efficiently.
The Six Pilates Principles:
Centering, Control, Flow, Breath, Precision, and Concentration:
These six Pilates principles are essential ingredients in a high quality Pilates workout. The Pilates method has always emphasized quality over quantity, and you will find that, unlike many systems of exercise, Pilates exercises do not include a lot of repetitions for each move. Instead, doing each exercise fully, with precision, yields significant results in a shorter time than one would ever imagine.
In most communities it is easy to find local classes to learn and practice Pilates with a group. Nevertheless you can always do Pilates workouts at home and get started right away:
Source: Marguerite Ogle