An Introduction to Pilates

“Not only is health a normal condition, but it is our duty not only to attain it but to maintain it.”

~Joseph H. Pilates

What Is It?

Pilates is a method of exercise and physical movement designed to stretch, strengthen and balance the body. With systematic practice of specific exercises coupled with focused breathing patterns, Pilates has proven itself invaluable not only as a fitness endeavor itself, but also as an important adjunct to professional sports training and physical rehabilitation of all kinds.

Joes Place True PilatesThe Pilates Method is not just exercise. It is a series of controlled movements engaging your body and mind, performed on a mat or specifically designed exercise apparatus, and supervised by an extensively trained teacher.

This innovative system of mind-body exercise, developed by Joseph Pilates, dramatically transforms the way your body looks, feels and performs. It builds strength without excess bulk, creating a sleek, toned body with firm, slender thighs and a flat abdomen. It teaches body awareness, good posture and easy, graceful movement. Pilates improves flexibility, agility and economy of motion, and can help alleviate back pain, as well as other ailments.

Instead of performing many repetitions of each exercise, Joseph H. Pilates preferred fewer, more precise movements, requiring proper control and form, and focusing on engaging the “Powerhouse” – the abdomen, lower back, buttocks and upper thighs – to support and strengthen the movements, enabling the rest of the body to move freely. And because your mind is required to engage with your body to perform the movements correctly, you experience a new awareness of muscle function and control.

Professional dancers have known the benefits of Pilates for decades. Top athletes use it for strength, flexibility, and injury prevention. Hollywood celebrities and supermodels use it to maintain beautiful physiques.

Like many other kinds of exercise, Pilates increases metabolism, promotes respiratory and circulatory function, and improves bone density and muscle tone. And like Yoga and martial arts, it can help you to "get centered" and calm your nerves.

Unlike many other forms of exercise, however, Pilates balances out muscular asymmetries, streamlines your silhouette, and improves your balance, coordination, and breath control. Pilates does all this because the exercises work to simultaneously develop your muscular flexibility and your strength. The exercises also help to awaken a new body awareness.

Back To Top

What Can It Do for You?

Practiced faithfully, Pilates yields numerous benefits. Many students of Pilates report that by attending regular classes, their bodies have become more toned, well-balanced and stronger. Pilates is both gentle, and extremely effective. It teaches balance and control of the body, and that capacity spills over into other areas of your life.

Pilates is an ideal workout for everyone from athletes to older people who may not have the capacity for strenuous exercise. Pilates can be a wonderful supplement to anyone’s current exercise program. No matter what your age or condition, Pilates will bring you many positive results, which can help you:

Joes Place True PilatesA Timeless Movement System

Now more than ever, Pilates is pertinent to the way you live your life. Think about your work and recreation habits. They both probably involve sitting still for extended periods of time. The result is a constant state of oxygen deprivation and disproportionate muscle development. Getting up for a short stretch or a drink of water feels great, doesn't it? That's because you're satisfying your body's natural instinct to move — and moving around works the muscles and pumps more oxygen into your brain and body. Your body craves motion.

Pilates is all about breathing and moving more fully — both of which we need to do more often. Over the past half-century, our "civilized" Western lifestyle has become increasingly sedentary; while our bodies, which evolved in nature and were built for action, have not changed in design. The Pilates Method puts action back into your life — natural, controlled, healthful, fluid, and graceful action.

Back To Top

A Balanced Approach

As often happens with true genius, Pilates' body/mind approach to working out was about 50 years ahead of its time, and it has only begun to achieve widespread popularity in the past decade. Contemporary fitness has become a search for the more balanced approach which is what Joseph Pilates originally taught back in the 1940s.

Today, people everywhere are discovering the benefits of the exercises and innovative apparatus designed by Joseph Pilates. Professional athletes and dancers, pre- and post-natal women, senior citizens, weekend warriors, and new exercisers of all ages, sizes, and fitness levels are enjoying his unique method of attaining physical fitness. And with its emphasis on mental focus and concentration, Pilates refreshes the mind as well as the body.

More good news: With the Pilates approach to a balanced body, it isn't necessary to do scores of mindless, repetitive, and exhausting exercises to achieve great results. With Pilates, you're not likely to suffer undue muscle strain, so there's little risk of injury. And the Pilates apparatus presents another big difference from the conventional gym workout. Most gym equipment uses some combination of pulleys, cables, and weights as resistance, with the primary goal of all this pushing and pulling of weights being strength training. However, the Pilates apparatus uses variable-length and gauge springs to simultaneously lengthen and strengthen the muscles, as well as to improve joint flexibility and range of motion.

What To Expect

What you can expect from Pilates is a longer, leaner line to the musculature — picture a strong, lithe ballet dancer or finely sculpted racehorse. Other improvements include better posture, higher energy levels, and increased coordination, balance, flexibility and strength. Regular practitioners also boast better body awareness, which carries through into improved practical function in all daily activities, including playing sports. One precisely executed Pilates session is worth more than several hours at the gym — and afterward you'll feel invigorated, not exhausted.

Back To Top

The Benefits of Pilates

Pilates gets your mind in tune with your body. By emphasizing proper breathing, correct spinal and pelvic alignment, and complete concentration on smooth, flowing movement, you become acutely aware of how your body feels, where it is in space, and how to control its movement. The quality of movement is valued over quantity of repetitions. Proper breathing is essential, and helps you execute movements with maximum power and efficiency. Last but not least, learning to breathe properly can reduce stress.

Conventional workouts tend to build short, bulky muscles - the type most prone to injury. Pilates elongates and strengthens, improving muscle elasticity and joint mobility. A body with balanced strength and flexibility is less likely to be injured.

Building on the principles of Joseph Pilates, Pilates exercises develop a strong "Powerhouse," or center of the body. The Powerhouse consists of the deep abdominal muscles along with the muscles closest to the spine, the muscles in the back, the gluteal muscles, and the upper thigh muscles. Control of the Powerhouse is achieved by integrating the trunk, pelvis and shoulder girdle.

In conventional workouts, weak muscles tend to get weaker and strong muscles tend to get stronger. The result is muscular imbalance - a primary cause of injury and chronic back pain. Pilates conditions the whole body, even the ankles and feet. No muscle group is over trained or under trained. Your entire musculature is evenly balanced and conditioned, helping you enjoy daily activities and sports with greater ease and less chance of injury.

Pilates exercises train several muscle groups at once in smooth, continuous movements. 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.

No other exercise system is so gentle to your body while giving it a challenging workout. Many of the exercises are performed in reclining or sitting positions, and most are no impact or low impact and partially weight bearing. Pilates is so safe, it is used in physical therapy facilities to rehabilitate injuries.

Pilates is also an extremely flexible exercise system. Modifications to the exercises allow for a range of difficulty ranging from beginning to advanced. Get the workout that best suits you now, and increase the intensity as your body conditioning improves.

Pilates is a great way to increase flexibility and strength, and maintain a balanced and healthy lifestyle. We hope you take the next step and begin incorporating Pilates into your regular fitness regime. It may very well change your life.

Back To Top