Still not tried pilates and wondering what its all about and whether it would benefit you? Hopefully this will help you make a decision.
Joseph Pilates is the founder and creator of Pilates, he worked as a nurse in prisoner of war camps in the first world war where he used his physical activity programme to strengthen and rehabilitate war veterans. His philosophy was on the integration of mind and body and his techniques were a combination of mental and physical conditioning. Pilates focuses on strengthening weak muscles whilst stretching tight muscles through good posture, form and technique. The other benefits of pilates include: reduced back pain, improved core strength, toned and strengthened abdominals, improved joint mobility, help prevent osteoporosis, injury prevention and rehabilitation, pelvic floor repair and stress relief.
Pilates is recommended by medical professionals such as doctors, physiotherapists, chiropractors, osteopaths and midwives, and many professional athletes used pilates as part of their training programme including Andy Murray, Ryan Giggs, New Zealand all blacks and Bradley Wiggins.
A Pilates class will normally involve standing work focusing on functional movements and balance, work on all fours for bone loading and strengthening, matwork with slow controlled movements to strengthen the whole core and use of small equipment to add further resistance for strengthening.
Want to try pilates, check out our timetable. Follow our Facebook page throughout March for March Matness where we will be posting Pilates exercises throughout the month.
The post Why do pilates? appeared first on Variety Fitness .