Pilates: Small Exercises Enhance Your Control…here’s How

Intended to test your strength, flexibility and coordination, Pilates strives to get your body in perfect balance. In WWI, Joseph Pilates functioned as an orderly in a military camp, working with patients who were bed-ridden. Experimenting with his patients, and independently, he developed a sequence of controlled exercises which utilized both mind and body. Carefully observing his patients, he noticed them getting more lively and responsive. The men who were partaking in his exercise regimen recuperated better than those who were not.

This is made up of more than 500 controlled exercises which are a balanced combination of strength and flexibility training, to improve posture, develop long lean muscles, and lessen stress. It has progressed over the last 75 years. By fluid, uninterrupted movement it works numerous muscle groups at the same time. It spotlights mainly strengthening and stabilizing the abdominal area and provides you with aerobic fitness. Since it focuses on quality of movement, the feeling is that of rejuvenation after a workout, rather than a feeling of fatigue.

Your first Pilates session should be a private lesson in which the instructor will introduce you to the equipment, give you an idea of where your body’s strengths and weaknesses lie, and enable you to make informed decisions. These exercises can be performed either on machines or on a mat. A variety of equipment is used to perform some of the over 500 exercises. On the mat you perform with a group, performing the same exercises, at the same pace.

Several props have been developed by many equipment manufacturers,training institutions and instructions

Read more on how pilates can help you regain your fitness and health

- Karl Stadler