Pilates is a form of exercise designed to increase muscle strength and flexibility in order to decrease pain, improve posture and overall muscle tone. The exercises focus on the development of deep core muscle strength to give you a strong central base for movement and function - enhancing both day-to-day and sporting activity.
The NHS has a guide to Pilates.
The name “Pilates” comes from Joseph Pilates, the creator of the exercise.
Joe Pilates, suffered a great deal from numerous illnesses in his childhood, including rickets, asthma and rheumatic fever. Although doctors told him he would likely have a short life expectancy, he was determined not to let his apparent frailty get the better of him and began experimenting with a variety of health and fitness approaches to increase his body’s strength. He looked to yoga, martial arts, gymnastics, dance, circus training and weight training to inform his method and developed a method he believed promoted a beautiful balance of strength and flexibility and called this Contrology.
Today, we call this method Pilates.
Pilates works by activating the muscles which lie deep around the spine, pelvis and hips which are often weak. Exercising the deep core muscles allows them to become stronger, resulting in greater trunk and pelvis stability. Pilates aims to develop a strong central core to the body to give greater support to joints, improve posture and increase power production for the whole body, leading to many benefits for all.
Pilates combines 5 key elements in its exercises:
- Core activation
- Head placement
- Ribcage placement
- Shoulder blade placement
- Breathing
At movefit pilates I will teach you how to incorporate these elements into each exercise.
You will become familiar with how Pilates works in just a few sessions. Exercises are progressed the stronger you get. You can expect to see results from 8 sessions of Pilates, or sooner if you practice the Pilates techniques at home between sessions.
In addition to feeling a sense of improved overall well-being, Pilates will leave you with
- Increased core stability
- Better postural alignment
- Reduced pain
- Reduced risk of injury
- Greater power production in sports
- Accelerated speed of recovery post injury
You will get to know your own body better, becoming more aware of how you move through your day-to-day life and being amazed at what it can accomplish.
