New Body With Pilates

"In ten sessions you will feel a difference, in twenty sessions you will see a difference and in thirty sessions you will have a whole new body."
-Joseph H. Pilates-

That's how confident Joseph H. Pilates was about his physical fitness system he developed in the early 20th century.Joseph H. Pilates was a German man whose experiences taught him to believe that the modern life-style, bad posture, and inefficient breathing were the roots of poor health. His answer to these problems was to design a unique series of life enhancing physical exercises that help to correct muscular imbalances and improve posture, coordination, balance, strength, and flexibility, as well as to increase breathing capacity and organ function.

I totally believe in the pilates exercises. After I started doing them couple years ago, I have noticed a difference in my body. Just the way I carry myself is different, I feel more supported around my core. My muscles look more lean and longer. If you don't believe me, check out the picture below, Mr. Pilates didn't look bad either at the age of 59 years old. Pretty darn good...



I have been doing pilates on and off for couple of years. I just started pilates classes again this week. My work is actually paying for them. I think it is really great that the employer takes the initiative to help their employees to stay healthy. This time I have an hour long class every Tuesday.
Pilates is a gentle yet effective sport and I really like it a lot! You can do it even if you have a bad back or if you haven't done sports before. After the class you feel like you have grown an inch, you are relaxed and calm. Next day you can feel some sore muscles. Usually it feels like you have completely "new" muscles, meaning that you notice those sore muscles the first time (*oh, I didn't know I have a muscle there*). Of course the muscles have been there always, you just haven't used them before (*wink*).

To tell more about pilates exercises, I borrowed some wise words from www.pilates.about.com because they explain pilates so well:
Pilates is a body conditioning routine of many exercises that helps to not only build flexibility, but also strength, endurance, and coordination in the legs, abdominals, arms and back.
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. In pilates the core muscles are often refered as the Power house.
As you develop your core strength you develop stability throughout your entire torso. This is one of the reason why 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.
Pilates exercises are done on either on a mat on the floor, Pilates mat work, or on exercise equipment developed by Joseph Pilates.

The classes that I attend are usually done just on the floor on a mat. You don't need any special sports gear for pilates. You are fine with just comfortable clothes and you don't need shoes because pilates is done with bare feet (you can have your socks on). Some exercises use a stretchy band that is provided by the gym if you are paying for a professional class but at home you can just use a scarf or a bath robe belt if you don't want to buy the band. Few exercises are done with a soft ball but than can be replaced with a pillow at home.

Here's few of the most common pilates exercises from website called Pilates-back-joint-exercises:

The Hundreds
Lye on a mat with your knees bent, feet on the floor and arms long and just above your abdominal floor. The head and shoulders can be lifted or down.
Pulse your arms up and down at your side energetically keeping time to a 3-count breath, inhale like you are sniffing 3 flowers, and then a 3-count breath, exhale like you are blowing out 3 candles.
Keep your head and torso still and unmoving as you pulse your arms at your sides like pressing a pile of sand on either side of your hips.
Feel your abdominals flattening and widening.


Pilates Cat Stretch
Get on your hands and knees with your hands directly under your shoulders and knees under your hips. Elbows should not be locked.
Exhale as you gently rock your pelvis/hips under as if you were tucking your tail between your legs like a dog. Most of your weight will be shifted back towards your heels with only about 20% of the weight on your hands.
Inhale as you release your tailbone out, lengthening it as you move your pelvis down and forward. Lift your chest and extend your spine long keeping your stomach muscles tight.
Think of lengthening out your spine from the crown of your head to your tailbone as you stick your rear end out.
Notes: Move slowly in and out of flexion and extension, keeping within a comfortable range of motion for 6-8 repetitions.


Leg Circles

This is a well known leg exercise in the Pilates repetoire and to execute it correctly isn't as easy as it looks.
Lie on your back with one leg extended and anchored to the mat. Extend the other leg toward the ceiling just below a 90-degree angle to your trunk.
Keeping your pelvis neutral and abdominal muscles tight, feel your thigh bone slide down into your hip socket.
Circle your leg about 6 times in each direction. First reach your leg across the midline of your body, around and up. Then circle the other way, reaching out to the side, around and up.
Inhale as you circle your leg and exhale as you pull it back to the top.
Notes: Think about keeping your torso and opposite leg anchored to the mat. Also, be sure your pelvis stays still as you circle (no rocking hips).

I recommend that, if you are interested about pilates, you should go sign up for a pilates class in your home town. You can do these exercises at home but at first you might not know how to do them properly. You will either do the exercises with wrong muscles and won't get the desired workout or you will injure yourself. For example, if you don't know how to activate your power house, you will do all the abdominal exercises with your outermost abdominal muscles and not with your deep abdominal muscles like you are supposed to. Once you have taken few classes with a real trainer, you will be able to do the exercises at home safely and properly.

I hope that I was able to inspire you to try pilates. I know that I will continue with my classes and I will want to try hot pilates as well. Hot pilates is like regular pilates but you do it in a room that is heated to be very warm. Once I try the hot version, I will definitely post my opinion about it.

Have a Great Saturday!