Monday, June 17, 2013

What Are Pilates?

By Angela Winter


Developed by Joseph Pilates of Germany, Pilates is another type of exercise that is done by many people. It is one of the most commonly practiced type of exercise. Balanced development of the body is the main focus of this kind of exercise and it is attained through body conditioning, core strength, awareness and flexibility. Pilates can provide lots of benefits to the body if done properly and regularly.

Pilates and the effects that it has on one's body:

1. Pilates helps in toning the body and enhance its overall flexibility. But unlike other forms of exercises, Pilates is not focused on using weight lifting exercises to tone the muscles of the body. Instead, it makes use of other different apparatuses to achieve this goal.

2. Pilates also helps in developing agility and muscle strength which is important for a person to perform the activities that are expected for them to do.

3. Another benefit that one can get in doing Pilates is the prevention of injuries and opportunity to properly use correct body mechanics and appropriate posture.

4. Practicing Pilates also helps an individual to develop and improve breathing efficiency, making your heart and lungs healthier.

5. Rehabilitation and recovery from injuries is also one of the benefits an individual can get from doing Pilates.

6. For people that is suffering from chronic pains, practicing may help alleviate their experience of pain in effect they experience improved quality of life.

Same with any other kind of exercise, doing Pilates accurately and appropriately is vital to achieve the benefits that you want from the exercise. Proper body discipline also plays a major role in doing the Pilates exercise. When planning to engage in Pilates exercise, you might want to consult Pilates experts first especially for beginners just to make sure that you will be properly guided in doing the exercise and making use of the different materials used in Pilates. Another good thing about Pilates exercise is that pregnant women can also perform this kind of exercise but before doing the exercise, pregnant women should first inform and ask for their doctor's approval and should do this exercise with the guidance of a trainer.

Now there are 6 important principles of Pilates as outlined by two students, Philip Friedman and Gail Eisen. These principles are as follows:

1. Centering is the first principle of Pilates that is mainly focused to achieve control over the body with the use of a starting point.

2. Control is the second principle of Pilates which is focused on having the person gain control over his own body, most especially muscle control.Doing every aspect of the exercise properly and accurately will help to ensure achieving this goal of this principle.

3. The third principle of Pilates is Flow which is also known as moving with efficiency. This principle of the Pilates exercise is focused on attaining a well-coordinated movement of the body which may be attained if a person has proper flow of exercises. In effect, the body will have increased stamina and become stronger because of the body precision that you have gained by doing the Pilates exercises making the principle of flow as your guideline.

4. Breathing-this is one of the most important principle in Pilates. Once a person is practicing Pilates appropriately, breathing pattern is expected to improve and will improve oxygenation on the body.

5. Precision-doing the Pilates 100% correctly is one of the principles that is emphasized. They want Pilates practitioners to perform the exercises properly for them to maximize the benefits that they can get in doing the exercise.

6.The last principle of Pilates is Concentration. doing Pilates, one should concentrate on his/her own body for them to internalize what area of the body needs more improvement and development.

As with any other kinds of exercises, one must do Pilates properly and accurately to obtain the result that they are looking forward to. Aside from that, an individual must have proper discipline for them to actively participate in doing Pilates exercises. Also, for beginners, they might want to consult or ask help from Pilates experts before performing the different kinds of Pilates exercises and making use of different Pilates exercise tools for safety purposes.




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