Famous for its tall, sculpted and sculpted beauty, Pilates has become a household name.
It’s much more than an overly simplistic marketing touting a “tall and curvaceous” figure, and more than the misconception that it’s primarily for women.
Pilates is for everyone, regardless of gender, age, race, size, ability, or current fitness level.
The Pilates range consists of more than 600 exercises and variations.
There is something for everyone, whether your lifestyle is sedentary, weekend warrior, pregnant, undergoing rehab, have anxiety, or if you are a professional athlete.
Studies have shown that Pilates improves quality of life through its positive effect on depression and pain, most notably by reducing back pain.
It is commonly used as a comprehensive training and is recommended by physicians for general health, injury prevention and rehabilitation purposes.
What is Pilates?
Originally called “control science,” Pilates was a method of whole-body exercise designed to improve daily activities and livelihoods.
Although there is an emphasis on core business, core strength alone is not the end goal. Instead, using this core strength to develop functional and sustainable movement patterns throughout the body is the goal.
Created in the early 1900s by Joseph Pilates, exercises coordinate movement and breathing together to work the smaller, deeper, more stable muscles of the body as the main motors.
Pilates exercises harmonizes the overall structure of your entire body and supports its joints. What seems simple can be a deceptively challenging and incredibly effective when done right and well.
Pilates is a low-impact exercise that creates optimal strength by balancing muscles and adjusting neuromuscular patterns.
The optimum strength gained from a consistent Pilates exercise is non-rigid strength, strength balanced with movement and flexibility. It helps you move and breathe through your daily activities with more freedom, strength and less pain.
summary
Pilates is a challenging low-impact exercise method that balances strength and movement, aligns the body, adjusts movement patterns, and strengthens the muscles deep in the core.
19 Benefits of Pilates
1. Increases core strength
Pilates is known for its focus on the core – the center of the body from which all movement takes place. The core is all the muscles around the trunk that, when strengthened and flexible, support and stabilize the body.
Pilates improves core strength and function. Core strength is a major factor in reducing back and hip pain, and reducing pelvic floor dysfunction, which is the area from which the explosive motion originates, hence the nickname the “force center.”
2. Improves posture
Your parents had the right idea when they told you to stop slouching and sit up straight.
Improved posture is the difference between weak, unbalanced muscles, headache, shoulder or back pain, and sitting or standing upright easily.
Pilates focuses on full-body alignment, the ideal range of motion in the joints, and the balance of all opposing muscles. It improves posture by increasing awareness of the alignment and strengthening of neglected postural muscles.
3. Reduces back pain
Pilates targets the deep abdominal muscles and pelvic floor for contraction and release – a true sign of strength. These muscles act like a support to lift and support the organs and protect and stabilize the back.
4. Prevents injuries
Pilates balances the muscles of the body so that they are not loose and weak, and not tight and rigid. Muscles that are flabby and that are too weak or too tight and stiff can make the body more susceptible to injury.
Pilates focuses on developing dynamic strength, which means you’re better able to support and stabilize your joints during movement. Research has indicated that Pilates is an effective way to reduce the risk of injury in sports.
5. Increases energy
By focusing on breathing, Pilates improves the ability of the heart and respiratory system. This stimulates the feel-good hormones, oxygen flow and blood circulation.
Pilates achieves all of this and, due to its low-impact nature, rarely leaves you feeling fatigued. Instead, it gives you a boost of energy.
6. Strengthens body awareness
Pilates is a mind-body practice that enhances proprioception, or body awareness. Inner attention and the ability to focus on the sensations in your body increases your awareness of comfort or pain, your emotions, and the environment around you.
With improved proprioception, the body is better able to respond to stimuli, which can prevent injuries and falls. Better body awareness may help you prevent overeating, as you’ll be more in tune with your body’s hunger cues.
7. Reduces stress
Continuing the benefit of body awareness, inner focus and use of Pilates breathing can regulate the nervous system. This, in turn, can get you out of a fight-or-flight mode, lower cortisol, and reduce stress over time.
8. Reduces menstrual pain
Dysmenorrhea is a condition of painful menstrual periods, and if you are one of those people who have experienced it, you know how weak it can be. Research has indicated that Pilates can help reduce menstrual pain.
9. Improves flexibility and mobility
First, let’s define the difference between flexibility and mobility.
Flexibility is the amount of passive stretching in a muscle. Mobility is the range of motion at the joint. Good mobility requires flexibility but also strength.
You should strive for mobility, while flexibility in itself does not do its job. You need a balance of strength and flexibility to improve mobility.
The practice of Pilates continues to move with smooth transitions between fine and slow controlled movements. Instead of stretching after a strengthening exercise, most Pilates exercises are a combination of the two, which improves strength, flexibility, and mobility.
10. Improves balance
Balance is important at any age and necessary for daily activities that involve coordination, such as walking, or any of life’s non-linear movements, such as reaching up and twisting.
Pilates improves balance and gait not only by strengthening the core but also because of its focus on alignment and full-body exercises.
11. Strengthens your immunity
Research shows that Pilates exercises help boost the functioning of the immune system, especially in older adults.
But while a lot of research has been done on older adults, these findings suggest that all ages can experience a boost in immunity through Pilates, mainly due to improved circulation.
Along with improved circulation comes improved immune system function. A good immune system is the function of proper blood and lymph flow – both of which are enhanced by Pilates.
12. Improves cognitive performance
Studies have shown an improvement in cognitive performance after Pilates training.
Several markers were evaluated, such as the development of new neurons, blood flow to the brain, increased neurotransmitters, and longevity of neurons responsible for learning, memory and executive thinking.
13. It can improve motivation
Besides improving cognition, one study found that Pilates exercises were effective at improving motivation in students.
Another study explored the type of motivation that drives those who do Pilates exercises, and found that Pilates practitioners are motivated more by internal motivation than by external validation.
14. Improves your sex life
Pilates can make sack fun for more than one reason. First, it builds stamina, strength, mobility and flexibility that can enhance your bedroom adventures by allowing you to sit and stay in positions for longer.
But also, Pilates is an effective tool for improving pelvic floor strength and function, and a strong pelvic floor is associated with increased sexual pleasure.
15. Enhances athletic performance
Whether you’re a professional athlete or a weekend warrior, Pilates can raise the bar for your sport or activity.
Pilates balances the body by strengthening muscles, drumming up hard, and lengthening tight areas. This, in turn, allows you to respond faster and prevent injury.
Research in multi-sport athletes shows improved speed, gains in muscle mass and trunk strength, a firmer core, improved vertical jump, and better flexibility when kicking. strengthens your bones
The current sedentary and less mobile lifestyle is detrimental to our health and bone density. Strong bone density prevents osteoporosis and arthritis and can affect people of any age.
Studies have shown that Pilates is effective in increasing quality of life, relieving pain, and increasing bone density.
17. Boosts your mood
Exercise of any kind delivers the magical elixir of endorphins.
But studies that have specifically explored the mood-enhancing benefits of Pilates have found that people who undergo it have experienced reductions in anxiety, fatigue, depressive symptoms, and the resurgence of negative thinking patterns.
18. Improves sleep
Studies show that Pilates can lead to better sleep, especially in people under the age of 40. One study found that postpartum women benefit from better sleep when adding Pilates to their weekly routine.
19. Encourages fun
Last but not least, many people think of Pilates as a fun change of pace from other exercises.
Where else can you ‘roll like a ball’, ‘seal’, hang like ‘monkey’, or just play by trying out new poses? Finding a sense of play can improve your physical health in many ways.
Not to mention, the most beneficial workout regimens are the ones you enjoy doing – because you’ll keep exercising afterwards.
summary
Pilates is a whole-body exercise that has many benefits, from injury prevention to improved flexibility to a better sex life.
The benefits overlap and are the result of the effect and connection of the whole body.