The Pilates (pu-LAH-teez) Method is a kind of exercise system that focuses on improving the flexibility and strength for the total body without building weight.
The Pilates method is not just exercise, but a series of controlled movements that engages in your body and mind, and performed on specifically designed exercise apparatus and presided over by trained teachers. Pilates was developed in the 1920’s by the legendary physical trainer and founder of The New York Pilates Studio, Joseph H. Pilates.
Joseph Pilates was a performer and a boxer who lives in England in 1914. During the outbreak of the WW1, he was placed under the forced internment along with the other German nationals in Lancaster, England, and there he taught his fellow camp members about his concepts and exercises that are developed through self-study and apprenticeship in yoga, Zen, and ancient Greek and Roman physical regimens.
Just then, Joseph Pilates began devising the system of original exercises that is known as “mat work”, or an exercise that is done on the floor. Joseph Pilates also became a nurse/caretaker to the internees that were struck with wartime disease and physical injury. He then began to devise some equipment to rehabilitate his “patients”.
The Pilates method provides a refreshing and energizing workout. It gives a physical harmony and balance for people of different ages and with all types of physical conditions.
The sessions of the Pilates are done one-on-one with a certified teacher or in close and well-supervised small groups. Each session is fitted perfectly for your specific needs.
The Pilates method can also be the dominant mode of body conditioning and injury prevention, and can be integrated into a rehabilitative exercise and physical therapy programs that are designed to speed recovery of soft tissue injuries.
Pilates can also be used by pregnant women to learn the proper breathing and body alignment during their pregnancy. It improves concentration, and helps to recover the body shape and tone of women after the pregnancy.
The founder of the Pilates designed more than 500 specific exercises using five major pieces of equipment in developing the body uniformly. Instead of performing many repetitions of each exercise, the Pilates method was designed to have more absolute movements that require a proper control and form.
Since the mind is required to engage with your body to perform the movements properly, you are meant to experience a new awareness of muscle function and control.
The instructor of the Pilates methods is the only one who has the right to teach, who has completed a rigorous certification program that includes seminar training and 600 apprenticeship hours. This is because the instructors want to provide safe and effective conditioning for their clients.
Pilates has proven to be helpful, not just as a fitness routine, but also a supplement to professional sports training and to physical rehabilitation of all kinds.
Beneftis of Pilates include stronger body, slimmer body, increased lung capacity and better circulation.
The key components in an effective Pilates program is the strength and the flexibility that is particularly of the abdomen and back muscles, with coordination to both muscular and mental. Your posture, balance, and core strength are improved. Also your bone density and joint health is also improved.
For more information about pilates please go to the pilates resource center.
By Michael Sampson
