Pilates is a training system that aims to strengthen and shape the body, improve the precision of movements and improve or correct posture with a workout focused on some body areas. Most training exercises focus on the postural muscles, essential muscles that promote posture control or help keep the body balanced while offering support to the spine. These muscles are divided into:
- Lumbar
- Dorsal
- Abdominal muscles
- Buttocks
However, the position and movement of each part of the body are also crucial, especially during exercises, as the more you use your body correctly during training, the more correctly it will be used in any daily activity. For these reasons, it is increasingly used in wellness and sometimes for the rehabilitation or reconditioning of sedentary subjects.
How Pilates Works
Pilates, or training on a mat, is a global postural gymnastics program that prefers not the number of movements but their quality. The training respects the traditional principles formulated by its founder:
- Breathing
- Concentration
- Control
- Centralization
- Accuracy
- Fluidity
During training, each exercise is repeated a few times compared to other repetitions found in many different types of training. However, slow movements will be performed with great precision, maintaining concentration and following the breathing carefully. These exercises’ regular and systematic practice will thus lead to a greater awareness of one’s body and the movements made. Moreover, thanks to the quantity and diversity of the exercises by which it is characterized, it can be adapted to the abilities of each one. For this reason, our specialized coaches must identify a program based on your needs.
The Benefits Of Pilates
Pilates is undoubtedly beneficial for sedentary people, but it is good training for all people who want to improve the harmony of gestures and posture, tone the muscles, or prevent painful symptoms due to incorrect posture or joint disorders such as back pain and cervical pains. If practiced continuously and systematically, it improves in particular:
- Postures
- The force
- Flexibility
- Accuracy
- Control and balance
We at FIT Palestre have identified numerous benefits of this method, mainly focused on its posture and the muscles. Between these:
- Encourages and develops muscle awareness;
- Strengthens the abdominal muscles;
- Improves the mobility and flexibility of the spine;
- Enhances the stability of the pelvis and shoulders;
- Guarantees a powerful musculature;
- Relieves and prevents lower back pain;
- Improves posture;
- It can be a complementary sport;
- Makes you lose weight;
- Frees you from stress and gives you a sense of well-being.
Also Read: With Training To A Flat Stomach: 5 Exercises For The Abdominal Muscles
Encourages And Develops Muscle Awareness
One of the most important benefits of Pilates is undoubtedly the awareness of the muscles, the main objective of the exercises. Our course allows those who practice it to learn how to move the body in all directions without damaging it.
Strengthens The Abdominal Muscles
All Pilates exercises involve controlling the transverse muscle, one of the large muscles that help form the anterior abdominal wall. Improving the fundamental tone of this muscle means giving better support to the back and toning the abdomen, thus obtaining a flat stomach.
Improves The Mobility And Flexibility Of The Spine
By giving better support to the back, the exercises allow strengthening and improve the mobility and flexibility of the spine. Training the main muscles of the back also means improving the stability and support of the entire spine and increasing its strength.
Improves The Stability Of The Pelvis And Shoulders
The Pilates exercises allow us to correct the relationship between the femur and the pelvis by improving the buttocks’ posture and aesthetic perception. The shoulders also benefit from this training, suitable for preventing and fighting pain: through this activity, all the stiffness that we feel in the shoulders and the cervical tract are dissolved and relaxed.
Guarantees Powerful Musculature
Another characteristic of Pilates is to make people aware of their strengths and limitations to make the most of them. Thanks to its exercises, it is possible to improve different physical qualities, including power.
Relieves And Prevents Lower Back Pain
Since it strengthens the abdominal muscles, the arms, the relationship between the femur and the pelvis and the flexibility of the spine, Pilates, with its exercises, allows to reduce and prevent lower back pain and improve posture. Therefore, one of the benefits of Pilates is the reduction of injuries and pain.
Improve Your Posture
Especially the spine and balance control benefit from targeted exercises. Although Pilates aims to train the whole body, the specific work on the central part of the body (on the abdominal, back and lumbar regions) makes it particularly suitable for those who need to correct posture and rebalance the loads on the spine. This training is also often used in postural re-education and physiotherapy.
It Can Be A Complementary Sport
Pilates is great as a complementary sport to other sports, such as running. It should also be remembered that it prevents pain and therefore it is an additional sport to relax and relax your muscles.
It Makes You Lose Weight
Pilates is increasingly used to lose weight as its exercises involve a waste of calories, which leads to body toning and weight loss thanks to a balanced diet.
Relieves Stress And Gives A Sense Of Well-Being
Pilates is increasingly connected to wellness, a philosophy of life that puts the person’s well-being at the center of attention by proposing some sports activities such as regeneration practices and mental training. When combined with a correct diet, these activities, including Pilates, undoubtedly promote a state of well-being and balance. It also helps decrease tension and fatigue caused by stress, allowing you to feel stronger and control yourself.
Also Read: 9 Best Exercises For Women Over 50