A brief history of Pilates

Pilates invented by Joseph Pilates in the early 20th century. Joseph Pilates was sickly as a child, and started exercising to improve his own health. It was during WW1, when he worked as an orderly in a hospital, that he used springs from hospital beds for the resistance exercises that he had developed. It was this experience that inspired him to make the exercise machine that is now called the Pilates Reformer.

Joseph Pilates invented the Pilates technique as a form of low intensity exercise that is suitable for anyone in almost any condition. Pilates has been successfully employed by people of limited mobility and health as this in good health because of its low energy/ low impact methods.  Pilates is designed to create balance within your body. This will help you to realign your bones and can also help to improve your posture.

Benefits of Pilates

Pilates helps improve strength, tone, flexibility and balance, and makes the body less prone to injury. It reduces stress, relieves tension, and boosts energy through deep stretching.

It creates a stronger, more flexible spine, promotes recovery from injury, increases joint motion, improves circulation, heightens neuromuscular coordination, corrects muscle groups, enhances mobility, agility and stamina, and improves the look and feel of your body.

Starting Pilates

There are many Pilates classes available these days, and it’s a good idea to join a class with a qualified instructor when you first start. This will ensure you are doing the movements correctly and will help to avoid injury. As you progress you may use some of the more advanced pilates machines, in which case it is more important to seek an instructor.

The Pilates Reformer is useful for more advanced enthusiasts

There are many Pilates DVDs and videos available. If you don’t have a Pilates class near you or you are unable to attend a class due to time contraints, these are usually of good quality – make sure you follow any safety advise contained in the video – and remember you should always consult a doctor before emabarking on a new exercise program, especially if you have any medical conditions.

What to wear

If you are serious about Pilates It’s a good idea make sure you have the right type of clothing: ‘Comfort’ the key. You need  clothes that enable you to breathe and move and are lightweight. If you are wearing heavy clothes which restrict your movement you will not be able to perform some of the movements correctly, and this is vital in Pilates.