Pilates can help you to get a lean and toned body. However, there is so much more that you can get from regularly going to a Pilates class or having one-on-one sessions. Pilates is an effective as well as efficient way to work your body. The moves may look uncomplicated but these take a lot of precision as well as control. Pilates is not as simple as doing a lot of crunches. This type of exercise emphasises technique strongly.
Ways in which you can do Pilates
You can perform Pilates on an exercise mat in a class at a gym. The class usually takes around 45 minutes. Alternatively, you can practise this at home using a DVD. Another option is going to a gym or studio that has special equipment (such as reformers or cadillacs) as well as a trainer who can oversee you and correct your form if you’re doing something incorrectly.
What type of exercise is Pilates?
As Pilates is not an aerobic exercise, you need to integrate this with your cardiovascular exercise such as spin class or running on the treadmill. Pilates exercises are concerned with functional fitness and developing strength. What this means is that Pilates teaches you to move better in a manner that enhances performance and diminishes the risk of injury in other activities such as exercise as well as other daily activities such as lifting groceries into the car.
A Pilates mat class is a full-body workout. It is powerful for developing core strength. However, if you only do Pilates as your strength training routine add the resistance exercises which are done with large and small Pilates equipment such as the reformer. Doing this will expand your options for:
- Developing strength in your limbs as well as the core, and
- Providing the progressive resistance needed to build strength.
What are the benefits of resistance training?
The physical as well as mental health benefits, which can be achieved through resistance training, are aspects such as:
- Improved muscle strength as well as tone in order to protect your joints from injury
- Preserving flexibility and balance, which can help you continue to be independent as you age
- Weight management and increased muscle-to-fat ratio because as you gain muscle, your body burns more kilojoules when you’re at rest
- May help with the reduction or prevention of cognitive decline in older people
- Greater stamina because as you grow stronger, you won’t get tired as easily
- Prevention or regulation of chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, back pain, depression as well as obesity
- Management of pain
- Improved mobility as well as balance
- Posture which is improved
- Lowered risk of injury
- Better bone density and strength as well as lowered risk of osteoporosis
- Improved sense of well-being – resistance training may boost your self-confidence, improve your body image and your mood
- Enhanced sleep and avoiding of insomnia
- Increased self-esteem
- Enhanced performance of everyday tasks.
With Pilates, you’ll get stronger, more sculpted muscles. Another great benefit is that you’ll gain flexibility, have better posture as well as a better sense of well-being. To get all of the benefits that Pilates has to offer make sure to work with a highly certified instructor – such as one who has passed the Comprehensive Pilates Certification Course at Trifocus Fitness Academy – that can move you strategically and safely between exercises. This is because only a Trifocus-certified instructor is comprehensively qualified in the following:
- Basic matwork,
- Intermediate matwork,
- Small barrel,
- Basic Ball Series,
- Intermediate ball series,
- Theraband series,
- Basic reformer series,
- Intermediate reformer series,
- Basic chair series,
- Intermediate chair series,
- Electric chair series, and
- Basic cadillac series.
Contact Trifocus Fitness Academy
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