Pilates exercises are a low-impact workout effective at strengthening, lengthening, and toning your muscles through controlled, repetitive movements. There are many advantages to incorporating Pilates into your workout routine from increased strength to improved posture. Read on to discover some of the biggest benefits.
Pilates uses six key principles of centering, concentration, control, precision, breath, and flow to integrate the body and mind.
- Trains the whole body
- Improves your fitness and sporting performance
- Core support
- Breathing
- Rehabilitation
Pilates is accessible to everyone, athletes, older adults, young adults. Focusses on alignment and mind body connections.
Pilates Exercise
There are thousands of exercises to choose from basic pilates exercises to standing pilates exercises and pilates exercises focused on the core.
Pilates creates long strong muscles, it increases flexibility, develops core strength and improves posture.
Basic Pilates Exercises are:
- Cat
hip and spinal mobility - Spine Curls / Bridge
great glute strengthener, hip opener and spinal mobility - Cobra
wonderful back strengthener and hip opener - Side Bend
very good lateral side stretch and excellent for opening up your ribcage for breathing efficiency - Hip flexor stretch
excellent to stretch the front of your thighs
Pilates Core Exercises
Your core is made up of the pelvic floor muscles , the deep abdominals called Transverse Abdominis, small muscles in your back called Multifidus and the Diaphragm. These muscles all collaborate in a pressurised system to help give you stability and protection to your trunk – like a corset hugging your body. Weakness in your core can result in back pain, incontinence, injury particularly to the lower back and hip region and cause further imbalances and complications further up and lower down.
You can start to strengthen your core through deliberate engagement of your pelvic floor and deep abdominals and then start adding load and challenge by doing certain Pilates core exercises.
- Shoulder bridge
- Toe taps
- Leg lifts
- Single leg stretch
- One leg circle
- Side Bend
- Side Kick
- Side leg lifts
- Swan Dive
