What is Pilates

Pilates is for anyone with an interest of improving their well-being with clients ranging from professional athletes to senior citizens, those with acute injury or chronic pain through to post natal strengthening and rehabilitation.

It is an exercise method developed by its founder Joseph Pilates dedicated to improving both physical and mental health and its focus is on the whole body through a range of matwork or machine based exercises that rebalance muscle use throughout the whole muscular- skeletal system.

Core strength is the foundation of the Pilates method and when these deep internal muscles are doing their job correctly they are then able to work together with the more superficial muscles of the trunk to support the spine and therefore enable the body to move more freely and efficiently.

Pilates builds this core strength and improves posture through a series of low repetition, low impact stretching and conditioning movements which develop muscle strength without adding bulk.

For me the foundation of the pilates message is primarily to encourage correct movrement patterns which over time can become faulty due to various environmental factors such as poor posture and alignment, illness and injury, muscular tension or general body composition.

These incorrect movement patterns can then become habitual and therefore we are unaware that they even exist. Consequently we can then go on to develop movement impairments thus creating an environment that is now more susceptible to injury.

My personal ethos therefore is to enable my clients to benefit not just from their Pilates session but to be able to transfer those learned skills into their everyday lives.

THE BENEFITS OF PILATES

• Improved posture and alignment
• Strengthened deep abdominal muscles
• Improved flexibility
• Greater joint mobility
• Lowered stress levels
• Less incidence and improved management of back pain
• Increased bone density
• Improved body tone
• Increased lung capacity and circulation
• Improved movement and body awareness
• Increased confidence