Pilates For Dummies
Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.
Pilates is a low impact exercise that anyone can do to create core strength, flexibility and long lean muscles.
Exercise is often thought of as a chore or a burden instead of a necessity to keep your body in top form. Just as you keep the body of your car clean and shiny and fix any ‘dings’ that may occur to keep it looking good so must we maintain our own exteriors to keep them looking good. Pilates is an exercise that is quick and easy to do, can be done any where at any time and instead of creating wear and tear on your muscles and joints like a lot of exercises can do, i.e. running, boxing, tennis, squash, boxing, some martial arts, Pilates builds up your strength and muscle tone slowly and with no impact on your joints or muscles. Watch the introduction below for a more in depth explanation.
Formulated in the early 20th century by Joseph Pilates, this form of exercise has been called ‘controlology’ because it focuses on the ability to enhance your strength and muscle tone through deliberate control of your body rather than repetition. Pilates is a discipline that puts emphasis on the conditioning of muscle groups, flexibility, endurance, breathing and developing balance and co-ordination. Pilates is also a great exercise to start off with if you are unused to exercising or have been unable to exercise for a while. Like with most things, there are different levels to suit a persons ability.
Joseph Pilates believed that mental and physical health were intertwined and it was with this belief in mind that he developed this very popular and easy to incorporate exercise method that millions world wide now use to keep healthy and promote longevity in their every day lives. I started with ‘Pilates For Dummies’ by Michelle Dozios when I first decided to try it and found this DVD to be everything I needed. Michelle explains everything very well and does not go too fast, there are explanations and options to incorporate if you choose as you go along and the best part is you can stop whenever you like and do as much or as little as suits and when you are ready to advance you can.
Committing to doing Pilates three to four times a week for 20-30 minutes each time will give you results within the first week! You will find your breathing improves, your posture improves, your whole body will tone nicely, you will sleep better, have more energy and if you combine this exercise regime with drinking more water, eating 6-8 small meals daily instead of three large ones and replacing high sugar/high fat foods with high protein/high fibre ones then you will also get rid of some of that unwanted ‘extra’ that may be populating your hip/tummy/thigh/back area )
I have found Pilates to be extremely beneficial for my overall well being and it fits in with my lifestyle perfectly. I carry my Pilates with me on my laptop while travelling the world and like my business I am able to do it wherever and whenever I please. Pilates will keep me fit, toned, balanced and well centred and I can continue doing it for the rest of my life.