Why do you think that in the past five years Pilates has become a worldwide phenomenon? Is it because stars such as Jennifer Aniston or the Victoria’s Secret models have been raving about it?
Pilates isn’t just a celebrity fad – it works because pilates is versatile.
What does that mean?
The beauty of Pilates lies in the fact that anyone can do it – people of all ages, women as well as men, athletes and, yes, the elderly too. What sets it apart from other forms of exercise is its holistic approach to fitness and wellness, making it one of the most popular forms of exercise recommended by doctors.
Is it too good to be true?
Pilates will change your mind and body – that is a fact. After the first session with a qualified instructor, you will feel the difference. Mentally, you become more in tune with your body, acquire an awareness of how your body feels in your personal space – your posture, how you sit, stand, move and breathe.
Yes, it is really that impressive. Is it too good to be true?
Roots of pilates
Despite the practice of Pilates recently becoming an exercise craze, forms of Pilates have deep roots. Joseph Pilates, the originator of the Pilates Method, was born in Germany in the late 1800s. He was a frail and sickly child who suffered from rickets, asthma and rheumatic fever. He was determined to overcome his fragility, but instead of following an established fitness regime, he experimented with many different approaches which one can recognise in his teachings.
Elements of yoga, gymnastics, skiing, self-defence, dance, circus training (no, it’s not a typo!) and weight training all influenced him, and he chose aspects of each to develop his own body.
By absorbing these methods and selecting the most effective features, Pilates was able to work out a system which had the perfect balance of strength and flexibility. Later in his life he created Contrology, a series of exercises focusing on the mind and body, targeting strength, flexibility, core balance, muscle balancing and spinal alignment.
Pilates is a mental and physical form of conditioning programme that uses exercise that aims to restore good postural alignment and muscle recruitment patterns
In other words, Pilates is a mental and physical form of conditioning programme that uses exercise that aims to restore good postural alignment and muscle recruitment patterns, thus restoring natural movement, and teaches us to use our bodies the way they should be used in a natural and safe way which is effective, progressive and challenging.
My experience
Let’s face it, the majority of people want to tone up and lose weight because they want to look good. Well, truth be told, we all secretly want to look good in a bikini, be able to wear the latest fashion which recently is all about skinny jeans and leggings.
As much as I too want this, as I grew older and having discovered Pilates, these desires got bumped down to second place. I have realised that being healthy and eating the right foods, improving my stamina and feeling energised has become my priority. I want to look good, but above all else, I want to feel good mentally and physically. I want to better my quality of life.
I think everyone deserves to have that, and one way of achieving it is by being healthy. We all want to be able to walk up a flight of stairs without getting out of breath, walk the dog rather than the dog walking us, be able to run after our children and play with them, grandparents enjoying their grandchildren and being able to keep up with them, not feeling so stiff and tight after a day in front of the computer, being able to carry or lift heavy things without putting our backs out and preventing the development of the ‘Dowager’s Hump’, in other words, hunched backs.
That is what being healthy means: to be able to do and keep up with my daily routine and feel good at the end of the day.
How did I became a Pilates instructor
One of my favourite Pilates quotes is: “In 10 sessions you will feel the difference, in 20 you will see the difference and in 30 you’ll have a whole new body.” I started my career as a personal trainer. I had heard about Pilates and was curious, so I joined a Pilates class. I was so intrigued by Pilates that I decided that I wanted to become a Pilates teacher, and so I set off to London for my first course. I can honestly say that the course blew my mind. I was in love.
I have never looked back since. I felt like Columbus discovering America, as it really is a whole new world. It opened my mind with regard to how to exercise and it changed my life. This fantastic experience is one which I want to share with and teach to others.
Why should you choose Pilates?
Pilates is powerful in its effectiveness at targeting your entire body in a single workout. Chances are that you will feel slightly sore all over your entire body the day after taking a Pilates class, because all muscle groups have been used. That soreness is one of the best feelings, making you aware of valuable muscles that have for too long been entirely neglected and weakened.
Since Pilates is not high-impact, with little jarring and negative stress placed on your body, anyone can do it. Further, it significantly improves dynamic stability, which is the ability of the body to hold itself upright in better alignment for longer periods of time, fighting this affliction that seems to have taken over our lives – a sedentary lifestyle.
The best part of it all? You will end up looking great in the process.
Elka Pace is a Level 4 Pilates instructor and personal trainer.