What is Pilates?

Pilates

For a Powerhouse and Streamlined Body

The Education for Body and Mind

Pilates is a movement system that uses spring-driven machines as well as a series of floor exercises or “mat exercises” to increase the strength, flexibility, stamina and concentration of the body. Pilates is EXERCISE! It is a physical training regimen based on the body in its most natural state – in motion. It is a technique so precise and so concentrated that its results remain with you forever and it must be worked to perfection on a daily basis.

The Pilates method is traditionally performed on one-on-one training sessions. In this way, the instructors are best able to tailor the material and the focus of the session to the individual needs of each student’s body.

A sickly childhood filled with rickets, asthma and rheumatic fever led the German, Joseph Pilates to pioneer his unique training system, with which he hoped to rid his students of all physical limitations. Inspired by both Eastern and Western philosophies, he combined the mental focus and specific breathing of Yoga with the physicality of gymnastics and other sports to create something entirely new.

The Pilates method has finally earned its rightful place among the ranks of established exercise regimens. More than three decades after his passing and nearly a century after his arrival in the United States, Joseph Pilates’ work is more popular and accessible than ever.

The Pilates movements focus on “the powerhouse” – the CORE muscles groups including the abdomen, lower back, hips and buttocks. Together, these muscles form a person’s physical center – their CORE. By initiating each movement from the central core of the torso and flowing outward to the extremities, a powerfully streamlined body is created.

The “Mat Exercise Program” is a series of exercises designed to be done in a specific order. Each exercise is to “flow” one after the other, using the powerhouse muscles and emphasizes total body control. The Pilates Method is Fitness from the inside-out, utilizing internal muscles, breathing techniques and spine positioning to achieve functional movement. It required concentration and “breath-initiated” movement.

The Pilates Program includes and Introduction, an Introduction Program, a Beginner’s Program and Intermediate Program and an Advanced Program. All exercises can be performed on the floor (Mat classes) or on the Pilates apparatus – the Reformer, the Cadillac, the Spine Corrector, The Ladder Barrel and the Wunda Chair.

Pilates, with its combination of mental focus and physical effort, helps to restore the body’s natural balance. Through deep, coordinated breathing and careful attention to each movement as part of the holistic rhythm of the body, the Pilates method creates a streamlined  and power body  that trains the mind and body to work together toward the goal of total fitness.