What is Pilates?
At the Art of Healing we strongly recommend Pilates for anyone recovering from an injury, who wants to get the most out of their sport and activity, or anyone who uses their body on a daily basis – in short – it’s good for everybody!
What is Pilates? It’s a form of low impact, whole body exercise that has revolutionised in the last twenty years from Joseph Pilates’s 34 key mat exercises into countless exercises performed on specific spring based machines (known as reformers); that either assist flexibility or resist strength which greatly enhances the benefits of Pilates.
Top reasons to take up machine-based Pilates:
- Increase and maintain whole body muscle strength. A good Pilates class won’t just work your ‘core’ for an hour – you should leave feeling like you’ve worked your whole body. Muscle strength is essential at all ages in order to condition our bones, joints and muscles to tolerate the physical demands of daily life. Pilates machines such as the reformer have springs that can apply resistance to key movements, strengthening our weak points and improving our stability.
- Optimise flexibility and mobility. Pilates machines can assist users into greater ranges of motion safely and with control, which in time will increase the flexibility of muscles and joints. Pilates is excellent particularly for sports people, optimising their mobility to allow them to generate more power and reduce their chances of overstraining and causing injury. You should leave a Pilates class feeling more light and limber!
- Injury prevention. Many people come to Pilates for general wellbeing and day to day injury prevention. Many also come to supplement their current exercise regimes and keep themselves fit for their respective sports; we see countless runners, footballers and racket sport players. Whatever your sport, there’s a role for Pilates in your conditioning. Injury prevention is far superior to injury management!
- Improve balance & co-ordination. Controlled exercises with Pilates machines allow for better coordination and neuromuscular control – simply put – they allow us to move better and this translates into improved performance in our sports and daily lives.
- Low impact. Pilates exercises are ideal for those returning to exercise from injury, or during pregnancy – or as a supplemental activity to a higher impact sport.
At the Art of Healing we have a dedicated Pilates and rehab suite with experienced instructors who work closely with our team of physios and osteopaths to ensure your optimal recovery. Give us a call to book a session with one of them now!
