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What Pilates exercise can do for youNEW! HEALTH, FITNESS AND PILATES HOLIDAYS IN GREECE
(Photo © Gitte Sofie Hansen) If you do Pilates exercise regularly, 1 to 3 times a week, you will:
When you do Pilates exercise, you’ll work the deepest layer of the abdominal muscle (the transversus abdominus) and the pelvic floor. This will help to give you a flatter stomach, which of course looks good, but more important it’ll help support your back and thereby reduce back pain. Because you use your pelvic floor muscles all the time while you are doing Pilates, you will of course become stronger in that area too. This is a very positive side effect. If you have weak pelvic floor muscles, for instance after being pregnant; if you can’t dance, laugh, run and so on without small amounts of urine dripping, Pilates would be a great way for you to exercise. Quite a few women clients have told me that they no longer suffer from incontinence since doing Pilates exercise regularly. They can dance, run and do whatever they like without being scared they might have an “accident”. Having said that, it is my experience that even though there is no doubt that Pilates exercise can be great for you, how you feel about this sport is also a matter of temper. Some people find the speed in Pilates too slow, and search for other ways to workout. But if you have a bit of patience you will see, that as you get better you will be able to speed up the exercises and thereby feel that you are really working. Pilates holidays in Greece can be a great way to start Pilates. But no matter what, in my opinion exercise has to be fun! It should not only make you feel better about your self after you HAVE done it. How many times haven’t you heard yourself or your friends saying: “Well, I don’t really like it, but afterwards I feel good.” In order to really get the most out of the time you spend on exercise you must have fun while you are doing it, too. And you can have great fun with Pilates especially as the exercises get more challenging and you might be able to use some tools, as an exercise ball, tubes, fitness circles and so on.
Now let me tell you more about Stott Pilates. As you might know it was all started by a man called Joseph Pilates. He was born in Germany in 1880. As a child he was quite weak and often sick. He started to exercise and got rid of his illnesses. Then slowly he started to teach his system to other people, who like himself, responded well to it. In 1923 he immigrated to New York where he opened a fitness studio. His system got very popular among ballet dancers, who for many years were the only ones to do Pilates exercise. Stott Pilates has taken the exercises that Joseph Pilates invented and added the knowledge we have today about how the body works. The result is a system containing hundreds of exercises which can be tailor-made to each single person’s needs. A safe and effective system. While in the beginning mostly dancers did Pilates exercise, it’s something everyone really can do. In my classes there are teachers, dentists, social workers, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and post workers, among other professions. When you do Stott Pilates at first you will have to focus on learning the five basic principles which are: Breathing, pelvic placement, ribcage placement, scapula stability, and the position of the head. Each principle is equally important to really get the stability,power and good alignment of the body. And of course to be able to do a safe workout. Gradually as you get hold of the principles and basic exercises, you will be able to do more challenging exercises. That’s when you start getting the sensation of where Pilates can take you and your body. (Photo © Gitte Sofie Hansen)
In the beginning most people ask questions like: “What is this? Is this what everyone talks about? Am I doing anything at all - I’m not sweating?” I was asking the same questions myself when I first started doing Pilates. It normally takes 3-5 sessions to realize what it can lead to. A few more sessions and you’ll feel taller and slimmer after a class. And so it continues. You’ll start using some of the principles in daily life activities. Thereby creating a better posture, as well as decreasing or preventing pain and strain. And that’s exactly what makes Pilates exercise so effective.
How do you get started? There are lots of very good books, videos and DVD’s teaching you about both classic Pilates and Stott Pilates. But I highly recommend that you take some lessons with a Certified Pilates instructor. Joining my Pilates holidays in Greece is a fantastic way to start. To really learn to get control of the right muscles, especially the deep abdominal muscle (transversus abdominus) and to get the breathing right most people need an instructor. Do some classes first, then you can work with a book or a DVD.
Thank you for letting me share this with you.
My name is Mette Hansen. I was born in Denmark in 1965. I’m a physiotherapist (educated in 1991 in Denmark) and a Certified Stott Pilates instructor since September 2005. All my life I have been doing some kind of exercise. Mostly gymnastics, jazz ballet, aerobic and stuff like that. The recent years I have been interested in Pilates. I was looking for a kind of exercise which was kind of slow, allowing your mind and soul to follow your body. But at the same time it should be a challenge for muscle strength, endurance, coordination, balance and flexibility. Pilates got it all. Here at Your Fabulous Life I’ll write regularly about exercise and I hope to inspire you to get a strong and healthy body! Remember: Life is too short to exercise without having fun doing it! You have to choose something that you are really looking forward to do. Something where you have a really great time while doing it. Don’t choose exercise that you don’t really like, where you have to convince yourself that it is for your own good every time you have to go. It won’t last!
Return from Pilates Exercise to Your Fabulous Life
Pilates holidays in Greece
The benefits of exercise Healthy Living Motivation ARE YOU A FOOD ADDICT?
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In the beginning it is very common to feel more tired in your head than in your body, because you have to focus a lot. Having to focus so hard on what you’re actually doing helps your mind to get rid of everything else there might be in there. You can’t think about what to make for supper, your kids’ school problems or your nagging boss while
doing effective Pilates exercise at the same time. That makes Pilates an excellent exercise for clearing your mind.
