Pilates

Pilates is a body-conditioning programme designed to teach efficient movement patterns and provide general well-being using controlled exercises and deliberate breathing patterns.

Regular practice will provide you with a strong core, good alignment and functional mobility whilst providing a unique approach to body awareness, posture and stability.

Pilates exercises are generally low impact and non-aerobic so are ideal for all levels of fitness: from the injured and sedentary to fit people wanting further improvements.

Unlike a lot of other types of exercise, Pilates emphasises basic techniques that should be observed with EVERY MOVE, in short:
1. Concentration - use your brain to put bones and muscles in place and isolate moves ... think about what is happening;
2. Breathing - lateral rib breathing takes a bit of getting used to, it's essentially expanding your rib cage out to the sides;
3. Alignment (including Neutral Spine) - Pelvis, ribs, scapulae (shoulder blades), head, neck, feet all have a proper position ... before, during and after each move;
4. Corset Activation - activating specific muscles to support alignment;
5. Precision - it's quality of movement of quantity. In fact, generally you won't do more than 10 reps of any movement.

Around the world there are lots of variations on Pilates. The most popular are -
Winsor or West Coast (CA) - focusing on 'the burn' or cardio component;
East Coast (NY) - comes mainly from the dance world, where people are very flexible;
Stott (Can) - a combination of both of the above it was developed by a professional dancer and a team of sport medicine experts who introduced the neutral spine & imprint techniques;
English - the above but moving more towards the remedial;
Australian - as with lots of things, we've taken the best of the best, modified it and designed a safe, progressive program, which can be tailored to individual needs starting at the most basic and gradually making moves more challenging.

Joseph Pilates also developed a series of machines to help challenge the body. The machine most people use is called the Reformer, which is a sliding carriage with resistance springs. There is also the trap table or "Cadillac". This piece looks like a table with bars above. Personally, I strongly recommend learning fundamental moves on the mat before progressing onto the equipment (however cool it looks!). Working on a stable floor helps with control and you can then also exercise at home.

There are two big precautions in terms of Pilates:

Find a qualified teacher: Pilates is great for preventing injury and rehabilitating people who've had injuries. But if the teacher is not qualified, the opposite can be true. Don't put yourself in unqualified hands.

If you do have a back problem or other medical issue, make sure that your teacher knows about it: what it is, how long it's been going on, any other information etc. Pilates has become known for helping people with back problems. This can be true, but it is not a one-cure-fits-all.

If you bear these two precautions in mind, you should be on track to reap the benefits of Pilates.