What is Pilates?

The Pilates method has evolved from its early beginnings in the 1920’s and is now taught with many different goals in mind – rehabilitation, endurance, strength, performance, fitness. You can experience Pilates as a gentle, rehabilitative or vigorous workout and one class may be presented or feel completely different to another.

However, even with these differences, each session should centre on core engagement and help you focus on the most effective recruitment of muscles to perform movements, as well as help you understand and become more aware of your physical body. Using a particular way of breathing and focusing on precise movement, Pilates also promotes a mind body connection. As Joseph Pilates himself said “Pilates is a complete coordination of body, mind and spirit.”

While Pilates has gained in popularity over the last few years and many of us understand or know it as an exercise that helps build core strength, improve flexibility, mobility, posture and balance, this system of movement focuses on building your deep stabilising muscles and developing strength from the ‘inside out’. Therefore, if practised regularly, Pilates should help you to feel stronger, more stable and mobile. It’s a low impact exercise that brings balance across your muscles and therefore stability across the body. Strengthening or focusing on the core aims to provide a foundation for all movement. This is why the method is often used to support recovery from injury and works well for people who have conditions such as chronic back pain.

Pilates will help you improve your muscle tone, flexibility and strength. It can help you move more easily, gain better posture and better functional fitness for everyday tasks. As the method is adaptive and can provide exercise progressions, particularly with the full suite of Pilates equipment, it is a great way to either help reduce or recover from an injury or improve performance.