06 Jan What is Pilates?

Pilates is a series of exercises designed to improve flexibility, strength, core stability, posture and balance.  It is a “mind/body” technique which was discovered by Joseph Pilates in the early 1900’s and which was originally called “contrology”.  As a young man, Pilates took inspiration from yoga, Zen Buddhism and physical exercises of the Greek and Roman empires.  He devised exercises to help him gain strength.  Joseph was born in 1880 near Dusseldorf and was working in England when World War 1 broke out.  As a German national, he was interned on the Isle of Man.  Pilates was originally developed as a system of exercises to rehabilitate the injured and keep internees fit using springs and pulleys attached to prison hospital beds.  All pilates exercises incorporate nine fundamental principles:  Awareness, Alignment, Balance, Breathing, Concentration, Control, Centreing, Efficiency and Flow.

Most gym programmes focus on making us look good on the outside whereas pilates works from the inside out.  It focuses on improving posture (alignment) and strengthening your core (centering) and ensures that you use the right muscles at the right time (efficiency).  Imagine what would happen if you tried to add another floor to a building that had crooked or unstable foundations or if your body looked like the leaning tower of Pisa and you tried to go for a run!  Unfortunately, this is what happens to many people when they begin a gym programme if they have underlying imbalances.

Joseph Pilates didn’t believe in forcing the body into strained postures.  His goal was mental and physical harmony and the correction of imbalances and weaknesses.  The emphasis of pilates is on restoring the body to true balance, ease and economy of movement, and on a channelled flow of energy.

Pilates is an exercise which enhances body awareness, where the mind and body work as one to stretch and strengthen and return the body to good balance.  It is a mind/body technique which creates efficient functional movement and enhances body awareness.  In fact, I like to think of it as a form of “moving meditation”.

The aim of Pilates is to create as balanced a body as possible to enable ideal mechanical alignment and to BALANCE AND STRETCH AND STRENGTHEN in muscle groups.  It aims to integrate the nervous system with the structural system.

Pilates exercises incorporate specialised breathing techniques to assist core stabilisation, release tension, enhance the immune system, and improve circulation and to assist correct motor recruitment patterns.  It is important to recruit the correct muscles in the correct order to achieve efficient movement patterns and to correct muscle imbalances.