Pilates - What you Need to Know

Whilst the title is a popular advocate of health and wellbeing exercise, understanding what Pilates exercise actually is and who will benefit from this type of exercise is something that Casia Health strives to provide clarity ensuring that this is the exercise for you.

What is Pilates:

Pilates exercise was first developed by Joseph Pilates pre World War 2. He created a combination of 50 simple repetitive exercises around what he described as being ' the Core'.
The exercises are designed to engage with the abdominal /pelvic or shoulder girdle core area and are designed to increase muscle strength, flexibility, endurance thereby improving posture and balance.
The exercises are gentle and can develop any person with any capability to regain general strength through to an elite athlete developing power and endurance by creating a more vigorous or weighted resistance to the exercises.
All of the exercises flow from the five essentials of shoulder girdle stabilisation, breathing patterns , cervical ( 1st rib) alignment, pelvic mobility and bringing the transversus Abdominis( tummy muscle), Multifidus( back muscle) and pelvic floor into union in a controlled and gentle manner.

How does it work?

Pilates moves away from traditional strength training, resisted voluntary contraction and recruits effective motor control with energy efficiency and quality in the motion through each muscle range.With each exercise being repeated in a rhythmic manner the muscle unit is exposed to a focused muscular and kinesthetic challenge.

Resistance is supplied through body weight and repetition with changes of levers by changing limb length, postures or positions.This allows progression with each client engagement and allows each individual to challenge their own fitness level at a pace which suits them and their need.

The additional benefits for pilates is the strength training of the bladder and the psychological and physiological benefits of the focus on breathing control required whilst completing the exercise.

The exercise is usually performed on a mat which we provide, but it can be adapted to a chair for those who are less ambulant or suffer with balance issues but still wish to participate in a class.

Is there an age limit?

Pilates is effective for any age and most conditions as it can be tailored to suit individual needs.
There is a large body of research evidence supporting the clinical benefits of pilates especially on chronic conditions, those with balance or postural issues, post operative rehabilitation for lower limb and upper limb joint replacements, spinal surgery, cancer and post operative cancer conditioning , bladder control issues( men and women) and obesity.

What do i need?

A pair of Pilates/Yoga socks- and some suitable clothing such as tracksuit bottoms and a tee shirt