03/05/16

What is Pilates?
Pilates is a uniquely precise and intelligent approach to exercise and body-conditioning, which gives you a leaner, suppler, more toned body and a calmer, more relaxed mind.

It takes its name from Joseph Pilates, a German-born emigré to Britain and then America, who devised it in the early part of the last century. Long popular among dancers, gymnasts and others who knew of it, Pilates has now been discovered by a wider public – from those who want a stronger back or flatter stomach to those with specific injuries or medical problems that Pilates can help; or else, simply those who want to get fit or de-stress.

Pilates is a gentle, non-aerobic exercise method, which lengthens and strengthens the muscles, and improves posture, without stressing the joints or the heart. Indeed, physiotherapists, osteopaths, chiropractors and doctors now recommend Pilates as one of the safest forms of exercise available.

Wherever you learn Pilates, you should make sure that your teacher is properly qualified, since Pilates taught by someone without the right training can do you more harm than good. Yet, many exercise teachers in gyms and elsewhere now include Pilates exercises in their classes, despite themselves never having had any training at all.

What does Pilates do that other types of exercise don't?
Pilates is more dynamic than yoga but less aggressive, sweaty and high-impact than aerobics, jogging or gym-work, which, unlike Pilates, can all place damaging strain on the joints and/or heart.

Whereas most forms of exercise build the body’s stronger muscles, Pilates exercises work as much or more to strengthen the weaker ones too. The result is a properly balanced body, with better joint mobility, a firm musculature and good, natural posture.

Pilates helps you achieve such posture by strengthening the centre of the body so that it supports your lower back, helping you to stand straight and hold your upper body correctly.

Whereas many kinds of exercise aim only to raise your general fitness, Modern Pilates Practitioners are able to isolate and strengthen a specific muscle or tackle a particular problem with a rare precision.

Other forms of exercise often cause injuries, but our Pilates exercises not only cure injuries but are themselves so controlled and low-impact that they are extremely safe – if taught, that is, by a properly trained instructor. What’s more, the awareness of your body that they develop enables you to avoid the same injuries or problems recurring in the future.

Some exercise programmes promise ‘no gain without pain’, Pilates is a gentle, non-aerobic exercise method, which produces a healthy, toned, mobile body and calm, relaxed mind – and so proves the existence of gain without pain.



What are the benefits of Pilates?

• A stronger, healthier back
• A more toned, mobile and flexible body
• A leaner, longer look
• A flatter stomach
• A better body shape
• A better balance between strength and suppleness
• Better posture
• A straighter spine
• A taller gait
• Easier, fuller movement
• Better coordination
• Greater body awareness
• Injury prevention and rehabilitation
• Gain without pain
• Relief from stress
• General fitness
• A sense of calm and well-being

Who can benefit from Pilates?
Pilates is still popular with dancers, gymnasts and athletes but it is equally suitable for most men and women, from nine to 90, and beyond.

Pilates is particularly suitable for…

• The middle-aged and elderly
• The desk-bound and inactive
• The pregnant and post-natal
• Those needing pre- and post-operation strengthening
• Those referred by their doctor, physio, osteopath, chiropractor or other practitioner
• And for those who suffer…
• Back pain, back-ache and other back problems
• Scoliosis/curvature of the spine
• Poor posture and rounded shoulders
• Neck and shoulder pains or problems
• Stiffness, joint pains and muscle pains, whether caused by arthritis/ osteoarthritis, Fibromyalgia or other things
• Injuries: sports injuries and others
• RSI
• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
• Whiplash
• Stress

How often should I come?

People do Pilates anywhere from once a week to once a day.

Even if you just take just one session a week, you should try to do at least a few minutes of Pilates – whether at home or work – on a daily basis.

When can I expect to see results?

‘In ten sessions’, suggested Joseph Pilates himself, ‘you will feel the difference; in 20 you will see the difference; and in 30 you will have a whole new body’.

Most people do start to feel a difference after 10 sessions, getting the sense, for example, that they are walking taller and moving in a looser, suppler way.
The longer they persist, the more they will tend to see and feel the shape of their body slowly change.

Am I the right age to do Pilates?
One of the beauties of Pilates is that it can be tailored it to suit each person, whatever their age or physical condition.
Many participants are middle-aged or elderly. Indeed, more than a few start doing Pilates specifically because they have reached ‘a certain age’, realised that they no longer take any exercise and suddenly thought, ‘My goodness, I have to start to do something, or else I’ll fall apart’.
Older clients still might have to ask medical advice before taking up Pilates and to start more slowly. Many people, however, do Pilates into their eighties and nineties. A properly tailored Pilates programme is one of the best-known ways to ward off the infirmities of old age. Joan Bakewell, the writer and broadcaster, swears by Pilates for this reason, among others.
Your true age, in the end, of course, is as much a function of how feel as of the date on your birth certificate. As Joseph Pilates himself put it: ‘If, at the age of 30, you are stiff and out of shape, you are old. If, at 60, you are supple and strong, then you are young.’

Is Pilates mainly for women?
Far from it! Pilates, after all, was invented by a man, Joseph Pilates, originally for his own benefit – and was only later adapted for women. Men, what’s more, tend to be less flexible than women, and so to need Pilates even more.



Is Pilates the only form of exercise I need to take?
No, you should also take some form of aerobic exercise, such as walking, running, cycling, tennis or swimming – but preferably done in a way that does not place damaging strain on your body.

How do I know whether my Pilates teacher really knows what he/she is doing?
One way to get some idea is to observe whether your teacher places emphasis on such crucial factors as positioning, concentration and breathing.

An even better way is to ask what training they have done. Wherever you learn Pilates, you should make sure that your teacher is properly qualified, since Pilates taught by someone without the right training can do you more harm than good. Yet, many exercise teachers in gyms and elsewhere now include Pilates exercises in their classes, despite themselves never having had any training at all.

Is Pilates like yoga?
The difference between Pilates and Yoga, reckons one Californian fitness instructor, is as follows: ‘One is eyes closed and think of God; and one is eyes open, think of your butt’.

Yes, there are similarities between Pilates and Yoga, partly because Joseph Pilates consciously drew on both Eastern and Western traditions when first developing his method.
However, there are also key differences. Pilates, for example, is more dynamic than Yoga, which places more emphasis on the static holding of certain poses.
Pilates also focuses more on strengthening the deepest layers of abdominal muscles, which form a corset around your torso.
If you have the time, there is no reason why you should not do both and get different benefits from each.

Is Pilates just another exercise fad?
This may seem a strange question to ask about an exercise method that was invented almost a century ago and has had a devoted following for many long decades.

But the answer is simple: no. And so is the reason: Because it works.
Joseph Pilates always said that his method was 50 years ahead of his time. The current growth in popularity of Pilates is simply the fulfilment of his longstanding prediction.

Can I do Pilates when I am pregnant?

You should check with your doctor before doing any kind of exercise during pregnancy. However, Pilates tends to be particularly suitable for pregnant women, since it is a low-impact form of exercise that strengthens the back, stomach and pelvic floor muscles.

Exercises in Pilates classes at Blizard Physiotherapy & Sports Performance Clinic can be modified to suit pregnant ladies up to around 20 weeks.

What are the history and origins of Pilates?
Pilates takes its name from Joseph Pilates, the German-born emigré to Britain and then America, who devised it as a new approach to exercise and body-conditioning in the early decades of the last century.

Joseph Pilates was born near Dusseldorf in 1880. He was a sickly child who determined to make himself strong and healthy. He took up body-building, to the point where by his teens he was getting work as a model for anatomical drawings - he was perhaps the first influential figure to combine Western and Eastern ideas about health and physical fitness.

He researched and practised every kind of exercise he could, ranging from classical Roman and Greek exercise regimes to body-building and gymnastics, alongside the Eastern disciplines of yoga, tai chi, martial arts and Zen meditation.
He studied anatomy and animal movements. He sampled every kind of exercise that he could and carefully recorded the results.

In 1912, aged 32, he left Germany for this country, where he became a professional boxer, an expert skier and diver, taught self-defence to Scotland Yard detectives and found work as a circus acrobat.

On the outbreak of World War I, the British interned him as a German enemy alien. He used his time as an internee to start developing a new approach to exercise and body-conditioning – the start of what is known today as Pilates.

During his internment, he also got the chance to work as a nurse. This, in turn, gave him the chance to experiment by attaching springs to hospital beds, so that patients could start toning their muscles even while they were still bed-bound. Such were the origins of the first Pilates machines, which were shaped like a sliding bed and used springs as resistance.

Returning to Germany after World War I, Pilates worked with pioneers of movement technique such as Rudolph Laban, who created the basic system of dance notation still used today.

In 1923, Pilates moved to America, where he opened his first studio in New York, along with Clara, his wife and assistant, whom he had met on the Atlantic crossing.

His new method was an instant hit, particularly among dancers such as Martha Graham and George Balanchine. Other dancers, who found the Pilates method the best way both to recover from injuries and to prevent their recurrence, also became devotees. Gradually, a wider audience got to hear of it.

Pilates called his technique ‘Controlology’ – only later did it become known by his own surname. He conceived it as a mental as well as a physical conditioning in which individuals could work their bodies to their full potential.
In explaining Controlology’s guiding principle, he liked to quote Schiller: ‘lt is the mind itself which builds the body’.

The Pilates method did not return to Britain until 1970, when it was brought back to this country by Alan Herdman, after the latter had been asked by the London School of Contemporary Dance to visit New York and investigate the methods of Joseph Pilates. Herdman established Britain’s first Pilates studio at The Place in London that year.