Pilates
If you've been thinking about learning Pilates for some time then you may want to understand a little more about this fascinating form of exercise before you get started.
This website serves as a guide for Pilates beginners, helping you to know what to expect from your workout, and to understand the underlying principles behind Pilates as a whole.
What is Pilates?
Pilates has become more and more practiced in recent years, which is perhaps what lead you to this website. However, the truth is that Pilates is a very unique form of exercise that has been around for longer than you might expect.
Pilates is an acronym for Proximal Integrating Latent Agile Toning Exercise. It can mean many things to many people, but above all it's a way of working your body without over-exerting yourself. All Pilates exercises stem from the core of your body, and also make use of concentration, focus, breathing, strengthening and more.
The History of Pilates
Pilates was developed by Joseph H. Pilates. Pilates was born in Germany in 1880, working in an English hospital during the First World War. Joseph wanted to help bedridden patients to exercise, and so devised a machine that would do just that. This method of exercise was known as 'Pilates' and was brought to New York in 1926. Since then it has become more and more popular, especially today as many Hollywood stars have taken up the trend.
How Do Pilates Exercises Work?
Because Pilates exercises all stem from the core, they work to give your body a complete workout. Just about every area of the body is focused on. It is a form of strength training, meaning that it can help to build up muscle, making you more toned and flexible the more you do.
The exercises themselves combine a number of breathing techniques and stretches with the machine. However, Pilates is also popularly performed using just a mat - which many people choose to do at home by following a book or an exercise DVD.
More recently, Pilates has also been combined with other forms of exercise, such as Yoga. Pilates is more dynamic than Yoga due to the fact that it pushes the body in terms of strength, balance and flexibility.
The unique form of workout means that it is not just for the body, but it helps to connect it to the mind and the spirit. This was the unique element to Pilates that Joseph Pilates first developed.
