The Top 8 Reasons Why You Should Do Pilates and Why You Will Love It!

1. It Is A Huge Stress Reliever!

Pilates, has grown in popularity in the United States for a number of reasons. You will feel – and see – results quickly, which provides great motivation to keep coming. The classes can be intense – but it’s a full body workout. Not only can you feel the exercises working, but you feel great afterwards – an endorphin buzz! Pilates can alleviate stress and tension that builds up in the body. Whether first thing in the morning or after a long day at work, Pilates provides a great escape where the focus is on breathing and movement.  You get to let the stress flow outwards and away from your body. The combination of breathing properly, while carrying out the exercises, along with stretching, helps to relieve stress and tightness in the body.

2. Improved Posture

The Pilates repertoire is praised by everyone from doctors, athletes, busy parents and seniors to office workers because of their ability to develop strength and correct posture in the key areas of the hips/lower back, upper back and neck – basically counteracting the effects of gravity and slouching.  Any given class will also focus on the areas that people need to work on the most to make long term postural changes. We activate these muscles in isolation initially and then progressively work them in a more global and dynamic manner, while coordinating this movement with your breathing.  All of this significantly improves dynamic stability – the ability of the body to hold itself in better alignment for longer, maintaining upright posture, stability and responsiveness throughout the day.  Pilates builds longer, leaner muscles.  It improves core strength, flexibility and balance, and corrects posture - making you stand taller and look slimmer!  We could all use a little more of that everyday!

3. Less Back Pain

Most back pain results from faulty posture and a sedentary lifestyle. Pilates addresses the muscle imbalances that most typically contribute to back pain, namely weak abdominals and buttock muscles. Pilates also stretches out the tight and overworked back muscles. Proper alignment is the main factor that helps to alleviate back pain. Improving strength, coordination and flexibility reduces your risk of injury and decrease your back pain.  If you do Pilates carefully, you’ll understand how to use your body in ways that protect your back from injury.  Pilates was initially developed as a rehabilitative tool by Joseph Pilates.  He was a German gymnast, born in 1883, who dedicated his life to teaching his exercising techniques, believing  that poor posture goes hand-in-hand with poor health.  He believed that by having awareness of breath and of alignment of the spine, one can strengthen the deep torso and abdominal muscles, and recover from injury.

 Why continue living with back pain when Pilates can alleviate it and have fun doing it?

Call to sign up for your first class today 480-361-1127

4. You Will Increase Your Strength

Every Pilates exercise focuses on using your deepest abdominals and spinal muscles to power movement in your limbs, literally moving from the core.  Whatever activity you do, you’ll find that Pilates exercises improve strength in meaningful ways and can help with the overall health of your spine. Doing Pilates can help prevent injuries, too! 

5. Improved Flexibility

Any exercise regimen should increase your body’s overall strength, or else what’s the point? But Pilates strengthens the muscles in your body that you may actually notice on a day-to-day basis. Pilates is meant to improve your daily life: It can help you get up from bed, if that’s hard for you, or it can help you get stronger for playing sports or do your daily activities with ease.  Pilates exercises stretch the muscles and the joints while they strengthen the body. If you have found that your spine has lost some of its range of motion and flexibility, Pilates very quickly addresses this problem. Everyone has physical limitations that depend on age, genetics and lifestyle. Pilates is not a magic pill, but if you do a regular Pilates exercise program, your body can reach its potential in the areas of flexibility and strength.

6. Improved Athletic Performance

See above. Pilates exercises strengthen and lengthen muscles, enabling freer, stronger movement. Pilates exercises move the body in all directions. Pilates can incorporate many exercises that rotate the body, especially the spine. After sitting at a computer all day, the back needs to twist. Golfers, tennis players and other athletes, benefit from having a flexible spine that rotates with ease.  Pilates improve muscle imbalances in strength and flexibility that can develop in those who specialize in one sport.  Learning to breathe properly with your sport and having whole body strength are key components to optimal performance.

 Looking for that extra push to make you the best in your sport and performance?

Pilates is the answer! 

7. Your Body Will Look A Lot Better

By focusing on corrective and oppositional movement patterning, one can expect to see significant changes in their shape within a few months when practiced on a regular basis. Now, different studios use this quote in different ways, but what they say about Pilates is that after 10 classes you will feel a difference. After 20 classes, you will see a difference, and after 30 classes, others will see a difference in you.

8. Live More Consciously

Pilates forces you to pay attention—you've got to focus on your breath while working through each movement and concentrating on proper form. Pilates will help you to tune into your body in order to activate the muscles. You need to listen to the instructions carefully in order to be safe, and you need to pay attention to the feedback you are getting from the equipment and instructor. You cannot think about your grocery list, tomorrow's board meeting or what you are eating for dinner.  After a Pilates session, you'll feel refreshed and relaxed, which can even carry over into the next day.

Still wondering if Pilates is for you?

We would love to answer any questions you may have call us at 480-361-1127

Conclusion

In summary, there you have 8 top reasons that should help you understand how Pilates can help YOU and make a difference in your life. There’s obviously so much more you can do too, and I could go much more in-depth on exercises and our classes.  All I can ask you to do now is take a moment and think about what your next step will be.

So here is my challenge to you…now that you have this information in hand, take the time every day to do Pilates. I think you will be pleasantly surprised by how much better and healthier you will feel in doing so.  The principles I’ve given you here will make a huge difference to the quality of your life as it has made a huge difference in my life. 

Make Today Count

Lois Wolff, PT, PMA-CPT

We make every effort to ensure that the information supplied in this report is researched and accurately represents the injury advice and prognosis displayed throughout this guide.

However, examples of injuries and their prognosis are based on typical representations of those injuries that we commonly see in our physical therapy clinics. The information given is not intended as representations of every individual’s potential injury. As with any injury, each person’s symptoms can vary widely and each person’s recovery from injury can also vary depending upon background, genetics, previous medical history, application of exercises, posture, motivation to follow Physical Therapy advice and various other physical factors. It is impossible to give a 100% complete accurate diagnosis and prognosis without a thorough physical examination and likewise the advice given for management of an injury cannot be deemed fully accurate in the absence of this examination from one of the Physical Therapists at AZ SportsCenter PT & Pilates. We are able to offer you this service at a standard charge. Significant injury risk is possible if you do not follow due diligence and seek suitable professional advice about your injury. No guarantees of specific results are expressly made or implied in this report.