Pilates offers a variety of health and fitness benefits. The primary objective of Pilates is to put you in tune with your body by focusing on movements and breathing. Properly executing and controlling Pilates helps develop your core and gently stretches your body, which promotes flexibility. The gentle and low-impact nature of Pilates movements makes the exercise suitable for people of any age, according to PilatesInsight.com.
Core Development
The core, or center of your body, benefits significantly from Pilates. Most Pilates movements engage your core muscles to some degree to help provide stability and balance for maintaining a pose or position. Your trunk, pelvis and shoulder girdle all play an important role in properly executing Pilates movements. Muscles near the spine are also called into action during Pilates and can help develop a strong back, which can help alleviate back problems.
Flexibility
Traditional weight-bearing exercises produce shorter bulky muscles because of their limited range of motion. Pilates movements focus on elongating and strengthening your muscles by stretching them through wide motion ranges. This approach helps tone your body and promotes lean muscles. As your flexibility and range of motion improve, so does your posture. This further helps alleviate any back pain. Consistently engaging in Pilates can also improve joint mobility and reduce the risk for injury.
Full-Body Conditioning
Pilates movements are not isolation exercises, like most weight-bearing exercises. In other words, most Pilates movements engage more than just one muscle group or body part, thereby promoting an evenly conditioned and toned body. All of your muscles are equally trained during a Pilates session. Unlike weight-bearing exercises, Pilates eliminates the potential for muscular imbalance. Muscular imbalance is the disproportionate development of different muscle groups, which can increase the risk for injury. The Pilates approach of equally focusing on all muscles further supports Pilates' mantra of balance and being in tune with your entire body.
Low-Impact
Many sports, such as running, tennis and basketball, can take a toll on your ligaments and joints. Pilates is a low-impact form of exercise that eliminates jarring and instead focuses on developing stronger joints by training the muscles near them. Pilates is ideal if you can't stand for long periods of time or are recovering from certain injuries. Pilates sessions are often recommended as part of a physical therapy treatment program for rehabilitation. Many of the Pilates movements can help you retrain your muscles to move as intended.
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