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What is Pilates? - Pulse Physiotherapy and Pilates


Pilates is Complete and systematized exercises that provide health and wellness for your body and mind, developed by Joseph Pilates, which emphasizes the balanced development of the body through strength, flexibility and awareness in order to support graceful and efficient movements.

One of the best things about the Pilates method is that it works great for a wide range of people. Here at Pulse Physio we offer Pilates for Athletes and dancers love, as well as the elderly, pre-natal, post-natal and people who are in different stages of physical rehabilitation.

The main benefit of Pilates exercises that people report is how they become stronger, flexible and better.

Pilates is an Adaptable Method

Modification and variety of exercises is the key to the success of Pilates with a variety of people. All exercises are developed with modifications that can make a safe and stimulating workout for a person at any level. We try to make every session different to challenge you and your body.

Core Strength

Core strength is the foundation of Pilates. The core are the deep muscles, muscles of the abdomen, pelvic floor and back. When the deep muscles are strong and doing their job, they work in tune with those more superficial trunk to support the spine and circulation.

As you develop your core strength, you develop stability throughout your trunk. This is one of the ways that Pilates helps people overcome their back pain and a variety of injuries. As the trunk is properly stabilised, the pressure on the back is relieved and the body is able to move freely and efficiently.

The six principles of Pilates: Core, Fluid Movement, Breathing, Precision, Control and Concentration.

Those six principles are the essential ingredients of Pilates. The Pilates method has always emphasised quality over quantity, and you will find that, unlike many exercise systems, Pilates exercises do not include a large number of repetitions for each series. Instead, doing each full exercise accurately produces significant results in a shorter time than we ever imagined.

Pilates on the mat or Studio (Equipment: Reformer, Cadillac, Chair, etc…)

Pilates exercises are done either on the ground or on the equipment developed by Joseph Pilates. The equipment that is used in the Studio usually uses pulleys, the resistance of the own body of the practitioners in the machine and graduated levels of springs.

History of Pilates

Improving people's lives for over 80 years

Joseph Pilates was born near Düsseldorf, Germany, in 1880. Not much is known about his early age, but he appears to have been a frail child, suffering from asthma, rickets and rheumatic fever. His determination to overcome these problems led him to become a competent gymnast, skier and diver.

Joseph Pilates

on the picture above is Joseph Pilates - one the left he was at the age of 57 and on the right at the age of 82.

In 1912 Pilates lived in England working as a circus performer, boxing and self-defense instructor. During World War I, he was hospitalised with other German citizens. During this time, he developed his fitness technique by teaching his fellow boarders. During the latter part of the war he served as an orderly in a hospital on the Isle of Man, where he worked with patients unable to walk. Where he attached springs to beds in hospital beds to help support patients' limbs, leading to the development of his famous piece of equipment known as "Cadillac." From there he develop the Reformer that was a simple hospital bed. Much of its equipment, although slightly adapted, is still in use today in many Pilates Studios.

Pilates emigrated to the US in the early 1920s and inaugurated a body conditioning studio with his wife Clara, in New York in 1926. The major highlight of the studio was the handset designed to promote his Rehabilitation work. She soon became very popular, especially with the dance community as it offered an opportunity to improve technique or recover from injuries. The news spread quickly and many celebrities of the time visited his studio. They included dance legends such as Ruth St. Denis, Ted Shawn, Jerome Robbins, George Balanchine and Martha Graham, as well as actor Joseph Ferrer and author Christopher Isherwood.

In 1932 Pilates published a brochure called "His Health" and in 1945, published another called "Return to life through the contrology". Through these writings and his students, his method was passed on after his death in 1967 at the age of 87. His method of exercise was called

Contrology. It was only after his death that it became known as Pilates or the Pilates Method.

The Pilates method has progressively evolved and integrated current thoughts of bio-mechanics. However, the roots of the technique are steeped in the philosophy and patterns of movements designed by Joseph Pilates more than 70 years ago. Today their main method is still taught, as well as a way developed by Pilates Foundation teachers.

Pilates Benefits

Practicing Pilates can be considered one of the best exercises for those who want to improve body musculature, avoid cardiovascular diseases, eliminate stress caused by day-to-day running, lose weight, correct posture, increase flexibility, stimulate motor coordination, prevent fractures Osteoporosis, improve concentration and ease pain. In short, a multitude of benefits that will surely help your body and your mind.

The practice of Pilates can be done by anyone from 8 years old, as long as accompanied by responsible professionals.

Pilates influences the improvement of the individual in three segments:

Pilates practitioners often notice the following improvements in the body: Posture, mobility and spine flexibility, better distribution of muscle tone, strengthening of the abdomen, stability to the pelvis and shoulders, health of the joints and complement training for athletes.

Pilates is more than a series of exercises, it is a philosophy of life for those who wish to inhibit the results that time provides to the body.

Muscle growth for Pilates practitioners can occur in two ways: One is when the area is undergoing maximum stretching (muscles get longer/stretched). Another is when occurs muscle hypertrophy, increasing the size of ​​muscle length, when the individual feels the muscle "burn" at the time of contraction.

Pilates is essential for improving health. It is great for disease prevention and physical rehabilitation, aids in the development of balance and coordination, especially for the elderly. It offers an excellent and safe form of exercise for pregnant women, as well as contributing to the recovery of the body after childbirth.

When practicing Pilates the individual feels a relief as to possible pains in the body. In addition, it improves bone density, develops lung function and efficiency with improved circulation. A crucial point is: Pilates also helps in the treatment of diseases such as scoliosis, osteoporosis, arthritis and multiple sclerosis.

In addition to all the above themes, Pilates also helps in sexual development thanks to exercises with pelvic muscles and help in the issue of body sensitivity. Pilates also influences memory with coordination exercises.

Good also for the skin, thanks to improved circulation. More radiant skin and body in perfect satisfaction.

Wellness with Pilates

In the face of all the benefits mentioned above it is easy to understand that Pilates helps a lot in the way you see and live in the world. It makes you look and feel better, helps increase the quality of your sleep, relieves stress and tension, expands your body awareness, integrates your body, mind and spirit and greatly improves your quality of life.

There are many benefits and it is impossible to list everyone, as each body responds in a different way. Enrol yourself, learn about your body and be able to understand the answers it gives back.

"Good fitness is the first requirement of happiness. To achieve this happiness, it is vital to gain mastery of your body. If you are 30 and you are rigid and out of shape, you are old. If you are 60 And is flexible and strong, you are new. " - Joseph Pilates

Book now initial assessment with us and start your journey through the benefits of Pilates.

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