Pilates offers both mental and physical training - it is a mind and body work out.
Born in 1883, Joseph Pilates was a sickly child. He suffered from asthma, rickets, and rheumatic fever, and he dedicated his entire life to improving his physical strength. Besides skiing frequently, he began studying body-building, yoga, "kung fu" (probably what is now known as qigong), and gymnastics. By the age of 14, he was fit enough to pose for anatomical charts. Pilates came to believe that the "modern" life-style, bad posture, and inefficient breathing lay at the roots of poor health.
He ultimately devised a series of exercises and training-techniques and engineered all the equipment, specifications, and tuning required to teach his methods properly.
Pilates offers both mental and physical training, it is a mind and body work out.
The creation of a 'girdle of strength' (your deepest tummy/back muscle, 'transversus') is one of the primary aims of the Pilates method which strengthens the core postural muscles that stablise the torso.
Precise controlled movements re-eductate muscles into good movement patterns and improving balance and proprioception (body awareness of sensory patterns of movement), helping to realign the body and prevent damage or injury sometimes associated with other fitness regimes.
For more information on Pilates, visit www.bodycontrol.co.uk