Benefits of Pilates

The benefits of pilates include core strength, flexibility and a greatly improved posture, all of which are now a well known fact. What began with Joseph Pilates during his internment in WW2 has become a worldwide phenomenon. He studied and worked with eastern and western philosophies to develop his own technique - a fusion of both. The benefits acquired from gym work are different from pilates. With gym work, you’re concentration is on the outer muscles (eg biceps, quads etc). With a pilates workout, your focus is core muscles (including abdominals). Here’s a brief overview of the benefits of pilates.

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Mind Body Connection: "It is the mind that builds the body" was a saying of Mr. Pilates. I believe we exist on different levels. Strength in our body equates to strength in our minds. Core strength links with this in a powerful way. In fact, people often remark on the similarities to yoga because of this. Use this well, and the benefits of pilates you’ll enjoy will be better focus, discipline, clarity of thought and a calmer disposition.



With its strong philosophical foundation, Pilates not only tones your body, but your spirit as well. The smooth, precise and flowing movements of Pilates are designed to make you more gracefully mindful of your body.
Core Strength: This is probably the most well-known benefit of pilates. Core strength muscles are diaphragm, transverse abdominus (flattens your tummy), multifidus (either side of lumbar spine), the oblique abdominals and the pelvic floor. Every pilates exercise, even if you’re working biceps, is designed to benefit core muscles. There are plenty of core strength exercises on this site.

Posture, Alignment and Balance: When you have acquired powerful core strength and stronger back muscles, you will find another benefit is good posture which you have acquired through doing our balance & posture exercises. If your balance is challenged (eg if you trip), you’ll have the strength to save yourself from falling if you do these exercises and develop better proprioception. Proprioception is a word that describes awareness of your position in space and is closely connected to balance and posture. Carry yourself tall and you'll always make a statement entering any room and become another happy person to have benefited from pilates!!

Better Flexibility: Pilates is a 2 sided coin. Strength on one side and flexibility the other. Stretching is so important. The ability to move freely without pain is a wonderful benefit of pilates. Tight muscles prevent this flexibility and cause joint pain. Time to do something about that??? Another benefit of pilates and exercise stretches is improved circulation. Stagnation occurs in tight muscles. The benefits of stretching are threefold:

1. increases blood flow to those muscles
2. blood delivers nourishment
3. and it rids the muscle tissue of waste products. Also, check out our exercise stretches to improve flexibility.

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