How can Pilates help me?
Pilates is for everybody, regardless of gender, age, race, size, ability, or current fitness level!
The Pilates repertoire, which includes mat and specialized equipment exercises, is made up of over 600 exercises and variations, so there’s something for everyone! Whether you have a sedentary lifestyle, are pregnant, undergoing rehab and/or physiotherapy, have anxiety and/or depression, chronic pain conditions, or if you’re a professional athlete.
Studies have shown that Pilates improves quality of life by having a positive effect on depression and pain, most notably decreasing back pain. It’s commonly used as cross-training workout and recommended by doctors for overall health, injury prevention, and rehabilitative purposes.
Pilates aligns your entire body’s overall structure and supports its joints. What appears to look simple can be deceptively challenging and incredibly effective when done correctly with good form.
A consistent Pilates practice balances strength with mobility and flexibility. It helps you move and breathe through your daily activities with more freedom and power and less pain. Pilates enhances your ability to move purposefully as you go through your day. Maintaining and/or developing mobility is the foundation for living a healthy and independent life. Mobility comprises all the skills required for everyday living and healthy, active aging: physical stamina, strength, balance, coordination, and range of motion.
Sculpt & Stretch is my Signature Blend of Pilates and Yoga
Offering the best of both, to improve mobility, balance, strength and flexibility. Pilates is a form of low-impact exercise (meaning its gentle on the joints) that aims to strengthen muscles while improving postural alignment, utilizing slow, precise movements, and breath control.
Pilates is a full-body exercise method that will help you move better in every day life. It strengthens and stabilizes your core body, which is your foundation, so that you can move efficiently while improving your posture, flexibility, and mobility. It helps to create optimal strength through muscle balance and fine-tuning neuromuscular patterns... Which is all a fancy way of saying you will be able to bend over to tie your shoes, reach up for dishes on a high shelf, turn and twist to buckle your seatbelt, pick up heavy grocery bags (or small children), kneel in the garden, climb stairs, get up and down from the floor, get in and out of bed and chairs... all without (or with less) pain, stiffness and creaky joints, losing your balance or getting out of breath, AT ANY AGE!
Pilates - REFORMER vs MAT
Reformer Pilates is done using the Pilates reformer machine and is generally more intense and more dynamic than mat based Pilates as it adds resistance to the Pilates exercises via the use of the springs or cords which form part of the machine.
The reformer provides far more variety than mat classes. The exercises usually work muscles through a large range of motion which is ideal for building and toning muscles as well increasing stability through the joints.
Reformer Pilates is great for rehab purposes too, as it allows for exercise in a horizontal plane of motion (laying on your back, side, or stomach) and not be vertically loaded (like when you stand) and weight bearing through the legs. For example if you have had knee surgery or a knee injury, this horizontal plane enables you to strengthen the muscles of the leg through a larger range of motion using a lighter resistance than your body weight + gravity. This helps in speeding up recovery through controlled movement and progressive muscle overload.
In mat classes, we can use several props to modify and enhance our practice (and even mimic reformer exercises). We can base an entire class around the use of one particular prop (such as a Pilates ball, yoga blocks, resistance bands, core gliders, and dumbbells) to get better engagement of our muscles, gently build flexibility, improve balance and coordination, and much more!
Whether you enjoy the reformer, pure mat work, or a mix of both, Pilates will have you standing taller, moving with more ease, and feeling less pain and stiffness throughout your body!
As a Certified Pilates Mat & Reformer Teacher, I look for imbalances in your body and work to correct them. Through core strengthening, precise movements and breath work, I can help you gain strength & stability, reduce pain, and move better in your every day life.
