How to Get a Pilates Body.
Just Doing a Pilates class will not get you a Pilates Body, but learning & understanding Pilates principles and concepts will change your physique and give you a flat tummy, youthful upright posture, strong back, help you lose weight, improve flexibility, and relieve & prevent back pain, hip pain and neck pain. It will take you back to how you use to feel when you were younger.
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10 reasons why you never get started:
- don’t know what to do.
- don’t know how often to do it.
- don’t have the time to workout.
PILATES IS NOT YOGA
Most people believe yoga and Pilates are the same type of exercise, while they do have some similarities- their approaches to the body are different. Pilates will teach you concentration and how to really inhabit your physical structure to strengthen your core which will give you a stronger, healthier and pain free back. Every exercise is to teach you to initiate movement from your core (a.k.a. – Powerhouse). Pilates will teach you about specific concepts to feel, learn connections to build and to hold in your body as you exercise. It’s teaching your brain first, and concentrating on each exercise until your body ‘gets it’ and you don’t have to think about it at all. Train your brain and focus first and Pilates will change your body.
Here are just a few concepts you will learn:
- Breath
- Scapular to Rib Connection
- 3 anchors
- Spinal Articulation – 2 types
- Centerline
- Foot Health – everything is better with a strong foundation in the feet!
It’s not Easy.
Learning Pilates, I mean Really learning Pilates is not easy. I don’t mean that it is hard in the sense that it is going to beat up your body. There are times it will challenge you physically, but the goal is not to beat you up. The goal is to Connect you to your body, so that you move better and get stronger and sexier. Pilates is like learning a new language and it can be really, really frustrating. Really frustrating. It can be compares to learning how to drive a car. Remember that? Remember how bumpy the ride was? There were so many things to pay attention to all at the same time! It seemed impossible (and scary for those in the passenger seat!). You had to coordinate your foot pressing down on the gas pedal; constantly check your mirrors; worry about other drivers; make sure you were driving the speed limit and not slamming on the brakes too hard preventing you and passengers in the car from flying out the front windshield, all in an effort to make it to your destination safely. Remember that analogy and it will help through those frustrating times when it seems you just can’t seem to do an exercise correctly, because there is so much to think about.
But, Now.
Now, driving has become so second nature to you that you hardly ever think about it. It’s like being on auto-pilot; you don’t have to have laser focus to drive now. It just happens. For example, have you ever driven home and you were so deep in thought that you don’t even remember the last 5 miles when you arrive at your house? That is what it’s like learning Pilates, at first, it’s bumpy and frustrating and feels like you’ll never get it and then one day your body just clicks and your body just knows what to do without you thinking about it. It’s a beautiful thing. What do you have to do to get to that point? Just like everything else….PRACTICE. And, it start with the basics and building a strong foundation of the Fundamentals.
I promise if you invest the time to learn and practice, you will have a strong core and healthy spine for the rest of your life.
First, things first…
Learn The Fundamentals. Learn the Basics. Having a strong foundation will lead to a lifetime of a pain free, strong and healthy back. There is nothing worse than the constant nagging of a back ache. Or hip pain for that matter. (I take that back, I’ve had some pretty bad toothaches that were pretty awful)
The cool thing about learning & practicing Fundamentals is that you’ll learn A Lot about your body (and yourself). It will show you where you are disconnected, what muscles are too tight and need lengthened and what muscles are too slack and need activating. It’s the first step of the journey into understanding YOUR body to better back health. It a very eye-opening, humbling and sometimes frustrating journey. Be assured, that we all have issues; we all have bad posture habits; we all have compensations that if not addressed can also lead to knee replacement or hip replacement later in life.
Begin with your brain.
Pilates and the journey to a healthy spine begins with the mind. Like I always tell my new clients, it’s your brain I want to train, because I know your body will follow. Your body always wants to do what the brain is thinking. That is your first concept lesson: Train the brain and you change the body. Pilates is not difficult. What’s difficult is paying attention. People always ask, “Can I do Pilates Everyday?” The answer is a resounding, “Yes!” The question I would ask back is, “Can you discipline yourself to focus your brain and concentrate on each individual exercise?” If you can do that, you can practice all day, everyday. Remember, the goal is not to beat up your body. The goal is to get you connected, so that you move better and feel better!