If Pilates for Beginners Isn't Aerobic or Strength Training, Then What's The Point In Doing It?
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Well good question. I get fed up of people telling me that they don't do Pilates for beginners because it's neither Aerobic nor strength training. And seeing as their goal is weight loss, they ask what the point of doing Pilates is? Sometimes I feel like pulling the rest of my hair out.
Let's set the record straight. Just sitting in a chair is Aerobic! You will burn calories even at rest in the presence of oxygen (which is all aerobic means) or at least it does if you're breathing! What they really mean is that a Pilates class will not "burn off" as many calories as an prancing-about-to-music class will.
Now that's true at a beginner level. A Pilates class will only burn half as many calories as other types of aerobic exercise - but that's not the point. Joseph Pilates himself stated that for a fit and healthy mind Pilates alone wasn't enough and that additional training methods should be used .Including other aerobic and strength training exercises.
Pilates isn't a full-blown strength-training workout either but there are a number of bodyweight exercises (including press-ups and squats) that do a fairly good job.
People miss the point when it comes to Pilates. Pilates is designed to strengthen you from "the inside out", working primarily on the inner skeletal (stabilising) muscles. These muscles are designed to work at low levels (30%) for long periods of time and are the body's main postural muscles. A modern lifestyle, lack of exercise and general inactivity cause these muscles to weaken and lengthen. When this happens we start to develop postural problems. Rounded shoulders with neck stuck out like a turkey (Kyphosis),
Hips thrust forward (Swayback), excessive curvature of the lower back (Lordosis) and many others. These postural problems all have one thing in common. PAIN. When your body's postural muscles are imbalanced, lower back and neck pain is common.
It gets worse. Apart from the pain, with weak "core" and postural muscles we have a much higher risk of injury, which in turn leads to less activity, which leads to - you guessed it weaker muscles. It's a vicious cycle and one which Pilates can help to address. Because Pilates is specifically designed through a balanced series of exercises to strengthen these postural muscles it can over time help to alleviate many of the problems listed above.
Pilates can also make any other exercise you do safer and much more effective because it trains your body to always use "correct form". This means much less chance of injury. This is particularly important with overweight people. It is a fact that a high proportion of overweight people injure themselves in the first few weeks of starting an exercise regime. Their bodies are so weak they do not have the "core" strength to do even simple exercises safely. If they were to start with Pilates first and give their body time to strengthen, they'd be much less likely to injure themselves - and much more likely to stick with the program.
I love Pilates (can you tell); give it a try and I promise you - if you stick with it, it will pay you back the time you invest many times over. Can you imagine living life with a body that is free of aches and pains - a body that is straight and strong and will do what you ask of it?
That's the promise of doing Pilates exercises regularly. I'll show you how Pilates has made me stronger, fitter and more flexible than when I was much younger, and how it could do the same for you.
If you would like to learn how Pilates could transform your life, then visit my Pilates At Home website and make a start building a better body and making a New You - today! Bob E Bartram (Pilates Instructor) http://www.free-pilates-exercises.com.
