How effective is Pilates for toning and strengthening?

People often wonder what is pilates and what are its benefits. Pilates is a systematized form of exercise developed by Joseph Pilates, an immigrant from Germany in the 1920s who landed in New York City. The emphasis is on core strengthening with the abdominal, back, and trunk muscles. Many people think that Pilates is just for dancers to help them become more balanced and toned, but it has become a more mainstream exercise practice that is also used for rehabilitation. With the core abdominal strength you get from fitness pilates if you only have a desk job, you will be able to have better posture and improved body mechanics that help prevent injuries and body asymmetries.

Pilates can be intimidating with equipment like the pilates reformer. Joseph Pilates invented the Pilates reformer which uses springs, tension and resistance, but can also be performed on just a mat using only your own body weight. On tatami you are more responsible for maintaining proper alignment. Mat pilates, also called “stott pilates”, can often be more challenging as you need to be more aware of your form, whereas being on the reformer helps you get into proper body position without the same amount of attention from your part.

Pilates provides a great foundation if you want to become a bodybuilder and really bulk up as you will be building the core muscles which will help your arms and legs become more muscular with weight lifting. It is a safe, sequential form of exercise that is much safer on the joints. Promotes long, lean muscles and helps you maintain grace in your posture. There’s plenty of flexion, rotation, and extension to help you get a full-body workout. Since Pilates is a system, you need to perform all the movements in sequence to balance, tone and sculpt evenly rather than just doing bicep curls in the gym to strengthen your arms.

Fitness Pilates is ideal for those recovering from injury or physically rehabilitating as form, function, corrective and prescriptive exercises are emphasized if you work with a trained Pilates teacher. Pilates also incorporates controlled breathing to maximize oxygen in and out, helping to revitalize the body. After a pilates workout, you end up feeling energized due to the increased amount of oxygen your body receives, so it ends up being a more complete workout for your muscular, respiratory, and skeletal systems.