Pilates is series of strength and mobility exercises which lengthen and strengthen your muscles without putting any stress on your joints or heart. Pilates builds strength from within, initiating every movement through engaging your deep abdominals and stabilising your torso. The exercises are progressive and safe, concentrating on slow, controlled, flowing movements.
Pilates takes its name from Joseph Pilates who devised it as a new approach to exercise and body-conditioning in the 1920’s. Over his career he devised over 600 exercises and worked with actors, gymnasts and dancers. Celebrity devotees today include ballet dancer Darcey Bussell, Madonna, Jennifer Aniston, Andrew Flintoff, The All Blacks Rugby Team, Uma Thurman and Cameron Diaz.
"Physical fitness is the first requisite of happiness. In order to achieve happiness, it is imperative to gain mastery of your body. If at the age of 30 you are stiff and out of shape, you are old. If at 60 you are supple and strong then you are young." Joseph Pilates
The main benefits of Pilates are:
Pilates is not just a series of exercises, it is a way of life. It will not only change the way you look, but how you think and feel, increasing your understanding of your body. Regular Pilates classes will result in a longer, leaner, more flexible body - and will also result in a flatter stomach!
Pilates is for everyone! Office workers, professional sports people, first time exercisers, those looking to enhance general fitness or those wanting to help prevent injury or rehabilitation after an accident or injury. Pilates is suitable for men and women of all ages and levels of fitness, the emphasis being on individual progress. Here at Power of Pilates, we ensure a limited number of clients are in the class to allow for individual attention – this is not a mass produced production line, we understand that each body is different and the session is tailored to take each person into consideration.
Repetitive movements, a sedentary lifestyle, sustained positions, stress, illness and injuries can cause us to favour one group of muscles over others. This creates imbalances in our movement and body structure. This faulty movement pattern can feel normal as we have been following the pattern over a long period of time, often resulting in joints being held out of alignment. Pilates is designed to ease and correct these imbalances by re-establishing correct muscle recruitment which will restore good posture. This is achieved by identifying which muscles are weak, strong, short, long etc. and then correcting the muscle imbalances by stretching and relaxing tight, short muscles and then strengthening weak, long ones. Pilates can correct poor posture and misalignment and re-educate the body to prevent previous injuries recurring.
The class will begin with a few gentle stretches to relax and focus you. We will then move onto a series of Pilates exercises designed to challenge, strengthen and mobilise your body, leaving you lengthened, energised and yet relaxed.
