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Pilates:
The shortcut to sexy
Grouptrails.com
 A
firm stomach, lean arms, toned legs and perfect balance.
All are by-products of Pilates. Most guys will admit
that Pilates is one of the most alluring, body shaping
exercises a woman can partake in. It is a shortcut to
sexy.
Pilates, is an exercise method created by Joseph
Pilates. It is often confused with yoga. Like yoga,
Pilates is designed to stretch, strengthen, tone and
balance the body through specific movements and focused
breathing. But unlike Yoga, which is based in
spirituality, Pilates is about fitness.
Health Benefits
Pilates has been known to:
• Increase lung capacity and circulation
• Strengthen and increase flexibility
• Improve posture, balance and coordination
• Increase bone density along with joint health
• Regulate posture, leading to the alleviation of back
pain
• Immaculately tone and slim the body |
Beyond slimming and strengthening the body, Pilates sets
out to unite the body and mind so as to create an
unconscious ability to move with grace and balance.
Given the bevy of health benefits of Pilates and the
low-impact nature of the exercises, Pilates has
continued gained popularity around the world. When
Joseph first came to the United States after WWI, they
opened a single studio in Manhattan. Joseph personally
trained all instructors in apprenticeships that
sometimes lasted 4 years. Today, Pilates can be found
everywhere.
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Is Pilates just a fad? Not likely. Considering the aging
of the Baby Boomers and the general increase in
awareness of health, Pilates is here to stay. With so
many gyms getting into Pilates instruction, the need
arose for a central organization to establish
professional standards. The result was the creation of
the Pilates Method Alliance in the 1990’s. Pilates is
also being considered in many regions for use in
schools, and in conditions that were previously
overlooked, such as prenatal fitness. There are
practitioners that now specialize in clinical rehab
Pilates.
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 Students
of Pilates learn to:
• Make the most of the body’s strengths
• Counteract the body weaknesses
• And Correct imbalances
Pilates principles include: |
Centering, Concentration, Control,
Precision, Flow of movement and Controlled Breathing.
Breathing being one of the more central Pilate
principles. Pilates believed that getting the blood
pumping was essential to awakening the cells whereby
removing waste. He believed this could be accomplished
with the blood “charged with oxygen” to purge cells of
waste gases. This is why full inhalation & exhalation
are central to each Pilates exercise which come with
specific breathing instructions.
Pilates History
Born in Germany in 1880, Joseph H. Pilates
was an avid fitness enthusiast. Just prior to WWI, he
moved to England, where he was a boxer and circus
performer. When WWI started, Pilates was sent to the
English internment camp where he cared for prisoners who
had been stricken by the influenza pandemic of 1918.
Having been trained as a nurse in Germany, Pilates used
his knowledge of the body to create a series of
movements for patients within the confines of their
hospital beds The Pilates Reformer, a popular piece of
Pilates equipment, is based on a hospital bed. Pilates
went on to create a total of 500 different moves. |
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