Why Pilates?

Clients and people I meet in social settings often ask,

 

“How did you get into Pilates?”

 

It’s a fair question. When people think Pilates Instructor I know I’m not the image they have in their heads.

 

The honest answer is I took it up out of curiosity…

 

I had heard about footballers in England doing it and I thought if it’s good enough for them it’s good enough for me. I took my first class in 2009 and enjoyed it enough to go back… again and again and again until pretty soon it was my favorite activity of the week.

 

Now I’ve been playing football since I was five years old so I thought I was pretty coordinated and in good condition… truly I had no idea how to use my body properly. When I think back to all those evenings in the gym doing “core work” or the “stretching” I was doing before and after training my face turns a little red.

 

Pilates has given me a true understanding of how to use my core to it’s full potential. The exercises performed during a Pilates workout have allowed me to build real core strength and enhanced my flexibility out of sight.

 

As I said I’ve been playing football all my life, while it’s been brilliant and I hope to continue playing for a few more years it tightened my body up. I could barely touch my toes and my hip flexors were so tight and strong they were doing all the work whether I wanted them to or not.

 

I should state that I have tried a number of other exercise methods over the years;

 

Running was great for aerobic fitness but like football brought the same tightness issues.

 

I practiced yoga for 3 or 4 years and while I enjoyed it and it helped build on my flexibility I didn’t have the strengthening element I was looking for.

 

Like everyone I did the gym thing… I turned up, lifted a few weights and ran on the treadmill for a while. Then it was time for core work… sit-ups and the plank, I thought I was making my core stronger, I now know I was pretty much wasting my time.

 

I suppose this post has been a long way of answering the question of, “Why Pilates?”

 

The short answer is because it is hands down the best exercise method I have ever come across.

 

It has improved my strength, flexibility, co-ordination, focus, balance and control. In addition to the physical benefits I feel mentally better after a workout. Pilates has given me a discipline in the way I work and the way I workout. I genuinely love it as an exercise method and cannot recommend it highly enough.