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From The Desk Of Mark
Ratheram
Sunday, 10:25 AM Re-Energise
Your Life
Pilates is a
complete exercise method developed by its
founder Joseph
Pilates over the course of a lifetime dedicated to improving physical
and mental health. Pilates focuses on building your body's core strength and improving your posture through a series of low repetition low impact stretching and conditioning exercises. By core strength, we are talking about your back, abdominal and pelvic muscles. Through pilates, you will be able to develop these muscles without adding bulk, increasing your flexibility and agility and at the same time toning your stomach and thigh muscles. Pilates goes far beyond your core muscles however and not only provides a complete body workout (you will be working muscles you didn't even know you had!), but also helps you develop an awareness of how your body works, helping your mind and body to work in harmony. The
Eight Principles Of
Pilates
Centering:
Physically
bringing the focus to the centre of the body, the powerhouse area
between the lower ribs and pubic bone. Energetically, Pilates exercises
are sourced from center.Concentration: If one brings full attention to the exercise and does it with full commitment, maximum value will be obtained from each movement. Control: Every Pilates exercise is done with complete muscular control. No body part is left to its own devices. Precision: In Pilates, awareness is sustained throughout each movement. There is an appropriate placement, alignment relative to other body parts, and trajectory for each part of the body. Breath: Pilates emphasizes using a very full breath in exercises. Pilates advocates thinking of the lungs as a bellows -- using them strongly to pump the air fully in and out of the body. Most Pilates exercises coordinate with the breath, and using the breath properly is an integral part of Pilates exercise. Flow: Pilates exercise is done in a flowing manner. Fluidity, grace, and ease are goals applied to all exercises. The energy of an exercise connects all body parts and flows through the body in an even way. Pilates equipment, like the reformer, are very good mirrors of one's flow and concentration as they tend to bang around and suddenly become quite "machine-like" if one loses ones control and flow. Alignment Refers to the skeletal structure. If the skeletal is aligned correctly the muscles will be well balanced. This is where Pilates helps you to understand your inner body awareness, so when you perform an exercise you are achieving the highest quality of the movement. Alignment also will contribute to your centring Flowing movement: This is when there is no stopping in the exercise you perform as if there is no beginning or end of each movement, which flows together in harmony giving you more grace. When you are more advanced in Pilates you rest less in-between movements, allowing one movement to flow into the next like a choreographed movement. Again this needs control and concentration to achieve a continuous flowing movement.    Here are ten reasons why you should try pilates today. 1. Improved
posture
Your spine supports the weight of your body and allows your body to move with ease and comfort. That's the theory anyway. But in practice, hours spent sitting in front of a computer screen or slumped in front of a TV means that the spine's natural S shape is lost, resulting in back pain and rounded shoulders. Pilates helps to re-align the spine and with that comes better posture. 2. Relief from back pain As mentioned above, a great deal of lower back pain comes from poor posture and our daily mistreatment of our spines. By re-aligning your spine and imprioving your posture, lower back pain can often be eliminated entirely. 3. A good night's sleep Ask anyone to name three things essential for life and you will be told, water, air and food. Few people will mention sleep and yet it too is essential to life. A disturbing ten million prescriptions for sleeping pills are issued every year in England alone - a figure that gives you some idea of the numbers of people who suffer from insomnia. Pilates can help stretch muscles, releasing tension and pain, and it can also help trigger natural sleep responses. 4. Increase your strength and stamina without adding muscle bulk Pilates helps increase both your strength and stamina without adding unwanted bulk because it focuses on developing your "core" muscles - muscles found in your abdominal and pelvic regions as well as in your back. By toning and stretching these muscles, and by correcting your posture, your natural strength and stamina will improve in leaps and bounds. 5. Pilates can help prevent osteoporosis One in two women and one in five men over the age of 50 in the UK will break a bone, mainly because of a bone disorder called osteoporosis. Osteoporosis affects three million people in the UK every year, with bones (and particularly those of the spine, wrist and hips) becoming thin and weak and susceptible to fractures. By promoting good posture and balance, pilates can actively help you avoid becoming one of those people. Pilates is a gentle form of exercise that literally re-introduces you to your own body. And the better you understand your body and how it works, the easier it will be for you to release tension, relax and beats the stresses and strains of modern life. 7. Help with a prevention of incontinence Stress incontinence is the most common form of incontinence and affects over three million people in the UK. A common cause of this type of incontinence in women is pregancy, where the pelvic floor mucles can be weakened, but as we get older muscles in the pelvic area can weaken too. Pilates will help you strengthen your pelvic floor muscles, there by curing what can be a very distressing problem for sufferers. 8. Improve your balance and co-ordination Pilates helps improve your balance and co-ordination by realigning your spine and strengthening your "core" muscles. Better balance and co-ordination means fewer injuries - hence pilates growing popularity among professional sports people - from dancers to rugby players. 9. Helps aid recovery after injury - and prevent injury recurring Because of its low impact nature, pilates is widely recognised as being beneficial to people who are recovering from certain types of injury including whiplash and a wide range of sporting injuries. Indeed, many of the injuries that sports people are afflicted with can be avoided - and pilates can play a big part in ensuring correct body movement and core body strength leads to fewer such injuries. 10. No pain plenty gain! In most gyms you will hear the mantra "no pain, no gain", but you won't hear it repeated in a pilates studio. Pilates is a gentle non-aerobic form of exercise that will tone and strengthen your muscles and transform poor posture without stressing the joints or the heart.
   The Most Asked Questions
About Pilates
Q1 What is pilates?
Pilates
is
an exercise method,
designed to stretch, strengthen and restore your body to balance.
Q2 Who is pilates suitable for? Everyone! Of all ages and all levels of fitness. If you have any injuries, medical conditions or if you are pregnant or have recently had a baby, please check with your GP that pilates is suitable for you. Q3 When did it start? Pilates
was developed by Joseph
pilates in the early 1900s, initially as a form of exercise to
strengthen his own body. When the First World War broke out, pilates
was interned in the UK as a German national. He used his 'enforced
leisure' to refine his exercise method and began teaching his fellow
internees.
After the war, pilates immigrated to the United States where he opened a body conditioning studio in New York in 1926. His positive results drew a diverse crowd of all ages to his studio, including dancers, actors, musicians, business people, circus performers and students. Today, it's widely recognised that pilates was 50 years ahead of his time. Since the 1920s, the popularity of pilates has steadily grown and millions worldwide now practice pilates. The method has been developed over the years, with teachers adapting some of pilates's original exercises in line with new research and understanding of the body. Q4
What's the difference
between mat work and apparatus classes?
Both are based on the same principles of movement developed by Joseph pilates. Mat work classes are usually taught in a group and incorporate a range of exercises performed standing on a floor mat. Sometimes small pieces of equipment are also used. Q5 What are the benefits of
pilates?
Q6 Is pilates aerobic? While the primary focus of pilates is not aerobic, some aerobic benefits can be achieved at more advanced levels. We recommend that pilates is supplemented with regular cardiovascular exercise such as walking, cycling or swimming. Q7 Will I lose weight? Pilates is not primarily about weight loss. However, pilates exercise can support weight loss and give a more streamlined appearance. Pilates increases lean muscle mass which means your body will burn calories faster. This will help you to lose weight and keep it off, if that's what your body needs. Pilates gives you a strong, toned, flexible body Pilates improves posture which gives your body a more graceful, streamlined appearance Pilates promotes deep and efficient respiration which is essential for calorie burning and tissue regeneration. Pilates promotes good self-esteem, a factor very much associated with weight loss. Pilates is an invigorating workout that can help sustain energy levels through the day. However it is not usually considered an aerobic exercise, unless undertaken at a very advanced level. Ideally you should combine pilates with a healthy diet and some additional cardiovascular exercise if you wish to reduce body fat. Some good choices for aerobic cross training with pilates include swimming, cycling and walking Q8 What is core stability? Why is it important? Core stability is about training the muscles that support the spine and is fundamental to the pilates method. Core stability is important because it provides a protective muscular corset which helps to stabilize the spine. It also helps to prevent or reduce lower back pain. Q9 Will pilates fix my bad back? Pilates is an excellent form of exercise to improve the core stability necessary for a healthy spine. Pilates Foundation teachers are trained to work closely with other health practitioners to develop successful programmes to manage back pain. Q10 Is pilates safe? Pilates is highly recommended by health professionals as one of the safest forms of exercise. However, it's always advisable to check with your GP first. Now
with all that said
You
can buy other
Pilates DVD'S but most of them are out dated. Pilates R US DVDs are brand
new into the market place making there
introduction onto
the internet and mail order in August 2008. Other
Pilates
DVD’s will only give you the basics of the
exercise but The Pilates R US is
for the BEGINNER ,
INTERMEDIATE AND ADVANCED PLUS PILATES FOR BACK PAIN AS WELL AS PILATES
FOR MEN.The
evolution of Pilates, the uniqueness of the Pilates exercise program,
that no other DVD set will offer you the exercise
effectively, the key elements of the Pilates program and the
Do’s, and the
Don’ts of the Pilates system. I
have looked all
over the world to get an idea what the
average price of a Pilate’s session would be. As you can
imagine they did vary.
I would say as an example the full 5 dvd course in a session enviorment
would cost you 10 times the amount of the Pilates
R US
package,
and you can do it all in the comfort of your own home, where
and when you want, no rushing off to get into a class. With the
Pilates R US
you will receive 5, hot of the press DVD'S Delivered
right to your front door within 14 DAYS.
I
have already
pointed out all the benefits of Pilates. Your
new fitness regime could be with you within the next 7 working days.
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Years
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am so convinced
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and IF you don't like it for any reason at all, we will refund ALL of
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no questions asked! Act immediately and receive the following bonus: Your Bonus Number 1
Here's What You Will Learn From Eating Your Way to Fitness E-book. Eating Your Way to Fitness – Get Fit and Healthy Without the Agony! Provides you all you need to know about:
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