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Last Updated on December 24, 2022 by Thomas Bolwell

 Pilates and integrated movement.

“As a heavy rainstorm freshens the water of a sluggish or stagnant stream and whips it into immediate action, so does the Pilates Method purify the bloodstream”

- Joseph Pilates, founder of Pilates

There is so much written and talked about Pilates and why we should do it for all sorts of different reasons. We want to understand it as an activity that you simply attend and we often see it defined as a core based type of exercise combined with flexibility. Thankfully Pilates is so much more than that. 

Having been a Pilates Teacher for almost 20 years I have seen the method grow in popularity and throughly enjoyed seeing people begin and develop their own personal journey with Pilates. Pilates is not defined by any type of person who attends, we see people who have injuries, back pain, neurological issues, muscle in-balances and low muscle tone, posture issues, the list goes on and on. Many Pilates people would just like to be stronger and fitter for ‘life’. One of the key elements we know  as Pilates Professionals is that practice makes perfect and you can never be doing enough Pilates on a daily basis to improve your core and balance. This article focusses on Pilates and Integrated Movement

Pilates is well know for improving posture, joint mobility and core stability, it also benefits better health and immunity

Pilates and fully integrated movement

Functional movement can be defined as “integrated (total body), multi-planar movement that requires efficient acceleration, deceleration and stabilisation capabilities.”
It is exercise that includes whole-body simultaneous movements such as combinations of moving our bodies forwards, backwards, side to side with resistance or against resistance, bending, twisting, turning, squatting, lunging, and lifting. It is the things that your body is required to do daily in order to accomplish tasks in your everyday life. The idea is that by training multiple parts of your body to work together and developing more strength, stability, and power in these kinds of movements, you will ultimately be able to do more, achieve more, and be more as these qualities carry over and compliment life outside of Pilates.
In addition to providing ultimate benefits in physical fitness, the characteristics of functional training itself provide many other physiological and cognitive benefits, making it superior over many other training methods.
1.) Increased caloric expenditure
Yes, we definitely increase calorie expenditure whilst doing Pilates. When you perform exercises involving multiple body parts at one time, you will require more energy (calories) to perform these tasks.
2.) Less risk of injury
Functional movement patterns involve multiple parts of the body moving together to perform a complex movement, the result is less isolated use of one joint, muscle, or muscle group at a time and therefore less risk of injury to any one part of the body.
3.) A more efficient workout
We a busy day, exercising using functional movements will help you get a better workout in less time.
4.) Increased bone and brain stimulation
Exercise reduces stress and age-related health issues, and lessens the physical functional decline that naturally occurs with age. Functional strengthening’s focus on weight bearing exercise and help to slow the progress of conditions such as osteoporosis and osteoarthritis, as providing compression and resistance against gravity can help to strengthen bone tissue.
5.) More application to everyday life.
All the movements we practice regularly in Pilates directly relate to how our bodies should move all day every day. We create good muscle ‘patterns’ or ‘muscle memory’. In other words we re-programme and develop our bodies to move and function well for all of our activities.

Interested in Pilates? You can book directly on our website www.pilatespower.co.uk or just contact me directly: emily@pilatespower.co.uk

Contact me for more information. See directions here. See you soon!
 
Emily

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