ABOUT PILATES
Pilates is a low-impact form of exercise that combines deep breathing with gentle stretching to boost strength, balance, and mobility. Workouts target your “powerhouse” (your abs, lower back, pelvic floor, hips, and glutes), but you’ll hit other areas too. Pilates is much more than the marketing that promotes a “long and lean” figure. Pilates is for everybody, regardless of gender, age, race, size, ability, or current fitness level. There’s something for everyone, whether you have a sedentary lifestyle, a weekend warrior, pregnant, undergoing rehab, have anxiety, or if you’re a professional athlete. Studies have shown that Pilates improves quality of life by having a positive effect on depression and pain. It’s commonly used as cross-training workout and recommended by doctors for overall health, injury prevention, and rehabilitative purposes. Pilates aligns your entire body’s overall structure and supports its joints. It’s a low impact exercise that creates optimal strength through muscle balance and fine-tg neuromuscular patterns. It helps you move and breathe through your daily activities with more freedom and power and less pain.
benefits of pilates
Pilates can aid in a myriad of ways to build your body physically and mentally, from flexibility, core strength, balance, body awareness, and mental health. Here are some of the benefits:
- Improves flexibility
- Increases muscle strength and tone, particularly of your abdominal muscles, lower back, hips and buttocks (the ‘core muscles’ of your body)
- Balances muscular strength on both sides of your body
- Enhances muscular control of your back and limbs
- Improves stabilization of your spine
- Improves posture and decreases back pain
- Rehabilitation or prevention of injuries related to muscle imbalances
- Improves physical coordination and balance
- Relaxation of your shoulders, neck and upper back
- Safe rehabilitation of joints and spinal injuries
- Prevention of musculoskeletal injuries
- Increases lung capacity and circulation through deep breathing
- Improves concentration and sleep
- Increases body awareness and energy levels
- Stress management and relaxation
- It enhances sports performance
- It strengthens your bones
- It boosts your mood
safety guidelines
- Proper safety precautions should be taken when doing any form of exercise, including mat exercises such as Pilates
- If you are a beginner, rather avoid advanced Pilates exercises that your body is not ready for. Whether you are taking a Pilates class or using a video at home, never work outside your own comfort level, and never allow an instructor or anyone else to push you to do Pilates exercises that you do not feel that your body is ready for.
- Listen to your body and what it is telling you. A little discomfort is expected when exercising – sharp pain is not. If you experience sharp pain, or pain that you do not feel is normal when exercising, stop.
- Most of the Pilates exercises can be modified to reduce the pain that you are experiencing. Talk with an instructor to find a modification that will work for you.
- Talk to your doctor before beginning the Pilates program. The Advanced Pilates mat exercises can be very demanding, and if you are not in shape, the exercises can strain neck and back muscles. Too often, people feel that they should be able to do the advanced exercises, and they push themselves to the point of injury. Start with the Pilates Beginner exercises, then to the Pilates Core exercises (intermediate), then to the Advanced Pilates exercises.
- Avoid eating right before doing Pilates, and make sure that you drink plenty of water before and after your session. Keeping your body well hydrated will reduce soreness.
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Swan Studios
pilates
- Demo Session – R50
- Single Session – R100
- 4 Sessions – R350
- 8 Sessions – R500
- 12 Sessions – R650
bouncefit
- Demo Session – R50
- Single Session – R100
- 4 Sessions – R350
- 8 Sessions – R500
- 12 Sessions – R650
Pound
- Demo Session – R50
- Single Session – R100
- 4 Sessions – R350
- 8 Sessions – R500
- 12 Sessions – R650