Healthy Pregnancy: Pilates Helps Expecting Mothers

You’ve probably heard of Pilates mat exercises, and have probably heard that it works great, or you probably heard that it sucks because it’s so hard. Pilates mat exercises, are the bare basics of the Pilates exercise invented by Joseph Pilates in the Early 1910.

First of all, your idea of Pilates must have included something with machines that have springs and bands, but Pilates can also be done without machines, just a simple mat, and this is called Pilates mat work, or simple Pilates mat.

Pilates Mat exercises have been considered very beneficial, especially for those who want stronger abdominal muscles and a stronger core. By core I mean the abs and the lower back. Pilates, as Joseph Pilates made it to be, is a low intensity groups of exercises that supposed to strengthen your muscles.

Usually, exercises are done with Pilates machines, but Pilates Mat exercises however, have more challenging exercises simply because your body doesn’t have to rely on the support of the machine to do the work, making it shoulder the work that you are making it do. These results in a variety of developments, more so, on the abs than any part of the body, and we all know that that piece of fat under the navel is really hard to get to. The other benefit of a Pilates mat exercise is its sheer lack of exercise equipment.

Unlike other Pilates exercises, this only requires you, as the name says, a Pilates mat. And you’re ready to go, of course every Pilates exercise requires you some sort of instructor, either a real one, or a video, to tell you what to do, or if what you’re doing is correct, which brings us to the question of do I really need an instructor? And the answer is yes, every exercise needs an instructor, even something you might think as simple as a Pilates mat exercise won’t look very simple once you’re in a hospital bed.

Pilates mat exercises can be very advanced body work, and doing it wrongly can as with every type of work out, give you injuries. A Pilates mat instructor has to be certified by a qualified school make sure that your instructor has real qualifications before you take Pilates mat classes. So when we touch the issue of a Pilates mat instructor, we ask what would be best. A DVD or a real one?

Essentially, most Pilates experts recommend a real instructor, an instructor can point out what your doing wrong, can position you correctly if you don’t have the right posture, and can personalize the exercise you’re doing specifically for your body’s needs. However, there are lots of Pilates mat exercise videos out there that have been getting good reviews recently. Some people might have gone on to saying that it’s as good as the real instructor, well to each his own, but my suggestion is, if you can afford a real instructor, then get one.

That’s the problem with real instructors though, the price, you’ll have to pay for classes monthly for that, but with a DVD, you’ll only have to buy it once and then you can use it for years to come.

What’s also good with a Pilates mat exercise DVD is its convenience, you won’t have to travel to the gym or to class you can just spread your mat on the floor, turn on the DVD and the you’re good to go.

 

Pilates Certification Courses: An Overview

If you’re highly informed or even if you’re one of those people that just stay home, no doubt you’ve heard of the Pilates Exercise.

The purpose of Pilates Exercises is to stretch and to strengthen your body. That is why Pilates is so popular with most contortionists and ballet dancers. But just because people are using Pilates for physical improvement, and weight loss, it doesn’t mean that a Pilates exercise is a cardiovascular exercise.

Pilates is basically a low intensity exercise. Most instructors recommend Pilates with aerobics and other forms of exercise for best effects.

The Pilates Exercise was invented by Joseph Pilates, a German National, as a self exercise. Pilates was born a fragile child, sickly and asthmatic, so he took to exercise to improve his body. When he was a bit older, he was living in France, and was arrested as an “enemy alien.’ During his internment, he was assigned in the medical facilities of the prison and this is where he put Pilates into use, as rehabilitation exercises for the sick.

Since then the Pilates exercises has gained its reputation for helping improve the overall physical state of the body. Pilates exercise is a series of breathing techniques combined with stretching and a simple machine. Pilates exercises designed to improve the body’s core. This includes the muscles in the abdomen, back, and buttocks. Some say it is better than yoga overall because it strengthens the body through improving posture strength and flexibility through stretching.

The machines used in Pilates, are there to challenge the body, by making it stay in certain positions while moving the other parts in differing directions, thereby training the body to endure strain, thus increasing strength. The basic Ideology of the Pilates Exercise is the use of the body’s mental ability to improve movement, efficiency and muscle control, which is also why they say that Pilate exercise somehow improves one’s mental state. Pilates also makes you aware of proper posture.

Due to the exercises that you do, it also develops the muscles in the back and abdomen, further promoting good posture. Pilate exercise also uses breathing techniques, which further increases mental focus. And probably one of the greatest focuses of Pilates is flexibility strength of the muscles. It is this ideology that made Pilates popular among dancers in the begining.

Many Pilates enthusiasts and users have testified to the effectiveness of this program. With regular classes, the bodies become well balanced and stronger. Some say that after each workout, you can instantly feel the difference it has made to the parts of the body, mainly the legs back and abs. Aside from increased strength, weight loss is what many people aim for when they do Pilates exercises.

Other benefits of Pilates include increased energy levels, higher endurance, better flexibility, great abdominal workouts, and overall physical well being.

What you need and what you get from a Pilates mat exercise

Most people think of Pilates as a new form of exercise because of its recent surge of popularity in the fitness and healthcare industry. In reality, Joseph Pilates invented it about 80 years ago.

Pilates was a sickly child with asthma. To help fight his illness and build his strength, he experimented with various mind-body disciplines and later became an accomplished skier, diver, gymnast, and boxer. While in internment during WWI in England, he taught fellow interns his concepts and exercises that he developed over 20 years of self-study and apprenticeship in yoga, Zen, and ancient Greek and Roman physical regimens.

During this time, Pilates began devising the system of original floor exercises known today as “Pilates matwork". Within a few years, he became a nurse to the many internees under care with wartime disease and physical injury. Here, he began devising exercise apparatuses to rehabilitate the patients by taking springs from the beds and rigging them to create spring resistance and "movement" for the bedridden. This “system” formed the foundation for his style of body conditioning used today.

In many ways, Pilates equipment today is not much different than it was back then. The use of spring tension, straps, supports for back, neck and shoulders are the same uses for the equipment today. The nature of the equipment is to both challenge and support the body as it learns to move more efficiently.

With the determination to help others achieve better health, Pilates opened his first studio in New York in 1926 where he used his exercise apparatuses and more than 500 movement therapy exercises to help rehabilitate athletes and dancers.

For over 60 years this form of exercise was a well kept secret - but dancers, athletes, physical therapy patients and fitness enthusiasts have relied on this Pilates method to attain and stay in top physical form.

The benefit of Pilates’ movement therapy exercises for women thru pregnancy and post-partum is mostly misunderstood. Simply put, Pilates is a safe and effective approach to exercise for pregnant women to assist with breathing, body alignment and to recover body shape and tone after birth.

Pilates focuses on breathing, which promotes relaxation and helps activate the transversus abdominus. The transversus abdominus is the deepest of the abdominal muscles and is responsible for supporting the lumbar spine and pelvic area at a time when ligaments are lax due to the natural hormone relaxin excreted by the body during the pregnancy and nursing stages.

Lateral breathing also inherent in Pilates fitness, which improves rib cage mobility when the range of motion in the diaphragm is limited due to the high position of the baby in the third trimester. Back pain is a common side effect of pregnancy. Unless the abdominal muscles, pelvis and spine are strengthened, problems with the back can occur.

Strengthening the transversus abdominus (“abs) through guided Pilates movements will not only improve back pain and postural alignment, but will aid women during labor for a much quicker & safer delivery. Research has shown that activation of the transverses abdominus also activates the pelvic floor, keeping these muscles strong and supple for the birthing process.

This can also help with any incontinence that you may experience during and after pregnancy. The nature of movement in Pilates exercise is low impact and allows pregnant women to exercise effectively without experiencing any undue stress on the now lax joints, or an increased heart rate.

Pilates also involves many stretching and toning exercises that helps to maintain hip flexibility and stamina, which is essential for well-being and preparation for childbirth. These exercises are aided and supported by Pilates apparatuses such as the reformer: a moving carriage on a bed; the wunda chair with springs to create resistance and the trapeze table to hang from.

Pilates exercises also can be performed on a mat with small props such as pillows or cushions which supports the head, the magic circle, foam rollers and therabands for extra resistance. Most exercise modifications happen during the second and third trimester due to the ever-increasing belly.

All Pilates movements, at this point are best done seated up right or side lying. However, you can work supine as long as the head is elevated with pillows at 30 degrees above the heart for no longer than 5 minutes, turning to the side for a break. This ensures natural blood flow and oxygen to the A popular exercise among pregnant Pilates enthusiasts is legwork on the wunda chair. It involves sitting on a small stool with springs attached to a lever and pushing the lever down with your feet.

This Pilates movement provides conditioning for the legs and activation of the abdominal muscles, which stabilize the pelvis. Remember it’s very important that your Pilates instructor is certified and has experience in working with pregnant women.

Yoga Pilates Basics:

Body Harmonics Pilates, located in Toronto, Canada is an internationally recognized leader in Pilates training and instruction. It was founded in 1996 by Margot McKinnon, a well respected leader in the Canadian health and fitness industry.

What distinguishes Body Harmonics from other studios is that it also functions as a Pilates teacher training facility. The primary motivation behind the establishment of Body Harmonics was to make Pilates accessible to everyone, and to train the next generation of teachers in the best practices available.

Body Harmonics has three main areas of specialization; Pilates for general health and wellbeing, post-rehabilitative exercise, and performance enhancements for athletes and dancers.

They offer over 40 courses to new and experienced students and teachers alike. They offer three levels of Mat training, and extensive workshops dedicated to individual pieces of equipment such as the Reformer and the Cadillac.

Body Harmonics has trained Pilates instructors from all around the world, and remains one the best facilities of its kind in Canada and beyond.

Studio director, Margot McKinnon, has a long and proven track record as an educator and a top-notch Pilates instructor. She has worked as a Pilates instructor since 1994, when she earned her first certification. She became a Master Teacher Trainer for The Pilates Method in 1996, and shortly thereafter launched her company.

She has had the benefit of training and developing relationships with some the best and brightest mind in her industry. Margot is renowned for her inspiring teaching style, and her intricate knowledge of the theory behind the practice of Pilates. Aside from the standard courses offered at Body Harmonics, there are also a number of specialized courses designed for people that might not associate Pilates training with other sports.

Body Harmonics offers courses of particular interest to golfers, skiers, runners and rowers. They also offer courses for other health care practitioners, such as physiotherapists, osteopaths, and chiropractors.

Regardless of your area of specialization, there is no doubt that you can benefit from the mind/body connection you will make at Body Harmonics. If you are serious about Pilates and you are considering professional certification, take some time to learn more about Body Harmonics.

Methods of Pilates

There are usually two forms of Pilates. There are the mat bases ones and equipment based Pilate’s exercises. With Pilates, the quality of exercises is the main goal.

Exercises should be performed through a slow sustained type of movement using abdominal control and the proper breathing methods. There are many books and videos that are on the market to help the consumer but it is important to see good instruction from a qualified Pilate’s teacher to get the right results.

The mat based Pilates exercises are usually the most popular type. This is a series of exercises that are done on the floor using gravity and your bodies own weight to make resistance.

The general goal of mat based Pilates is to condition the deeper supporting muscles of the body and to improve the posture and the balance of coordination.

Equipment based Pilates are for the more serious Pilates person. This form of Pilates will include specific equipment and some form of equipment based items.

Pilates also has free weights like dumbbells that will also offer resistance to the muscles. The equipment can be expensive if it is not properly used it could make it hard for the body to make muscles and tone right.

It is important that the equipment is used correctly and most people who practice the equipment based Pilates do so with the right Pilate’s trainer.

Pilates is very low impact and it is important to know the general precautions before beginning Pilates.

Many people should talk to their doctor first before taking it on. Women that are pregnant should ask their doctor first.

People that are over the age of 40 with any preexisting medical condition or muscle problems, or that are obese should speak with their doctor first.

Pilates Can Help the Disabled

Pilates is a form of about five hundred exercises that Joseph Pilates started and was inspired by calisthenics, yoga and ballet as well. These exercises worked to improve the flexibility, strength, and the balance the body has.

Pilates is not only a great physical experience that is designed to strengthen the body and the muscles of the core, it is also a spiritual experience in breathing as well. Good breathing will promote a better blood flow in the body.

Since the 1920’s when Joseph Pilates started the exercises to help injured athletes, dancers and later war veterans, Pilates has been adapted to help people of the average community.

Pilates is a non-aerobic form of exercises that will bring in strength to your concentration and focus. The movements are meant to be a lower impact form and focus you on the perfection of each movement instead of how many reps you do.

Pilates is a very low impact form of exercise and it is important that you have a pre-existing medical condition that you talk to your doctor first.

Pilates and the exercises that you learn will give you better flexibility and increase your muscle strength. You will also find that you are getting better abdominal strength, lower back strength as well as help for your hips and butt. They are considered to be your core muscles.

Another benefit of Pilates is that it balances the body and the muscle strength on both sides of the body and gives you more control of the back, arms and legs.

Another important advantage is that you will improve your stabilization of the spine, which gives greater awareness of posture and improved physical coordination and balance.

Pilates can help you to relax and put strength in the back, shoulders and neck too. Many of the doctors have come to find out that Pilates can help rehabilitate people with joint and spine injuries. The exercises need to be done correctly and this will help to prevent muscular skeletal problems later on.

Using Pilates at Home

Pilate lovers around the world are using their workouts and enjoying every second of them. They are doing them at home and anytime they want.

It used to be that a person had to travel to a higher end studio or health club to get a Pilates workout. The equipment was expensive and too big and bulky to bring home.

There are some things that have changed like the mat workouts. The at home users first found out that Pilates mat videos and different DVD’s were able to give them refreshing entire body workouts.

You are going to become more flexible when you are doing Pilates at home. There are no schedules that include Pilates mat videos and different DVD’s that were able to give them a refreshing entire body workout.

You are going to be able to stay flexible when you are doing workouts at home. There are no schedules that you have to meet and you will have a certain amount of self-disciple to be able to take time for at least three sessions a week.

Before you start a Pilate’s program at home you will need to take a couple of classes so that you can get familiar with the Pilates exercises.

You want to find good techniques of movement and breathing. They are best found to be explained and demonstrated by an instructor that is completely qualified.

You need to begin your Pilates exercises on a floor mat. They are very important for two reasons:

* They are not very expensive.

* They do not take up much space to store.

You will notice that there are a bunch of videos and DVD’s to pick from. Many of them will have different styles that will accommodate beginners as well as the more advanced students.

Some of the videos will include exercises that use small inexpensive items like roller and rings. This is going to add fun and variety in your everyday workout.

There is just no better place to exercise than at home!

The Life of Pilates

Joseph Pilates invented Pilates during WWI to improve the rehabilitation for the veterans that returned home. Joseph Pilates believed that both mental and physical health is important to everyone.

He said that some precise body motions could control and form an injured soldier. The movements were used to regain their health and give strength by stretching and stabilizing their main muscles in the body.

He made the Pilates Principles to help the whole body and get it put in proper alignment, centering, concentration, control and precision. Not only does it help the body but it helps breathing too.

The Pilates form is a physical fitness motion that Joseph Pilates developed in the early 20th century. 2005 has eleven million people using Pilate’s everyday.

There are also 14,000 instructors in the U.S. today. Pilates did believe that his method used the mind to control the muscles in the body. This program focuses on the core postural muscles that keep the body well balanced.

There are essential items that provide support for the spine and turn in supports to the whole body. Pilates educated awareness of breathing and the alignment of the spine and how to strengthen the muscles in the torso too.

Joseph Pilates was a legend in physical fitness and was born in Germany in 1880. When he was a child he was small and weak. He was fascinated with physical fitness that would make him very strong and more attractive.

He then became an accomplished skier, boxer and gymnast. In 1926 he and his wife opened their first studio in New York City. Many of their first clients were from a dancing background.

Pilates for an Aging Population

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