Pilates. Pilates Exercises

What is Pilates?

Pilates today is very, very fashionable. Pilates is an exercise system of Hollywood celebrities. Pilates lessons are in fashionable Moscow fitness clubs and, in some of them a many months of pre-registration is required.

Moscow discovered Pilates relatively recently, and in the US, the “second homeland” of the method author Joseph Pilates, this new for us philosophy of training is popular for several decades. Today, the “classic” Pilates is practiced along with its new species, no less effective. So what exactly is Pilates?

Pilates & Ballet

As we age, our body becomes less and less obedient. Joints become accustomed to sedentary work and lose their mobility. But we all want to again be as flexible and plastic, as we were when we were kids! If we had come to ballet class at 40 years of age, nothing good would have happened out of this. But the lessons on the program “Pilates + Ballet” is just what can save us.

In this program, “Pilates + Ballet”, there is a combination of two diverse movements – some cause muscles to contract, while others are focused on stretching. According to the yogis, this technique causes the circulation of energy in the body and its accumulation. But strength training makes muscles contract and in the manner of a sponge exude energy uselessly into space. I do not know how it is about yogis, but after the classes you will really feel the rush of a good mood, as though behind you had a long, hard work. It is also important that many Pilates exercises improve posture. Your back will be straight, the pain will disappear.

First, you are to do, under the guidance of a coach, the series, consisting of simple plie, tandem and hand movements aimed at the development of balance and coordination. Then you proceed to the exercises that are performed on a mat and strengthen those muscles that are usually unheeded in fitness.

Exercise, the disclosure of which we give here, is useful to everyone. It stretches the muscles of the back of the thighs. The fact is that we all sit with your knees bent. This means that the long muscles that extend on the back from the buttocks to the knees, spend most of their days shortened. (Straighten the knee, and they are tensioned at once!). As a result, the muscles shorten the normal length and thereby create imbalance in the hip joints. “Hard”, short hamstrings become a cause of lower back pain and even inflammatory processes in the abdominal cavity. All this was well known by doctor Pilates. So he came up with this exercise:

Pilates Exercise: lifting legs

Sit on the floor. Bend your knees, grasp the leg and pull your knees to your chest. At the same time your feet will be in the air, and you have to balance on your “fifth point”. Keeping your back straight, slowly straighten legs, holding your shin. Complicated? Of course! I think at first you will just once or twice fall on the back. So your straight legs should form Latin letter V. From this position, spread straight legs wide apart! Reconnect the legs, then bend your knees and go back to the starting position. The feet remains in the air! Immediately start the second repeat.

Pilates and problem areas

This Pilates program is a crash course, which will quickly turn you into a Barbie. (We mean the ideal posture of the beauty). It is interesting that this technique was born due to the new wedding fashion to the open back. Slouching bride, of course, in such an outfit looks not very appetizing. Well, with the help of this exotic option of Pilates you can get a straight back of a flamenco dancer in a month. A week later you’ll walk with a proudly lifted chin, and so easily and gracefully that you feel that you do not touch the ground. A magical experience!

This course combines methodological elements of Pilates, ballet and taekwondo choreography. And all at a rapid pace! Because of this you will also burn a lot of calories. An important feature of classes  is the ballet barre wall. At first glance it does not seem so intimidating a heavy rod, but in fact it is a real instrument of torture! This exercise tightens the muscles of the buttocks and legs.

Pilates Exercise: plie on the toes

Stand up straight, one hand on the ballet barre, the other – at the waist. If you do not have the barre, hold the back of the chair. Heels together, toes apart. Inhale and expand the shoulders and tighten your buttocks and static press, chest forward. Rise on your toes and start to squat like a ballerina – knees apart. Approximately in the middle distance pause for 1-2 seconds. Attention! At this point, your back should be perfectly straight! Slowly descend even lower. As long as you can  keep the body straight – it will lean forward by itself. From this lower position rise until the middle of the amplitude and again pause. Then again descend into a squat. Again, go up to the middle… Total of 8 squats, and then you can stand up straight.

Pilates: The Best

Every day a new fitness program is born in the world to be declared a panacea for all figure flaws. Then it turns out that most of these methods are extremely stupid and useless. But the class of “the best of Pilates”, which we have tested on itsourselves, should be taken seriously. This program combines elements of Pilates, yoga, dance class and strength training.

This course is designed for women who dream of a model figure. They tried strength training and aerobics, but the ideal was never reached. Experts see the reason is that the modern fitness ignores muscle strain. When you do the exercise with dumbbells, your muscles are tense and strained. The worst thing is that after a repeat muscle never regains its former length. It is slightly shorter than before exercise and remains in this state for 2 to 3 days. This is exactly what prevents its growth! If it is combined with stretching tension, the figure can be transformed in months!

An hour long program includes the most effective elements of Pilates and yoga. And why yoga? Many asanas – are complex strength exercises. The alternation of asanas and Pilates just gives the effect of the variable stretching and tension of the muscles. The training has exclusively aimed character. It selectively corrects the shape of the buttocks, legs, and tightens the abs. And here is an exercise:

Pilates Exercise: plié with a ball

So, you need a gymnastic bar and a rubber ball. Starting position: heels together, toes apart. Hold the ball between your knees. Grasp the top of the body-bar, rising on your toes (heels still together) and lower into a squat – like if you were going to sit on an imaginary chair. Then rise slowly. Do 3 sets of 12 repetitions each.

Traditional Pilates

The main feature of the Pilates method is that it “works” with your body in a complex. Pilates improves muscle tone, making your movements so malleable, as if you were born right in the ballroom. Instead of training you back, abs and legs separately, you train the whole body at once. Agree – this is a significant difference.

In the traditional Pilates there are exercises which have to be performed on a mat, and exercises, which require trainers. Of course, the training apparatuses are special, developed by the author of the technique Joseph Pilates nearly a century ago. By the way, they are somewhat similar to the ancient instruments of torture. Interestingly, the surfaces of these simulators are unstable, so you have to constantly strive to maintain balance. Thus, a lot of small muscles join the work, which you do not ever train in the ordinary course of training. The simplest exercise in these simulators requires maximum concentration. It’s not that you turn the ergometer pedal and simultaneously tell the news to your friend.

You have to work hard on the mat, in the so-called «Mat Work» training. It describes only one exercise that is likely to be useful to you. In appearance it is very simple, but for some deadlift is a lot easier. Many people believe that training on simulators and on the mat are two very different techniques. But it is not so. Both are necessary to practice as a whole. By the way, here’s a tip: if you decide to try «Mat Work», pre-find the amount of the people in the group. It should not be more than 10 people. If you have to share the attention of the trainer with 30 colleagues, nothing good will come of it.

We strongly recommend that you combine Pilates with your regular fitness training. Our muscles are composed of two layers of muscles – the surface and interior. At the gym you touch the surface ones. With Pilates you study the so-called deep muscle layer to which the power exercises do not usually get. And it is very, very helpful. In addition, you make friends with your body and learn to feel it, become elegant and graceful …. In short, it’s worth it!

Pilates Exercise: The Rise of a Straight Leg

Take the supine position. Pull your knees to your chest and grasp the ankle. From this initial exercise, grasp the ankle of one leg and straighten it over. The other leg is flattened, but kept in the air along the floor. Pull the leg to the head with a fast movement – one! two! Change legs and then pull to the head – one! two! Make 5-10 “double” repetitions on each leg.

Pilates: Why and How

Pilates is a perfect addition to your workout routine. The lessons will make you flexible and graceful. In addition, Pilates classes have a great anti-aging effect not explained by science. By the way, those who practice yoga and stretching also look younger. Through Pilates you will get a dizzying sensation of lightness of the body, which you had in your youth. Pilates is the most effective and safest method of stretching. It has left far behind all other similar methods, even those that came to us from the ancient Japanese martial arts.