Frequently Asked Questions

1. What are the advantages of Pilates exercise?

The Pilates Method combines the advantages of yoga (breathing and concentration) and sports (condition and endurance). The exercises improve physical condition, coordination, and concentration. The supreme virtue of these exercises is the complexity of the bodily workout obtained. According to need, the muscles of the whole body are either strengthened or stretched, including the diminutive muscles around the spine and the pelvis. All the movements emanate from the center of bodily activity, the muscles of the stomach and the back.

2. Who can benefit from the Pilates method?

Anyone can do Pilates exercises, regardless of the level of skill or age. The program is suitable for people who want to improve their condition or their figure. Thanks to the variability of the exercises, a wide range of programs can be set up with various difficulties, ranging from those for complete beginners all the way up to exceptionally fit athletes. Pilates can supplant your present sporting activities, or it can enrich the conditioning component of training for your sport.

3. Are all Pilates exercises done on a mat?

Although mat exercises are the most widespread and accessible, the Pilates method is certainly not limited to the mat. Far from it - the Pilates method uses a wide array of machines and exercise equipment. Here are some of the rather intriguingly named machines we use: the Pilates Reformer, the Pilates Allegro® Reformer, Pilates Allegro® Tower of PowerTM, and the Wunda Chair. As for exercise equipment, there is the Magic Circle, Theraband, and Bosu, to name a few of the most often used.

4. Are small balls used in Pilates exercises?

No. An exercise method employing balance surfaces (such as overball), called Balantes (balance method), is unfortunately often mistakenly confused with the Pilates method. The basic principles of the Pilates method - concentration, control, precision, fluidity, the center and breating - must be followed during exercise vigilantly. The Pilates method is effective only with the maximum concentration possible. Any straying of attention beyond one´s own body is contraproductive, leading to a decrease in concentration, which degrades the quality of the exercise.

5. What are the health effects of the Pilates method?

  • Strengthening of the middle body, i.e. the muscles of the belly, the back and the pelvic bottom (it helps after childbirth, and with incontinence)
  • Elongation of shortened muscles (back of the thighs, neck spine, chest muscles, etc.)
  • Improvement of coordination and balance
  • Maintenance and increase of joint mobility range
  • Improvement of poor body posture
  • Stimulation of intestinal peristalsis
  • Limits bone decalcification
  • Increases endurance and maintains optimal body mass
  • Increase of lung capacity
  • Improvement of blood circulation in lower extremities

6. What is required in order to exercise?

The Pilates method is very accessible. All you need to exercise are comfortable sport clothes. Exercise shoes are not needed.

7. What is the difference between Poweryoga and Pilates?

Although both exercise methods belong to the Body and Mind category, Pilates is not a type of yoga.  They do both involve slow exercises with an emphasis on correct breathing. However, as opposed to Poweryoga, you do not breathe into the belly with Pilates, but into the lower part of the chest (so called lateral breathing), to allow firmness of the belly muscles even while inhaling. Also, while in Poweryoga you assume a body position (asan) and then hold in that position, it is fluid, precise movement that plays the main role in Pilates. The basic combination of Pilates exercises is carried out lying on the mat and is usually done without music.

8. How can I find more about the Pilates method?

Make an appointment for a free-of-charge consultation.

 

"If you are thirty and stiff and formless, you are old. If you are sixty and limber and strong, you are young."

Joseph Hubertus Pilates