Benefits of Pilates Outside of the Studio
When I first started Pilates, I was a running and participating in triathlons. I didn’t know what I didn’t know and I thought I was doing the best thing for my body! Until I sustained a stress fracture in my hip from overuse (or more specifically – misuse!)! While I truly believe movement is good for our bodies, I also believe there is a smart way to move. We are made with predispositions and our bodies will fall into patterns, unless we specifically train to avoid bad patterns and rebuild good ones! That’s where Pilates comes in! Pilates resets our bodies and retrains bad patterns in order to make everything better! Not only is Pilates great for retraining and aligning the body, it also helps me be SO aware of my body, what it is feeling, my breath, the list goes on! There are so many, “Benefits of Pilates outside of the Studio”.
Tools in your Toolbox
I tell my clients all the time, Pilates gives you tools in your toolbox, so when life happens, you know how to move, stretch, and help fix your troubles, before they become big problems! I struggle with low back tightness on a regular basis. Through lifting kiddos and not always getting to take care of my own body before others, my back gets tight! The second I feel it coming on, I know I need to stop and take a few moments for myself, stretch out and regroup! Because of the Pilates method, I am able to know exactly what to do that is helpful and makes me feel better within minutes!
“Concentrate on the correct movement each time you exercise, lest you do them improperly and lose all vital benefits” – Joseph Pilates
My teacher heart loves to help clients do the same. Often times, clients will come in with an ailment that happens often and I love to be able to teach them the tools to feel better on their own!
Breath Work
“Never slouch as doing so compresses the lungs, crowds other organs, rounds the back and throws you off balance.”
-Joseph Pilates
Breath work in Pilates is VITAL (and also one of the hardest parts for new clients!)! When new clients come in, I tell them that the Pilates breath of inhale through your nose and exhale through an open relaxed jaw (as if you’re fogging up a mirror) is one of the most important, but foundational pieces to Pilates – and also, one of the last things you will feel accomplished with! As we inhale, we are expanding our chest, ribs, back, belly and contracting the diaphragm. Often times, new clients will inhale their shoulders up and belly in. We have lost the ability to expand through our ribs and chest! During exhalation, our ribs draw down and together, our abdominals engage and the diaphragm relaxes and returns up to push the air out.
While this can be challenging to accomplish at first, it can aide in our movement, stress levels and even the birthing process! If I didn’t have Pilates breath work to help guide me, the delivery of my two kiddos would have been a lot more challenging! Breath work is also great to help decrease my heart rate when stressed or anxious. I focus on making my inhale and exhale gradually longer.
I recently read that 80% of fat is excreted through respiration!!!! WHAT?!?! Fatty acids oxidize and are released in the form of CO2. (From Ben Greenfield Fitness) Wow, that’s huge! Breath is SO important and underutilized as a resource!
Pilates can help in make your daily life and movements better! We would obviously love for you to try us out, but the goal is just to share the resource of Pilates as a way to feel better and do better through your days. Find a teacher you love and stick with it because it is transformational!
We also have on-demand videos that are a great way to get your body moving!
In Strength and Confidence,
Stephanie
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