WHAT IS PILATES ?

Pilates helps us stay slim, tone our muscles and stabilize our joints. It consists of a series of personalised exercises that are gentle on the joints and spine and help our muscles work in harmony. The method is very different from the usual jumping, mass training where there is a significant risk of injury or pain.

Pilates is a body shaping and stabilising exercise method that has existed for over a hundred years, but was not known in our country for a long time. The movement technique was developed by Joseph Hubertus Pilates and he called it "Controll", but everyone just called it Pilates training, so it was later spread under that name.

Pilates was not initially very popular in Germany (Joseph's native country) or Europe, so the master went to America, where he soon found many followers. This type of movement technique has become a way to shape the stars! (Kate Hudson, Gwyneth Paltrow, etc....)

Pilates offers the benefit of body sculpting as opposed to simply losing weight. Pilates exercises emphasise correct posture. By straightening our hunched backs and head forward position, we look taller and have a more aesthetic posture. In many cases, Pilates exercises will stretch you out, open up your chest and this will benefit posture!

Celebrities who have kept in shape with Pilates exercises include Kate Hudson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Anniston, Cameron Diaz, Megan Fox, Madonna, Amanda Seyfried...and many more. You can join in too!

Get your muscle tone up by stabilising, your lymphatic circulation boosted with abdominal exercises, so you feel firmer and more confident!

Special pilates machines allow stretching-strengthening exercises that tone our muscles. So, as well as shedding fat, we can have shapely, toned muscles that are more toned than bulky, bloated muscles.

In women, it is common to have a forward tilt of the pelvis (so called anterior pelvic tilt) , which is linked to a weakening of the abdominal and gluteal muscles. Weakening of the abdominal muscles causes the intestines to push the tummy forward, and weak gluteal muscles cause the buttocks to flatten. It is no coincidence that many women are desperate to combat this. However, the usual forms of exercise put more strain on the thigh muscles, which is not beneficial if they are too thick. Special pilates machines and exercises engage these hard-to-reach muscles, making them very effective.

Pilates aims to build a healthy body without risk of injury, with proper focus and attention. Special breathing techniques and exercises that work the entire musculoskeletal system, stabilize the spine and other joints of the body. 

HOW PILATES WORKS ??

Pilates aims to build a healthy body without or minimal risk of injury, with proper focus and attention. Special breathing techniques and exercises that work the entire musculoskeletal system, stabilize the spine and other joints of the body.

The founder has developed a series of over 500 different exercises, which can be adapted to suit everyone's physique and fitness level. Initially, the exercises can be done simply on the floor or on a mat - these are the so-called "mat exercises".

REFORMER and CHAIR
Later on, you can continue the exercises on special equipments  with springs, which allow you to gradually increase the load to the natural approximate level. Eccentric exercises, which can be done on the machine, allow you to strengthen muscle groups that are difficult to reach while stretching the muscle. Prolonged, gradually built-up, rhythmic exercises improve concentration, relax tension and increase flexibility and flexibility. The pilates method strengthens all parts of the body symmetrically and evenly, even the hard-to-shape buttocks, thighs and core muscles. The eccentric strengthening builds lean muscles and allows us to avoid muscle mass growth that is undesirable for women.

PILATES EQIPMENTS

The method consists of combining stretching and strengthening exercises by eliminating gravity and increasing the load on the springs in steps. In this way, exercises much closer to natural movement patterns can be built up.

STRETCHING AND STRENGTHENING
Stretching combined with strengthening (these are known as eccentric exercises) increases the stability of the area without reducing the flexibility (range of movement of the joints). It is no coincidence that the method is extremely popular with women, where too strong muscles are not desirable.

SELECTIVE EXERCISE
A further advantage is that the machines can be used to switch off or selectively reduce the load on an injured or sensitive joint. In the case of sports injuries or after childbirth, the elimination of certain body parts helps to maintain and, if necessary, increase general fitness.

MUSCLE BALANCE
Muscles that have developed unilaterally due to postural defects or injury can be rebalanced.

COORDINATION
Joint stability is ensured by active and passive stabilisers. Passive stabilizers include tendons, joint capsules and ligaments. Active stabilisers are the muscles that hold the joint in its physiological path of movement by acting against the load. Weakness of the active stabilisers or slowness of their reflexes "imposes" all the load on the passive elements, causing overstretching, injury or pain. This is the basis of all sprains, whether in the ankle or even in the lower back, in the small joints of the spine. With proper exercises on the machines, these muscles and their reflexes can be safely developed.