What Does Pilates Do for the Body?
Pilates refers to a type of physical activity that challenges the core's strength and stretches major muscle groups. A low-impact type of exercise, Pilates and clinical Pilates can benefit almost anyone. Whether you're recovering from an injury, you're losing mobility, you're recovering from giving birth, or you just want to improve your strength and flexibility, Pilates is an excellent opportunity to benefit your body.
But what does Pilates do for the body?
While we all know someone that raves about the benefits of Pilates, if you've never been to a class, you may not fully understand what Pilates actually does for the body. Believe it or not, Pilates is not just the newest fad or health-trend. Engaging in Pilates or clinical Pilates can provide a range of benefits – from improved strength to rehabilitation of injury and increased mobility. When combined with physiotherapy, clinical Pilates goes hand in hand with injury recovery treatments and muscle rehabilitation.
Why Do People Do Pilates?
You don't have to be injured to start Pilates – in fact; there are seems to be an abundance of Pilates studios popping up around Australia as more people learn the benefits of engaging in the exercise for general fitness. If you're wondering "why do people do Pilates?", the main reasons for doing so include:
- Injury rehabilitation
- Postnatal strength
- Back problems
- Fitness & toning
- Strength & conditioning
- Improve mobility & flexibility
What Does Pilates Do for the Body?
The benefits of Pilates for your body are plentiful. Pilates incorporates strength, stability, movement and flexibility. Pilates works by stretching and lengthening all major muscle groups in a balanced fashion. Pilates' exercises generally create muscular exertion and can be adapted to provide either gentle strength training for rehabilitation or a strenuous workout for athletes. Pilates centres on controlled, stable movements, working on alignment, posture, mobility, whole-body strength and coordination of the muscles.
As a low impact type of exercise, Pilates can:
- Increase body awareness
- Retrain motor control
- Correct posture
- Strengthen muscles
- Improve stability
- Improve joint mobility and flexibility
What Does Pilates Do for the Body When Combined with Physio?
When combined with physiotherapy, clinical Pilates is frequently used as a rehabilitation treatment for an injury or chronic pain. Working with a trained physiotherapist, Pilates can provide a solution for injury, movement dysfunction, or physical weakness.
Pilates requires a lot of pf control and precision, so your physio will be able to identify any weaknesses, and tailor a Pilates program to strengthen and improve mobility of your weakened muscles. As Pilates can be tailored to each individual, exercises for physio rehabilitation are generally low-impact and gentle. If you're attending regular Pilates sessions with a physiotherapist, you will soon see improvements in strength, flexibility and mobility and overall rehabilitation of your illness or injury.
What Are the Benefits of Pilates?
As well as the aforementioned reasons for partaking in Pilates, there are also a number of holistic benefits that come with regularly doing Pilates. Some of the other benefits of Pilates include:
- Less back pain
- Better performance in other workouts
- Relaxation of your neck, back and shoulders
- Stress management and relaxation
- Improved concentration
- Relieved tension
- Improved core strength
- Strengthened pelvic floor
What Does Pilates Do for the Body After Giving Birth?
Getting back into exercise after having a baby can be tough. Postnatal Pilates is a great way to get back into gentle exercise and help your body to recover from the stress that it has been put under. Postnatal Pilates can target and strengthen the muscles most affected by pregnancy and birth and increase overall whole-body strength and fitness. The main benefits of postnatal Pilates include:
The Benefits of Postnatal Pilates
- Retraining your pelvic floor
- Reducing abdominal separation
- Core strengthening
- Improve diastasis recti
- Prevent back pain
- Strengthen and energise the whole body
Want to Learn More About Clinical Pilates?
NQ Physio Solutions are Townsville's leading team of physiotherapists, providing both one-on-one sessions and group Pilates classes. Our physiotherapists at NQ Physio Solutions are trained in clinical Pilates, and regularly integrate the style of exercise into rehabilitation treatment programs. Our clinical Pilates services add an additional element of clinical knowledge to all Pilates exercises; ensuring that you and your body's requirements are in safe hands.
At NQ Physio, we centre our treatment on what your body needs. Whether you've suffered from injury or just want to improve strength and mobility, we can tailor our clinical Pilates sessions to meet your needs. The leading experts in rehabilitation treatment in Townsville, check out our Pilates class timetable and book in for a private Pilates session or group class online or on (07) 4729 0055 today.