What’s all the fuss about Pilates? It seems like everywhere you go these days, someones talking about the “magic” of Pilates. Well, if you’ve tried Pilates in a gym, you may have gone away feeling pretty disillusioned. The reason is simple—without expert small group or one on one training, you can’t possibly get all the nuances involved, in which case you wind up a.) injured, b.) confused, or c.) just plain overwhelmed to the point of hating it upon your first try.  

As a trained mat Pilates instructor, I know first hand what’s involved, and frankly, when I was first introduced to Pilates—I was NOT sold. In fact I, umm....hated it. Yep. There it is, I’ve said it. However, that was very quickly to change along with the speed at which I saw unfathomable results—one being the core tone gained in record time...that I’d never even had in my youth. Let me give you a brief synopsis of what Pilates actually is and isn’t, and hopefully, clear things up a bit.  

First of all, Pilates is not yoga. In fact, my toughest clients are those who’ve been yoga students for years. The reason is that the form and focus are quite different and the tendency is for them to use “yoga form.” Even the breathing tends to be different. Without someone to show you exactly how to do it, it’s virtually impossible to get the form down exactly. And if you don’t have the form down, you‘re not doing Pilates and you won’t get the quick results.  

Used traditionally by professional dancers for deep body conditioning and injury rehabilitation, Pilates is a 70 year old exercise technique first developed by German immigrant, Joseph Pilates.
Only recently has Pilates journeyed from it’s prolonged position on the periphery of conventional fitness methods. Now used for functional training, as well as body contouring, Pilates sessions are focused and intense; they are designed and modified according to individual flexibility, strength, and postural variants.  

FOCUSING ON THE CORE
The abdominal and back muscles are often referred to as the body’s core. Pilates exercises are designed to strengthen this core by developing pelvic stability and abdominal control. In addition, the exercises improve flexibility, joint mobility, and build strength.  

WHY IN-HOME OR SMALL GROUP TRAINING?
Instructors typically work one on one, or with a small group of participants in order to watch them closely and encourage engagement of the abdominals, the back, the upper legs, (quadriceps and hamstrings) and the buttocks, thus stabilizing the body’s core. You can find Pilates classes in most gyms today. The problem is that the gyms tend to “pack em’ in” jeopardizing safety and individualized quality form. You’ve probably heard people say they’ve tried Pilates and hurt themselves or “couldn’t get it.” IN-HOME AND SMALL GROUP TRAINING spares you those concerns and the time waisted doing it incorrectly. The results are incredibly fast...but only if you‘re instruction is good.  

THE MIND BODY CONNECTION
The mind body connection is fundamental in Pilates. Contrasting traditional exercises that tend to stress many repetitions in a single direction, Pilates exercises are performed with few but extremely precise repetitions in several planes of motion. Focus is required for exceptional results.  

IT‘S NO SECRET
Hollywood actors revere Pilates for their fit physiques. Precision and form are keys that only closely monitored training can give you for the drastic results you‘re looking for.