Hi all,
PPF Co-Founder Emily here to answer another frequently asked Pilates question!
Is Pilates easy or hard?
You bet your ass it is hard! We explain why Pilates is not easy below:
Pilates works your little muscles
It is easy to work the more dominate, global muscles, such as your quadriceps (the front of your thighs) or your pectorals (your chest). It is much, much harder to work the little stabilising muscles that Pilates does, such as:
- the glutes (booty)
- the rotator cuff (an important stabiliser of the shoulder)
- the mid back muscles (these help you to set your shoulders back and open your chest),
- and lets not forget the most important muscles of Pilates:
- the CORE! (the pelvic floor, transversus abdominals and the deep back stabilisers)
and many more small muscles, but we don't want to bore you!
These little stabilising muscles are so important for the body to move well. When you engage these muscles you will know! It is an activation you have never felt before. You may have heard many people say "Pilates works muscles I never knew I had!"; and this is why! Pilates is very hard when the correct muscles are engaged.
Pilates requires complete concentration
Pilates is an exercise in mindfulness. Your Pilates instructor, whether online or in a studio, will be telling you multiple things to focus on as you perform an exercise. You need to focus on:
- Breathing. Breathing correctly (in through the nose and out through the mouth), exhaling and inhaling at the right part of the movement and breathing into your diaphragm!
- Listening. Listening to every 'cue' your instructor tells you, as it helps you to get the most out of each movement.
- Telling your body what movement it needs to do.
- Engaging your core.
Pilates is not a time to zone out! It is almost like learning a new language. Initially it is so confusing, but as you put in more work, you get better and better results.
There are many types of PilatesÂ
What also makes Pilates 'hard' is that there are now so many types of Pilates classes! Traditional Pilates used to only include 26 exercises, repeated again and again. However, nowadays there are so many ways to make Pilates classes more difficult, such as:
- adding props, such as the Pilates circle, Pilates ball, light hand weights, loop bands, long bands.
- adding interval timing to Pilates, which is what we do in our Pilates Interval Training class or PIT class. In this class, eight or nine Pilates exercises are performed for one minute each and then repeated four times. Each exercise can be built on each time, therefore becoming more challenging.
- adding cardio to Pilates classes; such as BARRE Pilates, which is a very popular class at our studios! HIIT classes can also involve some Pilates exercises, done at a quicker pace. Here's a 20 minute Premium Pilates and Fitness Barre workout for you; you will feel the burn!
Pilates is all about control
Exercise that involves moving as fast as you can without control is easy. Pilates is all about controlling every movement of each exercise; that is, controlling the effort part of the exercise and the lengthening part of the exercise. This is much harder than it seems!
Our muscles have become lazy, due to our increasing use of technology and sedentary lives. Our muscles do not want to work more than they need to, but Pilates makes them by:
- Encouraging you to control the lengthening phase of every exercise
- Instructing you to go slowly when an exercise fatigues you and you just want to go fast to finish it (we have all been there!)
- Demanding perfect technique with each exercise. Getting the technique right will result in engaging your muscles more and equals more results! Control with your movements will lead to toning of your body!
To summarise:
- Pilates works your small, stabilising muscles in a big way!
- Pilates involves full mind and body concentration.
- There are many styles of Pilates.
- Pilates is all about controlling your movement.
To end: There is nothing easy about Pilates and Pilates is damn hard! But also, so much FUN and very, very REWARDING!
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