Thinking of starting pilates? Seven reasons why you should start!
Sheila Preston 
What are the benefits of Fitness Pilates and where can I find a class?
What is Pilates?
Pilates offers a safe way to condition your core and your whole body to improve mobility, strength and tone. Please read on, for more information about the benefits in these areas.
Fitness Pilates is a form of pilates that blends fitness conditioning with pilates moves, and is set to atmospheric music and so is enjoyable and fun. We use different music so the sessions can be relaxing, or involve upbeat flows depending on the atmosphere and the level of the participants.
Who is it for?
Pilates can be suitable for beginners and those new to exercise and also for conditioned individuals who train regularly.
If you are new to pilates, whatever your initial fitness, it's important to check out whether the particular class is geared up to beginners as some pilates moves can be quite advanced.
All of my Fitness Pilates classes to date are suitable for beginners.
What are the benefits of pilates and how could it help me?
The benefits of pilates are many!
Increased mobility and flexibility
Increased mobility and flexibility is such a key feature of pilates and has benefit to all people, from those already conditioned seeking to prevent injuries, seniors seeking to move more, for beginners getting into exercise and for many of us in mid life who are finding the body stiffening up and full of aches and pains.
Regular mobility of the body gets the blood flowing around the body, helps us to extend our range of movement. We stretch all the major muscles. We mobilise the spine and our joints in all planes of movement. Participants are often amazed at how their flexibility improves by the end of the class.
In Fitness Pilates we often begin with a standing sequence to music which serves to mobilise and warm the whole body before moving to the mat. An emphasis on standing for part of the session is key we are reminding ourselves of the functional importance of movement for our every day living rather than only moving on our back or front.
Improved balance
When standing we are challenging our balance and our balance in turn, also challenges our core. Learning to stabilise our core whilst balancing, having one leg off the floor when standing or kneeling and moving in different movement planes, can be challenging at first.
Improved flexibility, mobility and balance is vital for our overall resilience to the challenges of everyday life as we stabilise walking on rocky terrain or pavements, twisting and turning round, or the challenges of lifting heavy weights in the gym.
Improved proprioception and body control
As we test out our balance and stability through movement we are improving our proprioception that is, our sense of our body in space. Balance and body control is absolutely crucial as we get older. Often in peri and menopause, our sense of balance in our surroundings can feel challenged. However, we can created body resilience and our senses as we give ourselves gentle demands and learn to adjust. Each Fitness pilates session involves mobilisation and balance challenges for this reason.
Improved Strength
As you progress your practice you will notice that all parts of your body will start to become stronger. Pilates ultimately is a body weight practice and when we work as a whole you will notice improved strength in your lower body legs, glutes and hips, as well as your upper body, shoulders, upper back and arms. As we develop our practice we will bring in various props - balls, bands, and weights, to place extra challenge to the movements.
A strong back and core
Pilates is most well known for developing strength in your core and your back. Many of the exercises are focused around developing core stability, strengthening those deep abdominal muscles or corset that wraps around your core and back. The stronger these deep core muscles get the more you will find general back ache disappearing, your posture improving and you'll experience a sense of walking taller.
Improved control
The movements in pilates are often about lengthening and employing slow and controlled movement. This increased control over the body in motion and and the resistance challenges of movement and body weight are key to developing functional strength. Pilates is functional exercise in that it supports movement of everyday life. In Fitness pilates, we do a significant level of standing mobility and standing pilates which contributes to transferring what we do on the mat to our everyday posture and movement.
Improving posture and addressing imbalances
Key to pilates is establishing correct posture. We spend a moment every session to set up correctly, in good posture, breath and with the pelvis in neutral. key to this practice is developing awareness of how our body moves - in class, but also transferred to everyday life. As we gain an everyday awareness of our posture, our postural habits and its imbalances, and knowledge of how to correct ourselves; along with strengthening our core, we will gradually find our posture improves and previous aches and pains start to disappear.
Where can I find a class?
At the moment I'm running classes on on the following days and times:
Monday 9.30 am Beginners Pilates, The Little Theatre, Church Street, Chesham
Monday 7.45 pm - Chesham Youth Centre Gym
Thursday 7 pm - Chesham Youth Centre Gym
You can book classes here
Who might not be suitable for a general Fitness Pilates class?
The classes that I run are suitable for general populations rather than for people under a GP or consultant with a long term conditions who might be more suited to a specialist 1-1 practitioner.
If you are experiencing general aches and pains (and you have been checked out by a doctor to rule out a specific condition) then doing Fitness Pilates can be an excellent way of developing your mobility and strength.
Often people find that aches and pains are less of a problem or even disappear when they are established in a pilates programme.
If you are based in Chesham you can book classes here. If you are not based in Chesham of cannot attend classes we have an online version coming soon so you can do Fitness Pilates Any Time an online provision that is coming soon.
Sheila Preston is a personal trainer/life coach and Pilates instructor. She is also trained in GP referral for working with long term conditions. She runs group pilates classes in Chesham and online and delivers 1-1 personal training. She also runs TRX classes and B-Fit Women's Personal Training Club in her garden gym If you'd like to find out more about click here.
Do contact Sheila at sheila@thinkfitbefit.co.uk if you would like to discuss starting pilates.