Understanding Foundational Pilates

Pilates is a great way of strengthening and toning all the muscles in your body – especially the core muscles. What are core muscles? These are the muscles in your abdomen and pelvic regions that holds your entire body in balance. The pilates instructor course provides you the opportunity to help other people of all ages and ability levels to improve their health and well-being.

This will result in you having a better overall posture which will help you look taller as well as thinner, and having a good posture is vital to our overall well-being.

Many athletes and even ballroom dancers practice Pilates in order to strengthen their core muscles and allow them to change direction quickly with better balance, thus reducing the risk of injury.

With Pilates, movements are performed slowly with total control in order to improve one’s awareness of his or her body. What this means is that when you become “aware” through lots of training, you know what the individual muscles in your body are doing and you gain better performance and control in yourself.

The basic Pilates exercise is suitable for people of all ages as well as those recovering from injury. For rehabilitation purposes, specific or customized Pilates exercises can be utilized to isolate the injured limb whilst giving the rest of the body a great workout.

However, if you suffer from hip or back injuries and you’re considering Pilates for your rehabilitation treatment, it is advised that you consult your doctor first. It is also a good idea to get yourself some one to one coaching from a qualified Pilates instructor to ensure that you perform the routines correctly and not over-strain any part of your body.

The trick to getting the maximum benefits out of Pilates is to perform every motion with precision and control. In addition, proper breathing as well as position of your body is critical. Therefore, as a beginner you will want to find a school that takes the time to correct your motions so you do not form any bad habits and get the best foundational techniques possible right from the start. This will ensure that you don’t waste your time or risk causing yourself injury.

To develop your body awareness, Pilates must be approached with a full dedication and also concentration. To practice Pilates in it’s truest form, your mind must be focused on every single movement and your breathing in sync.

This is something you definitely won’t be developing overnight so you should expect some time to pass before you get over the initial learning curve. Once you reach a certain point, you will realize what a great mind, body and spirit workout it is.

For those of you who are looking to lose weight, Pilates is good but it might not help you lose massive weight – you will need to supplement your workouts with regular intervals of cardiovascular exercise during the week. Although Pilates does in fact help boost your metabolic rate, losing large amounts of weight will not happen unless you monitor your diet as well.

Simply go here to become a Pilates instructor.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/3480308