Posts Tagged ‘pilates on the mat’

Pilates on the Mat

Thursday, July 17th, 2008

Pilates done on a mat is great full-body workout, and is an excellent place for Pilates beginners to start. It is fun, and relatively inexpensive, and very popular among Pilates studios. Through a series of positions, poses and movements an instructor will guide you through a balanced, full body workout. It’s a socially inclusive practice, since some of the classes will be anywhere from 10-15 people.

This number, while it may seem like more than private, is a relatively small base of clients. This size of a class is easily manageable to a qualified trainer. A qualified mat Pilates instructor is essential to a beneficial mat Pilates workout, since they will be sure that you are using the proper posture, alignment, and engaging your core.

Mat Pilates is considered to be a “cross-conditioning” system, which focus solely on your own body as resistance. It tones and shapes the hips, back, chest, shoulder, calves, arms, and abdominals. Precise strengthening will be focused on the abdomen, since it houses the core muscles, and is the main ingredient to effective and healthy movement throughout the body.

The trainer will instruct you to stand, sit, and lie down. From all of these static body positions there will be extremity work done which will all stem from the engagement of the core.

Mat Pilates is known for streamlining the physique, and lengthening the muscles. It is a great addition to any cardio, strength training or athletic regime and is gentle on the body. People who generally use the traditional gym method of “working out” fear bulking up, and Mat Pilates offers an alternative method of exercise which implements a “leaning out” of a person’s muscle build, while still adding strength and focus.

The mat Pilates trainer will typically talk each student through the movements, and recommend visualizations that will emphasize deep and intuitive breathing patterns. With this “coach” helping you through a mat Pilates class you will be better equipped to benefit from the practice. While Pilates DVD’s and exercise programs on television can benefit the body, it’s ideal that you have someone overseeing you.

Without a highly qualified mat Pilates instructor helping you to get the most out of your workout, you may be missing vital postural positioning, which can lead to improper spinal alignment tin the future or even injury. The encouragement that you will receive from the qualified trainer will also push you to do more, feel more, and focus better at the task at hand.

For those tat like a more private approach to working out, there is the option of a one-on-one class. Especially for beginners who have never taken a mat Pilates class, it is essential to understand the techniques behind the practice. Pilates, while it is an excellent source for strengthening, it also involves a lot of different layers, or mental connection, body connection, and breathing.

These layers take some getting sued to, since our minds are not trained to slow down and be quiet, since some of us associate exercise with high intensity and loud music.

A personal one-on-one session or two would allow for a new student to build a foundation of understanding of the Pilates method in a mat based environment.