What is Pilates?
For those who are not familiar with Pilates yet, it is a system of exercise that was developed with emphasis on strengthening your body's core muscles surrounding the spine, and moving outwards toward the external muscles in the torso and limbs. With a focus on proper posture, muscle control and keeping your spine in good alignment, the exercises help to create muscular strength and tone while maintaining your body's flexibility and stability. This is also a major reason why Pilates is effective in helping injury recovery or improving your performance if you are already an athlete.
Which brings me back to why I decided to try out the Pilates trial class. After 10, maybe more, months of being rather sedentary, I thought it was a good idea to get back into shape without the strain that comes with other forms of exercises, such as running or even going to the gym.
Matwork or equipment?
In Pilates, you can choose to do matwork, or use equipment during your exercise session. One benefit of using the equipment is that it brought more precision to the session and allowed us to be more aware of our bodies as we went through the motions.
So despite its draconian-sounding name, I got on the Reformer, which was an innocent-looking board with attached springs and ropes which you use for various kinds of workouts.
I was an absolute beginner with Pilates equipment, but it was not too hard to pick up. Daniel Dittmar, who is the Head Instructor at Focus Pilates, walked a few of us from the media through a brief session on the Reformer as well as the Pilates Tower, which is a more advanced version of the Reformer.
Depending on your familiarity with the equipment and fitness level, you and your instructor can opt for exercises ranging from gentle to intense. Pulling myself back and forth as I laid on my back and held my legs at 45 degree to my torso, Daniel reminded us all to keep our backs in 'neutral' position as we imagined ourselves tightening our stomach muscles inwards and towards our belly buttons. A neutral position requires you to keep your back in its most natural alignment when it is at rest, with no excessive stretching or bending, as we consciously remember to hold our core stomach muscles taut while pumping our arms to move the board.
My initial reaction was that the movements were not hard to pick up at all. But minutes into this exercise, I could already feel my tummy and arms straining to keep up with what my brain told them to do. But I'm certain I didn't look like I was even struggling to the casual by-stander.
It was on to the Tower Reformer next, a more advanced piece of equipment that allowed you to do even more physically demanding exercises. Springs could be adjusted to cater to various fitness levels, and again, we were all required to lie on our backs as our legs did most of the pumping. It was during this session that I realised my left leg was weaker than my right, as I struggled to have both legs keep in time to synchronise the circular motions we were making.
The benefits of Pilates
According to Daniel, this was quite common with most people, as we tend to favour the stronger side of our body in the daily course of our movements. But this leads to bad posture as well, as we find ourselves leaning our weight more the side of our body which is stronger. This causes our spines to be put out of alignment eventually and that just means the inevitable aches and pains. And Pilates allowed us to figure out which part of our bodies needed conditioning.
I finished the introductory session feeling physically energised. I was also more aware of the alignment within my own body and felt that I had just been through an intensive workout, despite the low-intensity movements that we had been going through. My verdict on using Pilates equipment? It works.
If you're interested in finding out more about how to do Pilates or in injury rehabilitation, you can call Focus Pilates at 6733 8785, or log onto www.focuspilates.com.sg.
