May 7th is Pilates Day! It’s a day where the whole Pilates world, across the globe, celebrate Pilates and the impact that it has on all of our lives. The goal is also to promote awareness of Pilates and the benefits that it can provide to anyone, from any walk of life. We want everyone to know how Pilates can make them feel: strong, empowered, energetic, and much more.  

What is Pilates?

Pilates has a storied history and began as a program to help veterans, but it has morphed since its beginnings. Today, Pilates is a low impact non-aerobic exercise program that focuses on building strength core strength for any member of the population. Your core muscles are essential to balance, strength, flexibility, and overall health. In our world, where people are tied to desks and always looking at screens, core muscles often go neglected. Pilates can fix that.  

Pilates is a particularly useful exercise program because it scales. You can start out with Pilates even if you are a complete beginner to this kind of exercise. Over time as you gain control, strength, and flexibility, you can continue to challenge yourself with new poses and exercises. You can also expect to see benefits in your arms and legs, your overall energy levels, and your range of motion, when you regularly practice Pilates.  

Pilates is often compared to yoga, as both can focus on the core. You can certainly bring the mindfulness techniques of yoga with you to Pilates, but you’ll also get a more intense core workout. Plus, with Pilates you can use equipment to further challenge yourself or help you target specific areas.  

The Benefits of Pilates

There are many potential benefits of Pilates, including: 

• Improved posture 
• Improved flexibility 
• Improved balance  
• Improved range of motion 
• Injury prevention 
• Increased body awareness 
• Increased energy levels  
• Decreased stress 

Pilates can also reduce pain, depending on the cause of that pain and where you’re experiencing it. For example, Pilates has been known to reduce back pain, as well as alleviate menstrual cramps. 

The benefits of Pilates don’t stop there – the exercise is known to have many other positive effects. For example, reduced pain and increased flexibility and bodily awareness can in many cases lead to a healthier sex life. More energy and reduced stress can improve your motivation across the board. Overall, practicing Pilates can have a significant and wide-ranging impact on your life.  

Celebrate Pilates Day Yourself

Newcomers and long-time lovers of Pilates can both celebrate Pilates Day with us by signing up for a class. Or consider these personal challenges you might take on to enjoy Pilates Day: 

• Journal about what Pilates has meant to you and how it has changed your personal journey.  
• Challenge yourself to try a new Pilates exercise or perform one longer than you might normally.  
• Invite close friends or families to join you in some Pilates movements.  
• Share parts of your Pilates journey online over social media.  
• Practice Pilates in a new place, like a riverside, meadow, or other natural place.  

If you want to get in on a class, you can sign up for one with ABsolute Pilates. Contact us today!  

Although many view Pilates as a women’s exercise, when Joseph Pilates invented it in the 1920s, he did so in an attempt to support men’s health, specifically veterans. He developed a series of exercises that support core strength, flexibility, and many other key facets of physical health. That’s why Pilates is no longer targeted towards veterans and has been adopted by a wide range of people, from professional athletes to those bound to office chairs for most of their day. You might see a lot of information about how Pilates supports women’s health, because it does. However, it is also an exceptional tool to help support men and their overall wellbeing. Here are some reasons why men should consider Pilates, based on their various health goals.  

Support for Chronic Pain 

Many men suffer from chronic pain, whether it’s caused by sitting at a desk all day, performing repetitive motions at work, or persistent old injuries. Pilates strengthens the core muscles, which are needed to support the back and prevent poor movements that exacerbate certain kinds of chronic pain. When you have stronger muscles to rely on, you put less strain on injured muscles. You can also develop better posture which can help to prevent chronic pain, particularly in the back and neck. Pilates can help with the knees, arms, and any other spots in which you might experience chronic pain. Your physiotherapist can show you which Pilates movements will help with your specific problems, helping to minimize pain and better manage chronic conditions.  

Balance Weightlifting Exercises  

Men who lift weights develop mass, but they may neglect their flexibility and smaller muscles groups. Pilates helps you to build strength in smaller, potentially neglected muscle groups. Strengthening these stabilizer muscles helps significantly with posture, and it can improve your strength and performance when executing compound lifts to a surprising degree. It will also help you to maintain or improve flexibility as you bulk, which is critical for safe movement and performance. Pilates encourages you to move in ways that you don’t typically move while weightlifting, and by diversifying your movements you create a stronger body and improve your overall fitness.  

Faster, Better Injury Recovery      

Whether you play sports professionally or simply for your own enjoyment, you may eventually face injury. Even those who don’t partake in organized sport are at risk for injury through the strains of everyday life! The core strength, balance, and flexibility developed through Pilates can help you to avoid these injuries in the first place. However, if injury does occur, Pilates can provide a safer outlet to begin moving the affected muscles and slowly restore strength, balance, and flexibility to the area. Your physiotherapist can help you to tailor Pilates exercises to your specific needs, based on the type and location of your injury.  

Improve Sports Performance  

Depending on your specific sport, you may focus a disproportionate amount on the major muscle groups involved and not enough on the more minor muscles which have the potential to enhance your performance. Pilates will help you to focus on the muscles in your core, which are neglected in many sports but which can significantly enhance your performance by supporting the other muscle groups.  

Develop Pelvic Floor Muscles        

Men may not use the pelvic floor muscles in the same way as women, but they are still vital to your overall health. A strong pelvic floor helps you to maintain control of the organs in the area, and pelvic floor exercises may even improve sexual performance.  

Ready to Try a Pilates Class? 

Men are more than welcome at the Pilates classes hosted at ABsolute Pilates. Please feel free to reach out to us for more information, or take a look at our class schedule here! 

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      

With its emphasis on core muscles and endurance, you might think of Pilates as an exercise option for only young, fit people – and you wouldn’t be alone. However, Pilates is great for people of all ages and fitness levels, including seniors! From mat classes to reformer classes, Pilates can be adjusted for seniors to provide many of the exact health benefits that the aging body needs. Here’s what you need to know about these benefits and how Pilates can be adjusted for seniors.  

Benefits of Pilates for Seniors  

As with any person who goes through a Pilates course, seniors will find that their strength, especially their core strength, improves greatly. This newfound strength is key in helping seniors to complete daily tasks, remain agile, and maintain a sense of independence. However, it offers many other benefits that you may find surprising. Both the improved strength and exercise achieved through Pilates can provide: 

• Increased circulation: As we exercise, we increase our circulation. Having more muscle mass will promote better circulation even when you’re just sitting still. Circulation provides its own benefits, including quicker and more complete healing. As seniors typically have slower healing times, this boost to circulation can be very beneficial. 
• Improved balance and stability: Core muscles are some of the most essential muscles to help us correct from falls and remain more stable on our feet. Seniors are more prone to falls, especially if they do not have the core muscles needed to help correct themselves during a slip. You can reduce your odds of falling and injuring yourself by building core muscles.   
• Increased mobility: Pilates can improve your overall range of motion. Tight muscles and tendons, along with old injuries and scar tissue, can reduce how far we can open or close our joints. Pilates exercises can help you to improve mobility and work to overcome these challenges. Your physiotherapist can guide you to the correct Pilates movements to help with your specific joint problems.   
• Stronger posture: With improved core muscles comes better posture, both while sitting and standing. The core muscles can thus support the neck and back, sometimes even improving chronic pain. 
• Reduced pain: Various kinds of chronic pain can be reduced through Pilates exercises. Arthritis, osteoporosis, joint issues, back pain and more can be addressed to give you a better quality of life.  
• Reduced stress: All exercise reduces stress by releasing hormones that help to improve your mood. Pilates goes a step further by incorporating mindfulness principles that can help you to soothe anxiety, challenge depression, and build a more positive mental state.   

Pilates Adjustments for Seniors 

You may be concerned that a particular condition you have prevents you from practicing Pilates. However, our instructors can adjust Pilates for almost all conditions and chronic issues that you might have. Some conditions that cause folks to worry when they’re thinking of trying Pilates, like osteoporosis and arthritis, can actually be improved with the help of Pilates! The additional muscle mass and flexibility you gain during Pilates actually helps you to improve bone mass and resist the effects of osteoporosis. Pilates movements can also help to reduce the pain from arthritis and other chronic conditions! If you’re unsure of how Pilates can help you, reach out to us at ABsolute Pilates to discuss it with one of our trained professionals.  

 

Whether you’re new to exercising or just looking to switch things up, Pilates is an excellent option. You might think of it as a tough core workout, but it can be very easily adjusted for those of every skill level and physical fitness level, making Pilates a great option for beginners! If you’re skeptical as to whether Pilates is right for you, here’s everything you need to know.  

What is Pilates?

Pilates was named after its inventor, Joseph Pilates, whose focus was creating an exercise program to support soldiers during the war. It turns out that what he created has much broader applications; Pilates has the ability to support health and wellbeing, as well as to support physiotherapy efforts in injury recovery, and much more.  

Pilates is a low impact-exercise, which means it is not too taxing on joints, nor is it overly focused on cardio-vascular health.  Instead, it focuses on adding muscle, balance, and strength to the core. The core is responsible for much of our posture and balance, so building strength to this area can help improve many posture-related problems, speed up injury recovery, and more.  

Typical beginner Pilates moves will be about engaging the core and the back. Many exercises will stretch the hips, the spine, and the arms and legs. You will be lying, sitting, or standing on a mat when you complete most of these exercises unless you are using a Reformer machine. ABsolute Pilates uses Reformer machines, which can be very helpful to target different muscles on the body and ensure proper form. Don’t be intimidated – they are relatively simple to use, and your instructor will guide you, if you want to use them. Beginners need not feel obligated to jump into using a Reformer machine, mat work will do just fine! 

You will gain flexibility and confidence with the moves as you progress, and you’ll be challenged with increasingly difficult poses. If you already have strong core strength and balance, you may find that you can do more challenging Pilates poses right away.  

What are the Benefits of Pilates?

As a beginner, you will probably see a marked improvement in core strength, which will come with a wide range of benefits. These might include: 

• Mobility: Anyone who has had surgery or an injury will benefit from the boost to mobility that Pilates can bring. By stretching and doing guided, repeated exercises you can improve any joint’s range of motion, especially after that joint has undergone surgery.  

• Posture: Our posture is supported by our core muscles. When you improve the strength in these supportive muscles then you can also reduce the stress on your neck, back, hips and shoulders, sometimes relieving pain in these areas if the pain is partly or entirely stemming from posture-related issues.  
• Balance: Balance will help you every time you move. For seniors especially, the benefits of improved balance are critical. Through Pilates you can prevent falls and feel more secure in a wide range of other activities. 
• Flexibility: Even if you don’t need to improve your mobility after an injury or surgery, you can still benefit from the improved flexibility that Pilates offers.  

 

Overall, Pilates is a great exercise that can benefit anyone from those beginning their exercise journey, to those who are competitive athletes. Reach out to ABsolute Pilates today to discuss how Pilates could be right for you, or to sign up for a class! 

If you start looking for Pilates classes, you’ll soon find that there are at least three main types: Stott, Winsor and Power Pilates. In order to choose the right class for you, you’ll want to understand what each type is and its comparative benefits to the others.

What is Pilates?

All three types of Pilates focus on improving strength, flexibility and posture, with a strong emphasis on the core. Afterall, the core muscles support our limbs and the rest of our everyday movements.

Pilates is typically done in long, but low-impact classes that can be adjusted for beginners or amped up to challenge even the most seasoned professional athletes. From that foundation, each Pilates style brings a unique element to the exercises.

1. Winsor Pilates

When you think of Pilates, you are probably thinking of Winsor Pilates. Mary Winsor created this style, and she is credited with popularizing the exercise. Her DVDs were sold nationwide and featured her and her team in colorful 80’s style workout gear.

Winsor Pilates focuses on fun and flexibility more than a challenging workout. As with most forms of Pilates, Winsor’s exercises prioritize the core muscles, but also provide a shorter and less intense class.

2. Power Pilates

Power Pilates is commonly viewed as a return to the original intention of Joseph Pilates, the creator of the exercise program. In the 1980s, Romana Kryzanowska was a Pilates instructor at the original studio where Joseph taught. Some of the instructors that Kryzanowska trained became the first Power Pilates instructors (one was Mary Winsor).

Power Pilates instructors focused on balance, supporting the spine, and efficient movement in intense workouts. Power Pilates is considered “classical” and rejects the modern changes that Winsor brought to Pilates.

3. Stott Pilates

Stott Pilates is the newest form of Pilates. While it is grounded in the initial theory from Joseph Pilates, it also incorporates modern understanding about physical rehabilitation and performance. Stott Pilates was also designed to be a complete exercise program that offers cardiovascular training as well as strength training. That means you don’t necessarily need to do any other activity to improve your strength and balance, though it can complement other forms of exercise.

Stott Pilates improves on other forms of Pilates in several ways, including:

• Three-dimensional movement: While other forms of Pilates neglect some movements, Stott Pilates ensures you maintain a full range of motion.
• Focus on joint muscles: Instead of just focusing on the core, Stott Pilate instructors know that the muscles around the joints are also key for better movement and balance. We work on these muscles.
• Corrects over-training: By adding cardiovascular training and focusing on exercising both sides of the body equally, Stott Pilates corrects over-training.

Visit Absolute Pilates for Stott Pilates

At Absolute Pilates we offer Stott Pilates because we believe the program gives our clients a more complete, effective and safe exercise regimen. This flexible Pilates style is perfect for everyone, from pregnant women to seniors to professional athletes. All you need is guidance from an experienced, registered Stott Pilates instructor.

Contact us today for more information on our Pilates classes.

Immobility, even for a short period of time (or only in a certain limb), can have serious effects on the whole body. Your muscles, bones, and even heart will weaken unless you take steps to keep them healthy. In fact, it is much easier to prevent the complications of immobility than to treat them after the fact. Pilates can help with both scenarios.

Causes of Immobility

You may need to counter-act the effects of immobility if you are limited to your bed or a wheelchair. Other causes of immobility include:

• Bed rest due to illness
• Paralysis of any limb
• Restriction of a limb in a brace or cast
• Restriction of joints with a brace or cast
• Loss of sensation in any body part

Effects of Immobility

Overtime, the effects of immobility can become worse than the illness or injury that caused the immobility in the first place.

1. Muscles Loss

The first complication is muscle weakness. Research has found that immobile muscles will lose up to 15 percent of their strength each week. This means that after five weeks of immobility your muscles will have lost almost or more than half of their strength.

The first muscles to be affected are the core muscles, because they no longer have to resist gravity. These muscles support you throughout essentially every kind of movement. Unless you prevent core muscle loss, you will find that climbing stairs, walking, and even sitting up is a challenge.

Pilates focuses on these vulnerable muscles first and foremost. Not only can you maintain their condition with Pilates, you may even improve their strength, leaving bed rest stronger than when you started. Many of the key Pilates exercises that develop the core muscles can be done while lying down, so you can exercise no matter what kind of immobility you are dealing with.

Pilates exercises can also focus on the muscle groups that you can move, to ensure they maintain as much of their strength as possible.

2. Bone Density Loss

Like muscles, bones need activity to remain strong. During immobility, bones will lose their density rapidly, until 12 weeks at which point bone density levels out. However, this rapid immediate loss may cause osteoporosis, or give you a much greater risk of developing it later on. It is much harder to regain bone density than to maintain it in the first place.

Pilates exercises will allow you to use your own body weight to put pressure on your bones, encouraging them to remain healthy. Those exercises which develop muscle strength will also maintain your bone density, especially in critical areas like your hips, knees and back.

3. Other Complications

There are other rarer complications of immobility that you can prevent. For example, after three weeks of bed rest you could develop orthostatic hypotension, where your circulatory system no longer adjusts as you sit up, making your heart rate and blood pressure increase. Leg exercises and pressure wraps can treat this condition over time, but Pilates leg exercises and sitting exercises may help prevent it in the first place.

Similar treatments are given to patients who develop venous thromboembolisms from inactivity. This condition is a blood clot that forms in the veins of the leg. Simple leg exercises and other Pilates exercises can also help prevent these clots from forming.

If you have immobility, even for a short period of time, you can take charge of your health and prevent these conditions from developing. Contact us at Absolute Pilates to sign up for a Pilates class. You may even end up stronger than you were before your immobility!

If you have low bone density, and osteopenia or osteoporosis, you may have heard that Pilates is not the exercise for you. That’s only half right. While some forms of Pilates may cause harm to your fragile bones, others like STOTT PILATES® can help you rebuild bone density.

The Right Exercise

Those with low bone density are often advised by doctors and physiotherapists to try weight bearing exercises in order to preserve and build bone density. Instead of cycling or swimming, which can take much-needed pressure off your bones, you’ve likely been encouraged to walk or lift weights.

However, walking doesn’t apply any pressure to the bones in your arm, and few seniors feel comfortable lifting weights. The solution is to try STOTT PILATES® instead.

STOTT PILATES® can be adjusted for any level of physical ability. It doesn’t require equipment, unlike weight lifting, and uses only your body weight and gravity to add pressure. Sometimes Pilates involves equipment, but this is usually equipment which relieves pressure, like a trapeze table or TRX machine. Further, there are many Pilates movements that will apply gentle pressure to your arms, which are often neglected in other bone density exercises.

All types of Pilates involve weight bearing exercises, that’s not the problem. Instead, certain positions that Pilates demands of you can be dangerous when your bones are fragile, especially for your spine. The same thing goes for yoga.

No one with osteoporosis should be rolling, on their hip or shoulder. They shouldn’t be twisting their spine, even by reaching behind themselves. They also should avoid leaning forward or curving their spine forward.

The Movements and Goals of STOTT PILATES®

We often adjust STOTT PILATES® programs to avoid these dangerous movements and allow those with low bone density to enjoy the benefits of Pilates. Instead of those dangerous movements, we might work on:

• Leg pulls and circles
• Push ups
• Chest expansion
• Single and double leg kicks
• Side-lying movements

The movements we choose for these classes are designed to accomplish a few goals, including:

• Improve bone density especially in the hips and spine
• Improve strength to help support weakened bones
• Improve balance, to prevent falls and fractures
• Improve range of motion and flexibility
• Improve posture, which can address pain in some parts of the body

Talk to Your Instructor

If you have low bone density you should let your STOTT PILATES® instructor know, so that they can teach you to modify your movements to maximize your bones and keep you safe.

If you’re not sure if one of our classes is right for you, please reach out to us. We can let you know which of our classes fits your goals best.

At Absolute Pilates, we offer both Pilates and yoga classes, so we often get asked about the difference between the two. While it’s true that they are quite similar, these workouts are different enough that most people have a strong preference for one over the other.

Here we’ll take a look at the key differences so that you can decide which type might be best for you.

The Core Differences

Pilates and yoga are both full-body workouts that focus on improving strength, flexibility, balance and breathing. However, Pilates focuses on the strength aspect, while yoga usually focuses more on flexibility and breathing. Most of the time when you’re in a Pilates class, you’ll be on the ground. In a yoga class, you’re more likely to be switching from standing to ground work, depending on the style.

Another key difference is that many people choose to practice yoga as part their spirituality. Even if you don’t choose to do that, you will still find most yoga classes are meditative and help you focus your mental energy on your goals. Not as many people consider adding their spiritual practices to Pilates, which tends to be more intense. Plus, Pilates involves counting reps and keeping track of sets, which doesn’t leave as much room to think.

You can learn even more about the differences between Pilates and yoga by reading about the specific kinds of classes we offer.

Pilates Classes

We offer several different Pilates classes which all offer something a little different: 

• Osteo-Pilates: If you’re looking to add a little of that yoga flexibility and balance into your Pilates class, this might be right for you. While the class is designed to decrease the risk of fractures for those with Osteoporosis, anyone can participate and reap the benefits of better balance and bone health.
• Stretch and Lengthen: This class also focuses on stretching more than your average Pilates class but has fewer bone health benefits than the Osteo-Pilates class.
• Matwork Challenge: If instead you want to lean into the benefits of Pilates and improve your strength and endurance, this class will challenge you and even boost coordination.
• Mom and Babies: After you give birth, you might be drawn to Pilates because of its focus on the core muscles, which need to recover and strengthen after your pregnancy. This class allows you to bring your little one and is a bonus bonding experience for both mom and baby!

Yoga Classes

Our yoga classes focus on those benefits that yoga does best, including breathing, focus and flexibility.

• Hatha yoga: When most people think of yoga, they imagine Hatha yoga. It teaches beginner poses and focuses on breathing and calming to reduce cortisol and improve your focus.
• Restorative yoga: This class is designed to align your body and mind with slow, purposeful movements that activate the parasympathetic nervous system. The benefits include lowered blood pressure and heart rate, lessening chronic pain and anxiety, and increasing oxygen levels in the blood.

There’s much to be said for the benefits of practicing both Pilates and yoga as you need both strength and flexibility to be healthy. If you’re ready to sign up for a class, feel free to register here.

Pilates for sport conditioning is a growing trend – but not a new one. Sport conditioning played a central role in the early evolution of Pilates. Today it is used by amateur and professional athletes alike for its physical and mental benefits.
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As a mother of a 4 & 2 year old I know firsthand how difficult it is to take time to exercise, eat healthy, and find time for extra sleep. I struggle to find a balance just as much as everyone else, but finding that balance can make a world of difference. (more…)