Cross Training with Pilates

It's the Dry season here in the tropical North. That means we all move outdoors and enjoy the cooler nights and perfect sunny days.

What a great time to move to the tune of your own song, take up a new exercise regime, join the tennis club, run the beach or try your hand at stand up paddle boarding (just for a few ideas).

So where does Pilates fit into all this and should you continue with your classes?

Pilates is the perfect cross trainer for any exercise or sporting venture.

Not only do we keep an eye on your movement patterns to make sure you are always working in correct alignment, we also take into consideration what ever other pursuits you are enjoying and make sure we are cross training you to better improve your pursuits.

What does that mean exactly?

Well, let's take golf as an example: Golfers spend a lot of time swinging in one direction. Eye on the ball, golf requires intensive rotation over and over again and golfers end up being 'wound up' in that direction.

Pilates will help:

• find strategies to improve your rotational force without allowing you to find compensatory movement patterns by teaching you to rotate correctly. An improvement of a few degrees of rotation can dramatically increase your driving force in a golf swing.
• encourage 'unwinding' of those continual movement patterns so that your swinging muscles don't end up so tightly wound that you can't even turn your head in the opposite direction.
• encourage elasticity and tensegrity (correct tension and good integrity of muscles and fascia) of your body as a whole which will keep you both flexible and strong in all directions so that you move freely and confidently on and off the golf course (for example).

In other words, yes, you should absolutely continue your Pilates regime regardless of your other pursuits. Your Pilates instructor is a highly trained therapist who understands movement and will work with you to reach your exercise goals in a way that will support your body long term so that you can continue to enjoy moving forever.

As Joseph Pilates once said "be in control of your body and not at its mercy".

Enjoy the Dry season and see you at the studio!