“Pilates makes you want to wear those amazing dresses .” - Anon

Introduction:

Many celebrities have been showing off their "Pilates bodies". While Pilates is not new, people still have trouble understanding what it is. Since Pippa Middleton created a frenzy of new Pilates clients with her amazing butt in her bridesmaids dress (if you didn't know, Pippa is the sister of Kate Middleton aka Princess Kate aka William's wife), Pilates studios have been popping up all over - and Singapore has not been left out!

Let's explore why Pilates has an amazing effect on helping sculpt bodies!

1. Pilates for the Core and more

Everyone wants a stronger core because apart from helping alleviate back pain, it can make our middle look slimmer. Pilates instructors are highly trained in studying the core, and specifically, in helping clients actually succeed in learning how to engage it! "Pull in your core" can leave people puzzled and too embarrassed to actually get more clarification. There are so many ways I'd help a client engage their core - and we can always find a way to make them look astonished as they say "Oh my god I have NEVER felt my core that way before!"

2. Pilates is a form of Strength Training

When someone says they want a sculpted body, the result they are seeking (but don't know how to articulate it) is - I want to have muscles without having that bulky look. To do that you must absolutely do resistance training. You can do this via lifting traditional weights but in Pilates, we use spring resistance to do the same job. While the amount of resistance is limited to traditional weight training, we can still do a great job of building strength.

3. Pilates is fun

In order for many people to keep exercising, they need to be encouraged to do so. Often many women find the traditional gym boring. They also feel they don't belong as there are many grunting men there. But with Pilates, you can do so many fun exercises on the myriad of Pilates equipment that it really does keep one engaged! Women often complete the exercise with flushed faces and a huge smile - if it keeps them coming back regularly and exercising then that is great!

4. Pilates with fun instructors

When you join a group Pilates class, the instructor firstly has to have their own fun persona. Often clients will rave about an instructor and how much they enjoy their classes. It's up to us to create a mood that will keep clients engaged. And when they do, they will keep showing up!

5. Pilates in a fun community

Pilates can bring about a sense of community. As women are working on sculpting their muscles by strengthening their bodies with the Pilates machines, they build bonds often in a fun manner by commiserating how "hard" the exercise is! Don't get me wrong - they love it - but there is a way that groups bond over how hard they are working out!

6. Pilates is Controlled movements

Because many Pilates exercises are done on a machine called the reformer, a body needs to really engage all their muscles as they are trying to keep their bodies stable while they perform the movement. The reformer moves, and this can be challenging. So the core and other parts of the body that aren't the ones responsible for moving the body have to act like a team to stop you from toppling over! This is hugely beneficial in sculpting the body because, when the muscles of the body tense up to stabilise, these muscles are also working!

7. Pilates helps to strengthen other parts of the body without pain

Many people cannot do simple standing squats because their knees hurt. The Pilates reformer machine is the perfect solution. By lying down, you are taking your body weight off your knees. But, you are still strengthening the muscles because the springs use the resistance. So many women have been overjoyed to find that there is no pain when they bend their knees whilst in this lying down position.

Is Pilates for you?

Pilates isn't just for women, although, it's definitely more popular with women. If you were on the fence about trying Pilates, see if you tick any of these boxes! They should help you see that Pilates may be what you need!

• You've been told by your doctor/physio that Pilates will strengthen your core

• You find gyms boring

• You want to exercise without much sweating

• Your knees hurt when you do body weight exercises such as squatting

• You've recently come out of rehab from an injury/surgery

• You have a chronic injury that prevents you from doing more traditional types of exercises