Pilates is for everyone.

Everyone’s doing it!  Not because of peer pressure.  Pilates has proven to be one of the most efficient ways to keep your body balanced and feeling good.  With the rising costs of health care, many people are taking their health and well being into their own hands.  Pilates delivers.

It’s not just stars, athletes, and women in general who are practicing Pilates.  Men are now jumping on board to gain an optimal, healthier body as well.  Whether you are using the machines, or doing mat Pilates, your body learns muscle recruitment and firing patterns to assist in efficient motion producing longer, leaner muscles.  A by-product of this training is over-all better posture with minimized tension and muscle stiffness. 

Pilates practice focuses on using movement starting with your breathing.  Specific breath patterns are used to facilitate each motion.  Deep exhalation is used to engage your transverse abdominal muscles for internal organ support and spinal stabilization.  Full inhalation into the lower lobes of the lungs aids in spinal extension among other motions with relaxed shoulders.  Breathing patterns are often different per client based on individual muscular development.  Movement patterns that contribute to compensatory muscular imbalances, because of repetitive movement and stationary body positions, can be easily corrected through specific programs.   

In addition to breathing, Pilates uses a full-body approach to fitness and rehabilitation.  All of the movements start with breathing and then move on to stabilization before moving a specified extremity.  During foot work, leg work, or arm work; its exercise from the inside-out.

Once these movement patterns are re-learned through Pilates Practice, your body will begin to move freely without conscious effort.  The goal of Pilates is to, “Return to Life,” to move naturally, more like animals in the wild, or even the cat in your living room, instinctually the way our bodies were intended before cars, computers and other sedentary aspects of today’s survival.

Pilates exercise is very specific.  Finding a good instructor is extremely important.  Someone who is very knowledgeable of anatomy and the muscular system is necessary.  Those with sports and dance movement backgrounds usually have a well trained eye to aid in the progression of Movement Therapy or Pilates Practice. 

Pilates is very helpful with injury prevention and rehabilitation.  From stunt performers, to golfers, to dancers, and even business professionals; Pilates is for everyone.”

 “Return to Life” –Joseph Pilates
 “Pilates is for Everyone” –Shana Lord

Aerobic Elements and Weight Loss Effects of the Pilates Method

America is obsessed with weight.  Does Oprah weigh too much?  Does Nicole Richie weigh too little?  One thing is clear.  The United States currently faces an epidemic of obesity.  Two out of three Americans are overweight. 

Overweight is widely recognized as contributing to poor health.  It is a factor in Coronary Heart Disease and morbidity and mortality associated therewith.  It also impacts upon a number of other dangerous diseases.  Sleep apnea is more prevalent and more severe in overweight individuals.  The United States Department of Health and Human services estimates that 300,000 deaths per year may be attributable to obesity.  The risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and even cancer are increased by the presence of excess weight.

In the pursuit of weight loss many people seek what they perceive to be the holy grail of fat and calorie burning – the aerobic work out.  While many forms of exercise are specifically observable as either aerobic or anaerobic, the Pilates Method defies categorization and is something of a hybrid.   The practice of Pilates requires the use of a variety of muscle types in specific focused movements.  The unique qualities of the Pilates program are recognized as a means to increasing flexibility as well as muscle endurance and fat burning, with cardiovascular, weight loss and overall conditioning effects.

In addition, while Pilates can serve as an excellent path to health and balance for people of all fitness levels, it is well suited for individuals living in an unhealthful cycle of overweight and poor physical fitness.  A larger body requires more energy to engage in exercise and the lack of exercise causes the individual to have poor muscle strength, flexibility and endurance.  So while many people recognize the need to increase activity, they find it difficult to generate the motivation to run or get on a bicycle.  Pilates improves strength and flexibility, allowing the individual to feel better and move more effectively. 

Furthermore, Pilates exercises can be and often are aerobic.  The level of oxygen uptake will depend upon the person performing the exercise, the pace of the workout and the goals of the student and instructor.  It is certainly achievable to engage in a Pilates program that contributes positively to cardiovascular health and burns calories. 

Many people recognize the need to reduce their weight but struggle with a lack of motivation or frustration over the experience of having lost weight and re-gained it (the “yo-yo effect”).   A major contributing factor in the yo-yo effect is the means used by people in their attempts to lose weight.  Fad diets, fat burning products and medications may deliver weight loss in the short term.  People believe that they can deprive themselves of food for a brief period of time.  But this weight loss cannot be sustained without a committed practice of exercise.  The bottom line for Americans is that they need to get their bottoms off the couch.

The practice of Pilates differs from other cardiovascular and weight-bearing activities.  It is often noted that Pilates focuses on quality and precision of movement, whereas other fitness regimes are more concerned with quantity of repetitions.  But perhaps the most unique element of Pilates exercises is the combination of muscle types that are recruited.  Pilates exercises incorporate both isotonic and isometric contractions. Isotonic contractions are either concentric, in which case the muscle shortens and the angle of the joint decreases or eccentric, wherein the muscle lengthens and the angle of the joint increases.  Proper performance of Pilates techniques emphasizes both the concentric and eccentric phases of the movement.  In addition, Pilates often utilizes co-contraction and engages different types of muscle tissue. 

Two recent studies demonstrate the effectiveness of Pilates in the pursuit of weight loss.  A report in “Preventive Medicine” described a study of adolescent girls.  After four weeks of Pilates Mat training the group significantly decreased their Body Mass Index.   A second study was reported in “Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise.”  A group of adult women taking eight weeks of Pilates Mat training demonstrated increased flexibility and muscular endurance and a 1.2 percent reduction in body fat.  Study author physiologist Kate Rogers, M.S. explains that “fat loss comes from burning a sufficient number of total calories … and Pilates appears to possess the potential to burn enough calories.

For many people trapped in an unhealthy existence the thought of working out is so unpleasant that their efforts to change their lifestyle are sabotaged before they begin.   One fact often unobserved by the predominantly fit practitioners of exercise techniques, is that an overweight body is simply much harder to move.  Many forms of exercise are painful and some are just boring.   Overweight people report a number of physical conditions that prevent them from undertaking exercise such as pain in their joints and depression.

Pilates’ use of the principle of mind-body balance makes it a fun and relatively painless practice.  Perhaps most importantly, it produces encouraging results on an immediate basis and can therefore be instrumental in getting an individual on the right track.

As noted by Pilates instructor and Author of “The Pilates Promise,” Alycea Ungaro, Pilates is a boredom buster because “almost every exercise requires a laser-like focus, so you don’t have a chance to get distracted.”  Pilates engages the mind in every movement.  It is not ideal for people who prefer to “check out” mentally while exercising, as in the case of an individual who likes to wear headphones on the treadmill. 

Pilates is also a relatively safe way to begin fitness training.  Many overweight people experience injuries and persistent pain.  Because Pilates is low impact, it is less likely to cause injury and derail an otherwise potentially successful commitment to good health.

Furthermore, there is a significant contribution to be recognized in the synergy of mental and physical energy that is integral to the method.  The positive shift in mental energy toward muscle strength creates an observable change in the body.

Experts report that women of all shapes and athletic ability perceive an increase in their flexibility and power after just one session of Pilates.  While sustainable physical development will require longer term commitment, it is notable that the participants express a positive feeling about their physical condition.  This certainly encourages the continued pursuit of activity and balance.

More surprising perhaps, science actually supports the notion that you can use your brain to make your muscles work better for you.  Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation found that people who visualized contracting their biceps for fifteen minutes five days a week for three months increased their arm strength by 13 percent.  Obviously, more significant results will be achieved much faster if the person actually engages in the exercise.  Since the Pilates method combines the mental visualization with the actual movement it promises maximum results for muscle enhancement.

The gains realized by Pilates will begin to pay off in additional benefits once increased muscle mass is achieved.  Research shows that the more muscle one has the higher the resting metabolic rate will be.  The increased metabolism will allow an individual to burn more calories while engaged in ordinary activity, or even sitting still.  For an overweight person, the improvements gained in the Pilates practice can be the gift that keeps on giving.

While Pilates is not a predominantly aerobic activity in the manner of such sports as running, swimming or cycling, it can and does contribute to muscular and cardiovascular endurance.  The level of aerobic effect created by a Pilates workout will depend upon the specific dynamics of the session.

Two recent studies demonstrate how Pilates compares to the typical cardio workout.  A 135 pound woman, running at top speed, utilizes about twelve calories per minute.  A participant in Pilates, working at an advanced level burns about eight calories a minute.  An hour of intermediate Pilates burns about six calories a minute.  The same amount of time walking utilizes 4.5 calories a minute.

David Neiman, in “Exercise Testing and Prescription” offers another comparison of various activities’ calorie consumption, with some surprising and potentially entertaining results.  A 135 pound woman who engages in an hour of “rigorous Pilates” burns 392.2 calories in sixty minutes.  The same woman could attend an aerobics class and burn 450 calories.  She could play volleyball for an hour and burn 392 calories.  She could also work out on an elliptical trainer for an hour and zap the same 392 calories.  Weight lifting would eliminate only 385.78 calories.  But, according these calculations, for the maximum calorie evacuation results, she could clean house for an hour and burn off 514.37 calories.

In reality such numerical calculations can be misleading.  Exercises that increase muscle mass produce an elevation in metabolism that burns calories when the body is at rest.  Thirty minutes of running will burn more calories than thirty minutes of weight training.  However, weight lifting and similar muscle strengthening techniques keep the individual’s metabolism in high gear for a longer period of time.  This produces a more sustained calorie burning effect.

Not surprisingly, practitioners of Pilates have recently begun to explore the concept of modifying traditional exercises to increase the aerobic effect.  Not unlike the development of “power yoga,” a growing number of studios are offering “aerobic Pilates.”

It must be noted that “aerobic Pilates” should not be merely a speeded up version of Pilates, but rather a choreographed exercise routine designed to maximize the fat burning effect available using the time proven repertoire.  Practitioners of such an approach to Pilates report great results for endurance training because many clients do not enjoy the treadmill or other aerobic equipment.  Also, Pilates does not present the problem of the gravitational pull that can strain the body in a running program.  So, while Pilates may not be the equivalent of speed running it should not be discounted as a tool in America’s war against fat.

By Gia Paladino
Copyright  2007

REFERENCES
Cassity, Jessica “Insider’s Guide to Pilates” Fitnessmagazine.com 2007
Donnelly, Kathleen “Obesity in America” MSN Health & Fitness, 2007
Endelman, Kenneth, Balanced Body, Inc., “Get Your Cardio Workout With Pilates?” sheknows.com 2007
Heaner, Martica “Fighting Obesity: Psyching Yourself to Act” MSN Health & Fitness, 2007
Isacowitz, Rael “Body Arts and Science International Study Guide” 2004
Liao, Sharon “Burn Calories All Day Long” Shape Magazine, 2007
National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, “Obesity Education Institute” nhlbi.nih.com 2007
Nieman, David T. “Exercise Testing and Prescription” 2003
Olson, Michele “Pilates for Weight Loss” Pilates Style Magazine 2007
Surgeon General’s Office, United States, “The Surgeon General’s Call to Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity”  surgeongeneral.gov 2007
Thompson, Clem and Floyd, R.T. “Manual of Structural Kinesiology” 1994
Yeager, Selene “Your Best Body Ever” Shape Magazine 2007