The Pilates Method teaches a common-sense approach to efficient movement habits for whole-body health. Every Pilates exercise combines strength and flexibility with breathing and total body awareness.

Learning to pay attention to what your body is doing and how it moves is a must for getting the most from your Pilates training program. Developed as a system or movement regime, Pilates training provides a variety of choices both in exercises and specialized Pilates equipment to help reinforce good movement habits for an improved quality of life.

With over five hundred exercises in the Pilates system, there are lots of exercises to choose from to keep you focused, motivated, and progressing towards your wellness goals. Done well, the Pilates Method exercises help teach you how your body is put together and how to find and use all the right parts for safe, efficient, injury-free movement. Everything you learn about how to move your body during a Pilates training program can be practiced during other sport and fitness activities, and with time… these important new habits, acquired during Pilates workouts, will transfer into fitness for an improved quality of daily life.

Here are six interesting foot facts that I found recently while researching foot health and exercise on the web.

• Seventy-five percent of Americans will experience foot health problems of varying degrees of severity at one time or another in their lives.
• Women have about four times as many foot problems as men; lifelong patterns of wearing high heels often are the culprit.
• There are times when you’re walking that the pressure on your feet exceeds your body weight, and when you’re running, it can be three or four times your weight.
Continue reading ‘Oh My Aching Feet…Foot Pain, Foot Fitness, & Pilates Exercises for Fantastic Feet!’ »

Do I have to practice Pilates to improve my posture?

Not necessarily. However, the Pilates exercises can be a wonderful way to help you change habits. Everything that you learn about your body with the Pilates Method can be applied to both your everyday life and other fitness activities. The principles of breathing and conscious body awareness with movement that are taught with Pilates training helps to reinforce good posture habits. The Pilates exercises place the body in safe non-weight bearing positions to improve alignment, strength and flexibility. With better body mechanics the exercises help retrain muscle systems for more efficient movement habits. Improved posture is a by-product of a well-balanced muscular system and a great way to develop this is with a Pilates workout program.