Heart Health and the Benefits of Pilates to Improve Your Quality of Life

by | Feb 8, 2017 | Exercise and Fitness, Pilates | 0 comments

Heart Health and Pilates to Improve Your LifeHeart Health is More than just Cardio.

Yes, the heart is a muscle and it’s important to do activities that get our blood pumping.  To keep our heart strong and work on improving heart health with exercise it’s important to do at least 20-60 minutes of aerobic activity (walking, running, biking, swimming, rowing, elliptical, hiking, skating, dancing…) Any activity you enjoy that gets your body in its optimal target heart rate zone for aerobic activity, at least 3-5 days a week.

You’ve got lots of options to improve hearth health.   And there are good reasons to do Pilates, because a vigorous Pilates workout IS improving heart health. (In more ways than just strengthening the heart muscle and improving blood flow.)

Yes, it’s true that Pilates is not considered an aerobic activity.  But here are ten good reasons why doing Pilates regularly IS important for your Cardiovascular activities to help improve heart health.

10 Ways Pilates Can Help Improve Heart Health and Enhance Your Quality of Life

  1. Pilates helps develop better posture. With better posture and good body alignment, there will be less wear and tear on your body while you’re “pounding the pavement” and getting your cardio workouts done.
  2. Pilates helps improve body awareness to find and use the right muscles to move. (Regardless of the activity, overusing the wrong muscles ultimately will lead to injury. And most cardio training activities involve repetitive movements.)
  3. Pilates posterior-lateral breathing improves breath control. Pilates breathing helps you get more nourishing oxygen INTO your body, and more waste out.  Better breathing habits makes it easier to enjoy cardio training plus you will get better benefits from your efforts.
  4. Pilates helps improve balanced muscle development to avoid injuries. If you’ve ever had an injury or accident, or have dealt with chronic to foot, knee, hip, back, shoulder, or neck pain problems, getting your body in balance matters to stay healthy!
  5. Pilates connects mind, body, and movement to help boost confidence, and learn to trust AND listen to how your body feels. By paying closer attention to what you’re doing when you move, how you move, what you’re using to move, and how you feel, it becomes easier to adjust, and pace your workouts to stay safe, healthy, and injury-free.
  6. Pilates is a system to MOVE well for better health. Pilates isn’t just a bunch of exercises done on a mat or machines for a “workout.”  Your ultimate goal is to take what you learn with Pilates out the door into your daily life activities, and other fitness workouts.
  7. Pilates takes stress OFF the joints while helping you get an effective whole-body workout.
  8. Pilates combines strength and flexibility into each and every exercise.
  9. Pilates improves core support. Which is much more involved than just working your abs.  Effective use of your core helps stabilize the pelvis, improves gait, strengthens the back, takes the stress off hips, knees, and feet, helps shoulder mechanics, and supports healthy movement habits.
  10. Pilates helps lift your Spirits, reduces mental stress, and improves your life! So many people during cardio workouts put on their headphones and jam, watch TV on the treadmill, and completely tune-out what they’re doing with their body during cardio.  Pilates helps improve your focus to pay attention to what’s going on INSIDE the body during your workouts, so you can take good care of yourself!  Do this enough, and regardless of external stimulus, you will always make smart choices to stay safe and healthy.

On a historical note:  Joseph Pilates did incorporate jogging, jumping jacks, and more vigorous calisthenic exercises into his workouts – take a peek at some of the old historical films, and you’ll see how much he believed being outdoors to breathe in fresh air and move was a part of his philosophy for better health.

Then there is the jump-board option on the Reformer… Although 20-60 minutes on the jump-board (in my opinion) does not fall into the 3-5, up to 10 rep philosophy of working the Pilates system for a whole-body workout in an hour.  But it can be a great lower-impact option to work some intervals into your Pilates workouts.

Whatever you choose to do… Take time to take care of YOU!  Get your weekly cardio workouts in, do Pilates, get regular health check-ups with your Physician.  Your heart health matters – physically, mentally, and emotionally.  We’ve only got one ticker, and it doesn’t get a break, the beat must go on. Enjoy better health with a healthy heart.

*****

Interested in adding Pilates to your weekly workout routine?  Want to try something fun and new to challenge your cardio workouts?  Contact me for details to get started at Bodhi Body Pilates – A Centerworks Studio with our Pilates programs and Coreglide Cardio+ class.

Aliesa George: Over the past three decades, Aliesa George has helped assist people with their personal health journeys by sharing, teaching, and developing Pilates, Foot Fitness, and other Mind-Body programs.

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