Great Posture, Fit Body Through Pilates

Exercise Stretch Muscles, Improve Strength, Flexibility and Balance

Oct 8, 2009

Good posture is essential to a healthy, well-functioning body. Pilates is a great form of exercise to strengthen the abdominal core, improving mobility and co-ordination.

Perhaps one of the most highly functional and personalized forms of exercise available, the Pilates technique is suitable for almost everyone – from the high performance athlete to people with a range of health problems. Pilates puts together controlled breathing with fluid, bio-mechanically efficient movements.

Whether doing mat work or using special equipment, Pilates can give a full-body workout with very little or no impact at all. By focusing on “core” strengthening, Pilates first develops a strong center with good alignment and posture from which to move from, rather than just making strong muscles stronger.

Benefits of Good Posture

A person who has good posture is less prone to feel pain throughout the body, including back and neck pain, hip pain, leg and foot pain. Here are some other advantages to standing up straight:

All these combine to help prevent future injury and reduce, or even eliminate chronic pain altogether. Good posture can help attain (and retain as people age) maximum flexibility, strength, resiliency, and mobility of the spine. This is a goal well worth aiming for, and regular Pilates workouts can help achieve this because postural awareness is built right into every exercise.

A person who moves well in his or her body projects a sense of power, grace, self-confidence, and personal style. If a person’s posture is equivalent to a lazy slump, he or she can end up with a thick waist, narrow chest and rounded shoulders that take a good two inches off natural height.

Importance of the Spine, Alignment and Even Back Muscles

Poor posture also drains energy. If the spine is incorrectly balanced, muscles need to work harder to keep the body upright all day long. Lazy posture also causes the upright structure to collapse in places, like a poorly constructed building. This can cause physical ailments such as digestive problems, poor circulation, chronic low energy, lower back pain, headaches, and shortness of breath.

The Pilates technique is based on scientific principles that address the structural realities of the human body. Its goal is to promote good posture by balancing the body and distributing the normal physical stresses of standing and moving among the appropriate bone and muscle groups.

The human spine is made up of 32 to34 bones called the vertebrae and it is designed to provide a maximum range of motion and support for the body with a minimum of wear and tear on the spine's joints. In addition, the spine has four natural curves. If posture is good, these spinal curves lend shock absorption, extra flexibility and range of motion to movement.

Having evenly developed back muscles and strong abs helps support the spine. But if there is too much or too little curve in your spine, or if the curves do not balance properly with one another, your posture is poor, which can lead to structural problems and back pain.

Poorly aligned postures cause one sided muscle development, meaning certain muscle groups are constantly overworking to hold the body upright, while others become significantly weakened. Even our favourite sports, such as golf, tennis, and running, encourage lopsided and uneven muscle development as does carrying a briefcase or handbag on one side of your body, or balancing a child on the same hip for hours on end.

How Pilates Helps Posture

Pilates can be a wonderful solution to all these poor postural habits because the exercises encourage bilateral, even muscle development and flexibility at the same time. A good Pilates workout doesn't have to be long or exhausting, but it can and will rebalance the body over time.

Pilates is all about being comfortable, pain free and being able to move moving efficiently. When practiced regularly, Pilates not only improves posture to help a person stand straighter and taller, but it also works muscles in the legs, bottom abdominals and upper body. So in addition to the health benefits achieved from having great posture, muscle tone throughout the body is also improved.

Articles Base: Pilates: How to Improve Your Posture and Muscle Strength, Nov 13, 2008

The copyright of the article Great Posture, Fit Body Through Pilates in Fitness is owned by Yahan Wu. Permission to republish Great Posture, Fit Body Through Pilates in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.