Why Pilates?
Pilates is a holistic approach to exercise, it’s suitable for anyone and everyone: whether you’re old, young, fat, thin, tall, short, sporty, recovering from an injury or anywhere in between.
At Welcome Pilates we’re used to hearing why people don’t want to do Pilates or haven’t thought it was for them in the past. Here are some of the most common misconceptions:
“You have to be flexible” - probably the thing we hear the most and it’s absolutely not true. You do not need to be able to touch your toes and you’ll surprise yourself at how much you can do in a Pilates class, even if you’re a complete beginner. In Pilates we mobilise the joints which will in turn help create more flexibility in your body but without over-stretching. Pilates is also great if you’re hypermobile because you’ll learn how to stabilise the joints and be aware of where your body is in space to keep it injury free and strong.
“It’s the same as yoga” - the easiest way to differentiate the two: yoga is for stillness, Pilates is for moving. In yoga you tend to hold poses whereas Pilates is all about dynamic, flowing movements.
“It’s just for women” - nope, Pilates was created by a man. You may have seen me mention my dad on here, who is a big Pilates fan and around 40% of my clients are also men. Read our blog post about this very topic here!
“You have to do it every day to get results” - all of our clients do 1-4 hours per week and have noticed and continue to notice a considerable difference in their posture, strength, mobility, flexibility, muscle tone and general sense of well-being.
“It’s boring” - how dare you! The possibilities in Pilates are endless, we’re learning new things all the time and try to incorporate different exercises into our classes each week to keep things fresh and exciting. The principles remain the same and the aim is always to walk away feeling stronger, taller and energised in both mind and body.
Have we missed any common Pilates myths? Let us know in the comments!
Pilates is for everyone