FaQs

Pilates is a mind-body centric exercise regime designed for the urban life.

The key elements of Pilates form the basis of all movement.

Pilates is a fitness regime developed by a German man called Joseph Pilates, in the 1930s. He called it ‘Contrology’ as it was an art of controlled movements with an integrative mind-body-spirit approach.

As an extremely frail child who had rickets, rheumatic Fever and asthma, he began his practice by trying to heal himself and by training prisoners of war. Along the way, he studied different sciences and developed apparatus like the Reformer to aid his exercises. During Pilates’ lifetime, his regime developed a following among the dancer community, especially with ballerinas who benefitted from the rehabilitation. Soon society women and Hollywood stars followed, and Pilates grew. The system he developed was propagated by his students all around USA, and the world, leading to different variations of the original principles.

The fact that Pilates can be done even when one is recovering from ill health or injuries, makes it a sought after regime for many. 

Pilates is based on THREE main principles:

1. Concentration: Aligning the mind and body. This decreases stress.

2. Core: All movements in Pilates originate from the core and move outwards. This improves posture, build stamina and strength. 

3. Control: Gaining mobility and flexibility with control. This improves coordination and balance.

Pilates is built on the belief that “modern” sedentary lifestyle, bad posture, and inefficient breathing lies at the roots of poor health. Thus, why wouldn’t you want to do Pilates?

Colloquially, our core is our torso and the major muscles of the core reside in the area of the belly and the mid and lower back. 

The core includes the inner core and the outer core. The Inner core consists of the Pelvic floor muscles, Transversus Abdominis, Multifidus and Diaphragm. The outer core consists of the internal and external Obliques and the Glutes. These are the stabilisers.

The rest of the muscles, known as mobilisers, like Rectus Abdominus (your 6-pack), help us to move,

If our core muscles aren’t working right, the mobilisers work overtime, producing incorrect stress on the body, making you prone to injury and fatigue.

Pilates is the only exercise regime in the world that works on core engagement and activation. Most exercise forms expect the inner core to work. “Core exercises” work on the outer or the functional core unit.

Although Pilates and Yoga routines might look similar, their focus is different.

Both use mind-body connect and controlled breathing whilst exercising. And some of the exercises in Pilates have been derived from the study of Yoga and Zen meditation, but the similarity ends there.

Yoga concentrates on static postures and works on organ health.

Pilates works on core activation and then uses a lot of props like the ball and band, and equipment like the Reformer, which help in controlling movements with the help of resistance. Also, unlike any other form of exercise, Pilates can be done during an injury, to rehabilitate the body (under the guidance of an instructor, of course). Pilates works on posture, flexibility, balance, strength, toning, agility and endurance.

Read the benefits of adding Pilates to your Yoga practice here.

Traditional weight training in the gym seeks to isolate and work with individual or compound muscle groups. This is great for building muscle mass. It improves bone density, promotes fat-free body mass, and increases the strength of muscles.

Pilates is also a strength training routine but it has in integrated whole-body routine that builds leaner muscles than traditional weight training in the gym.

Read the benefits of adding Pilates to your Gym routine here.