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| Pilates |
"After 10 sessions, you'll FEEL a
difference. After 20 sessions, you'll SEE a difference.
After 30 sessions, you'll have a NEW BODY!"
Joseph Pilates |
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The study and practice of Pilates has
enabled me to overcome back injuries and to engage, not
only in normal daily activities, but also in very
physical activities such as hiking, backpacking, skiing
and helping others to do the same.
After injuring my back and practicing traditional
physical therapy exercises for several years, I
continued to struggle to get out of bed, hobble down the
stairs and make it through the day while taking pain
medication and/or muscle relaxers. Some days, I just had
to give in and lie flat until I was able to move again. On my mother's suggestion, I
started practicing some basic Pilates exercises and
quickly saw improvement.
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| Over the last decade, I have witnessed many people take
their fitness to higher levels allowing them to enjoy a
fuller life through the practice of Pilates. With time and dedication, Pilates practice
can: |
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- Improve strength, flexibility and balance
- Build long lean muscles without bulk
- Create a stronger, more flexible spine and
increase joint range of motion
- Heighten neuromuscular coordination
- Restore postural alignment
- Enhance body awareness
- Condition efficient patterns of movement
making the body less prone to injury
- Reduce stress, relieve tension and boost
energy
- Enhance mobility, agility and stamina
- Compliment sports training and develop
functional fitness for daily life activity
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| History of Pilates |
Joseph Hubertus Pilates
was born in 1880 near Düsseldorf, Germany. Small
and sickly as a child, he was afflicted with
asthma, rickets, and rheumatic fever, and was
continually taunted by the bigger children. He
quickly became determined to overcome his
physical disadvantages and to educate himself in
anatomy, bodybuilding, wrestling, yoga,
gymnastics, and martial arts.
He soon achieved an almost Adonis-like
"anatomical ideal," to the extent that at the
age of 14 he was posing as a model for anatomy
charts. Before World War I, Joe was touring
England as a circus performer and professional
boxer, and even teaching self-defense to the
Scotland Yard police force, but when war broke
out, he found himself interned in England as an
enemy alien on the Isle of Man.
The health conditions in the internment camps
were not great, but Pilates insisted that
everyone in his cell block participate in daily
exercise routines to help maintain both their
health. Some of the injured German soldiers were
too weak to get out of bed so Pilates took
springs from the beds and attached them to the
headboards and footboards of the iron bed
frames, turning them into equipment that
provided a type of resistance exercise for his
bedridden "patients”.These
mechanized beds were the forerunners of the
spring-based exercise machines, such as
the Pilates
Cadillac and
Reformer,
for which the Pilates method is known today.
Pilates returned to Germany after the war, and
his achievements with the German soldiers in the
prison camp did not go unnoticed. In 1926, the
Kaiser invited him to begin training the German
secret police. At this point Pilates, wanting
nothing to do with the secret police, decided to
emigrate to the United States.
He met his future wife and dedicated teaching
partner, Clara, on the boat to New York City.
Together they opened the first Body Contrology
Studio on Eighth Avenue at 56th Street in
Manhattan in the same building as the New York
City Ballet. For the rest of his life, he
continued to develop his exercise system and to
create new pieces of equipment for it.
Now we can find Pilates studios all over the
world. Joseph Pilates truly was a man ahead of
his time. Today, many famous athletes, dancers,
models, and actors — as well as business
professionals, housewives, and retirees — are
improving their lives with Pilates. |
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| Following are links to articles
you may find interesting. Click on blue article
title for direct link or on the link to the
right of the title for a printable Adobe pdf file. |
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Pilates Helps Practitioners Build Strength,
Overcome Pain |
Click
here for pdf |
A Low Impact Way to Build Core, Strength,
Endurance &Flexibility
Mayo Clinic |
Click
here for pdf |
Pilates: Effective for Injury
Rehabilitation
Originally
published in Canada's Beyond Fitness magazine. |
Click
here
for
pdf |
Age Defiance, Pilates Helps Keep Older Woman Fit
Woman, age 93, & daughter combat back
pain & osteopenia |
Click
here
for pdf |
Male Athletes Get No Pain, Big Gain From Pilates
USA Today |
Click
here
for pdf |
Q and A with Carson Palmer, NFL Quarterback
Balanced Body Pilates, Pilates.com |
Click
here for pdf |
Golfers Getting Into the Swing of Fitness Regimen
USA Today |
Click
here for pdf |
Overcoming Youth Illnesses Led to
Exercise-Meditation Plan
USA Today, (story of Joseph
Pilates) |
Click
here for pdf |
Pilates
for Rehabilitation
Balanced Body
Pilates. Information and links to more articles. |
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Every Body Benefits From Pilates
Prevention.com |
Click
here
for pdf |
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