How does pilates change your body?

particularly if you have never practised it before, you are looking for change.It might be a change to how you feel, a change to how you look, or maybe you are already exercising regularly but curious about what is different about Pilates and what it can do for you.

So I am going to do my best to summarise some of the changes you might notice when doing Pilates regularly, and in particular how Pilates might differ from other forms of strength training.

In Pilates, we work the deeper muscles as well as the larger more superficial muscle groups, and this is important because the smaller deeper muscles create stability for your spine and joints, which allows the larger and more powerful muscles to do their jobs more effectively and without un-necessary strain. This will help to prevent injuries in the long run, and keep you doing the things you love to do for longer.

You will be stretching in places where you are tight and you will get stronger in the places where there is a weakness, which over time will create a balanced musculature that enables you to feel freedom in your joints and a sense of ease when moving.

It will also make you BETTER at other activities you do, because when you do Pilates regularly you will gain a whole new body awareness and improve your technique. So whether you like to do weight lifting, running, kayaking, bike riding, walking or mountain climbing, Pilates will help you get better at all those things.

Pilates is of course also a great exercise technique on it’s own, and combined with a bit of cardio work (to get your heart rate up), it will provide your body with everything you need to create a strong and flexible body that makes life feel so much better.

Creating that balanced musculature is also important if you are concerned about looking ‘bulky’ from strength training. This is often a concern particularly for women, and I think this is a very valid point, so let’s talk a littlebit about that. While regular strength training at a reasonable level is unlikely to make you look like Arnold Schwarzenegger, it can definitely create more bulbous looking muscles if we just focus on the power muscles, and this might not be the body shape you wish to create. If, like me, you build muscle bulk quickly or if you are of a petite build, lifting weights in the traditional way may not be specific enough to create a body shape you feel good about. Our bodies are a reflection of the stresses and strains that we put on it, so it makes perfect sense that the type of exercise we do determines your body shape to a large extent. You only need to look at the difference between a body builder and a dancer. They are both strong, but in very different ways. There is absolutely nothing wrong with any body shape, but it is also okay to ask that your exercise helps you to create a body that YOU feel good in. For me, traditional weight/resistance training has always made me feel (and look) tight, short and heavy rather than lean and agile. Pilates will strengthen and challenge you (yep, you will definitely feel the burn too when doing Pilates), but in a way that also makes you feel stretched and tall, and I know this is true for my clients too, because they tell me all the time!