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How Pilates Can Help With Weight Loss
Looking to increase your fitness without running long miles or doing tons of high-impact cardio? Then you have to try Pilates (pronounced Puh-lot-eez). Pilates classes can seem intimidating with their reformer machines and terms that include “Seal” and “Big Cats.” But Pilates is a great workout for all fitness levels, even total newbies!
Where did Pilates come from?
Pilates was developed by its namesake, Joseph Pilates, in the 1920s. So it’s been around awhile and isn’t a new fad that will come and go. Some of its movements come from yoga poses and some are patterned after zoo animal movements. (Now you see where Big Cat comes in!) Pilates uses exercises that focus on your core, hips, glutes, pelvic, and back muscles and pairing each movement with your breath for total concentration.
Benefits of Pilates
A pilates session may not burn as many calories as some other group fitness classes, but there are still many benefits to it including:
- Increased flexibility
- Increased range of motion
- Improved balance and stability
- Better posture
- Injury prevention
- Decreased pain and stiffness
Pilates for weight loss
Doing Pilates by itself probably won’t make you drop inches quickly, but Pilates as part of a healthy exercise routine and diet, will help you lose weight, look tone and slim, and give you more mobility for better performance in other activities inside and outside of the gym.
Here’s how:
- Whittles your waist: Pilates helps you tone your muscles, especially around your midsection. This shapes your body and gives you a leaner appearance overall.
- Builds strength: It can be tough to get started in any exercise routine when you feel out of shape or overweight. Pilates can help build strength and increase flexibility so you have proper movement and comfort to start exercising regularly.
- Builds lean muscle: Doing Pilates will help build lean muscle which revs up your metabolism, meaning you’ll burn
more calories throughout the day.
- Increases overall fitness: Pilates movements create a flexible, strong body. It is a practice of mind/body fitness, seeking to develop a body that works as a harmonious whole.
But what about those reformer machines?
Don’t be scared of the reformer machines! Many pilates classes just use your standard mat, but some classes have the machine as well. It is a tool that can be used to help with advanced routines or individuals who are pregnant, have a heart condition, or back, knee, or hip problems.
Give us a try for free and see how Pilates can help kickoff your weight loss!
