Pilates: the best sport?

I've never been an athlete. When I was a child I started doing gymnastics in secondary school but the closest I got to sport was playing "prisoner ball".

Sport has never been one of my priorities but I've gone to the gym regularly and have done some great walks.

That is, until one day three years ago when I became familiar with the Pilates Method. Since then I’ve been practicing regularly.

And… why?

Because with the Pilates method I can work the muscles and the body’s elasticity in depth without causing damage in my body. In fact, it's advisable to do Pilates in the rehabilitation of people who have had bone or muscle injuries.

The method combines the best of Eastern and Western traditions to join the body and mind and consider them as a whole, cooperating in complete harmony. The Eastern approach to exercise as is a way of calming, remaining focused, with a feeling of fullness and an emphasis on stretching and flexibility. The Western approach emphasizes movement, muscle tone and strength.

The basics of this method are control, concentration, fluidity, precision, breathing and "the centre" (formed by the abdominal muscles, back and buttocks) and the intention is that, through strengthening this, the entire body is doing exercise.

Most exercises are performed with the help of equipment designed specifically for this discipline, and in a series of controlled movements, gentle and slow, trying to be as accurate as possible through breath control, proper alignment of the body and, of course, concentration. This will prevent uncontrolled, violent or aggressive movements.

The method is based on work from the inside out, on stretching the muscles and the strength the abdominal area, respecting the biomechanics of movement and giving priority to quality over quantity.  Above all, performs work it is a practice which develops flexibility and muscle strength as well as good posture.

In most sports, you work the main muscles involved in the movements of each action, and as they get stronger and increase in volume, the other smaller muscles are become weaker, creating muscle imbalances, postural or functional.

Locating these minor or secondary muscles and learning to use them requires specific monitoring, and from the athlete a great deal of concentration, control and precision, and so Pilates is described as a 'conscious exercise'.

 As Joseph Pilates (creator of the method) said:

"After ten sessions you will notice the difference,

after twenty, others will notice,

and after thirty you'll have a whole new body. "

Nines