Pilates is a body conditioning routine that helps build flexibility and long, lean muscles, strength and endurance in the legs, abdominals, arms, hips, and back.
It puts emphasis on spinal and pelvic alignment, breathing to relieve stress and allow adequate oxygen flow to muscles, developing a strong core or centre (tones abdominals while strengthening the back), and improving coordination and balance.
Pilates is a flexible system that allows for different exercises to be modified in range of difficulty from beginning to advanced. Thus intensity can be increased over time as the body conditions and adapts to the exercises. No muscle group is under or over trained.
Joseph Pilates, the founder of Pilates said:
- "Physical fitness is the first requisite of happiness."
- "Patience and persistence are vital qualities in the ultimate successful accomplishment of any worthwhile endeavor.
- “The mind, when housed within a healthful body, possesses a glorious sense of power.”
- “Before any real benefit can be derived from physical exercises, one must first learn how to breathe properly. Our very life depends on it.”