8 Reasons You Should be Doing Pilates

By now you know that you need to find a balance in life. Between running your house and kids, high demands at your job and kicking ass in the gym, we often forget to take some time for ourselves and do something that is challenging yet relaxing. Pilates could be that calm hour in your life among the crazy adventures life throws at you! Check out our top 8 reasons you need some Pilates to shape your ideal you!

Achieve your Ideal Core- Pilates is one of the best workouts to strengthen your core. In a study done by Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise over 36 weeks of training woman improved their rectus abdominis (6 pack muscles) strengthened on average 21% while fixing muscular imbalances between the left and right side.
Improve lower back pain like no other- According to the journal of Orthopedic & Sports Physical Therapy those who had chronic lower back pain and practiced Pilates for just 4 weeks experienced more relief than those who visited a physician and other specialists. They also reported their pain stayed away for almost a full year post-Pilates. This is most likely due to the improved core stability alleviating stress in the low back and increasing mobility
Low impact = easy on the joints- movements performed on the Reformer are spring loaded to reduce the pressure on your ankles, knees, hips, back and shoulders. So give joints some love and give them a break from all of that running, squatting and heavy lifting.
It’s an hour for you time! With a focus on 1) your breath, 2) your body, and 3) how they work together. It takes a tremendous amount of focus. That means you get to tune out all of lives outside stresses and focus on you!
It makes making babies so much better- When your instructor tells you to “lift your pelvic floor” they are really telling you to “do your Kegels”. These muscles help to ramp up the pleasure in the bedroom. If you are having a baby, it will also help make pushing out the baby way easier. Post-Partum those muscles help to stop the flow of pee when you sneeze, cough, laugh or jump!
Take your game to the next level- Athletes of all sports shapes and sizes such as Tiger Woods, Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, Misty May-Treanor, Kerri Walsh, Jake Arietta, Matt Holiday, Antonio Brown and Kalvin Johnson are all touting how Pilates has increased their performance and helped to keep their bodies healthy
It is easier to move- Pilates will not only help to allow the muscles to lengthen to their proper function as well as train all your muscles to fire properly allowing you to be as “flexible” as you used to be!
Give your brain a boost – Chinese researchers measured changes in women’s brain activity after 10 weeks of Pilates training, they found a boost in your brain’s alpha peak power. Basically, there was a increase of memory performance, network activity and other cognitive functions. Joseph Pilates was right when he called Pilates “the thinking man’s exercise”.