8 Reasons You Should Start Doing Pilates
Are you bored with your workout routine? Do you want to try something new and different? If you’re looking for a great at-home way to exercise that still yields great results and sculpts your body, look no further! Pilates is the answer. You’ve probably heard about it in the past, but we’re here to explain exactly why you should start doing Pilates.
Increases Muscle Strength
Pilates tends to focus mainly on the core muscles of the body and strengthen them the most. However, doing Pilates will also strengthen other muscles in the body. Not to mention, it’s a gentle form of exercise that increases strength, endurance, and flexibility as well.
Improves Flexibility
As we’ve said, Pilates is known to improve flexibility. You might not think of this as a health benefit, but more of an unrelated benefit. However, increasing flexibility is great for the muscles. Becoming more flexible can help elongate the muscles and in turn prevent injuries and back pain as well.
Better Posture
Pilates is a great way to improve your posture. Since it focuses on balanced muscle development and proper alignment, each Pilates workout addresses bad postural habits. Tight muscles get stretched and loose muscles are strengthened. This will all lead you to re-establishing more efficient posture patterns.
Improves Concentration
When doing Pilates, the workout urges you to focus more on your breath, your body, and how those things move together in harmony. Doing so takes a lot of concentration, meaning that you can’t really zone out and think about other things.
Low-Impact
Pilates is a form of exercise that is gentle and low-impact. The slow and controlled movements have a minimal impact on the joints.
Boosts Brain Power
As it turns out, doing Pilates on a regular basis can boost your brainpower! Chinese researchers measured changes in women’s brain activity after 10 weeks of Pilates training. They found an increase in the brain’s alpha peak power, which relates to neural network activity, memory performance, and other cognitive functions.
Better Balance
One crucial part of Pilates is having proper alignment of the body. This is done by doing each move precisely and carefully. As a result, your muscles on each side of the body will be more balanced and in sync.
Reduces Stress
Just like all other forms of exercise, Pilates has the same positive effects. In general, exercising will reduce stress, improve your mood, and boost your energy levels. After doing Pilates, you’ll feel energized rather than exhausted.
