I’d like to talk to you about Pilates; what it’s done for me and how it could benefit you too if you take it up and practise the exercises regularly.
Put simply, Pilates has banished my pain; the muscle pain I have held in my neck and back for years. The pain that was the result of years of poor posture and not taking proper care of my back.
“Posture” is one of those things your mother always nagged about when you were young – “Sit up straight!”; Stand up properly – come on, head up and shoulders back!” I never took any notice, but (I hate to say it), she was Dead Right! If I had taken notice then, I wouldn’t have half the back problems I have now, and probably neither would you!
None of us want to have pain; those that do have it want a way to ease it, and anyone that doesn’t have pain (yet) would be wise to take steps to prevent it.
This is where Pilates comes in; an exercise system that is based on the results of a lifetime’s work by Mr Joseph Pilates, who was born a century ago and became a self-taught genius in the then-unknown field of physiotherapy and rehabilitation.
You are never too young or too old to learn Pilates. Learnt young, the exercises will head many aches and pains off at the pass before they even manage to develop. But equally good, Pilates taken up when you are older will correct many of the problems that a lifetime of bad posture has caused.
Up to approximately the age of 40, our bodies are forgiving and tolerant of us – any muscular injuries heal quickly, and sitting at a desk all day, or standing leaning on one leg for hours at a time while we iron or lifting kids around just causes minor grumbles from our backs which ease when we rest.
But as we get older, our bodies cope less well, and that’s when old injuries and a lifetime of poor posture start conspiring to give us aches and pains we never had or noticed when we were younger. And the older we get, the worse the problem gets, as our spines stiffen and our muscles weaken. You see elderly people shuffling along slowly with a big hump on their back and their head pushed forward.
They’ll tell you they have constant back pain, which hurts worse if they even try to straighten up, as their spine has “set fast” in the wrong shape. So they move around less and less, their posture gets worse and worse, and we all know where it ends.
But it doesn’t have to be like that.
No matter how old you are, your spine can be made more flexible and your muscles can get stronger. And no matter how young you are, it’s never too early to learn how to exercise your spine and muscles to keep them strong and slow down the ageing process. Getting old is inevitable. Feeling old isn’t ?.
Anyone can learn Pilates Exercises– it’s safe, effective, and the benefits will last a lifetime.
Carol Bartram
(Pilates Instructor)