Pilates is here to stay

Manpriya Singh 

It’s one of the few workouts that doesn’t suffer from lack of awareness but rather from over exposure.  

 For anyone obsessed with workouts, Pilates sure has been a part of their schedule at some point or the other. Actually by now, it sure has been a part of any well rounded fitness plan.  With ‘The Club Pilates’ or  ‘The Pilates Club’ popping up wherever ordinarily gyms would. So what led to it being the workout of the past two decades and more importantly, what exactly is it? 

Let’s talk about —Pilates 

The fact that, as by now you must know, it was invented by Joseph Pilates , the German American trainer, once a sickly child himself or the fact that this fitness programme straightaway improves the core strength, the body alignment, results in better posture and flexibility also doesn’t quite cut it when it comes to introduction.  “It was actually used somewhere in 1930s during WWII to rehabilitate injured soldiers. That is when they saw its effectiveness and gradually from there it became unstoppable in its popularity,” Pilates trainer Chand Mohammad from The Pilates Studio—17, gives us the backgrounder before enlisting its numerous benefits. “One of the biggest advantages of this workout is core strengthening followed by body posture, alignment, balance,” he adds, saying how it is recommended especially for people who have desk jobs, keep sitting and their shoulders droop over time. Not that the pros finish there.  But what is it? A cardio, a form of yoga or what? A typical or rather traditional Pilates class will involve exercises on a mat targeting back area and core strength like roll over, roll up, one leg circle. “We also train using a Cadillac, a stability chair and a reformer. There can be so many variations depending on your requirement and the stage.” 

Pilates hashtag Chandigarh 

Popularity can be judged from the fact that nearly every gym in the city has a section dedicated to Pilates programme.  “You don’t really want to talk about its popularity since anyone from the age group of 15 to 60 plus can easily enroll themselves in a Pilates programme.” He adds, “But it is especially popular among ladies because it gives you flexibility and a lean body unlike weight training which can result in stiffness. Also discontinuing Pilates hardly causes any cons.” 

The Pilates dos and don’ts

It sounds fancy, looks impressive to the bystander, feels good to the one doing and mind you will be just as terrible when an injury happens, which is most likely to if the posture is not appropriate and the technique not correct. “It is not something you just learn from the net, see a video and replicate. Each exercise needs to be monitored personally so that the posture is corrected, which is possible only if someone is there all the time guiding and supervising.” 

manpriya@tribunemail.com