The History, Practice, and Benefits of Pilates Method

Pilates is a holistic method that seeks psychophysical well-being and health through the balance between mind and body. In the last decade,Guest Posting Pilates has become a very popular activity that helps maintain health and take care of the body. Based on the connection between body position, movement accuracy, and breathing, its main objective is to align and balance the body and mind. However, few people know that this discipline was born almost a century ago in the heart of Germany and that its existence is due to the person who gave it its name: Joseph Hubertus Pilates.

Joseph Pilates Quotes
Before we go on to discuss the method and the man who invented the Pilates method, let us look at some of the famous quotes of a

“If at 30 you are out of shape, you are an old man. If at 60 you are flexible and strong, you are a young man.”

“Physical fitness is the first requisite of happiness. Our interpretation of physical fitness is the attainment and maintenance of a uniformly developed body with a sound mind fully capable of naturally, easily, and satisfactorily performing our many and varied daily tasks with spontaneous zest and pleasure.”

“Contrology (Pilates) is the complete coordination of body, mind, and spirit. Through Contrology, you first purposefully acquire complete control of your own body and then through proper repetition of its exercises you gradually and progressively acquire that natural rhythm and coordination associated with all your subconscious activities.”

“With 10 sessions you will notice the difference, with 20 sessions the others will notice the difference and with 30 sessions you will have a new body.”

A fitness method born in captivity and out of necessity
The Pilates method takes its name from its creator, Joseph Hubertus Pilates. Born in Mönchengladbach in 1880, of fragile health marked by asthma, from a young age he practices regular exercise as a treatment to strengthen himself. It is a period in which the benefits of regular gymnastics begin to be recognized. From the end of the 19th century, gymnastic exercises are implemented in German school programs with the aim of improving physical fitness and increasing strength; and in countries like Sweden, gymnastic methods are developed, such as calisthenics, which seeks to encourage flexibility, the fluidity of movement, coordination, and resistance. It is in this context that the birth of the Pilates is inscribed.

Pilates and the First World War
In 1912, Joseph Pilates moved to England, where he was surprised by the outbreak of the First World War. As a suspicious German citizen in the eyes of the British state, he is interned in a labor camp where he perfects his method of physical training. He tries it with his inmates, he practices it, he improves it. It is believed that this training program, based on exercise, diet and rest, contributed greatly to inmates being saved during the pandemic flu that hit the country in 1918.

After the war, Pilates moves to the Isle of Man and uses his method in the rehabilitation of those injured during the conflict. Design beds, chairs and special furniture to perform specific exercises and improve body posture, and its benefits do not take long to become apparent.

Laying the groundwork for a global fitness phenomenon
Back in Germany, he enters the world of dance with Rudolph von Laban. Thus begins the process of hybridization between the method developed until then by Pilates and the bases of dance. The Pilates method, in fact, is largely influenced by boxing, yoga, martial arts, and dancing and is enriched by the popularization of gymnastics in Germany. The close collaboration between Joseph Pilates and the world of dance will continue throughout his life, and the Pilates method will help many dancers recover from injuries.

In 1926, he moved to the United States, where he founded a Studio from where he used to practice and offer his technique, which he initially called “Contrology” because of the importance attributed to control over the body, breathing, and movement. In his practice during his lifetime, Joseph Pilates published two books, Your Health (1934) and Pilates’ Return to Life through Contrology (1945), in which he explains part of the philosophy of his method. When he dies in 1967, however, the Pilates method remains almost a secret: there were a few instructors to whom Pilates himself transmitted the theoretical basis of his method. It was necessary to wait for 1980 and the publication of ‘The Pilates Method of Physical and Mental Conditioning’, and the method was popularized outside the dance environments.

Until the 80s of the last century, Pilates was a method applied mainly in the field of dance. Only since then, associations and educational centers were established in which the theoretical principles of what, until then, had been transmitted through practice were systematized. These principles were modified, expanded and adapted and, today, it continues to undergo changes.

Classic exercises of the Pilates method
The mind that shapes the body: the 6 basic principles of Pilates

The Pilates method is inspired by yoga, martial arts, gymnastics and dance, disciplines that Joseph Pilates studied and used to cultivate his Pilates method during his lifetime. These techniques are assembled on basic philosophy: the balance between the mind and the body is the key to obtaining health and happiness, which are, in short, the two main goals of the human beings.

In the first conception of his method, Joseph Pilates promoted breathing control, based on abdominal inspiration and expiration and complete emptying of the lungs; and the erect posture, with the spine, stretched and the back straight. In addition, good personal hygiene was recommended, as well as the reduction of the number of clothing that the person normally wears. Pilates also recommended aerobic exercise, vigorous, since it allowed, according to him, the elimination of mental fatigue through the bloodstream.

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Pilates Certification Courses: An Overview

A Pilates Certification course basically consists of the different basic techniques in the Pilates exercise, as well as good positioning, machine work and mat exercises.

Pilates Exercises have been getting more and more attention from lots of people. Since its introduction to the American Population in the 1910’s,Guest Posting the exercise technique invented by the German national Joseph Pilates has caught the attention of millions of Americans to date. Pilates first started with simple springs attached to hospital beds for his first Pilates machine, and since then the machines, as well as the techniques used have improved so well. Pilates also has his share of students, who continued his “teachings” his studio and his work. Nowadays, the modern day Pilates instructor, need only a certification, that they indeed have the proper training to supervise a safe and effective Pilates class. Pilates certifications are offered by a vast number of firms that aside from offering Pilates certifications also hold classes for practitioners.

A Pilates Certification course basically consists of the different basic techniques in the Pilates exercise, as well as good positioning, machine work and mat exercises.

The first Pilates certification course that would probably be taught in a typical Pilates Certification class is basic matwork exercises. These are beginner and intermediate level matwork classes after which, you will be certified to teach beginner or intermediate level Pilates Class. You won’t need a machine for Pilates matwork, which make it the highest in demand because, if you’re planning on teaching Pilates for a living, you can easily start on a low budget, and teach Pilates without using Machines.

The second topic in your Pilates certification course may probably be standing Pilates; this like mat Pilates doesn’t need machines as well, but may take a bit more experience to learn because of the complicated position of standing upright, most Pilates certification schools do not teach standing Pilates until after the trainee has a certification in matwork Pilates.

After standing Pilates, is advanced matwork Pilates. The Pilates certification for advanced matwork, is given later because as its name says, it is advanced, meaning more difficult moves, which entails a higher probability of someone making a mistake. It is therefore crucial that the instructor to be is well trained before he gets an advanced matwork Pilates certification.

After the non equipment courses, the next course for Pilates certification would be the apparatus courses, where you’ll be certified as an instructor for certain machines. First, the would-be instructor is trained with the basic Pilates equipment, Cadillac, reformer, circle, and barrels. After the course, you will have a Pilates certification for apparatus. Some schools offer standing apparatus Pilates certification, as a separate training program from basic apparatus training, if you want to learn it all at once, then you’ll most likely find a certification firm that will accommodate you.

The last and probably the most complicated one is the training for people with special cases, like those with back, neck, knee, shoulder problems. These are more complicated situations and need more focus on. The only one that probably needs a better trained instructor would probably be Pilates for rehabilitation. Yes, Pilates can be used for rehabilitation, but to get a Pilates certification for rehabilitation, you must be certified in all the other Pilates techiniques, this is because most people that need rehabilitaiton are fragile and therefore need extra care, as well as extra training.

After getting a Pilates certification for every course, the trainees should have the skills to teach the exercise techniques, as well as its Pilosophical aspects to practitioners. Some schools even teach the trainees so that after they finish each course, they will also have enough skills to modify the exercise techniques to fit their class’ needs, so that after you train, you can further improve on the teachniques that we’re taught to you and apply them as the case may be.

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