31 May What is Pilates?
Do you want strong abs, lower back muscles, pelvic floor, hips AND glutes? Two words. Mat Pilates. The first form of Pilates, the mat acts as your bestie and all you need to bring along to a class, is yourself!
Pilates mat practices are exercises designed to improve physical strength, flexibility, and posture which means it basically targets everything! Also a great way to isolate muscle groups and refine muscle patterning in all types of movement.
Here, we speak with Power Living teacher and Pilates extraordinaire, Gina Brescianini. She reveals how Pilates can compliment your yoga practice and even develop more core strength. Because who doesn’t want a strong core!?
Yogaholics: How long have you been practising?
Gina: I have been practising Pilates for 21 years.
Yogaholics: What brought you to it in the beginning?
Gina: I first started Pilates at The Australian Ballet school when I was 16 years old. We had a mat program to help gain strength in a targeted way ideal for ballet dancers.
Yogaholics: What are the four key benefits of Pilates?
Gina: Pilates is full of physical and mental benefits. The four major physical benefits are:
- Improved body awareness
- Strength
- Muscle tone
- Control of finite movements
Yogaholics: What sets Pilates apart from Yoga?
Gina: Pilates is different from yoga for a few reasons. The most significant difference to me is that you are isolating muscle groups; this gives you the ability to be able to enhance and control your movements more easily with technique; this helps yoga practice drastically.
It also aids in the ability to have better awareness and sensitivity to how you are using your body without overworking muscles and compensating for lack of strength in weaker areas of the body. This helps to develop deep core strength and symmetry in the body and is also beneficial in rehabilitation from injuries.
Are you interested in taking up Pilates? Look no further! Pilates is launching on Yogaholics in September.
Written by Gina Brescianini
