Why Is Breathing So Important?
Why Breathing Is So Important for Pilates
How often do you breathe while exercising? Do you feel tension in your neck or shoulders? Do you find yourself stopping mid exercise to catch your breath or reset?
If this is you, you might need to become more aware of your breathing. Your breathing should be LOUD. Being physically aware of your breathing, means we should be able to hear your breathing.
But when do you exhale and inhale?
For each Pilates movement, there is a breath in or out that accompanies each movement.
Try these breathing exercises next time you’re in the studio
- E X H A L E when exerting. You gain energy by releasing a breath and connecting your core. Think EXERT≠ EXHALE
- I N H A L E to relax, slow down or reset.
The Pilates Reformer
Exercising with the reformer is possible for anyone, at any level of fitness!
The instability of a rolling carriage and the option to set springs at different levels of resistance provides all kinds of stability challenges that develop core strength and promote better balance. Not only can you increase or decrease spring tension to make the exercise more challenging you could, for example, have less of the body on the carriage meaning more bodyweight has to be supported by the practitioner, and the body and machine has to be controlled even more by the core. Paradoxically, when the springs are in a lighter setting, some exercises are more challenging for the core because it has to work harder to control and stabilize the movement.
A History of Pilates
The story of how, in the first half of the 20th century, Joseph Pilates developed his method, which he fittingly called “Contrology”. Pilates’ series of rehabilitative exercises, designed to create total balance of the body and mind. It was revolutionary and Pilates, a true believer in his own method, knew it.