Now I’m sure if you’re reading this you already know what Pilates is- it’s a total body, low intensity workout, which strengthens & tones, improves flexibility, posture & balance, as well as helping you de-stress through your mind & body connection.

Pilates uses a group of exercises performed on the mat, or on specially designed ‘Pilates Equipment.’ The traditional 34 exercises can be adjusted to suit ‘everybody’, with different variations & combinations, so the beginner through to the experienced can benefit & be challenged by the different levels.

Repeating movements or exercises means that the movement pattern can be practiced over & over & over. If we want to get better at anything then we know that we need to practice & consistently practice – that’s really when we start to see & ‘feel’ the difference.

There’s nothing better than to see a class member , or client smile (and when I say smile I mean ‘beam’) when they can actually do an exercise that up to now hasn’t quite clicked – it might be the breathing pattern, or the slowness of execution, or precision, or keeping the alignment or positioning of the exercise, or trying to combine all of these.

And practice means that we able to build up strength  in our muscles & core, which in turns builds layers & connections  & our co-ordination, stability,balance etc all improve. Every class or session is an opportunity to build upon what you did before, building upon your movements & connections. Without repetition our bodies wouldn’t be able to progress in the same way,  so it’s absolutely necessary.

Repetition isn’t boring, as there’s lots of adjustments or levels you can make along your Pilates journey, that’s why it’s so popular & for many is a lifelong pursuit.

Pilates help us ‘iron out’ the bad postural habits that we get into i.e. slouching, too long in seated positions, lying on one side & constantly looking down at our phones.

In a nutshell repetition in Pilates speeds up your progress, deepens your understanding of the exercises and makes us feel great as our skill level improves.

Claire x