Pilates and your daily activities

As you begin to learn and refine the mat repertoire, you also begin to notice the similarities between the exercises and your daily movement patterns.

Every exercise in the mat repertoire is meant to work all your muscles cooperatively, yet it has earned a reputation for being primarily a core workout method.

This is because it works from the inside out and connects all our parts to one another through our centers.

From our breathing muscles (diaphragm, intercostals) and abdominals to the inner thighs, gluteals, arms and even our feet, these muscle connections are pivotal to maintaining optimal, healthy alignment.

When we rotate/spiral from our centre, as we do in 'Spine Twist', it mimics reaching for something from the backseat of your car. 'Spine Stretch Forward' mimics bending forward to pick up an object. Our 'Side-lying Series' and leg lifts mimic us walking and stepping sideways and our 'Swimming Prep' mimics reaching overhead while maintaining upright posture.

When we walk, gesture, and move, in general, we do so without overthinking and trigger the same awareness we have honed in our mat classes. Pilates was designed to help us re-create this natural state of the body so that we can complete our daily activites with ease, efficiency and less risk of injury.