Pilates undoes the muscular damage of modern lifestyles. Sitting at desks all day, your neck craned over your phone, then sitting on the sofa all evening to unwind assists your mind but not your body. Your lifestyle creates repetitive and unrelenting strain upon your body. This constant awkward tension makes some muscles switch off completely and others become over tight. Pilates is an approach that has a two-fold effect that helps your mind to unwind and your body too. Pilates fixes postural issues created by your day and lifestyle. Whilst a gym workout or run will help with your cardio strength a more restorative approach will help to balance your mind and body. This blog will outline why Pilates should be part of your current fitness programme but also why it should be practised every day.
Pilates is what your body is screaming out for, it is the discipline that unwinds your body from modern life. Pilates is not an ‘instead of’ but an ‘as well as’. In other words, it doesn’t ‘replace your current fitness programmes but is a valuable and necessary addition. Practising Pilates you can achieve better balance, gain a leaner body and feel more poised and less stressed. Pilates isn’t simply a series of physical exercises but a concept based routine that will gently challenge your old assumptions about your body and ageing.
You will have imbalances in your body, most of us do. Certain muscles become stronger whilst others are underused and weather and this can affect your posture.
Every joint has at least two opposing muscles – your bicep and triceps work as pairs. Your hamstrings and quads are another synergistic pair. If they are equally strong then your joints will rest in a neutral position, however, if one is stronger than the other the joint will move and changes your posture, even whilst you are resting.
How to create great daily postural habits
Daily habits like sitting, carrying handbags on one shoulder or always carrying a child on the same hip all impact your posture. Pilates works on the overused muscles that create imbalances in your body. Working on muscles that have deviated from your ideal neutral posture and bring your body back to perfect alignment.
If you spend a lot of time sitting, your gluts can switch off and your hip flexors become tight, therefore yo upsend the time performing, soothing exercises where your hips are extended rather than flexed. Sitting over a desk for prolonged periods of time in a sedentary job means that shoulders become hunched over and over time become rounded.
Creating the time and space in your day to be mindful of your posture and bring back the dulcite, calm tones of your Pilates teacher gently screaming at you to pull your shoulders back and release your lower back tension will help to bring you back to the moment. Create a Pilates postural habit.
What is restorative exercise?
Cardio work is essential for your heart strength and lung capacity, cardiovascular strengthening is one of the pillars of a good exercise programme. The rise in HIIT workouts, Crazy CrossFit, weight training and a big increase in female participation is great news. However, the fast, loud and competitive environment awareness of technique and posture is not at the forefront of your mind. Injuries happen.
Deadlifts with increasingly heavier weights, burpees that use every major muscle group test your balance, coordination and put an enormous strain on your lower back. Runners often have issues with knees, hips and ankles because of the repetitive nature of the activity. Running on a treadmill is often the worse kind of repetitive strain, outside running on rough terrain has a more varied effect on your body. Sitting shortens your hamstrings whilst running uses them even more which means that if you are not stretching your hamstrings regularly it will affect your entire postural chain right up from the back of your foot and your Achilles up all the way to your lower back and pulls your pelvis. I talk a lot about this in my best-selling book, Gorgeous! If you want to make nutritional changes but feel overwhelmed and confused by conflicting information and you’re left bewildered where to start then pick up a copy of Gorgeous!
Making sure that your lower back is strong to perform these powerful moves is where Pilates comes in. Add it into your fitness programme to ensure you enjoy the health benefits of exercise without the risk of injury.
What you need to know about Pilates
Pilates is empowering
Giving you the confidence to try something new whether that is paddle boarding on holiday or feeling confident that you have a powerful base. As a discipline, it brings balance to your body and ensures all your muscles are strong. It strengthening muscles and improving flexibility and creates healthy functioning bodies.
Pilates is inclusive
This type of exercise attracts everyone, from all walks of life. The very young with a background in dance who have overarched spines from dance and ballet, runners with tight hamstrings, footballers, yoga babes, athletes of all descriptions. It is great to see when a young ‘un comes to class and a granny with 5 years experience out planks them!
Pilates is a functional exercise that simply puts makes you stronger to function every day. Functional training uses exercises that allow you to perform the activities of daily life more easily and without injuries, weight-bearing activities targeted at the core muscles of your abdomen and lower back.
Thinking way of moving
In this fast approaching new decade, there has been more interest than ever in exercise techniques that also acknowledge the power of your mind whilst exercising. Pilates like Feldenkrais, the Alexander technique, Tai Chi and yoga all come under this mind-body umbrella. These techniques offer alternative philosophies to conventional thinking about health and fitness.
It is an intelligent way of moving, an intelligent form of exercise because when your body is in a neutral position with good mobility and strength, you pick up fewer injuries. That is why so many athletes use it. It is a way to be able to do everything you enjoy without injury
Prefer Video? Watch My Video: Why your body loves Pilates
Why you need a Pilates wellbeing retreat
Pilates brings peace and calms to your day, explore mindfulness, breathing techniques, setting intentions, sharing gratitude, mindful movement, mindful creativity, loving-kindness and compassion, acknowledging thoughts without judgment and shifting from thinking to sensing.
These retreats are perfect for anyone curious, open-minded or in search of healing. If you would like to spend a cosy evening in a positive environment with uplifting activities and like-minded people
‘I nurture my deepest wishes and intentions knowing that they will grow and strengthen within me’ – Glennie Kindred
Adeles Gorgeous Pilates Retreat enriching, supportive, nourishing retreat. Pilates exercises time to relax, unwind and consider your next steps powerful tools to help you relax, release stress and the chance to step back from your day and breathe
Join my next Pilates retreat day
Join us for some Spanish warmth, Pilates exercises and time to relax, unwind and consider your next steps for you. A healthy and relaxing week combining powerful tools to help you relax, release stress. How often do you have the chance to step back from your day and … breathe?
Next Wellness retreat to Greece, with daily Pilates in the Greek sun, click here
The Gentle Reset – 6 weeks reset your mind and detox your body
If you’re not feeling great, full of vitality and hitting your weight goals then you’ve probably had a few glaring gaps……so with that in mind, I’d like to invite you to work with me inside my membership community on The Gentle Reset.
Each time this programme opens it is only open to 10 new enrolments and I’d love you to be a part of it
Working with me inside the membership, I’ll help you identify the bad habits that are accruing, then give you the resources you need to add in some great habits using coaching, video tutorials, cheat sheets, exercise videos, group coaching, and the all-important buddy-up, supportive motivation.
And you get the opportunity to pick my brain and get personal feedback on your nutrition every single week in our group coaching session. My Group Coaching programme is based on a 6 weeks course that will focus on your health and wellbeing. Inside the 6 weeks: The Gentle Reset you will be able to reset your mind and detox your body and be provided with the support you need to get a healthy lifestyle in place.
A big part of that means that you will have nourishing eating habits that will give you more energy and more motivation as well as the appropriate levels of exercise Join here: The 6 weeks Gentle Reset
What sort of results can you expect?
Here are a few examples of what my clients have achieved so far:
Marketing business owner Charlotte is frank: “Your support, great advice, laughter and tough love have changed my approach to food…as a busy mum of 2 teenagers and consumer brand marketer & business owner, I’ve changed my entire approach to food and prioritising my own health” Read more about Charlotte’s journey here
Busy mum and school teacher Catherine retrained as a primary school teacher with 3 boys and a large extended family meant that Catherine and little time to focus on herself, let alone her health. Her trigger came when her workload and home balance became too much. Her health was suffering. Find out more about Catherine’s story and others click here: success stories click here
How much does it cost?
Your investment is currently £415 but this is for a limited time, the price will be increasing soon – click here to grab the best possible price
BE QUICK this programme, along with all my programmes will be increasing in price very soon > Click here to find out why I am raising my prices But you’ll also discover how you can grab a place before my prices go up, but you will need to be fast.
Gorgeous is your journey of discovery
PS. If you have read enough and you know that this is for you, and you are ready to discover the next stage of your journey – then click here to join my next round before the prices rise
PPS. Don’t forget the gorgeous book – your insight into great health and vitality Gorgeous! how to look and feel fantastic every day. Gorgeous! book
Find out what other clients have to say…
Shelley Hutchinson Client Nectar Get Gorgeous 31st August 2018