With ‘small group’ classes Michelle is able to tailor to your specific needs and requirements week by week unlike large classes.
Prevent injury, stabilise, align and gain the most from your body with Pilates deep layer core training.
It’s not the kind of workout that always works up a sweat but depending on your reasons to come to a class, Pilates lengthens and strengthens all major muscles in a balanced fashion. Captivate your inner core, Improve balance and body awareness, tone and burn fat, rehabilitate. Whatever your goal, build a stronger you.
Classes range from small props to mat work and advanbced TRX suspended pilates.
Pilates is an innovative mind-body system backed by strong evidence.
To researchers, “strong evidence” means findings from multiple well-designed studies that include randomized, controlled trials. Here are the benefits proven by strong evidence:
Builds Muscular Endurance.
Female subjects who practiced Pilates mat work for three times per week for only 5 weeks improved abdominal muscle endurance compared with inactive controls (Sekendiz et al. 2007). Young healthy adults showed improvements in both abdominal and lower back muscle endurance as they pair together when strengthening. After 8 weeks of classes, three times a week; the control group consisted of unsupervised active young adults (Rogers & Gibson 2009). In a study with both younger and older adults, aged 25–65, abdominal and upper-body muscle endurance increased in those who took 12 weeks of Pilates classes, two times per week (Kloubec 2010).
Personal Satisfaction.
Women who participated in Pilates twice a week for 1-hour Pilates mat work classes for 6 months enjoyed greater life satisfaction (Cruz-Ferreira et al. 2011a).
Improved Psychological Well-being.
In addition to being more satisfied with their lives, these women improved their physical self-concept and health perception, contributing to an improvement in overall psychological well-being (Cruz-Ferreira et al. 2011a). Self-efficiancy, mood and sleep quality improved in college students who practiced Pilates for one 15-week semester (Caldwell et al. 2009).
How Much Practice is Required.
To get the most benefit from a Pilates routine, research evidence suggests that if you are healthy you should train 2 to 3 times a week for at least an hour per session. Most Pilates study designs have required subjects to do the exercises for at least 50 minutes, two to three times a week, over 5–15 weeks (Cruz-Ferreira et al. 2011b). When it comes to an exercise plan to ensure particular results, investigators look for a “doseresponse” relationship. In scientific terms, this means a change in effect on a subject, caused by differing levels of exposure (or dose) to a stressor (in this case, the exercise program) over a certain period of time. Just like a program design run across a number of weeks you must stick to that program to see change take place but avoid adaptation and strength development plateau by maintaining a consistent number of days each week you perform these exercises.
Better dynamic balance.
With 5 weeks of Pilates equipment training, dynamic standing balance improved in healthy adults (average age, 27) compared with control subjects (Johnson et al. 2007). Women over 60 who took Pilates mat lessons for 12 weeks made gains in dynamic balance and reaction time and had fewer falls (Irez et al. 2011), preventing postural imbalances and injuries.
Improve your flexibility.
Adult women who practiced Pilates mat work experienced improvements in posterior trunk flexibility (Sekendiz et al. 2007) and hamstring flexibility (Kloubec 2010) compared with control-group members who made no lifestyle changes. Among healthy young adults, mat Pilates participants improved low-back, hamstring and upper-body flexibility compared with active control subjects (Rogers & Gibson 2009). In a study of women over 60, Pilates practitioners gained flexibility in the hamstrings and low back, while those who remained inactive did not (Irez et al. 2011). Even in the healthy adult that follows a sedentary lifestyle for 5 days a week increases the chance of stiffness and poor posture habits without practicing a regular stretching regime. As a result long term injuries can evolve.