Pilates is a sport that has great popularity given the large number of benefits it brings to people who practice it. Doing Pilates exercises will allow you to improve your fitness, lose some weight and tone all the muscles in your body. What are you waiting for to give it a try? Doing Pilates exercises will help you improve your concentration and relax more easily.
Another of the great benefits of Pilates is that you can practice it anywhere; you only need a quiet space and a mat so as not to hurt yourself when leaning on the ground. Something you should try, however, is that the space in which you have decided to practice Pilates is calm and quiet place since concentration is a very important part of this sport.
If you are interested in knowing how to do Pilates exercises correctly, pay close attention to the instructions that we present below: they will be of great help to you!
What do you need to do Pilates exercises?
- comfortable sportswear
- yoga mat
Instructions for doing Pilates exercises
- Remember to stretch. Many people skip this part when training and it is a very serious mistake. It is not a good idea to start doing Pilates exercises while your body is still cold. With that you stretch and perform a moderate warm-up for about five minutes will be enough.
- When doing Pilates exercises there are three fundamental points that you must keep in mind at all times. The first of these is breathing. Breathing is one of the central points in the practice of Pilates. You should try to relax and keep your breathing calm and deep throughout. It is very normal that during some postures or exercises you notice that it is more difficult for you to breathe. What you should try to do in those moments is to relax and focus on breathing correctly. Remember to breathe deeply during all exercises.
- The second point that you should pay attention to is to keep your abdominal and lumbar area tense during all the exercises. Pilates was designed to strengthen these two areas of our body and its exercises are only effective when our abdominals are under tension.
- The last point of great importance is that of concentration. Concentration is key at all times. By staying focused on the exercises we do, we make sure that the muscles that need to be tense are tensed while we make sure that the muscles that need to rest are relaxed. One of the best ways to concentrate is trying to visualize the positions that we are doing.
- Practice Pilates at home, here we teach you how to do Pilates at home without having to move, although if you can do it outdoors, even better
- Progress little by little and don’t try the more complicated exercises if you don’t feel ready for them. In Pilates there are some exercises that require a lot of strength and concentration and during your first months of practice you will not be able to do them. You should not worry as you gain strength and endurance; you will be able to face these more complicated postures and exercises.
- Do not forget to relax for a while after you have practiced your exercises. In this way your body can rest from the effort to which it has been subjected and you will prepare to face the rest of the day.
- Finally you must remember not to do Pilates every day. If you wish, you can train up to five days a week, but you should always keep a couple of days off so that your body can rest. Despite what most people think, Pilates is not an easy or gentle exercise and your body needs to rest and relax for a couple of days.
Tips for doing Pilates exercises
- It is a good idea to contact a monitor who can supervise your exercises. Pilates is a very technical sport and its exercises are only effective if done correctly. It will be much easier for you to deepen your knowledge and practice of Pilates if you have a professional to help you. If for financial or other reasons you cannot afford an instructor, there are excellent materials on the web, such as the articles on this site, to help you perfect your technique.
