Urgent consultation with our Obesity Doctor / Nutritionist may be needed if you have a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 29 or above which is considered in the Obese category as it may lead to the onset of many lifestyle illnesses like diabetes, high blood pressure, arthritis etc etc.
All about Pilates: When losing weight becomes a burden the result is usually disgusting… so relieve that stress and try working out with PILATES.
Pilates is the best way to workout – one that is becoming extremely popular among fitness-friendly folks and those who want to lose weight. Pilates is low impact exercises that are extremely effective in toning up the full body and increasing the metabolism in long run which in turn helps in trimming the fatty tissues in body.
The best thing about Pilates is that, although you don’t usually break much of a sweat during a session, it can still help you with your weight loss goals and much more. In fact, Pilates can make a huge difference to your life.
Pilates is a form of exercise that focuses on using both the mind and body to achieve optimum performance. The deep stabilizing muscles of the body are conditioned and strengthened using sequences of movements that helps to build and maintain lean muscles while you are losing weight, help to realign posture as the body’s centre of gravity changes, promote long elegant posture and graceful flowing movement, and keep you centred and energized. Pilates trains the mind to maintain a constant level of awareness of the way the body moves resulting in a greater control of motion. Pilates has developed over the years to become a credible system of conditioning and rehabilitating the body.
The best thing about Pilates is that the exercises are not at all difficult and you experience the benefits even before you achieve full competency. The point is to just keep trying till you get them right and always work within your comfortable limits.
Starting up with Pilates: While there are a number of ways to take up Pilates, but a local class is always a good place to start with, as they have the benefit of being well structured, are easy to follow and there is an instructor on hand if you need any help or guidance. A second way would be to find a personal trainer who will teach and assist you on one to one basis particularly if you have specific requirements as in pregnancy or any injury. Lastly, you may also purchase some instructional books or DVDs to try Pilates at your own convenience.
Benefits of Pilates:
Toning and Strengthening the Muscles: Pilates is a fantastic way to sculpt and strengthen your muscles. In order to get optimum results you should participate in 3 or more sessions per week.
Improves the Body Control: Pilate work outs are designed to improve balance and coordination between the mind and body thus improving the awareness about our own body so that we can use it to its full potential.
Postural Alignment and Core stability: Poor body postures account for a variety of aches and pains that hamper a large percentage of the population. Pilates teaches you to consciously maintain optimum anatomical alignment in all positions and during movement thereby reducing the chances of injury due to incorrect use of any body part.
Rehabilitation: Pilates is not a substitute for any medical treatment but this form of workout provides you with a structured method of taking control and improving your own strength and stamina. Do take prior permission from your medical practitioner before starting any exercise form.
Total body workout and weight loss: Pilates works the body in a functional way, using muscles in synergy with each other, and this toning up of muscles helps in weight loss. . The best way to get that body fat off would be to combine regular Pilate sessions with 5 x 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise per week.
Pilates as stress buster: The workout helps you to stay focused and also breathe properly thereby reducing the tensions of your everyday life.
Success in anything needs hard work and dedication and so is with weight loss. You will need to be focused and disciplined and to practice regularly to see and feel results. Each of us is different and the only way to know if Pilates will work for you is to try it for yourself.
