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Latest7 Health by Jaynie Ralph
Health - Latest7 Magazine Issue 328 page 15Waist Management
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| The beautiful people adore it. Stars like Cameron Diaz are said to attribute their fabulous figures to it. The goal of The Pilates Method is the union of mind and body; teaching you to move with grace and balance, drawing on your strengths and counteracting your weaknesses. Pilates focuses on building core strength and improving posture through a series of low repetition, low impact stretching and conditioning exercises that create an internal corset by toning the rectus and transverse abdominis muscles. Created by Joseph Pilates, the programme teaches awareness of breath and alignment of the spine. The concept of teaching is important, because you learn how to perform the exercises for yourself rather than lie back and have a therapist do all the work. He originally called his method Contrology – encouraging the mind to control the muscles |
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| – and believed that mental and physical health were essential to one another. He built his exercise programme on the principles of relaxation, alignment, control, precision, routine, centering, flowing movement and breathing. Joseph Pilates was passionate about the importance of correct breathing and co-ordinating each movement with the breath. Tips • Take a few classes, don’t try and learn on your own from scratch from a DVD. If the exercises are performed incorrectly you could end up with a wider waist, rather than a smaller one. •Wear fitted clothing. • Let the teacher know if you are pregnant as there are certain times when this exercise isn’t advised. Pilates is often recommended by osteopaths as one of the safest exercise routines because its holistic approach tends to set it apart from many other forms of high impact exercise. It can help people of all ages – including the elderly and children over 12 – with general well being and fitness while its focus on awareness of mind and body can make it particularly effective during pregnancy, to relieve stress or in the prevention of injury. Recommendations Drop-in classes on Saturday and Thursday with Sean at Prince Regent Swimming Complex, Church Street, Brighton, call 01273 625454 Courses and one-to-ones with Francesca at Whatling School, Dyke Road, opposite Tin Drum, call 07958 204211 Course with Claire Lee at Hove Pilates, call 07973 719363 or visit www.hovepilates.com |
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