Who Does Pilates?

Have you ever wondered who does Pilates? When I started teaching Pilates in the mid-2000s, there were very few Pilates studios in my community and surrounding cities. There are more now, but still not as many as, say, yoga studios or cross-fit gyms. Many people haven’t even heard of Pilates! It’s almost a secret method of movement, but it shouldn’t be. 

It’s said that Joseph Pilates wanted everyone to do Pilates. He was passionate about his method of movement and knew from experience how much it could help people to rehabilitate from illness, injury, or surgery. He felt that lifestyles were getting too sedentary and was quoted to say “civilization impairs physical fitness.” If you were to ask him (or me) “who does Pilates?”, I’m confident the answer would be “it should be everyone.”

Athletes & Dancers

Once in a while, I come across an article about an athlete who’s been taken out of the game for a while by an injury or surgery. Part of their rehab will be Pilates. Commonly, once they return to their game, the athlete will find they are stronger and more connected to their body than before. They say they’ll keep doing Pilates because of how good it makes them feel and perform. 

Pilates helps athletes with rehab and their game because it improves flexibility and mobility, improves core strength, and corrects asymmetries. This is helpful for all athletes at any level, including dancers. It takes great athleticism to be a dancer, and Pilates will improve how a dancer’s body moves. 

Keep Reading: Why Pilates Helps Teen Athletes

People with Back Pain

I often see clients whose doctors have recommended Pilates for their back pain. This type of pain is often related to tightness in a body that doesn’t do much stretching or mobility work. It still surprises me how quickly a few Pilates classes can help many people find relief from tightness-related back pain.

Back pain is also caused by imbalances in strength which can cause poor posture of some sort. Slouching, tipping to one side, or tucking your pelvis too much anteriorly or posteriorly. Pilates helps these people because it increases their body awareness. Apparatuses like the reformer, chair, or tower in particular help them to find better, centred alignment. It forces them to work their muscles from a position that they haven’t been in for a very long time. Slowly but surely their posture will improve, they will get stronger, and they will find more symmetry. Soon, the pain is but a memory. 

People Who Sit a Lot

There are those who say we sit too much, but it’s how our society works these days. We spend long hours in our cars, commuting, and sitting at desks or looking down at our phones. All of these things cause us to tilt our heads forward and sit in a rounded shoulder position, which can cause upper back and neck pain. Sitting can create low back or hip pain, too. 

To rectify these aches and pains, there are many Pilates exercises that will help. Most notably, it will improve your posture. There are great exercises to open up the chest area as well, and both will help you breathe better. Something I love about Pilates is that it helps you to notice your posture during the day so you can correct it at the moment. 

Those Waiting for Surgery

You’ll see that many of those who do Pilates are preparing for or rehabbing from surgery. I have a client right now who is waiting on hip surgery. He’s in a lot of pain and needs surgery to fix the condition. But while he is waiting, Pilates is helping relieve some pain and is building strength that he will need post-surgery. Afterward, Pilates will be part of his rehab to continue to regain strength and mobility. 

Runners

Anyone who runs, including as part of their sport, should be doing Pilates. Runners tend to get tight in the hips, low back, hamstrings, and calves. They often get plantar fasciitis (like me) and other foot pain. Then there is the common pain in the knees or from shin splints. Running is tough on the body, and Pilates can help by: 

• Stretching those tight spots. There are a lot of jokes about tight hamstrings in classes with runners.
• Improving mobility. There are some amazing foot exercises that work on foot mobility, which is so important for running. Pilates will also improve hip mobility and rotation of the spine. 
• Increasing core strength. This helps maintain good posture during a run, which in turn improves breathing. 

I love to help healthy, active people to keep doing the activities that they love to do. I nearly had to stop running when I had an injury a couple years ago. I was mad at myself because I know better. I know that if I stop doing strength training or Pilates yet keep running or riding, I get hurt. I let my Pilates slide and I was quickly reminded with an injury. Never again! 

Mothers

Another group who does Pilates is moms. Dads do too, of course, but a woman’s body goes through a lot to bring a child into the world. There are hormones, weight gain, weight loss, carrying the baby until birth on the front side of the body, joints loosen to prepare for birth, and all that fun. Then once the baby comes, there is constant holding and feeding. My back was pretty messed up for a few years after having my three girls. I’d prop them on one hip (always the same one), which caused a misalignment of my hips and spine. 

Pilates can help a woman who is considering having a baby to be strong in her core and find good posture so that she hopefully has less back pain during pregnancy. It also helps post-delivery, but recovery is always easier when you are strong to start out with. Note: you shouldn’t start a new fitness activity when pregnant, which is a great reason to start before. 

Where to Do Pilates

There are lots of ways to do Pilates. There are online videos, gyms, rec centers, large group reformer classes, and smaller boutique studios like mine. There are also private sessions and all of these options come with varying price tags. You may have to try a few to figure out where and how you like to do Pilates. Do you like individual attention or the convenience of working out at home? Do you like to be social or get your workout done in as short of a time as possible? 

b.Pilates & Fitness offers group classes, single or duo private sessions, and the Sweat with Melissa subscription, so you can do Pilates and strength workouts anywhere, any time. The library is always growing, so you’ll never run out of workout ideas. 

Who does Pilates? You do!