Pilates exercises

Pilates: exercises free and on the device

For example, Pilates exercises can relieve back pain and neck tension.

Joseph Hubertus Pilates was born in 1883 near Dusseldorf. He suffered as a child from asthma, rickets (bone softening) and rheumatic fever. Even at a young age, he began to strengthen his body and dealt with the "movement theory". Joseph Pilates develops early on a functional concept of rehabilitation processes. He overcame his physical limitations by developing his own exercise program of stretching and strengthening exercises.

In 1914 he was interned as a German in England. In this captivity, he worked as a nurse and developed there his later studio equipment by using bedsprings to strengthen and treat the injured. Even today, his converted hospital bed is the heart of every modern Pilates concept.

After the end of the war Joseph Pilates returned to Germany and was inspired by dance and different forms of training such as yoga and various martial arts. He'd previously trained Scotland Yard officials in England, not just as a professional boxer. He had this incorporated into his training concept and probably his experiences from working with the founder of the German expression dance, the Hungarian dancer and movement analyst Rudolf von Laban (1879-1958).

Joseph Pilates left Germany in 1926 and emigrated to the United States. He is said to have been urged to train parts of the German army, which the convinced pacifist Pilates but probably refused and therefore traveled to the United States. On the crossing he met his future wife, the nurse Clara. Her experience as a nurse leads to a gentler and rehabilitative-oriented development of his training concept. They opened a studio in New York together in the same building as the New York City Ballet. Many dancers quickly became aware of his method and trained with him. Through regular training, the dancers were more resilient, had less complaints and could withstand your hard ballet training.

Joseph Pilates realized that the ancient Greek principle, healthy mind in a healthy body, lost in the age of industrialization through the monotonous movement in the factories or immobility in the administrations. His life's work is the attempt - with his training concept - to restore this lost unity of body and mind. Pilates should tighten from the inside, without building muscle packages. Pilates, which Pilates himself first called "Contrology", is to create a new body sensation, a natural, upright posture and thus an expressive presence. In 1945, Joseph "Joe" Pilates, as he was also called, published his book"Return to Life Through Contrology - The Complete Writings of Joseph H. Pilates", which in German means "New Life through Contrology". There he described his Pilates method and the principles of the Pilates.

Joseph Pilates died of pulmonary hypofunction in 1967, at the age of 84, and is believed to be the result of a fire at his Pilates studio in New York. Until the end of his life, he trained his students and himself. The uniqueness of his concept ultimately led to Pilates training, also known as the Pilates method, becoming an important part of health and fitness today. His wife Clara Pilates continued his work in the Pilates studio and died in 1977. The fact that the principles of Pilates did not completely disappear from the scene was first and foremost attributed to the student of Pilates, Romana Kryzanowska, who since 1941 learned the method and spread it, herself when she lived in Peru. From the 1990s, Pilates boomed when it became public that celebrities like Madonna, Tina Turner or Rod Stewart practiced Pilates alongside athletes such as Tiger Woods and tennis stars Pat Cash and Martina Navratilova.

In addition to the exercises designed Pilates especially devices where you could do exercises. One of these is the so-called Allegro device. Originally developed by Joseph Pilates for one-to-one training, the "reformer" is now successfully used in rehabilitation and prevention. In order to make the versatile exercise possibilities available to participants in group lessons, the "reformer" has been further developed into the "Allegro". This system of pulleys and different spring strengths offers a variety of possibilities, both to perform full-body exercises as well as isolated training in various joints.

Pilates on the Allegro is designed to train the lower abdominal and back muscles, creating relaxation and relaxation of the shoulder and neck muscles, improving mobility, tautening the abdomen, legs, buttocks and arms. The uniform stretching and strengthening of the entire body should help to balance muscular imbalances. The natural balance between strength and flexibility should be increased, body posture improved and body awareness strengthened.

Pilates on the Allegro can also be effective against osteoporosis processes and relieve discomfort in musculoskeletal disorders such as back pain or neck tension. The slow and focused exercises, coupled with your own breathing rhythm, should also provide deep relaxation of the mind.

The Pilates Allegro training is on 2 to max. 4 participants limited. Due to this small number of groups, the training is very intense, individual and thus successful. In many facilities you can test this successful training developed by Joseph H. Pilates on a device in a test unit. After the first Allegro lessons you should feel the difference. (Melanie Adolph)