Pilates for Senior Citizens- Why?

Good Posture: head over shoulders, over hips, over knees, over ankles.

Pilates exercise for elderly adults works wonders because it is low impact compared to other forms of exercise, which means it is not as severe on the joints as most workouts.

Pilates focusses on breathing & quality-controlled movements, not repetitions.

How Pilates Works?

"Pilates stretches muscles that are tight & strengthens those that are weak to help realign your body to its natural form."

• Pilates develops the body uniformly, corrects wrong postures, restores physical vitality, invigorates the mind & elevates the spirit.
• Pilates is unique in that it systematically exercises all the muscle groups in the body, the weak as well as the strong.
• The exercises make you stronger, more flexible, & less likely to fall because they re-educate your body to use all of your muscles, not just the superficial ones.
• By strengthening both your large muscles & the deep, smaller endurance muscles that are responsible for your strength, they take the strain off the larger muscles & give them added support.
• Concentration & correct breathing are added to exercise for the older adult that can teach you to recruit the smaller, supportive muscles.

With Pilates exercise for elderly the “Core” or the center of your body needs to be your focus.

This is the place from which all motion originates and then proceeds to the extremities, all of the body working in unison not as separate parts.

Ultimately every movement and exercise for the older adult, especially walking, should be initiated by first stabilizing the core of the body which involves contracting the deep abdominal muscles.

Bottom line: less pain, greater range of motion, and fewer falls.