6 Reasons We Love Clinical Pilates
If you haven’t already heard, we are huge fans of Pilates at Treloar Physiotherapy. So much so that we’ve created our own studio space at our 8th and Ash location. Here are five reasons we love Pilates (especially when used in conjunction with physiotherapy!).
1. It’s the ultimate core strengthing workout. Every Pilates exercise begins with an engaged core and focuses on movements that require you to activate your transverse abdominals, the core muscle group that often gets left out when you’re doing a bunch of sit-ups at the gym.
2. Pilates helps develop the neglected muscle groups. We tend to use certain muscles more than others day-to-day but Pilates can help to activate some of those sleepy muscles. This helps prevent burnout, injuries and movement imbalances. If you ever feel like your quads do the brunt of the work when you run or your glutes don’t want to activate, Pilates is perfect for you.
3. Improve flexibility. In general, the more muscle mass you have, the less flexible you are. But Pilates’ focus on stretching increases your range of motion helping to prevent injuries and muscle strains.
4. It’s a moving meditation. Pilates requires you to pay attention to your breath while maintaining proper form as you complete the exercises. This means you need to be focused and can’t be thinking about what you’re going to feed the kids for dinner or your TO DO list at work. Instead you’ll be catching up on some deep breathing and connecting to your body.
5. It’s covered by most extended medical plans! As you are working with a physiotherapist your sessions may be covered though your extended medical plan under physio. We always recommend you check with your individual provider to make sure you’re covered but most of the time you can get anywhere from $500/year to unlimited coverage depending on the scope of your plan.
6. It’s equally beneficial for men and women. While women seemed to dominate the mat in the past, many men are jumping on the Pilates bandwagon. We’re lucky enough to work with lots of men at our studio and encourage more to give it a try!
