This is truly up to you and dependent upon what you are willing invest time- and energy-wise. Daily life, jobs where we sit all day, past injuries, bad posture habits – all these elements work against change. If you come to class once a week, then results will take a while to see. Ideally, Pilates is performed at least three times per week. If you are willing to practice on your own then you will see results much more quickly. Your flexibility and strength will definitely increase and your body will accept the new information you are learning. As you learn more and set new habits, Pilates becomes a part of daily life in how you sit, stand and carry yourself.

While Pilates is not traditionally a cardio workout, as you get more advanced your classes will flow from one exercise into the next with only a short pause between. It can be quite challenging. It will raise your heart rate and make you sweat!

Joseph Pilates began his work with exercises performed on the mat. He invented his apparatus to give assistance in performing the mat exercises. All Pilates apparatus provide help or challenge through springs. On the Reformer you can lie down, kneel or stand and push out and in with your feet. On the Cadillac, there are springs that hook around your feet or that you hold with your hands. The resistance helps you strengthen and stretch in the proper place to get the most benefit for your body.

Pilates is a great workout, but it’s also a great foundation for doing any workout safely and effectively. The elements of Pilates work beautifully when applied to other workouts. Your alignment will be better, you’ll work from your center, you’ll move efficiently – these elements can make any workout easier and more effective.

Because there is no legal definition of Pilates, literally anyone can say they teach Pilates and teach whatever they like. This can be very confusing. Pilates has been drifting toward traditional exercise taught on Pilates apparatus where students work muscles to exhaustion or where the elements of focus and clarity are not present. The philosophy of Joseph Pilates is slowly being lost. He believed that a sound mind is housed in a sound body and that the body is affected by the will and concentration of the mind. It’s truly mind/body exercise with a deep awareness of how and where you are doing the work. Because I believe that the original philosophy is a vital element of getting the benefits Pilates provides, I have studied under the teachers of his closest protégée, Romana Kryzanovska. The teachers she has trained are the most skilled in the Pilates world, and I continue to train with them numerous times a year.

Pilates has become popular with women in the last few decades but Joseph Pilates worked mostly with men. It was designed and invented by a man, so he knew that men needed to stretch and strengthen at the same time. Pilates can work into the areas that typically challenge men – low back, hips, shoulders, waist. Women can be challenged where they typically need help – upper body strength and alignment, leg strength, flexibility. The beauty of Pilates, and of Romana’s training, is addressing what each individual body needs and choosing the best path to getting results - for men and women of all ages.

It is named after Joseph Pilates, the man who invented the method. He began using his exercises in Europe during World War I. He immigrated to the United States in the mid-1920s and began teaching in New York City with his wife, Clara. The method became popular with people in the performing arts - dancers, actors, and singers – as well as regular folks who were attracted by the strength and stretch, as well as the full body health, it provided. He called it “contrology” – the art of control. Over time it became known as “Pilates”.

55 minutes, *In certain circumstances, 30-minute classes are available.

Pilates is not physical therapy (PT), although it has many of the same ideas and approaches. Whereas PT is designed to work on the issue that has been prescribed by a doctor, Pilates addresses the full body. Joseph Pilates believed that working the entire body could help heal the injured areas. If you have been injured, it's important to get the correct help from a good physical therapist. I have two therapists whom I highly recommend. I have worked with people who have finished therapy and need to continue working on their strength and flexibility. Often people have long-term “issues” with their bodies that need attention in class and Pilates is good for that. Those issues can be worked with or worked around as needed. The springs assist the body in building strength and flexibility.

Both Pilates and yoga emphasize awareness of your movements, breathing and flow. Yoga is built around asanas, or poses. In some types of yoga, you hold the pose for a while and breathe. In other types, poses flow from one to the next in a pattern called vinyasa. Pilates is built around a set of exercises that have dynamics and flow, so it is somewhat similar to vinyasa. However, no music is played in class so the mind can completely focus on what the body is doing.

Traditional training with weights is far removed from Pilates. Much of traditional training is based on body-building and doing sets of repetitions that work specific muscle groups to exhaustion. Pilates is about integrating the entire body in an exercise. Some Pilates exercises look like exercises you've done in the gym. However, the way in which they're done is very different. Instead of 20 quick and sloppy repetitions, in Pilates you do 5-10 perfectly aligned, controlled reps with your mind completely focused on how you are working. The mental focus and control of the muscles makes the work deeper and makes your workout more effective.