Is Pilates enough?

Or, to put it another way: What else should I be doing fitness-wise?

Pilates is a safe, effective form of body conditioning and is a real buzzword in fitness today. It works by strengthening the core postural muscles of the body, re-balancing the body and bringing it back into alignment. The result for you is longer leaner muscles and long-term results from the slow and controlled movements. It’s a great way to relieve unwanted stress and tension.

Pilates strengthens the core muscles of the trunk, making it ideal for prevention and treatment of back problems – one of the main reasons why it is popular with the medical profession and at the leading edge of sports medicine today. People tell you it will revolutionize your body, and it does, but in a quiet way. It gives you excellent abdominal strength, which takes pressure off your back muscles and gives you a flatter tummy. Pilates also aims to improve and maintain general flexibility.

However, doing Pilates as your sole mode of exercise won’t get you really fit or help you burn fat. Why is that? We'll get to that shortly, but remember some of these points. Being active is key. Many employers or health insurance companies offer discounts to gyms or health clubs. Also, finding a partner to participate with you will help both of you stay motivated. Now, here is why Pilates should be supplemented with other exercise:

1.      You need cardiovascular work too

Well, for a start, the slow and controlled movements of Pilates don’t raise your heart rate much so your cardiovascular fitness will not increase a great deal from doing Pilates, although doing just Pilates is preferable to taking no exercise at all. To be truly fit, you need cardiovascular fitness, as well as strength, endurance and flexibility. Cardiovascular fitness also keeps your heart strong, helping you to work at a higher intensity.

2.      Posture

You will improve your posture, through strengthening your core muscles. Pilates has fitness advantages through increasing your strength and improving the quality of your movements and this will be of benefit during other types of exercise. It is also preventative, and can help you avoid e.g. back problems and other stress-related symptoms.

3.      Using fat as a fuel

To burn fat you need to do cardiovascular and/or weight training. The reason for this is that weight training increases your muscle mass, which in turn raises your metabolism. Cardiovascular training burns fat by raising your pulse and increasing the work load performed, using fat as a fuel

4.      Strength

Weight training strengthens the superficial muscles and performing weight bearing exercise also strengthens your bones, reducing the risk of osteoporosis (brittle bones, a particular risk for menopausal women). In Pilates, you are targeting deeper muscles, which are also smaller than the superficial ones. The deep muscles are located close to joints, so strengthening them enhances joint integrity, i.e. making joints stronger. This means that it is important to do exercise that targets both the superficial and the deep muscles.

5.      Endurance

This comes in handy when activities such as carrying shopping, a child or anything where you hold onto the weight for a long period of time and don’t want to drop it. Unlike a quick burst of energy, such as running for a bus, this activates your slow twitch (endurance) muscles.

6.      Flexibility

When we lift weights, our muscles shorten. This is why flexibility training (stretching) after a workout is so important: it helps to return the muscles to their normal length. Many of us have bad postural habits, for example carrying a heavy handbag on one shoulder, which causes the muscles to stay tight for a long time without us even being aware of it! In Pilates, you learn to examine your body, look for imbalances and restore a healthy posture and normal muscle length. As a result, you will stand taller and walk more freely – your friends will tell you that you look different!

7.      Low impact

Pilates is a low impact training, but you also need to combine it with weight bearing exercises to help avoid osteoporosis. Cycling and swimming are other low impact/non-weight bearing types of exercise which, while improving your fitness, are not so effective in preventing osteoporosis.

What other types of exercise could I combine with Pilates to get a good all round workout?

·        Weight training

·        Fitness classes

·        Walking – to make this more fun you could borrow a dog if you haven’t got your own!

·        Gardening

·        Cycling

·        Tennis

·        Any activity that raises your heart rate and brings on a little sweat!

Try to do 350 minutes’ worth of activity each week, as recommended by e.g. the American College of Sports Medicine.