Crooked spine? Get straight with Pilates

According to Joseph Pilates, if you have a flexible spine at 60 then you’re young, if you have a stiff and inflexible spine at 30 then your old. Based on this principle then, our actual age does not have to impact on how healthy or mobile we feel.

Jospeh Pilates was asthmatic, suffered from rheumatic fever and rickets and spent most of his life trying to get fitter, better and stronger.

Pilates for runners - get fit fast

When Penny Little ran her first full marathon she maintains her success was due to Pilates, not just her training regime.

As a Pilates practitioner for over seven years,  Penny enthuses the benefits of this exercise and in particular, how it has impacted on her favourite sport of running.

Why Pilates helps your muscles and your mind

Pilates uses breath techniques to focus the mind and create space for the muscles to contract and the ribs to open. Sounds hectic, but it's not. The more it's practised, the more you get accomplished.

Thoracic breathing - breathing into the thorax rather than the belly - "fully oxygenates the lungs and dispels stale air," explained Penny Little, Pilates instructor.  Thoracic breathing works the intercostal muscles so it's "possible to breath into the upper part of the body, creating space, fresh oxygen and movement".

Pilates, the pelvic floor and pensioners

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Before I was able to join her class, my new Pilates teacher insisted on seeing me for a private session so she could check out my posture and make sure I understood where to locate my core and how to grip my pelvic floor (the bit you that stops you weeing).

Just like an apple, we too have a core - trunk, or mid section - and it is from this core that we develop strength throughout our whole body, creating fluid movement.  This is partly why Pilates is popular with dancers and athletes - it strengthens and affords graceful movement, while developing lean, toned and flexible muscle groups.