The NHS recommends exercise not just for physical fitness, but also for improved health and to help reduce the risk of strokes and heart disease.
The guidance suggests that adults aged 65 and over should aim to:
Previous statistics (in the USA but relevant across the board) have shown that as men age they are less likely to continue physical exercise with just 30% of men participating in regular physical activity between the ages of 45 and 64. This drops to only 25% in the over 65s and just 11% in those over 85.
Some men (and women, to be fair) think that to feel any benefit from exercise, they have to leave the room sweating and out of breath. However, without good posture and alignment, correct movement technique, control, and activating the deeper and often much smaller muscles, their fitness journey is not going to be the best. Pilates is a method of exercise that targets all of those things.
Pilates is a low impact form of exercise that benefits muscle strength and endurance, joint range of motion and flexibility. It improves balance and control of movement and can support a healthy mental well-being both from performing the exercises and the social connection with other class participants.
The Pilates method is completely versatile, using simple but very effective body movements, and can incorporate a variety of equipment. This may be as simple as a small ball or resistance band, up to a large reformer which is a plinth consisting of pulleys, straps and resistance springs.
And, did you know that Pilates was invented by a bloke?
Joseph Pilates was a German physical trainer, inventor and writer. He was born in Prussia in 1883, but as a child was sickly with Rheumatic fever, asthma and rickets. He spent his lifetime focusing on strengthening his body and improving his physical fitness. As a child he practised gymnastics, body building, Jiu jitsu and boxing. Based on his beliefs that modern lifestyles (for that time period), poor posture and inefficient breathing were at the heart of ill health, he personally devised a set of exercises, which he later modified to become known as Contrology.
As a young adult he worked as a circus performer, became a fighter professionally and a self defence trainer for Scotland Yard.
In WW1, as a prisoner of war, he continued teaching self defence to other prisoners, and wrestling. He also assisted in the rehabilitation of the sick, devising a system of pulleys and springs on their beds that the patients could use as resistance to build strength. Using his knowledge of anatomy, he focused his techniques on the mindful awareness of movement and muscle control, particularly utilising the core postural muscles, to aid balance and support the spine. He incorporated the awareness of breath, and the act of breathing into his training, an important element in abdominal muscle strength.
After the war, he migrated to the US. Here, he married, and with his wife Clara, opened a dance studio in New York. This is where his Contrology method was modified into the Pilates exercises we know today. Students have since learnt and continued teaching his methods and variations of Pilates with outstanding success. And the popularity of Pilates today is continually growing (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Pilates)
"Change happens through movement and movement heals"
- Joseph Pilates
Regular practice can help you increase muscle strength and stamina, improve postural alignment, improve flow and flexibility of movement, improve balance, and increase the mindful awareness of breath and control of movement.
As a stand alone exercise, it can be as gentle or as invigorating as you need it to be. And as an adjunct to other forms of exercise, it can contribute to your endurance, efficiency and range of movement and your stamina. If you run, cycle, play golf or racket sports, play football or perform contact sports, there is no doubt that Pilates can contribute to improved overall performance.
So, if you are a bloke, sitting there wondering what all the fuss is about, but think that Pilates is just for women in leggings… Or if you are an older gentleman, who is finding normal everyday movement and tasks more of a chore due to joint stiffness and weakness, or experiencing reduced balance….
After all, if it’s good enough for professional sportsmen including England’s rugby players... its good enough for you…
