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Health & Fitness

Everyone can Benefit From Pilates

Started on a new exercise program in January? Feeling like you are not getting where you want to be? All it takes is adding Pilates to your workout schedule.

Started on a new exercise program in January?  Feeling like you are not getting where you want to be?  All it takes is adding Pilates to your workout schedule. 

Take away two cardio workouts a week & replace them with two Pilates Mat classes & you will be strengthening your core, toning your muscles, improving your posture, & keeping yourself injury free. 

  Increase your metabolism by increasing muscle tone! " Fitness pros say bigger benefits (than using weight machines)- more strength, increased stamina, & resistance to injury - comes from functional exercises that engage numerous muscles & mimic real-world movement.  (Think Pilates... basic pushups & planks). "Cardio can only get you so far. Strength training is the missing link for women who want to get lean & stay lean. You can build specific muscles on weight machines, but that type of strength doesn't translate well to everyday life"._Geralyn Coopersmith Director of Equinox Fitness Training Institute in NYC, March

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 I have many clients who come to me with all kinds of issues due to muscular imbalance & overuse.  The 50 year old runner who kept running even after tearing her glute muscle was in constant pain, now after several months of no running & doing Pilates is pain free.  The 57 year old with nerve damage in her feet who can't do any weight bearing exercise tells me now after several weeks of Pilates the waist of her jeans is looser. The 65 year old who has been with me for 8 months who tells me she can now find her "abs & use them when lifting & carrying things".  The 17 year old who says now that she " knows how to breathe " she does a lot better in gym class. 

 Pilates will positively effect everything you do in your normal daily routine.  Unlike yoga, to which it is sometimes compared, Pilates is fundamentally a core strengthening technique.  A good Pilates instructor will offer each participant as much of a challenge as their body is ready for & then build on that foundation.  Any one regardless of their fitness level can benefit from a class. 

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 I would encourage you to give Pilates Mat class a try.

Connie F Lafond teaches Pilates in Wakefield.  Email bodybyconnie@gmail.com for more information.  See Complete Body by Connie on Facebook

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