Think about Pilates when you walk today.  Are your shoulder’s back and down?  Are you looking straight ahead?  Is your belly button pulled toward the spine?  Do you feel tall, long, and confident.  Pilates posture can make your appear more confident even if you aren’t feeling your best.  Plus, considering your posture all day will strengthen you body and muscles evenly.

I think Pilates is great, and I support doing the exercises lifelong, but even Joseph Pilates knew that it wasn’t all you needed for a healthy life. The muscles and body need variety.

One thing Pilates typically does give you (unless you are moving through the workout at a pretty fast clip) is a cardiovascular workout. So consider speed walking or taking a kickboxing class. It’s important to do exercises that get your heart rate up and strengthen that very important muscle.

Pilates does work the muscles, but that doesn’t make it a substitute for weight lifting, which is extremely good for men and women especially as we age.

While Pilates is only one part of the component in a healthy lifestyle what is truly wonderful about the exercises is that you can do Pilates everyday, unlike weight lifting. How ever often you practice Pilates is better than never, but you don’t ever have to worry about over doing it with Pilates.

Joseph Pilates believed that you should do Pilates at least 20 minutes every day.  In our fast paced world this is a very small commitment to make to ourselves.  Can you consider trying to do Pilates everyday for 20-minutes?  If you make it a week, maybe you will consider trying it for a month.  You can vary the exercises from day to day.

The great thing about Pilates is that you don’t have to do the same exercise over and over.  We perform most of the exercises anywhere from 6-12 times.  Why?  The concept is to perform less exercises with a controlled body as opposed to 50 repetitions with your shoulders rolled forward and you belly button released.