“What a delight to do Pilates while watching the sunset over the Pacific Ocean.  Libby is not only a great instructor, she is so pleasant to be around it makes exercising something to look forward to.  Even though the workout is far from easy, it often ends with a relaxing foot rub and makes me want to come back again and again, very addictive.”  
Sharon N.  Pacific Palisades, CA

PILATES for SEXY LEGS in 8 Min. with Alisa Wyatt

The  Pilates mat work  was designed by Joseph Plates so you could do Pilates anywhere any time at no cost.  But in order to do that you need to be in good shape  or you may hurt yourself

Joseph Pilates developed several Pilates-Machines to so certified pilates practitioners could strengthen /  rehab Pilates patients so they could be able to do the Pilates Mat work properly (unassisted).

With Pilates-machines, whether the Pilates Reformer, Pilates Cadillac, Pilates Chair, you benefit from a kind of assistance thanks to the tinsel strength  of the springs they use, the cylinders’ rolling motion the straps and levers,

On the mat you are left to your own devices and it is up to you to stay in alignment and use your body weight while lifting, lengthening and shortening your appendages to determine the effort required to perform the original 32 exercises correctly.
In theory, Pilates -machine practice assists / allows beginners who are not toned enough to start practicing Pilates until they reach a sufficient level to practice on mat.  They can also be used to resist movement inorder to make the exercises a difficult as you would ever want them to be.

The choice of technique depends most of all on your ability, your goals and the Pilates workout your certified Pilates Teacher designs for you.

If mat work is considered more difficult, machines offer, for example, a very effective way to focus on certain muscles, ease the task of muscle education and re-education following an injury, or enable the most advanced students to increase the difficulty of exercises to a level that challenge, rehab and enhance the performance world class athletes  from every sport.

As a conclusion, one can say that both techniques have their strengths, and in an ideal world, one would follow one machine and two mat classes per week.

The Pilates Difference:

“In 10 Sessions You Will Feel the Difference, in 20 You Will See the Difference, and in 30 You’ll Have a Whole New Body”

Pilates is a seven-day a week lifestyle.  Joseph Pilates developed his program to create a healthy body, a healthy mind and a healthy life with balance.

Pilates is much more than an exercise method.  Joseph Pilates blended many disciplines together to restore harmony and balance on three levels; physically, mentally, and spiritually.  Originally, he referred to his work as “Contrology,” because he believed that the mind controls the body and the spirit builds the body.

The following is an excerpt from his book, “Return to Life Through Contrology.”

“The ancient Greeks probably knew better than anyone else:  the true meaning of balance of body and mind, as tangibly expressed in terms of supreme physical health, is supreme mental happiness combined with supreme achievements along the highway of human progress.  They even believed that the soul itself is inextricably bound to the physical functions and mental manifestations of the human body.  They fully understood that the nearer one’s physique approached the state of physical perfection, the nearer one’s mind approached the state of mental perfection.”

Joseph Pilates’ methods are borrowed from eastern disciplines with contemporary western fitness methods.  Pilates emphasizes balancing strength with flexibility for more efficient movement to enhance performance from simple daily activities to sports.  He dedicated his life’s work to helping others achieve their full potential in life; he passed his methods on to his students and disciples to be carried into the 21^st century impacting the lives of people all over the world.

Benefits

• Unites the mind with the body
• Enhances mental acuity
• Restores proper functioning of the internal organs
• Replaces muscular imbalance with youthful posture
• Replaces faulty movement patterns with bio-mechanically correct movement
• Boosts the immune system
• Lengthens tight muscles; strengthens weak muscles
• Improves the performance of any sport
• Eliminates or reduces aches and pains and reduces the risk of injury
• Enhances sexual fulfillment
• Changes how others perceive you
• Raises self-esteem
• Improves balance, stability, and agility
• Streamlines the body
• Easy on the joints – low stress exercise
• Can be enjoyed by all populations and complements other methods of exercise
• Is never boring

MORE INFORMATION