PILATES AT POPS

We are pleased to be the only comprehensive dance studio offering this ideal fitness system as a developmental component for dancers or those who just want to lead a more “fit” life. Focused on improving flexibility and strength for the total body without building bulk, Pilates develops a strong “core,” or center of the body, which is the focus for all dancers.
$65/hour for privates.

Understanding Pilates
Pilates (pi-LAH-teez) is a discipline of unique exercises focused on developing ligament and joint strength in areas vital to the abdomen and spine support, while increasing flexibility.  Emphasizing posture correction and muscle reconfiguration it provides an effective ongoing regimen to tone and firm your body. The method encompasses more than 500 exercises created by Joseph Pilates during WW I, and adapted by the dance community in the 1920’s for how it builds long, lean muscles without adding bulk. Dancers since have enjoyed the benefits of Pilates and it has since become recognized as a major fitness choice considered a fundamental
part of physical training and physical therapy.

The Promise of Positive Lifelong Experience
Utilizing the six basic Principles of Pilates – stabilization, control, concentration flow, breath and precision, the body is “re-sculpted” back to health with a gentle-on-the-joints approach , avoiding wear and tear on hips, elbows, ankles and knees. Focusing on the quality of exercise vs. the quantity also helps to develop a better overall attitude toward everything in life. Creating a strong foundation from which one can achieve new heights of physical fitness and control, they will also enjoy emotional wellbeing and balance. This is the promise of Pilates that offer you.

Benefiting From Pilates
Based on the principle that prior to working the peripheral parts of the body, the core needs to be strong and stable, Pilates develops an equal balance of abdominal and lower back musculature in order to build strength, agility and muscle tone in a completely balanced way. Lengthening and strengthening muscles simultaneously creates an energized pain free and flexible body.

Pilates provides many advantages and benefits, including
A leaner, more toned body
Increased strength, stamina, stability and stretching ability
Increased flexibility, agility and balance
Firmer abdominal muscles and stronger back muscles
A feeling of greater energy and vitality
Enhanced rhythm and motion
A greater sense of wellbeing, with an invigorated mind, elevated spirit and overall rejuvenation.
A greater sense of concentration and focus
A better night’s sleep, a more relaxed feeling overall
Relief of back pain

A Lesson Plan For Life – Learning Pilates
sessions always begin with breathing and relaxation exercises, created to move your body and mind into a more natural alignment. This is followed by  a series of exercises focused on loosening the back, neck, chest, hip joints and other body areas where muscle tension may require release. Only then can we begin the real exercises. Each move is performed with perfect alignment, and modified as necessary - ensuring that alignment is maintained throughout. This strengthens the body into assuming correct posture. Avoiding many repetitions of one particular movement or exercise, Pilates requires only 5-10 reps of many exercises, affecting muscles slightly differently. And by emphasizing deliberation and control in every exercise, both shortening and lengthening contractions of the muscles are worked, creating a long lean dancer’s musculature as opposed to that of weightlifter Employing this unique workout focusing on core stability while using controlled movements to condition the body, Pilates emphasizes breathing and quality of form. The Pilates workout is diverse and can be tailored to each person on an individual basis and is both beneficial toward rebuilding injured muscles as well as for students with special orthopedic needs.