We all hope to age with grace and good health, and there’s no better way to ensure it than with regular exercise. By staying active throughout our lives, we can keep more of our strength, endurance, flexibility, and balance, helping us enjoy more years of movement, fun, and feeling our best. But what’s the best way to support your health as you age? In this guide, I’ll explain why Pilates is the answer.
Developed in the 1920s by Joseph Pilates, this form of exercise was initially created to help with dancer’s physical rehabilitation and recovery. It targets the body’s deepest muscles, strengthening them to allow them to stabilize your core. Now, Pilates can be mat-based exercises or using resistance equipment or a combination of both types.
Pilates is low impact on the body, with the challenge coming from body weight and smoothly changing positions. Generally, Pilates matwork exercises can be done with little to no equipment, and the exercises involved can easily be changed and adapted to fit a person’s specific needs. Clinical Pilates can use a combination of both matwork and Reformer work which is a specific Pilates spring-resistance equipment.
You’ve been working hard your entire life, and building functional strength is the best way to ensure you’re able to enjoy the fruits of your labour. When we talk about Pilates, exercise, and strengthening for people who are aging, we’re typically discussing functional strength.
What exactly does that mean? Rather than prioritizing peak athletic performance, for example, we’re focusing on supporting the body to keep performing those simple tasks that so often get harder as we age. Pilates is a fantastic way to build this functional strength, helping with daily tasks such as:
These are essential skills for people to build. By keeping up with their functional strength, you empower yourself to stay independent as you enjoy retirement, tend to your garden, go shopping, travel the world, play recreational sports, or keep up with your active hobbies. With just a small investment of your time and energy, Pilates could unlock years or even decades of your life, helping you live life to the fullest and do all the things you love.
As most of us know, aging comes with a multitude of physical challenges that can affect our quality of life over time. Many older people begin to have difficulties with their balance, strength, and mobility, putting them at risk of a serious injury in the event of a fall or another accident. But with Pilates, you can address these concerns proactively, setting yourself up for success as you age. Here are the five top benefits of Pilates for healthy aging:
Falls are one of the greatest concerns as we age. Pilates is an amazing way to reduce your risk of falling, which it does by:
By building muscle strength and mobility with Pilates now, you’ll find it much easier to move dynamically while maintaining your balance. This places you at a much lower risk of a serious fall.
Many people begin to struggle with their posture as they age. The muscles that support our spines and hold them upright can begin to weaken and fatigue over time, leading to a hunched or curved back. Given enough time, poor posture can cause chronic pain, balance issues, and mobility issues as you age, impacting your quality of life.
Because Pilates is so focused on alignment, it naturally helps to correct posture. Pilates is also invaluable for strengthening and maintaining your pelvic floor muscles. The breathwork focus of pilates utilizes the diaphragm, and these core muscles work together to distribute intra-abdominal pressure. Since Pilates works on the core as a whole, you’ll soon notice that you’re able to hold an aligned, healthy posture much more comfortably.
Weakness and low grip strength are common complaints as people age. Pilates can increase grip strength by engaging the muscles in your hands and forearms through exercises that require you to grip the reformer straps, resistance bands or other props, thereby improving wrist stability and hand muscle activation.
Pilates is an excellent way for older people to exercise regularly without putting excess strain and stress and without the risk of injuries on their bodies. Regular exercises help reduce abdominal circumference and keep people at a healthy BMI for their body type, which can drastically reduce the risk of chronic diseases that we commonly see as we age.
Our mental well-being is just as important as our physical health, particularly as we age. The health benefits of exercise can impact our mood and energy levels as well as improving sleep patterns. Staying consistent with exercise, and building routines that find reasons to move and be active, and allowing the positive mental effects of these habits to stick with us.
Pilates is one of the best forms of exercise for stimulating the mind-body connection. Regular practice will help you feel more satisfied with your life, enhance your perception of your health, and generally improve your quality of life as you age. Thanks to Pilates’ emphasis on mind-body awareness and breathing, it can have similar effects as meditation, helping to calm your mind and body.
As you can see, Pilates can be an invaluable tool for people looking to age with confidence. Whether you’re in your 60s and noticing that you don’t feel quite as strong and steady as you’d like, or in your 30s hoping for long-term protection against the more difficult parts of aging, Pilates can help.
No matter where you are in life, everyone can benefit from Pilates and its holistic approach to wellness. If you’re ready to explore this exercise style and see what benefits it might have for you, don’t hesitate to book an initial assessment today.
