At some point during your first year of practicing pilates, you may turn to your teacher with exasperation and ask, "Does pilates ever get... easier?"
The answer is, yes and no, depending on what you define as "easier". Some things change due to developing core strength, full body awareness, and learning how to use your breath properly.
For example, like I wrote in the post below, if you feel neck tension during exercises like the hundreds, that should go away. If have trouble keeping your heels together during Frogs on the leg springs, that will change. If you try an exercise and find that you just aren't strong enough to do it, that will change as you develop core strength. If you feel shy about coming to class or you don't feel like you "get it", that will change as you grow more confident and realize that everone had to start out in the exact same place as you at one point!
Of course, pilates itself will really never get easier. In fact... it will become more challenging in many ways. As you advance in your technique, you'll be ready to try more difficult movements. Advanced exercises require more control, coordination, strength, and an understanding of how your body and the equipment work together to create pilates.
Another aspect of pilates that will become more challenging is what your teacher requires of your form. When you first begin practicing, you learn the basics of the method and a few exercises on each piece of equipment. There is a lot to the method, and you'll learn one thing at a time so its not too overwhelming! Once you grasp the basics, you'll advance by learning how to connect into your abdominals more deeply, hold your hands properly on the bars, rotate your legs properly, etc. Its likely that your teacher will become very picky about your form! This is because they want you to use your WHOLE body during every movement.
Even if you've been practicing pilates for years, the pilates method will always continue to be challenging. Even for teachers like myself, pilates has never really gotten easier. There is always a more advanced version of an exercise or a different way of thinking about the movements that can just rearrange your world and make the whole experience that much harder!
One of the best aspects of pilates is that what feels more challenging is actually easier on your body and often makes the exercise easier to complete. Love that! For example, if you look in the photo, the squatting movement that Sarah is doing is challenging in itself. If she were to continue to practice it, she would learn to draw her ribs slightly in, as well as her abdominals, which would help her to hold the bar in place and support her back. It would feel like more work in her core... but bring greater ease into the movement.
I love pilates for these reasons. Its never boring and always requires something of you, for a lifetime. Now aren't you excited that you have a lifetime of pilates to look forward to! Read more!
The answer is, yes and no, depending on what you define as "easier". Some things change due to developing core strength, full body awareness, and learning how to use your breath properly.
For example, like I wrote in the post below, if you feel neck tension during exercises like the hundreds, that should go away. If have trouble keeping your heels together during Frogs on the leg springs, that will change. If you try an exercise and find that you just aren't strong enough to do it, that will change as you develop core strength. If you feel shy about coming to class or you don't feel like you "get it", that will change as you grow more confident and realize that everone had to start out in the exact same place as you at one point!
Of course, pilates itself will really never get easier. In fact... it will become more challenging in many ways. As you advance in your technique, you'll be ready to try more difficult movements. Advanced exercises require more control, coordination, strength, and an understanding of how your body and the equipment work together to create pilates.
Another aspect of pilates that will become more challenging is what your teacher requires of your form. When you first begin practicing, you learn the basics of the method and a few exercises on each piece of equipment. There is a lot to the method, and you'll learn one thing at a time so its not too overwhelming! Once you grasp the basics, you'll advance by learning how to connect into your abdominals more deeply, hold your hands properly on the bars, rotate your legs properly, etc. Its likely that your teacher will become very picky about your form! This is because they want you to use your WHOLE body during every movement.
Even if you've been practicing pilates for years, the pilates method will always continue to be challenging. Even for teachers like myself, pilates has never really gotten easier. There is always a more advanced version of an exercise or a different way of thinking about the movements that can just rearrange your world and make the whole experience that much harder!
One of the best aspects of pilates is that what feels more challenging is actually easier on your body and often makes the exercise easier to complete. Love that! For example, if you look in the photo, the squatting movement that Sarah is doing is challenging in itself. If she were to continue to practice it, she would learn to draw her ribs slightly in, as well as her abdominals, which would help her to hold the bar in place and support her back. It would feel like more work in her core... but bring greater ease into the movement.
I love pilates for these reasons. Its never boring and always requires something of you, for a lifetime. Now aren't you excited that you have a lifetime of pilates to look forward to! Read more!