How Pilates can improve your posture.
As children, many of us are told to stand up straight and to maintain good posture. In this increasingly sedentary world, many of us tend to spend our days hunched over desks from an early age. Pilates, with its focus on core stability, posture, strength and movement control, is great for improving posture.
Let’s look at why good posture is important, and how Pilates helps.
Why is good posture important?
Good posture provides a number of benefits. The most obvious is that it reduces pain throughout the body, from back and neck, through to hip and foot pain. However, it also allows us to move more efficiently and improves both muscle function and our range of movement.
Poor posture can compress our internal organs and affect our blood circulation. Good posture relieves pressure on these organs and improves circulation.
Each muscle in the body has what’s known as an optimum length-tension relationship. This simply means that each muscle’s ability to perform at its best and most efficient is when they’re not fully lengthened or shortened, but are in balance.
Good posture is achieved when our postural muscles are in their optimum length-tension. While each person’s ideal posture is different, the basics of Pilates are applicable to everyone.
How does Pilates improve posture?
Pilates exercises have been shown to improve posture through enhancing the flexibility of spinal, scapulas and joints, and increasing the strength of the core, lower back and shoulders.
Pilates’ slow, controlled movements also focus on postural alignment. The beauty of Pilates is that it works muscle groups together, rather than in isolation. This teaches the core - the abdominal muscles, the obliques, back, chest and pelvis - to work together effectively to strengthen and correct imbalances and misalignment.
Which Pilates exercises is best for your posture?
At Acuity Pilates Studio we understand the importance of good posture and also understand that every body is different. This is why Acuity Pilates classes are open-level: our instructors work with class participants to give them individualized feedback, helping them to achieve the best posture for their bodies.
Why not join a class today?
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