Health should be everyone’s top priority, it is one of the keys to success in all fields of life. Whether you are managing the stresses of running a business and juggling a family, complementing a more physical sports regime, or ultimately working towards living a pain-free life while keeping your body supple and strong as you grow older, Pilates is the answer. Today we share with you expert Alycea Ungaro’s view on how Pilates plays an integral part of fitness regimes for all age groups, and why it is NEVER too late too start getting in shape! As the saying goes, age is but a number!
From Alycea Ungaro, your Guide to Pilates
Sometime during my one-on-one sessions yesterday it occurred to me that Pilates is my “safe” place. I’ve been practicing for more than 30 years and I still love my workouts. But even more than that, Pilates is likely the safest workout for any body at any age. Here’s my break down through the decades.
In your Teens and Twenties:
For athletic and fit young adults Pilates is the solution that helps the active young person remain strong and symmetrical in activities that wreak havoc on a healthy body. During these formative years, the body develops asymmetries through poor habits, over training, a sedentary life or bad bio-mechanics. Pilates keeps young people safe from the onslaught of things thatmight go wrong and acts as a preventative measure.
In Your Thirties and Forties:
For our heaviest labor years, Pilates makes the biggest impact. These are the decades we bear children or sit at a desk for months or beat up our bodies via continual neglect. Enter Pilates which offers the ideal maintenance program and trains the core of the body to hold our posture strong. It also teaches us to move our bodies safely, to work out in a challenging but safe way and begins to address issues that might become much larger physical problems if left unattended. Just ask the professional athletes that call Pilates their go-to training regimen.
In Your Fifties and Sixties:
During our fifties and sixties, gravity begins to rear its ugly head on our bodies. Our discs compress, our muscles can begin to waste and we become more prone to illness and injury. Beyond serving as a preventative measure, Pilates can also be therapeutic and rehabilitative. Joseph Pilates actually called his system “corrective exercise”. Beyond all those benefits, Pilates helps us enjoy movement again, connect to our bodies and, (one of my favorite benefits) improve concentration and focus.
Seventies Plus:
Training effects occur across all decades of life. Taking up Pilates in your seventies is completely reasonable. Pilates sessions maintain muscle tone as well as bone density and balance and also improve breathing. These are all key issues as we age.
I don’t know many forms of exercise that are truly sustainable through each decade of life. No matter your state of fitness or ability, there is a safe form of Pilates for every one.
~Alycea, Real Pilates, NYC
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