Fitness can be done for a variety of reasons. Someone maintains health, someone relieves stress like that, but many use it as a means of combating extra pounds. And, contrary to the ideas of many, Pilates for weight loss is ideal.

Many women ask on forums and in communities if Pilates helps to lose weight. Such interest is quite understandable, because it is hard to believe that slow and smooth movements can become an effective tool in the fight against extra pounds.

To make matters worse, the calorie loss during an hour-long workout is only about 250 kilocalories, which is even less than jogging. And given that in one kilogram of adipose tissue, more than 9,000 calories are “hidden”. It turns out that you need to practice for a month every day for an hour to get rid of just one extra kilogram. Not a very pleasant prospect.

Those who cite such data have never practiced Pilates and do not understand the features and principle of its work. It really helps to lose those extra pounds, but it does it in a completely different way.

How does Pilates work?

To understand how Pilates works, you need to remember its history. This type of fitness was used as a rehabilitation technique for the military injured in the First World War. After severe injuries, there was no question of any intense load, so a completely new set of exercises had to be developed. This is how Pilates appeared, in which breathing exercises are combined with the principles and exercises of yoga and classical fitness.

But then it turned out that Pilates is effective for weight loss. Here are the mechanisms:

1. Deep breathing, combined with certain exercises, normalizes metabolism, as a result of which the body spends more energy between workouts.
2. Muscles are gradually trained, their volume increases. And they even at normal times require more calories for normal work. The result is increased energy consumption.
3. Training tones and activates the muscles, and after it for several hours they are more intense than they usually burn calories.
4. Regular exercise helps to reduce appetite, which reduces the number of calories consumed. This is especially true immediately after a workout.
5. Pilates exercises for weight loss are taught to keep the muscles collected, "pull" the body into itself, which makes the silhouette slimmer.
6. This technique improves blood and lymph circulation, which reduces tissue swelling. As a result, its “volumes” decrease.

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How to lose weight with Pilates and what exercises are best to use for weight loss? What are the reviews of losing weight with the help?

Does Pilates help you lose weight?

Pilates is a complex of calm, measured physical exercises, with moderate physical activity. Therefore, the question of whether it is actually possible to lose weight using this technique worries many women.

The answer to this question: “Will Pilates help me lose weight?” can be unambiguously affirmative. Pilates is not only calm movements to slow music. Pilates is also an effective weight loss and healing of the body. The principle of the technique is to accurately perform exercises in conjunction with proper breathing. This method, even with seemingly insignificant loads, allows you to burn a lot of calories during training, strengthen the muscles of the whole body. Pilates exercises for weight loss do not require special skills, and therefore are available to everyone.

Many exercises may seem easy, but doing them the first time is quite difficult, especially for people without proper physical fitness. Therefore, Pilates is one of the best solutions for losing weight.

Pilates classes for weight loss can be done in gyms or at home. Pilates exercises for weight loss are a set of simple exercises aimed at restoring the overall muscle tone. Pilates also helps burn extra calories. Below is

A beautiful, slender figure a la Pilates (look at the trainers) is the dream of any perfectionist. But in reality, many will be disappointed: nothing like an “ideal” silhouette emerges if a lady runs into group classes a couple of times a week and does nothing else with her body.

Do this scheme three times a week, every other day

Regular Pilates Workouts, of course, they will restore muscle tone, improve posture and well-being, but, acting alone, unlikely to lead to significant weight loss or noticeable changes in the figure, especially if you also do not monitor the number of calories consumed. To don't waste time and optimize the result, we suggest you go to the trick - combine Pilates with fat-burning cardio intervals. This combination will help you keep your heart rate high (you'll burn more calories) and train your muscles at the same time - not a single minute of training will be wasted.

Training

To start choose any type of cardio load that you will alternate with Pilates exercises. For example, jumping over skipping rope(according to the American research center National Institutes of Health, using this projectile can burn up to 750 kilocalories per hour). Plus, jumping ropes in this case are the most convenient option: you throw them on the floor and immediately fall next to the mat (not from exhaustion, but in combat readiness for Pilates). This is faster and easier than waiting, for example, until the treadmill comes to a complete stop, write out a victory lap to the mat and back - and so on several more times. However, we do not insist: if run, classes on an exercise bike or an ellipse are more to your liking, take them.

Here is how it will be built your workout.

• Start with two minutes of cardio (move as fast as possible), then immediately do the first two Pilates exercises (clearly follow the instructions).
• Without stopping, proceed to the second session of explosive cardio (the same 2 minutes), then to the third and fourth Pilates movements.
• Final stage: 2 more minutes of cardio at the same pace, plus the fifth and sixth final exercises.

ADVICE:

First time use jump rope for Pilates(a belt, a leash from your beloved dog, or a towel will also work). Strung projectile will help hold complex poses and involve the latissimus dorsi in the work in order to “pull up” you even better. After two or three workouts, you can complicate your task - take light dumbbells (1.5–2.5 kg each).

Pilates exercises

1 Hundred

• Lie on your back and raise your straight legs up at an angle of 45 degrees to the floor (if difficult, bend your knees slightly).
• Fix the rope under the buttocks on outstretched arms (the latter remain in weight, at the level of the hip joints). Raise your shoulders, contracting your abdominal muscles, and stretch your arms forward.
• Do It 10 such short body movements without lowering your shoulders to the floor (A). Now bring your knees to your chest and bring your hands to your heels (B), go around your feet with the rope, extend your arms above your head and straighten your legs (C).
• In this position do 10 springy hand movements dropping them behind the ears. Then rewind the movement back to return to the starting position. This is one repeat. Make five of these (you should count 100 "springs" in total).

2 Waist's best friend

• Sit with your knees slightly bent and your heels on the floor. Get the rope stretched in your hands behind your head, spread your elbows to the sides.
• Keeping your back straight, tighten your core muscles and lean back 45 degrees. Fix this position and slowly turn your body to the right, as if you want to touch the floor with your right elbow (A).
• Hold for a couple of seconds, then just as slowly turn to the left, not forgetting that the elbows “look” to the sides (B).
• This is one repeat. Do it exercise within 1 minute without changing the pace and technique.

3 Lunges

• Extend your arms with the rope stretched over your head (A). Lower into a lunge with your left leg, bending both knees to a 90-degree angle (B).
• Take it slow 10 short springy up and down movements, then push off with your left heel from the floor and return to the starting position.
• This is one repeat. do it Same most from the right foot. Do the exercise within 1 minute alternating limbs.

4 Swallow

• Get on your knees, putting them together, the body - at an angle of 90 degrees relative to the floor. Raise your straight arms with the rope stretched over your head (A).
• Fix the body, tighten the muscles of the core and, transferring the weight of the body to the right leg, bring the left forward - you get a lunge (B). Stand up with your left heel off the floor (C).
• In one motion, lift your straight right leg behind you and lean forward (back straight). The body should "draw" the letter T (D).
• Hold This position for 3 seconds, then reverse the movement to return to the start. Do the same, starting with the other leg. And then do some more nine repetitions on each side.

5 Statue

• Stand on your left leg (knee slightly bent) and take the straight right diagonally back so that the toe slightly touches the floor. Hold the rope in straight arms above your head (A).
• While contracting your glutes, slowly lift your right leg and at the same time reach your arms up and back towards your leg as if you want to touch your toes (B).
• Hold for a couple of seconds and return to the starting position. This is one repeat. Their need to do 50. And then repeat the same with the left leg.

6 Plie

• Place your feet 50-70 cm apart and turn your feet 45 degrees. Rise on your toes (if it's difficult to stand like this, stay on a full foot).
• Hold the rope stretched across your shoulders like a barbell (A). Take your pelvis back and slowly do a squat, while straightening your arms above your head (do not lift your shoulders up).
• The knees should be over the second toes and not beyond the feet (B). Wait a couple of seconds.
• Then bring your hands back behind your head (lowering and bringing your shoulder blades together) and at the same time stand at the start (do not lower your heels to the floor). Start with 25 reps, eventually aim for fifty.

Our expert: multiple champion of Russia and two-time European champion in fitness Lidia Ershova

The question at the top of this article is the most common question asked of a Pilates instructor. And we will answer it in the affirmative - yes, you can lose weight by doing Pilates, but using exercises as part of a strategy that must include a general correction of the dietary habits of a person who is losing weight, well-chosen physical activity (why not Pilates on large equipment?), As well as the use of little tricks in nutrition on training days.

However, we immediately emphasize that the rules outlined below can only be applied to healthy people whose overweight is caused precisely by energy imbalance associated with increased food intake (and excess intake of fats and carbohydrates) against the background of a decrease in energy costs for physical activity.

In the event that excess weight is a consequence of obesity for neuroendocrine and other endogenous reasons, the process of weight control should be carried out strictly under the supervision of a physician.

It is known that an effective means of losing weight is brisk walking, accompanied by normal or deep breathing - in order to release the energy contained in fats, their oxidation is necessary, and this requires oxygen.

But, since we are talking about losing weight with the help of Pilates, in combination with the correct execution (in a static-dynamic mode) of the exercises of the Pilates system and training at intervals of 2-3 times a week, we can also apply the following principles of nutrition, formulated by modern science of human physiology:

If the goal is to reduce the thickness of the fat folds while increasing the strength and endurance of the main muscle groups, then on the day of training the amount of fats and carbohydrates is minimal, and the intake of any food should end 3 (three) hours before training, the intake of complete (animal) proteins should be stopped 5 (five) hours before training. That is, three hours before a workout, you can last eat foods containing vegetable proteins (for example, legumes). You can drink without restrictions: teas, coffee, herbal infusions, rosehip broth, most importantly, everything is without sugar. However, 30-40 minutes before training, 150-200 ml of a sweet drink is allowed, you can eat dry cookies (biscuits).

Two hours after training no food should be consumed, except for any liquid without sugar. 90-110 minutes after the end of the workout, food is taken, preferably containing vegetable proteins, but animal proteins are also allowed (not pork, but boiled chicken breast, low-fat cottage cheese).

If training for weight loss is carried out in the morning, it makes sense to carry it out on an empty stomach, observing a pause in food intake after training, as indicated above, and also considering that for the next 10 (ten) hours you can only eat vegetables and a small amount of protein foods (50-100 g of low-fat cottage cheese, meat, nuts, seeds).

General rule - on the day of training calories should be about 70% of the daily requirement.

Days between workouts the food is normal, balanced, no frills and self-rewarding in the form of a cake for restrictions on the day of training.

Remember that the time of the last meal, both on the day of training and on the day of rest, should be no later than three hours before bedtime (not strictly at 18 o'clock. If you go to bed at 23 o'clock, then your dinner is at 20 o'clock evenings).

And also remember that if today it was not possible to follow the rules of catering on training days, then the main thing is not to quit completely, but to start again.

The following sources were used in writing this article:

1. Myakinchenko V. B., Seluyanov V. N. “Health-improving training according to the Isoton system”. – M.: SportAcademPress, 2001.
2. Prokhortsev I. V., Pshendin A. I., Sergeeva E. V. “Shaping nutrition”. - St. Petersburg, 2007.
3. Therapeutic physical culture: textbook / ed. S. P. Popova. - M.: Publishing Center "Academy", 2013.

About Pilates Studio

On the website of which we are glad to welcome you, is the successor of the Pilates Workshop studio.

Why successor? Because in the current Pilates studio we have refused to conduct group classes, we believe that this format of classes is not effective, as it does not allow the student to achieve individual goals. In the group, everyone adapts to what the trainer gives, who conducts a group lesson for an abstract average client.

Our Pilates studio offers only individual Pilates classes:
- on large equipment (Pilates simulators);
- on a mat, with the use of small equipment;
- contour arch Oov (new in the world of Pilates).

The studio employs teachers certified by the American school Polestar Pilates.

Obtaining a certificate from this school is associated with completing 450 hours of training, passing an exam consisting of several sections, including analyzing a "case" - an example of a potential student - and compiling for him different levels of complexity of exercise programs aimed at achieving the individual goals of the student.

The compliance of the specialists of our studio with the highest requirements of the Polestar Pilates Pilates school guarantees that classes with them will definitely not harm you and, moreover, will benefit you.

We forgo additional economic costs in the form of administrative staff, so in order to start exercising with the specialists of our Pilates studio, we ask you write an application to the address:
[email protected]
(you will definitely be sent a response letter), write to the head of the studio,

Pilates aims to strengthen the whole body. It includes exercises that help improve not only your overall fitness, but also your well-being. Pilates can be practiced on a mat or using specialized equipment such as a reformer, Cadillac, chair, freeform, orbit, and step roller. Thanks to a system of pulleys, springs, handles and straps, the machine can provide resistance or support depending on your needs. What are the health benefits of Pilates?

The Pilates system was developed by the German sports specialist Joseph Pilates, who believed that mental and physical health were closely related to each other. Pilates combines exercises from a wide variety of sports, such as gymnastics, boxing and Greco-Roman wrestling. Joseph Pilates immigrated to the US in the 1920s and in 1926 opened his studio in New York where he taught his method for several decades.

Who is Pilates suitable for?

Pilates can be practiced by people of all ages and fitness levels, from those who have never played sports before to professional athletes. Pilates machines fall into two categories. Some are suitable for beginners and people with certain diseases, providing them with support. And others have strong resistance and are suitable for those who want to challenge their body. Before you start Pilates, it is advisable to consult with your doctor, especially if you have health problems.

What are the health benefits of Pilates?

There is plenty of evidence that Pilates is actually good for health. Nevertheless, the effect of Pilates on the body has been subjected to thorough scientific research. Regular Pilates exercises can help improve posture, improve muscle tone, improve balance and joint mobility, and relieve stress and tension. For professional athletes, including dancers, Pilates is a great way to improve flexibility and reduce the risk of injury.

Is Pilates effective for weight loss?

Pilates refers to active physical activity that helps maintain weight at the required level. There are different sets of exercises that differ in intensity, they can be easy, do not require much effort from you, or they can be a serious workout that will make you sweat. For people looking to lose weight, experts recommend combining Pilates with a healthy diet and cardio, such as swimming, walking, or cycling.

Is it possible to get injured while doing Pilates?

Pilates injuries are quite rare. However, it is better to find a qualified trainer who will select for you the exercises that are appropriate for your level of physical fitness, and will ensure that each of them is correctly performed. If you have only recently recovered from any injury, then it is worth: with your doctor before starting classes. He will tell you about what exercises you can do, and which ones are better to refuse.

How is Pilates different from yoga?

Pilates and yoga use a variety of methods to develop balance, flexibility, improve posture, and master proper breathing techniques. Both systems emphasize the link between physical and mental health, although yoga puts more emphasis on meditation to help you relax. Pilates can be practiced on a mat or machines, while classical yoga does not require any additional equipment. - These are static poses, and in Pilates exercises are performed in dynamics.

By practicing Pilates for a month, you will notice positive changes in your well-being and mood. And if you practice for three months, then back pain and pain throughout the body will pass. Pilates classes will help you become more beautiful and slim Well, the main benefit of Pilates is gaining a strong and healthy body.

Success in practice!