We’ve touched on the importance of bringing awareness to your movements, both within your Pilates workout and within your every day life. We’ve also discussed the first principle of Pilates - “Centering”. Both of these acts, of course, involve a lot of concentration, which is our second principle of Pilates.
We can’t tell you how often clients exclaim, “there’s so much to think about!” And they're right, there is. Pilates is not about churning out large numbers of mindless, repetitive movements - in fact, it is quite the opposite. You will find that each exercise has a small number of repetitions, focusing on the details of the entire body, and therefore prioritising technique and form over numbers.
Because of such attention to detail, you have to be present mentally, thus making concentration a very important part of the Pilates workout. For example, when you work your arms do you think about what your legs are doing? Are your knees locking out? Is your weight placed evenly between your feet? And what about your neck; is it staying lengthened out? Your spine?
So, when you are practicing Pilates, it is important to not only focus on what is moving but what is not moving.
Focussing on the detail of what your body is doing and “concentrating” is how you develop control, it will help with your flow, it helps you to be more precise with your movements and body form - concentration therefore helps you to become more effective. And, because you give 100% of everything you have in the performing of your Pilates exercises, you get far greater gains than you would by doing 50 mindless repetitions.
Another benefit to keeping a good sense of concentration while engaging in your Pilates workout is that in many of our lives, this is the one opportunity of our day to focus solely on ourselves. We get to leave the worries and the drama at the door and look inwardly at how our body is feeling on that particular day. It’s a great way to reconnect with yourself.
Greater concentration comes about from learning and understanding the correct form, flow and technique of the Pilates method. To find out more about how you can benefit from Pilates contact us today at Momentum Pilates Tauranga.