WHY PILATES TONES BETTER THAN WEIGHT TRAINING

We are making a big call with this title, we know! However, Chris and myself have not taken one step inside a gym since practicing Pilates consistently, as Pilates is a fantastic form of exercise that both tones and strengthens your muscles. Please note that Pilates should be practised alongside cardiovascular exercise and a healthy balanced diet. 

Why Pilates tones better than weight training: 

1. Core Strength

The fundamental principle of Pilates is learning how to tighten your deep stomach muscles (your tranversus abdominis) and your pelvic floor correctly. Once you have learnt how to activate these muscles simultaneously, your core strength will develop and improve. The action of activating your core muscles tightens and draws in your waist and lower abdominals, which will in turn tone them. Weight machines will not assist you in activating and turning on your core muscles, hence you may find that you are overworking your superficial abdominals and will wind up with a very noticeable '2-pack' of tone, while the rest of your stomach will not change in size or tone. 

2. Lean & Long Muscles

Pilates will reshape your muscles by enhancing the fluidity of them, whilst lifting weights will not. Every single movement in Pilates is designed to lengthen your muscles, instead of shortening them. Whilst you unfortunately will not grow centimetres taller by practising Pilates (sorry to burst some readers' bubbles!) you will certainly feel taller, longer and leaner. 

3. Body Weight as your Resistance

To perform Pilates exercises correctly, whether you are on a mat or on a reformer machine, you must utilise your entire body weight. When using weight machines, you are able to rely on the machine to do the work for you. Free weights are better, however they do not tone as many muscles as specific Pilates exercises do, nor do they result in fluid, controlled movements like Pilates exercises will. Pilates was designed to isolate those difficult and hard-to-tone muscles more efficiently than weights/weight machines. 

4. Breathing

By combining your movement with breath in Pilates, you are increasing how well you train your muscles, as Pilates breathing utilises several muscles. In addition, Pilates requires you to breathe specifically in a way that engages and contracts your abdominals every movement, which will tighten and tone your muscles more efficiently than heavy breathing when lifting weights. 

5. Flexibility

Do you think that being flexible has an effect on how toned your muscles appear? Absolutely! In addition to preventing injury, flexibility increases how toned & taut your body looks and feels. By increasing your flexibility your posture will improve, as you will hold your body more upright which in turn will make you look taller and leaner. In addition, as your flexibility improves you will find yourself being able to perform more advanced Pilates exercises, which will tone different parts of your muscles that you wouldn't be able to work on if not for your improved flexibility! 

6. Improve Posture

As mentioned above, Pilates vastly improves one's posture. However, did you know that by practising better posture you are training your muscles to hold your body upright and are therefore toning them? Have a practise right now. Sit upright by pulling your shoulder blades down your back and by drawing the tips of your shoulder joints back. Pull in your lower abdominal muscles and squeeze your pelvic floor, whilst drawing your ribs towards your hips to stop the ribs flaring. You should be able to feel that your stomach is drawing inwards and is much flatter than when you were slouching a few seconds ago. 

7. Inner thighs exercises

Pilates is the only form of exercise that myself and Chris have tried that has toned our inner thighs effectively (and we have tried a lot!). There are specific Pilates exercises designed to lift and engage all of the inner thigh muscles, without allowing the other bigger and stronger leg muscles to take over. 

To conclude

Chris and I have discovered these benefits of Pilates, plus many more! As mentioned above, Pilates is not a replacement for cardiovascular exercise or healthy eating, but should be practised in addition to these. Come give Pilates a try with us at Premium Pilates Studio and tell us where you want to tone! We will work with you to isolate these areas! Call 0402 680 724, visit us online at premiumpilatesstudio.com or email inquiries@premiumpilatesstudio.com today. 

x the Premium Pilates team 

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