Traditionally, women have dominated Pilates classes—but as the wide range of Pilates benefits gains exposure, more men than ever are taking up a practice. While it’s always been a challenging workout that yields significant benefits, only recently have the numbers of men who practice this intense regimen increased.
Both mat classes and reformer workouts are strenuous and give you outstanding results. Through subtle, focused movements, you’ll get stronger, leaner and healthier—what man or women would turn down those benefits?
Here are three reasons that men do Pilates:
The movements target spots that are often neglected. With other types of workouts, such as strength training and most cardiovascular exercise, we tend to focus on the larger muscle groups that dominate our day-to-day activities. Pilates focuses on some of the smaller groups that don’t get enough attention. In addition to building overall strength, this helps us develop a deeper connection between the muscle groups so that your body is in proper alignment—and allows us to achieve a leaner look.
Pilates boosts flexibility. The more muscle mass we develop, the less flexible we become. The stretching that both mat and reformer Pilates workouts incorporate increases range of motion and helps maintain physical integrity and alignment while you perform the movements. Flexibility also helps prevent muscle strains and injuries from sports other activities.
You’ll build a killer core. One of the most popular Pilates benefits is the strength you build with your core. Through this movement, you’ll learn to engage movement in your arms and legs, using your core. Pilates also works the transverse abdominals, which is the deepest of your ab muscles that wraps around the entire region like a girdle. Strengthening this important muscle group improves posture, movement efficiency and helps us get a flatter stomach. In addition, it can help support your spine and reduce lower back pain.
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image: pilatestyle.com