Who says Pilates is only for women? Men can also get many benefits from this exercise. Pilates is often misunderstood as a stretching exercise that is only for women. In fact, the benefits of Pilates for men are also diverse, such as strengthening the body and training the core muscles.
Improved posture, reduced stress levels, increased flexibility, and a stronger core are just a few examples of the benefits of Pilates for men. These benefits will be even greater if you also live a healthy lifestyle with a balanced diet.
Pilates exercises, which are low-impact sports , also provide added value, because this exercise is suitable for all ages, be they teenagers, adults, or even the elderly.
Pilates offers a combination of strength, flexibility and mental focus for men. Athletes can incorporate this exercise into their routine, to improve performance and prevent injury. Pilates can also be a balancing act if you do more cardio or exercise.
For those of you who are recovering from surgery or injury, Pilates can also be used as part of the rehabilitation process, to speed up healing.
What is Pilates?
Pilates is a form of exercise that focuses on breathing and mobility, while building core stability. Similar to yoga , it is a low-impact form of exercise that can help build flexibility and strength in your body. More broadly, it also helps develop endurance.
Pilates Reformer exercises can also provide additional benefits. You will do the exercises on a bed frame-like device that has springs and pulleys to move the mattress. Reformer exercises can build your body's range of motion and strength.
Is Pilates Easy to Do?
When you see Pilates moves in videos, you might think that this is an easy form of exercise. In fact, this exercise is quite hard and challenging even for men.
Performing this exercise with a mat requires high focus so that you can lift and control your own body weight. The combination of body weight and instability can make your muscles tremble as you do several repetitions. You will be challenged to be able to do the movements correctly, especially for the movements that are quite difficult.
Also read: Is Reformer Pilates Really Beneficial for Runners?
Training with Reformer Pilates certainly provides a different experience from training with a mat. Because Reformer Pilates can be moved, this means that your body's balance and stability will be more tested. Moreover, there will be additional load and retention from the spring owned by the Reformer Pilates machine, this will make your training feel more intense.
Although Pilates movements tend to look “slow” but that doesn’t mean you won’t get an intense and sweaty workout session. So for you guys who like challenges, there’s nothing wrong with challenging your body by trying this exercise.
Benefits of Pilates for Men
Pilates not only helps improve posture, but also has many benefits ranging from correcting muscle imbalances when lifting weights, to reducing stress. There have also been many scientific studies that confirm the benefits of Pilates in improving cardiovascular health, reducing symptoms of stress and anxiety, reducing blood pressure, and treating back pain.
For more details, here are some of the benefits of Pilates for men:
Relaxing tense muscles
One of the benefits of Pilates for men is to relax tense muscles. This exercise can help lengthen muscles, thereby increasing your body's flexibility.
This is very beneficial for tense or shortened muscles, so your body also feels more relaxed.
Increase flexibility and mobility
Pilates exercises intensely focus on the core muscles, including the abdominals, lower back, and hips. A more flexible body can help make it easier to complete daily activities, and reduce the risk of injury or sprains.
For those of you who also like to do weight training, such as squats and deadlifts, you can also feel the benefits of Pilates when doing these movements. Pilates can increase the range of motion and keep muscles balanced to protect your body from injury.
Improve body posture
Pilates can strengthen the core muscles around your spine, as well as stretch your hip flexors, hamstrings, and glutes, which can help you stand up straighter. In addition to improving your posture, it can also help relieve and prevent back pain.
Pilates exercises target hidden support muscles, which also have many long-term benefits.
Correcting muscle imbalances
Pilates exercises alone cannot make your muscles bigger, however, Pilates can strengthen small muscle groups which are useful in preventing injury.
Pilates works the muscles that help stabilize your body, such as the transversus abdominis and gluteus medius, which are important muscles for movement in the hips. When you overwork your chest, biceps, or rectus abdominis or six-pack muscles, you may experience severe pain in your spine and joints. It can also make you more susceptible to injury.
Pilates can help restore muscle balance by building strength in the supporting muscles.
Prevent injury
Pilates exercises will activate all the muscles in your body, especially the core muscles and the muscles that support your spine. This exercise targets the transverse abdominis, multifidus, and obliques, which can support balance and help prevent injury.
Building strength
Pilates won’t make you more muscular, but it will give you strength in key areas, like your core and back. In the long run, working these muscles will allow you to move better.
Reduce stress
In addition to physical health, the benefits of Pilates for men can also be felt in mental health. Because this exercise combines breathing techniques and body movements, concentration and focus are very necessary. When you focus on your breath and body movements, this will make you much calmer.
When you start doing this exercise regularly, you will feel the effects such as reduced stress levels.
How, there are many benefits of Pilates for men, right? This exercise is proven to be beneficial for everyone, so there's nothing wrong if you start trying this exercise. If you need Pilates equipment, SVRG has everything you need. You can buy any Pilates equipment you need, from Reformer, Cadillac, Spine Corrector, Wunda Chair, to Ladder Barrel. Make sure you buy all of these only at SVRG.ID!
