What is Winsor Pilates ?

                                 


Winsor Pilates is the fitness program put forward by Joseph .H. Pilates. Over the last 80 years many have adapted his fitness programmes and added their own insights to make their own unique Pilates Programs. Mary Winsor with over 20 years of experience in Pilates programs, come up with her own Pilates program, that is “Winsor Pilates”. She has been a key figure in helping the Hollywood Heroines to maintain their perfect body and good fitness. Winsor Pilates is a good program for reshaping the whole body. Over weight persons can shed their fats and have beautiful muscular bodies with this program. It is well known and effective fitness program in this era.

Mary Winsor has dynamic sequencing technique incorporated in her fitness program. Dynamic sequencing technique is nothing but some unique combination of body movements. It involves a work out for all the body parts from toe to head. It helps in better burning of fats; better blood circulation etc, there by lean muscles can be obtained. Quick Slimming of the body is possible with practicing of Winsor Pilates. Main focus of the Winsor fitness regime is on body weight and tone of body muscles. For that reason stretching and strengthening exercises are involved. There are abdomen specific movements in Winsor Pilates, which helps in tightening of the abs and reduction in the size of it.

The principles of Winsor Pilates include centering, concentration, stabilizing, fluidity, control, alignment, integration, breathing etc. Coordination of the mind and body is vital for the body movement control consciously. For that good concentration is needed. Faulty movements and bad efforts won't yield good results. That is why precision is needed in the body movements. Calming down of the emotions and spirits is necessary .Centering helps in achieving that aspect mentally. Body stability is vital especially during the body movements. The movement starts from a still position and ends in it, in-between it how the body balances itself depends on the muscles. Breathing is the most important thing in any exercise regime. Winsor Pilates has some breathing methods. Coordinated deep breathing which follows conscious diaphragmatic rhythm is valid for both inhalations and exhalation. With this there will be activation of the mind, body muscles which in turn will make one focused.

§         Breathing
Pilates believed in circulating the blood so that it could awaken all the cells in the body and carry away the wastes related to fatigue. For the blood to do its work properly, he maintained, it has to be charged with oxygen and purged of waste gases through proper breathing. Full and thorough inhalation and exhalation are part of every Pilates exercise. Pilates saw forced exhalation as the key to full inhalation. “Squeeze out the lungs as you would wring a wet towel dry,” he is reputed to have said. Breathing, too, should be done with concentration, control, and precision. It should be properly coordinated with movement. Each exercise is accompanied by breathing instructions. Joseph Pilates stated, “Even if you follow no other instructions, learn to breathe correctly.”

§         Centering
Pilates called the very large group of muscles in the center of the body – encompassing the abdomen, lower back, hips, and buttocks – the “powerhouse.” All energy for Pilates exercises begins from the powerhouse and flows outward to the extremities. Physical energy exerted from the center coordinates one's movements. Pilates felt that it was important to build a strong powerhouse in order to rely on it in daily living. Modern instructors call the powerhouse the "core".

§         Concentration
Pilates demands intense focus. For instance, the inner thighs and pelvic floor may be assessed when doing a standing exercise that tones the triceps. Beginners learn to pay careful attention to their bodies, building on very small, delicate fundamental movements and controlled breathing. Pilates believed that can provide relief from the degenerative symptoms of Parkinson's disease.

§         Control
Joseph Pilates built his method on the idea of muscle control. That meant no sloppy, uncontrolled movements. Every Pilates exercise must be performed with the utmost control, including all body parts, to avoid injury and produce positive results. Pilates emphasizes not intensity or multiple repetitions of a movement, but proper form for safe, effective results.

§         Precision
Every movement in the Pilates method has a purpose. Every instruction is vitally important to the success of the whole. To leave out any detail is to forsake the intrinsic value of the exercise. The focus is on doing one precise and perfect movement, rather than many halfhearted ones. Eventually this precision becomes second nature, and carries over into everyday life as grace and economy of movement.