Planning A Pilates Program

Follow an exercise which is organized into a programme and that you will want to do regularly, that will make the exercise effective. At the end of this exercise section there is a guidance on devising a successful Pilates programme that will help you achieve your goals. Keep the programme balanced and combine it with cardiovascular work and good nutrition to give you a total fitness plan. In Pilates when you work out, it is hard to identify the muscles that are being challenged as most of the movements involve a combination of several muscle groups all working together. It may be that you are doing a PIlate exercise working the arms or the legs and may also be demanding constant stabilization from the torso. So you will find that even though a movement is targeting a certain muscle group, you will often feel it in other parts of your body as well. Normally, Pilates movements can be divided into three main categories:

1. Strengthening exercises that concentrate on making certain muscle groups stronger and more toned.
2. Flexibility exercises that improve the range of motion around the joint.
3. Mobility exercises that train the body to move more easily.

Exercise Categories:
The following list groups the exercises according to both the action that is being reinforced and the dominant muscles that are being used. Once you have worked through the exercises on the following pages, you can use it to plan a programme.

Exercises that strengthen the upper body:

1. Push-ups (deltoids, pectorals, biceps, abdominals and stabilizing back muscles)
2. Triceps push-ups (triceps, deltoids, abdominals and pectoral muscles)
3. Leg pull prone (abdominals, stabilizing back muscles)
4. Triceps dips (triceps, abdominals)

Exercises that strengthen the lower body:

1. Cleaning the floor (quadriceps, supporting muscles of the feet and ankles, abdominals)
2. Open V (adductors, abdominals, hip flexors and stabilizing back muscles)
3. Outer thigh blaster (abductors, abdominals, adductors and hamstrings)
4. One-leg kick (hamstrings, abdominals, lower gluteals and erector spinae)
5. Inner thigh lift (abductors and abdominals)

Planning A Pilates Program