Stay Strong And Fit With Strength Training Equipment

By Terry Lane

What do you think is the best exercise when it comes to strength training? Well if you ask this question to different physical trainers you may get different answers. Regardless if you are young and old, Pilates offers great strength training exercises that also improves your balance and flexibility. And if you are over the age of twenty five you may be losing up to 5% of lean muscle mass for every decade past that age.

Did you know that the muscle fiber of a 20 year old looks similar to that of a 70 year old? S0 beginning a strength training routine later in life will net positive results. It's never too late to build muscle. Do it now and avoid frailty later in life. Muscle mass isn't the only loss age delivers. Loss of balance, flexibility, and stamina also decreases. Pilates exercise helps all ages and any level of fitness. It also helps the muscles surrounding joints too.

Pilates rehab often associated with physical therapists because it is helps strengthen the body's posture, flexibility and balance. In fact Pilates was first used as rehab therapy. Joseph Pilates, the creator of this exercise, was a nurse in the German army during World War One. It was there that he developed a method of strengthening the muscles of soldiers wounded in the war.

His first piece of equipment was developed using attached springs to patient's bed. Soldiers quickly began to heal quicker than soldiers who did nothing at all. Joe Pilates was an innovator and healer certainly ahead of this time. Today Pilates is now a mainstream exercise taught by certified teachers throughout the world. These teachers have used Pilates early teachings as well as added their own style to help clients that are in shape and those that are de-conditioned. Pilates exercises also helps arthritis sufferers keep their joints oiled up so that they have a greater range of motion.

Today Pilates equipment has come a long way from those days of springs attached to hospital beds. Now that once apparatus is called a reformer. With other Pilates equipment like Pilates rings and exercise mats along with instructional DVDs on a multitude of Pilates exercises, this exercise form has evolved into the mainstream. Along with exercise balls, and resistance bands one can achieve so much from implementing Pilates exercises into a fitness program.

Rehabbing with Pilates exercises helps weaker muscles get stronger. Pilates strengthens all those smaller muscle groups that support joints. All this helps the body stay strong and works more like preventive medicine. No one wants to suffer through injury. Remaining free form injury especially for seniors is crucial to having a more fulfilling lifestyle.

Most instructors are not trained nor qualified to make a diagnosis for injured clients. Their job is to work in conjunction with physical therapists, chiropractors, osteopaths, or anyone in the medical profession. Certified Pilates instructors are there to simply teach. The method in itself is rehabilitative and therapeutic. Most people, no matter their age or level of fitness, can benefit from Pilates workouts. We all have weak links in our muscular skeletal makeup. A Pilates exercise routine is an option to balance out our weaknesses and get us, and keep us, on our feet. - 31525

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