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Englewood Pilates Sanctuary
Pilates Sanctuary Opens at the Warren Loranger Englewood YMCA
The Pilates Method of exercise was first developed in the 1920's by Joseph H. Pilates. The method gained popularity among athletes and dancers due to the deep muscle strengthening and lengthening benefits. Although Pilates is not a new exercise concept, it is becoming one of the most popular exercise methods of our time. It is a gentler form of exercise that promotes muscle leanness and length rather than bulk. Pilates is safe and rehabilitative for people with back pain, arthritis, osteoporosis, scoliosis, and limited flexibility. The Pilates Method of exercise uses the abdomen, lower back, and buttocks as the core or "powerhouse". As you develop your core strength, you develop stability throughout your entire torso. This is one of the keys to how Pilates helps people overcome back pain. As the trunk is properly stabilized, pressure on the back is relieved and the body is able to move freely and efficiently without pain. This low-impact fitness method is now available in Englewood, Florida at The Pilates Sanctuary located in the YMCA on Medical Blvd.
Pilates is one of the fastest growing exercise systems in the country today.
Celebrities Madonna, Julia Roberts and Sharon Stone have done it. So have golfer Tiger Woods, basketball star Jason Kidd, pitcher Curt Schilling and offensive lineman Ruben Brown. It seems like everyone is either doing Pilates, or interested in starting a Pilates exercise program. 
In fact, one of the best things about the Pilates Method is that it works so well for a wide range of people. Athletes and dancers love it, as do seniors, women recovering from pregnancy, and people at various stages of physical rehabilitation. Pilates exercises are done on a mat on the floor or on specialized equipment developed by Joseph Pilates, such as the Reformer. The Reformer is probably the best-known piece of resistance equipment that you will encounter at a Pilates studio. The Reformer, with its diversity of adjustable ropes, pulleys and springs, helps clients attain positions they might not be able to on the mat, while challenging the most hard core athlete to wonder just how fit he really is.
Patience pays off
Pilates' founding father always proclaimed, "In 10 sessions, you will feel the difference. In 20, you will see the difference. And in 30, you'll have a whole new body."
Schilling, a star pitcher, agrees. "The first three weeks, I was really disappointed," says Schilling, who incorporated Pilates into his offseason training program. "I wasn't sweating. I wasn't winded, which is what I associate with true exercise.
"Then in the fourth week I started to understand the Pilates terminology, the idea of working from your center. By the third month I was more powerful and flexible than ever before. And I'd lost 15 pounds."
Hannah Gallagher, Schilling's Pilates instructor, says, "He's a man. He's used to hard-core workouts, where you throw up afterward. Pilates is not that. It is an equal balance of stretch and strength."
After years of the no-pain, no-gain school of thought, Pilates exercise participants say they appreciate the kinder, gentler, holistic aspect of Pilates.
Sessions are performed one-to-one with a certified instructor and are tailored to each client's specific needs. To find out what The Pilates Method of training can do for you,
call the Englewood YMCA at 475-1234 and ask for Terri Josephson.
All photos courtesy of Balanced Body Pilates
