It’s mid-February already! And just in case you are struggling with your New Year’s resolution of living a healthier, more balanced life this year, you are not alone!
January is widely known to be the busiest month in the health and fitness industry. Many gyms actually double their sign-ups during that month. But come February or even March many have given up on their new routine and lost their initial motivation and interest. Keeping up your motivation is important but so is having engaged in the right sport or fitness program in the first place.
There are so many great programs to choose from nowadays. From Yoga to Kick boxing, to Pilates and Pure Barre, just to name some exotic ones as well. Pilates and Pure Barre seem to be leading the line these days, and are part of the “in” fitness programs. While Pure Barre is a fairly new exercise technique, Pilates has been around since the beginning of the 20th century.
Pilates used to be an exclusive training program for the professional dance community to condition dancers, but also to help them when they were injured. Joseph Hubertus Pilates, a German national with Greek roots, had invented and promoted his Pilates method of physical fitness in the early 20th century, and refined his technique after he had left Europe and settled in New York where he founded the first Pilates studio.
According to Wikipedia, Pilates conditions the body helping it “to build flexibility and long, lean muscles, strength and endurance in the legs, abdominals, arms, hips, and back.” It “… is a method of exercise and physical movement designed to stretch, strengthen, and balance the body.” (www.pilatesmethodalliance.org/about-pilates)
Having started out as a very special training regimen for only a particular group in its beginnings, Pilates is now widely available, and is being offered at many Fitness studios as well as dedicated Pilates studios. One can find many books on the technique as well, but joining a class definitely helps to get the basics down.
Pilates, Yoga and Co. is of course not to everyone’s liking, and many may just prefer a traditional workout. To keep the momentum going, and not call it quits already early in the year, make it fun and choose doing your workout routine in the outdoors, for example at the beach: Jogging along the sandy beaches or a training session with a personal trainer, who knows you and can work solely on your specific workout needs. Los Angeles based German fitness coach Christian Klugmann offers exactly this: A training session right at Venice Beach. See for yourself in the RTL – Explosiv interview.
Get inspired and keep these muscles working… Happy February!
More to read up on:
http://meditationyogapilates.com/joseph-pilates/