When Joseph Pilates, the German fitness buff designed his famous Pilates system, he main goal was to create an all-body workout that everyone can do. While it has a lot of similarities with Yoga, Pilates is now one of the most popular forms of exercise and its success speaks for itself. Mari Windsor Pilates is yet another take on the traditional form of these exercise and in many ways Mari Windsor brought Pilates to the everyday person, made it easy to use and gave it the necessary adjustments to accommodate our modern lifestyles and health challenges.

Mari Windsor pilates is the result of Mari Windsor’s own health challenges and when Pilates transformed her life, she started teaching her own unique form of the exercises. As a 54 year old women she had the body of a 20 year old and her focus on core training has become one of the trademarks. The theory is that the muscles groups in your body core – the abdominals, the back and the buttocks are responsible for so much of your health and by creating exercises that focus on strength, flexibility and balance of these muscle groups you will not only lose weight but improve your overall health and fitness dramatically.

One of the things that makes the Mari Windsor Pilates  different is this thing called dynamic sequencing. It basically groups certain muscles together for certain exercises to allow you to get maximum effect for minimum effort. While traditional workout have a very high level of exertion, the effects are usually wasted and the focus is too often on a very limited group of muscles. Pilates is a full body workout and involves virtually all your muscles.

By also focussing on things like balance, posture, flexibility and breathing it really quite different from traditional workouts. While many sweat it out in the gym only to lose a few pounds here and there, those who follow Mari Windsor pilates report a variety of benefits. Weight loss, improved sleeping, more energy and an overall sense of well being are just a few of the things that you can expect.

So, how do you learn and use Mari Windsor Pilates? There are several books and DVD’s on the market. For the most part these are a good way to learn, but in my opinion the best way to learn it is to get formal instruction. Pilates is about precision and a DVD can’t always teach you the finer points that an instructor can help you with.

The great thing about Mari Windsor’s Pilates is that its safe for all people of all ages. The exercises are specifically designed to be low impact and unless you have known injuries it is safe to use – even if you are old, overweight or lacking in co-ordination and flexibility.
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