Marianne has just moved back into the area around Burghfield Common. A qualified Pilates instructor setting up some beginner and intermediate classes in the Burghfield and Mortimer area.

Pilates is a mat based form of exercise that lengthens and strengthens the muscles which become shorter and weaker as we age. It also develops and increases mobility and flexibility in the spine and major joints especially the hips and shoulders, and improves balance. It is therefore a great form of exercise for men and women of all ages, and particularly beneficial for older adults.

Pilates was developed by German born Joseph Pilates who was a very sickly child but who developed a series of 34 exercises for himself and others to overcome his health problems and went on to become an accomplished skier, diver, gymnast and boxer. In the early 1920s he went to the USA where he and his wife Clara established a studio in New York where he taught his method of exercise, which they named Contrology. It was introduced to the UK in the early 1970s.

There are 34 exercises in the mat based Pilates range, some of which we will do each week, based on the Pilates fundamentals of control, centring, concentration, breathing, precision and flow which bring mind and body together. The slow, controlled, flowing movements of the exercises primarily strengthen the ‘core’ muscles that stabilise and support the spine, realign the body, and help correct postural problems and recovery from injury.