How To Select The Best Pilates Mats

How To Choose The Best Pilates Mat

History Of Pilates Mats:

Pilates Mat exercises were originated in the early 1900s by Joseph Pilates, a gymnast born in Germany of partially Greek ancestry. The Pilates Mat workout concentrates on the core postural muscles and teach awareness of correct alignment, centering, strengthening, stretching, and stabilizing key muscles. Joseph Pilates presented the mat as the main equipment for his workout. The mat isn't just for comfort, it is essential for back protection during exercise. but most significantly for proper balancing and body alignment during the workouts.

Nowadays, there are many different kinds of mats on the market. While shopping for a mat, you will likely come across some yoga mats also. They differ somewhat from pilates mats in thickness and material they are made of. A yoga mat is quite thin, which is necessary for proper balancing, but is undesirable for pilates. It is also designed to be sticky to prevent injury and is usually made of rubber, jute, or other non-skid artificial material.

Pilates Mat Benefits:

A Pilates mat is a must-have for anyone who wants to do pilates at home or anyplace other than at a studio that provides pilates mats. Most pilates studios will provide nice, padded pilates mats. You are welcome to take your own pilates mat to your studio or classes if you choose.

If you do any pilates exercising with a stability ball, you will surely want to place your ball on a mat so that you have optimal traction under your feet. A mat is also helpful in estimating where your feet and hands should be during particular exercises. The mat can help you see if your hands are spread out too far apart. If your feet are too far apart, you can lose your balance because one foot might be on the mat while the other is off the mat.

Pilates Mat Instruction:

The beauty of performing pilates mat exercises is that you do not have to bank on any other equipment but yourself and a pilates mat. However, pilates mat exercises should be taught by a qualified instructor. You could purchase a video or dvd to help you follow these excercises but an instructor will monitor your movements and correct your position if you are performing an exercise wrongly.

If you are already knowledgeable in the practice of pilates mat exercises a dvd is really useful when you want to workout but don't have time to attend a class. Ideally though, the best precept to adopt is to go to a class where the instructor can be on hand to show the exercises the right way in front of you and correct your posture should it be required. Your pilates mat instructor will also be able to see the areas that you specifically wish to target and tailor your exercises to meet your needs.

Choosing The Best Pilates Mat:

Good Pilates mats are usually about half an inch thick offering good support to the back. Typical roll up mat lengths are 72" - 86", though can be as short as 56".

There are also folding mats, similar to the kinds of mats found in studios, and those are commonly significantly larger, 4' by 8' for example. Some pilates instructors assert they are much more adequate to protecting the back while doing many of the exercises common in classes. Folding mats are usually far costlier, and it may be a good idea to invest in a much lower-priced mat if just beginning pilates classes.

The mats that roll up offer the benefits of being movable, stashable, and easy to find at stores or online. These mats are normally made of dense foam or rubber. Keep the box it comes rolled up in, and reverse roll it. After each use, roll up opposite of last roll and place it back in box.

Ideally the whole body should fit comfortably on the mat, and those who are larger may need to select slightly longer mats to fit this requisite.

For further information and pilates mat updates visit... http://www.pilates-mat.co.uk

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