The Benefits of Mat Pilates Nobody Talks About

Reformer Pilates is stealing all the limelight at the moment. I get it! It feels so great to be stretched and strengthened with the help of those multi-coloured springs.

And although I LOVE teaching reformer, I'm on my very own one-woman campaign to make Mat Pilates cool again!!

Here's what people forget: The benefits of Mat Pilates

It's not the easy version... it's the honest one. It's just you, gravity, and your own control, which means every wobble, every shake, every "why is this so much harder than it looks" moment is your body actually learning something. That's not a downside. That's the whole point.

Mat Pilates takes the time to teach you to breathe properly, the kind of breath that powers a movement.

It builds a rock-solid understanding of your own alignment, and encourages you to become acquainted with your deep core and pelvic floor. It teaches you to move with grace, and leaves time at the end for relaxation.

Mat Pilates cements the fundamentals and principles that transfer over to every other piece of equipment. And here's the real magic of it... no kit at all. Just you and a mat, which means you can roll it out on a hotel balcony, a beach at sunset, or your living room floor and still get a great workout.

If you ask most experienced Pilates teachers where they really learned Pilates, and how to become a great instructor, almost all of them will say the mat.

If you're thinking all of the above makes Mat Pilates the easy version, you stand corrected. Let's take a moment to salute those who can pull off the advanced matwork exercises like Corkscrew, Teaser and Control Balance! All without the aid of springs. That takes serious strength, control and years of practice.

So consider this my little rallying cry: if you've written mat off as the slow, boring cousin of reformer, give it another shot. If you're an instructor who's stopped teaching it because nobody seems to want it anymore, please don't. Lets Champion it. It deserves its moment again!

For me, this isn't really about picking sides. I'm passionate about EVERYTHING Pilates; however no matter what I add to my toolkit, I'm taking Mat with me wherever I go

Bringing Mat back

Fancy trying a mat class with me? Come find me at LA Pilates in Truro — book onto our Mat Introduction Package here let's make Mat Pilates cool again.

PILATES INSTRUCTOR COURSES

Dreaming of becoming a instructor? I run Level 3 Pilates teacher training courses in Cornwall and Chichester, plus an intensive residential training week out in Greece