If you do Pilates yourself, you’ll likely already know all the ways that the practice can - and hopefully has - changed your life for the better. A question we often get asked in the studio is: can my family do Pilates too? The answer is yes, yes and YES. We’ve already covered how Pilates can benefit the older generation and men in previous posts, but what about your little ones? Scientific studies and our own client experiences can both attest to the significant value that Pilates can add to your children’s lives. Interested to know more? Read on.

Pilates is a form of exercise that caters - first and foremost - to the body, so let’s start by looking at the physical benefits it can bring to your family.

THEIR BODIES

Practiced daily by millions of people around the globe, Pilates can be a wonderful tool to help kids build a healthier body by improving their:

• Posture and spinal alignment

• Muscular endurance and balanced development

• Cardiovascular fitness

• Core strength and stability

• Coordination and balance

• Flexibility and mobility

And it’s low-impact too, meaning it won’t put any undue stress on the joints or muscles while they are still developing. In fact, doing Pilates during this critical period while a child’s body is growing and changing quickly can help with balanced muscular development. Many of the aches, pains and injuries we sustain as adults are due to muscular imbalances and unhealthy movement patterns that can stem from childhood. Having a dominant versus weaker hand/leg/side skews our movements, and these differences are exacerbated by repetition of imbalanced movements across the years. Pilates’ focus on alignment and core stability can help to restore symmetry to our muscles and movements.

An important addition to this list is the improved body awareness that he or she will gain. Why is this such a positive? Body awareness means understanding not just how your body should move, but also being able to recognize when something feels a little off - perhaps you’re sitting slouched and twisted at a desk, or carrying a heavy school bag is pulling your spine and pelvis out of alignment, for example. Having a natural feeling of how to adjust and correct this in yourself each time you feel it is fundamental to avoiding injury and pain, both now and later in life.

Pilates teaches all of this from the very first class; helping you and your children to keep your bodies healthy and in optimal alignment so you can perform at your best, whatever life throws at you. And there’s no limit to its applications. Everything that they (and you) do - from sitting on the couch without slouching to playing competitive sport at school with maximum power and precision, and everything in between - will be positively impacted and help to keep your body out of harm’s way.

For most adults, this is something they have to make a conscious effort to achieve - just think of how many times per day you catch yourself hunching over your phone or laptop before straightening up your spine to ease your back-ache. If your children learn these habits and correct movement patterns now, they will soon become second-nature; allowing them to truly get the most from every physical pursuit they undertake. This form of ‘physical literacy’ is something that is not taught in Physical Education class or other sports clubs, as activities at school tend to focus on quantity of movement, speed and strength - aka the ‘results’ of movement - rather than quality of movement in terms of biomechanics that focus on anatomical alignment, effectiveness and longevity.

THEIR MINDS

And it’s not just their bodies that benefit from Pilates. Doing Pilates on the mat, reformer or other apparatus on a regular basis has also been shown to improve all of the following:

• Sleep quality

• Focus and attention

• Self-esteem and confidence

• Mood and attitude

• Reduced stress and anxiety

Some of the above points are of course also related to the physical aspects of Pilates. But others come down to mindfulness. Pilates is considered ‘mindful movement’ because of the flowing nature of the practice and the emphasis it places on your breathing. In Pilates, all movement begins and ends with the breath. It is the beating heart of the practice; helping to facilitate correct muscle activation and prepare the body for the exercises to come. But it has other benefits too. This deep, controlled way of breathing has long since been shown to bring clarity to the mind, help to calm and reduce anxious thoughts, and allow a kind of ‘mental reset’ to take place that brings our psyche back into balance.

For teenagers going through all sorts of changes and life decisions, learning the tools to cope with stress and having a space where they can escape the internal chatter and re-focus their minds, as well as gaining all the physical benefits too, can only be a good thing.

The final point we’d like to make is about discipline. (And no, we don’t mean teaching your offspring the meaning of right and wrong!) When it comes to Pilates, in order to see progress and gain all that it has to offer, three things are required: focus, patience and commitment. These are obviously all important traits for your children to learn and develop for life in general, but the point we love the most is how good our clients (of all ages) feel in themselves when they start to see that effort and discipline paying off. It’s not uncommon for young people in particular to progress quickly when practicing Pilates regularly, and as they begin to feel themselves becoming stronger, more flexible and more comfortable in their own bodies, it is truly wonderful to see the satisfaction and pride that they experience as a result of their hard work. It is a benefit that you simply cannot put a price on.

This confidence in movement often translates to confidence in other aspects of their lives. And just as with adults, good posture can project an image/persona of a self-assured individual. Overall (as you can probably tell), we are huge advocates for young people doing Pilates during their formative years - setting themselves up for a healthy, strong and confident life ahead.

Get in touch now to sign your little ones up for a trial Private session with our experienced, highly-trained instructors, and get 50% off if it’s their first visit to SmartFit. They’ll thank you when they’re older ;)

Please Note: Children below 12 must be accompanied by an adult to sign the waiver before the start of their first class.