Welcome to Pointe Pilates Studio, the longest standing, locally owned Pilates Studio on the Sunshine coast. Our boutique studio hosts 7 Reformer/towers and is community based, offering a friendly environment to work on ‘you’.
Home to BASI systems, arguably the best in the industry and a delight to work on, we offer Group Reformer, and as a first to the coast we also run Group Tower classes that are typically seen in private/semi-private classes. Our team of specialised Instructors are here 7 days a week with over 45 classes on offer, to guide you through choreographed routines that will have you strengthened, lengthened and feeling renewed all at the same time.
History of Pilates Joseph Pilates
Pilates was developed during the first half of the twentieth century by Joseph Pilates. His father was a gymnast, his mother a naturopath, and he studied a range of exercise forms from Eastern and Western cultures including Yoga, body-building, and various forms of martial arts including jujitsu. The Pilates method was developed with a variety of equipment designed to advance the stretching, strengthening and body alignment that came from the non-equipment based mat work. Over time a full complement of equipment was developed including the Reformer, Cadillac, Wunda Chair, high ‘electric’ chair, Ladder Barrel, Pedi-pole and Spine Corrector.
In about 1925 Joseph Pilates immigrated to the USA from Germany. He founded a studio in New York with new wife Clara and taught students well into the 1960’s. Several prominent New York dance teachers regularly sent students to the Pilates studio for training and as the world of ballet started to actively embrace the Pilates method many New York society women followed. As the first and second generation of students from the Pilates studio left and traveled the ‘Pilates’ method of physical fitness was born and is now embraced by tens of millions world wide.
The first modern book on Pilates, The Pilates Method of Physical and Mental Conditioning’ was published by two students of the late Romana Kryzanowska. Romana started as a student of Joseph Pilates at their studio on 8th Avenue in New York. When Joseph passed away in 1968 Romana became the studio director of what by then was called ‘The Pilates Studio”.
PILATES PRINCIPLES
For many, these six principles are the foundation of the Pilates approach to exercise. Their application to the Pilates method of exercise is part of what makes it unique in the fitness world.
Centering
In Pilates, all movements originate from the center of the body, which is located in the pelvis; just bellow the navel (inside). Anatomically, our center connects several large muscle groups and refers to the musculature located deep within the abdominal area. From our center we support our spine and major organs, strengthen the back and improve alignment and posture. With a properly developed center we are less vulnerable to fatigue and lower-back pain.
Concentration
The mind-body connection is at the very core of Pilates, and the key to coordinating mind and body is concentration. In this discipline, the focus is on careful, precise and slow foundation work. Before you perform or teach a movement, organize your thoughts and cues to encourage full-body awareness. During each movement, stay aware, not only of the moving body part, but also of what the rest of the body is doing.
Control
In Pilates, control is essential to the quality of every movement. Overexertion of the muscles in not a principle of Pilates. The underlying assumption is that exercise motions and movements performed without control can lead to injury, but exercises performed with control produce positive results.
Precision
Movement precision builds on concentration. Precision is achieved by clearly moving, directing and placing the body and its parts. Realize that every movement has a purpose and every cue or instruction is important to the success of the movement.
Breathing
Pilates, like yoga, calls for complete, thorough and purposeful inhalation and exhalation. But in Pilates, unlike in yoga, inhalation is through the nose and exhalation through the mouth. Conscious breathing and specific breathing patterns assist movement by focusing the attention and direction of the body and by delivering oxygen to the muscles being used. Full breathing also assists in removing non-beneficial chemicals that may be stored in the muscles (Pilates 1945).<br /> Visualize the capacity of the rib cage expanding three-dimensionally with each breath. In three-dimensional breathing, the ribs expand forward, sideways and backward during each inhalation. Pilates reminded practitioners to fill (their) lungs from the bottom and empty them from the top.
Flowing Movement
Dynamic fluid movement makes Pilates different from other exercise techniques. Smoothness and evenly flowing movement go hand in hand, assisting the connections (or transitions) between movements. An exercise should have a specific place where it begins and ends, with a seamless middle of precise motion emphasizing grace and control. Don't allow jerky, quick or under movements in yourself or your participants.