Pilates and Weight Loss

Many people who are attracted to the Pilates Method are interested in this form of body conditioning exercise in order to achieve a slim and toned body. Although aerobics once ruled the world of weight loss exercises, the importance of strength training in successful weight loss has slowly come into focus. Pilates has become popular because it promises a strong and healthy body without the bulk of conventional strength conditioning. Instead, strength comes in the form of long and lean muscles. Part of the attraction of pilates has to do with the fact that one of its primary aims is to strengthen and condition the whole body. While other forms of exercise and strength condition tend to work only certain sets of muscles, pilates aims to strengthen the whole body. With pilates, even the muscles in your feet become stronger and tighter!

Why is strength training so importance in weight loss? Most people who try to lose weight make the mistake of focusing primarily on their caloric intake and calorie burning exercises. Although this makes sense, most people become frustrated when their nearly heroic efforts fail to bear the desired results. The trick, many health and fitness experts agree, lies in strength training. While it's true that it's important to have a caloric deficient in order to lose weight, the importance of your lean body mass is often overlooked. Your lean body mass is the thin layer of muscle mass that is continually burning calories. Your lean body mass lies just under your body fat, and 24 hours a day, seven days a week, it is constantly working, burning away calories. Most people who strive to lose weight focus on losing their body fat. It's actually far more efficient to build up your lean body mass. You may have heard before that simply starving yourself does not help you achieve permanent weight loss because you tend to lose muscle. This is true: when you starve yourself, you lose that important lean body mass, when it should be acting as your ally in the battle against the bulge.

So what can you do to keep your lean body mass and get rid of that undesirable body fat? Pilates is one way to go. Because pilates is essentially a strength-training program, it can help you lose weight by helping you keep your lean body mass, and even increase it. When your lean body mass is healthy, your metabolism increases, allowing you to burn more fat on a continual basis. The key is to choose a pilates program that you can do on a regular basis and which continually challenges you. If your pilates program seems rather easy, you may not be training hard enough to ensure continual weight loss. In order to maximize your efforts, use pilates in conjunction with an appropriate aerobics program. This will ensure that you retain your lean body mass, increase your metabolism, and add a good cardiovascular element to your exercise regime. Pilates is an important part of your strength training, weight loss program, but augmenting with a component of aerobics can make your program doubly effective.