What is the best time to practice Pilates for weight loss? Tips to help you achieve your fitness goals

New Delhi: Pilates is gaining popularity in the fitness world. For the uninitiated, it is a low-impact exercise that can be beneficial for you in many ways. Pilates is specifically designed to stretch, strengthen, and balance the body. This exercise is also effective for toning up and building lean muscle, which can help you lose weight.

Pilates is neither exactly like gym nor yoga, but it nicely complements the two. This form of exercise is based on certain principles to condition your entire body - such as proper alignment, concentration, precision, breathing and flow movement. Pilates may not be as effective as running or other cardio exercises for shedding those extra pounds, however, if you love doing this routine, you're likely to stick to your fitness routine. Perhaps, successful weight loss is also about making realistic goals and being consistent with your goals. This article tells you the benefits of Pilates, how it can help you achieve your fitness goals, and whether there is a specific time to practice the exercise for best results.

Health benefits of Pilates

According to Pilates instructor Sheetal Shah, it is a form of low-impact exercise that involves mental and physical training to improve posture and control of the body. It awakens you to your core and actually helps you to do your regular yoga and weight training exercises better. Some health benefits of Pilates include:

• Improved strength and control of the central core muscles: Unlike other exercises, Pilates doesn’t neglect certain body parts, it concentrates on the core and thus trains the body as a whole.
• Improved posture: With Pilates, the core becomes strong, automatically supporting the frame of the body and this leads to a better posture.
• Increased body awareness: Joseph Pilates (inventor of Pilates) always said that it was all about complete coordination of body, mind and spirit. The secret of Pilates is that each movement is practised with total and undivided attention.
• Improved flexibility: Pilates exercises work towards safe stretching of muscles.
• Stress management and relaxation: In Pilates, there is total attention to full-body fitness, including mind and breath. With the movements,  the body floods itself with happy hormones which one gets from total body exercise.
• Improved physical coordination and balance: Regular Pilates practice will change one’s body creating stronger muscles, leaner look and movement with ease and grace.

How Pilates can help you achieve your weight loss

The key to succeeding in health and fitness goals is to make a structured plan. Meanwhile, a study found that overweight or obese women who practised Pilates for eight weeks experienced toned waits, better weight loss, reduced BMI, decreased abdominal and hip circumference.

Here are a few tips to help you attain your fitness goals:

• Start by just a few goals (or even only one): Making a long list can be overwhelming. So, break it down into small sub-list and achieve them with more ease, less anxiety and more focus.
• Make goals realistic and specific: Vague and over-ambitious goals will never achieve their purpose. They will just confuse your mind and de-motivate you. Be clear, specific and measurable in your goal setting. Put today’s date on the paper and then pick a realistic target date you want to achieve your goals by. Having a target date gives you something to work for.
• Break your goal down into smaller steps: The main key to attaining goals is to break them down and do them one step at a time. This increases efficiency, focus and better resource management.
• Focus on the benefits of your success: Being more aware of your goals and the final result can change your whole attitude by bringing in fresh energy and enthusiasm in your health improvement programme.

Is there an ideal time to practice Pilates for weight loss?

As with other fitness systems, an AM workout is one of the best ways to make you feel energised and prepared for your day. However, if you work out in the evening, make sure that you leave enough time between your workout time and bedtime.

The fact is that Pilates isn’t just for fitness fanatics. It differs from most of the exercises out there because it is safe, and it really works on using the body as a whole. If you want to incorporate Pilates into your fitness plan to help you lose weight, make sure that you maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle for optimal results.