Contents
The benefits of Pilates for children
“Hold on tight, straighten your back, stop slouching in your seat…”… a refrain often heard by children. The Pilates method pays special attention to the back. It allows you to learn to stand better, correct bad postures and it is accessible to children from 5 years old. Explanations.
Origins of the Pilates method
The Pilates method has been around since the 20s. It bears the name of its inventor, Joseph Hubertus Pilates, born in Dusseldorf, emigrated to the United States at the turn of the century.
Joseph Pilates was born in 1880 to a gymnast father and a naturopathic mother. As a child, Joseph Pilates is fragile, he suffers from asthma, rheumatoid arthritis and rickets. His fragile health led him to take an interest in anatomy. He practices different sports, such as yoga or martial arts, to overcome his health concerns. He quickly released the fundamentals of what would become the Pilates method by building a vast repertoire of movements based on the same elements: breathing, concentration, centering, control, isolation, precision, fluidity and regularity. In 1926, in the United States, he opened his school, which was very successful with a large sphere of sportsmen, dancers and celebrities.
Today, the method is internationally recognized and has become much democratized.
The Pilates method: for adults and children
With more than 500 exercises, the Pilates method aims to strengthen the body and correct bad postures, often responsible for back pain. The method offers exercises specific to each situation according to the level of each and the age.
Many practitioners have realized that it is possible to save children from back pain in their daily life, by encouraging them to adopt good postural bases. The Pilates method has been proven to work with millions of people.
Angelika Constam, physiotherapist and graduate of Pilates, publishes a book entirely dedicated to this gentle gymnastics and now accessible to children. In his book “The Pilates Method for Children”, she explains that it allows the child to strengthen his muscles deep to better stabilize the spine and balance the relationship between flexibility and muscle strength.
Pilates method: specific exercises for children
Thanks to the Pilates method, the child will first of all become aware of his posture in order to acquire good reflexes to improve it. The exercises are very fun and easy to perform. Depending on the age of the child, it is possible to correct bad habits to relieve a simple back pain.
Angelika Constam recalls that Pilates is very well suited to the youngest. From the age of 5, it is essentially a work on postural balance in itself. She explains: “Children can do anything. They have big muscles, their abs are very deep! “. The session can be done with or without the mother. Angelika Constam specifies: “if the child has scoliosis for example, it is more appropriate to have a session individually to really work on the points of tension. The practitioner also recommends this method to promote harmonious development of the body. At the end of the session, specific suggestions on certain postures are shown to the child. He thus has the impression of progressing without getting bored.