Take Your Workout Up a Notch with Dynamic Pilates
If you’re into intense, blood-pumping workouts then Pilates may not exactly be the first thing that comes to mind. So you’d probably be surprised to learn about Dynamic Pilates, which (in a nutshell) is the “faster and fiercer” version of Classical Pilates. However, it’s still consistent with the Pilates principles of restoring the body’s natural balance; building strength and flexibility; and preventing or reducing injury. What’s more, many of our clients here at Pilates Plus Singapore find that this version of Pilates helps them slim down, have better posture, and get lean, toned muscles faster, especially with regular, thrice-weekly workouts.
Pilates at its Core—and So Much More
Dynamic Pilates is similar to classic Pilates in that it features a series of controlled and precise movements meant to re-establish your natural balance. Dynamic pinpoints the waist and lower back’s core muscles, which provide support for your entire body. Both Dynamic and traditional routines likewise feature a lot of stretching.
Dynamic Pilates, however, puts a lot of emphasis on improving posture and developing toned muscles in a short amount of time—hence the high level of high-powered activity. Some routines are a lot like classic Pilates combined with circuit training moves, where other muscle groups as well as the core muscles get a good workout.
Anyone who switches from classic to Dynamic is bound to notice how workouts are longer, with each exercise repeated for longer periods to achieve thorough muscle fatigue. Moving the larger muscle groups such as the glutes are also given emphasis to make sure the entire body benefits.
Dynamic Mat Pilates
Dynamic Mat combines Joseph Pilates’ traditional mat exercises with energetic movements performed at a faster pace. You could say Dynamic incorporates all Six Principles of Movement formulated by Pilates himself: Breath, Concentration, Control, Centering, Precision and Flow, making it more challenging and more fun (if you’re the upbeat type) than classic Pilates.
The real challenge lies in being able to blend each movement into a seamless, continuous whole while exercising your entire body.
Exercises during a typical Dynamic Mat class include:
- Abdominal series
- Kneeling
- Leg circles
- Planking, front leg pulls, push-ups, stars, side bends, twists, side kicks
- Quadrupeds
- Rolling like a ball, seal rolls, boomerangs and open leg rockers
- Roll overs, control balances, corkscrews, jack knifes
- Roll ups
- Saws
- Single leg and shoulder bridging
- Spine twists and stretches
- Standing balances, squats and roll downs
- Swan, swimming, and rocking extensions
While Mat Pilates generally uses your own body weight, Dynamic Mat Pilates may also add the use of other exercise equipment such as flex bands, foam rollers, hand weights and mini stability balls.
Dynamic Reformer Pilates
To take your workout to the next level after the next level, Dynamic Pilates can be done on a Reformer, which is a special apparatus used for Pilates exercises. This apparatus, which looks a lot like a bed with a lot of hoops and straps, allows you to perform a greater number of exercise combinations in a full range of motion than you could with just a mat.
More importantly, a reformer makes it possible for you to work out smaller muscle groups, and makes exercises for developing lean muscle that much more effective. During workouts, you lie down on the reformer, kneel and stand on it, or squat on one end of it to exercise different muscle groups. To exercise your arms, you add free weights to your routine.
In Dynamic Pilates, reformers provide greater resistance during workouts, which means you exert more effort, and achieve results faster. And as its name suggests, Dynamic exercises are linked continuously into one, smooth flow so, you keep on moving while you’re on the apparatus. Note that there aren’t a whole lot of rest breaks in between exercises, which means you’re going to have to concentrate to keep up with the rest of your class.
Don’t let the reformer intimidate you—it’s true there’s a lot of attaching and detaching going on but your instructor will take you through each routine step by step. Classic Pilates practitioners would likely be familiar with the moves done on reformers in Dynamic.
The good news is that both Dynamic Mat and Reformer routines complement each other, which means you can do both as part of a comprehensive fitness regimen.
How Dynamic Pilates Does You Good
Dynamic Pilates’ focus on the core enhances your posture, flexibility, endurance and strength, helping you stay active and keeping you from getting injured (or making existing injuries worse). It also helps you develop lean muscle.
Dynamic Reformer Pilates, in particular also helps build muscle size and strengthens your connective tissues. In time, you’ll find you won’t be fatigued as easily while carrying out everyday tasks.
Dynamic Reformer is also great for spine alignment and stabilisation, correcting muscular imbalances in your lower back and making you look taller (and more confident). The best part is standing up straight will become a habit that carries over outside of the Pilates studio.
A typical one-hour session of Dynamic also burns 300 calories and keeps you burning even more calories for some eight to 10 hours after the workout ends, making it ideal for weight-watching fitness buffs. An increase in muscle mass resulting from Dynamic also means the ability to burn more calories, which in turns means burning up excess body fat.
Dynamic Pilates also improves your breathing, increasing your lung capacity and efficiency not just while working out but also while you’re at rest. Improved breathing also increases your energy levels overall.
Both Beginners and Buffs are Welcome
You don’t need to have any Pilates experience to enjoy the full benefits of Dynamic Pilates. If you’re new to Pilates or have had some experience at a beginner’s level, Mat classes are a great way to try Dynamic Pilates.
If you have tried Pilates before, you’ll be familiar with many of the exercises which might give you an edge in getting the hang of Dynamic routines faster.
Pilates Plus offers a wide variety of both Mat and Reformer classes in groups and private sessions. Check out our class schedule or get in touch with us to ask how you can get started on Dynamic Pilates, today.
