What is Wall Pilates? Does it work?

Wall Pilates is taking social media by storm and it may leave you wondering, what is it? Does it work?

We’re excited to tell you that The Wall is part of the original Pilates repertoire and is a type of workout you can do anywhere, anytime.

The Wall Pilates sequence is a quick way to realign your body if you’ve been hunched over your desk or traveling because it re-establishes your connection to your center, relaxes your shoulders, and corrects poor posture. Joseph Pilates typically ended his classes against a wall to open the chest, strengthen the glutes and legs and restore the body to a lifted standing posture.

Read on to learn more about Wall Pilates! Want to get moving now? Check out all of our Standing & Wall Pilates workouts here.

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What is Wall Pilates?

Wall Pilates takes traditional Pilates exercises and puts them against a wall for additional support, balance, and added resistance. You’ll find familiar movements that you typically see on various apparatus like the Roll Up, Swan, Side Bend, Chest Expansion, adapted Reformer exercises and more.

Watch this class to see how Yumi leads traditional exercises at the wall!

Benefits of Wall Pilates

Wall Pilates is a much more intense workout than it appears to be because the wall becomes a teaching tool for your body to engage against, rather than relax and creates positive changes that stay with you for the rest of your day. Read on for more benefits:

• Full body strengthening with added resistance & stabilization. Preparing for a sport or activity? Look no further than Wall Exercises. Joseph Pilates often had his clients prepare for ski season by holding squats at the wall to strengthen the legs while working the core. Wall squats have also been shown in research to be an incredibly powerful way to lower your blood pressure.

• Develop mind-body connection & gain an understanding of your body. Unlike ads you may have seen with people looking at phones while working out 😵‍💫, Pilates helps you feel and understand your body so you can reconnect to it. By tuning in to your movement, you can quickly calm your nervous system and release unwanted tension. You’ll learn how to engage your core, decompress your spine and properly align your posture which prevents injuries and strain from the unconscious habits of daily life. So even when you look at screens all day, you don’t end up with a sore neck or back.

• No equipment? No mat? No problem! Wall Pilates takes your Pilates routine anywhere. All you need is yourself and a wall to get a head to toe full body workout. Wall Exercises are amazing for travel when you don’t want to get down on questionable hotel floors but still want to get a great workout.

• Stand taller with better posture. Performing exercises at the wall is the perfect way to stretch and builds better spinal alignment which is critical to good posture. You’re also using your core muscles which alleviates back aches and stiffness by bringing vital circulation to your joints.

• Effective and safe for pregnancy! Wall Pilates is a great way to workout when you’re pregnant because you’re creating space at a time when your body really needs it. Because you’re not lying down you don’t have to worry about restricting blood flow to the baby or overstressing your abdominal muscles with crunches which are contraindicated in pregnancy.

Will I See Results with Wall Pilates?

Like any form of exercise, 3x a week consistency is the secret to transformative results. On Pilatesology, you’ll find all you need to make it easy with the highest quality classical Pilates in the world. You’ll find the very best instruction available, from Wall & Standing Pilates to no-equipment Mat workouts, Magic Circle & Weights workouts to apparatus such as Reformer, Cadillac, Wunda Chair and more.

Ready to try it out? Click below to do Wall Pilates with us!

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