Pilates For Women Over 50 | Perfect for Middle Age

Everyone needs to exercise, but hardcore cardio can put a lot of strain on your joints. Pilates is a great alternative for women over 50 and can even be done if you have never worked out before.

Pilates is an ideal form of exercise for women in midlife because it is low impact and easy to do. It focuses on strength and stability. While it may be a lower impact regime, it packs a punch with huge benefits.

A study published in the Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness found that people improved their flexibility and muscle endurance after just eight weeks of doing Pilates.

Benefits of Pilates For Women Over 50

Pilates has many benefits for women over 50. It helps increase flexibility, balance, and strength while being low impact. Pilates is a great way to give yourself some self-care as well!

Move for Longevity

Moving is good for you! If you don’t exercise or use your body, you lose the ability to move well later in life. Consider that NOW! Joseph Pilates, who established the practice early last century, argued that “change happens through movement, and movement heals.”

If you lose the ability to twist and turn because you didn’t actively build those movements into your daily life, you will reduce your ability to move as you get older.

Self Care

During this time of change and transition in our lives, we need to take care of ourselves. Pilates is low-impact on exercise but high-impact on the mind and body!

Any physical exercise will boost your mood by releasing the feel-good hormone endorphins. Exercise and movement become self-care as they feel good for the body and mind and help you sleep better!

Strength Training

The hormone estrogen regulates bone metabolism. As we age, our estrogen levels drop, and one may lose bone density and then be at risk of osteoporosis.

A study from Penn Medicine shows how low estrogen levels and osteoporosis are linked. They recommend weight-bearing exercise to build up bone density to ward off frail bones.

Pilates incorporates weight-bearing and resistance work which builds strength and shields against osteoporosis.

Flexibility

Pilates keeps you flexible. Instead of stretching after a strengthening exercise, most Pilates exercises combine the two.

Amongst great reasons to being limber, it allows you to twist to look over your shoulder to park the car!

Tone it Up

Who doesn’t want to try and combat middle-age spread? Hormonal changes in the body can cause women to gain weight in the abdominal area and lose muscle mass.

Pilates will help you gain the muscle mass needed to increase your metabolism and tone up.

To further sculpt your body, combine Pilates with a cardio exercise, like walking, which is also low impact.

Balance

Our knees, ankles, and hips are the first joints to seize up as we age. This affects our balance and causes us to be more prone to falls.

Pilates focuses on strength, stability, flexibility, posture, and breathing. These all contribute to better balance.

Posture

Our posture changes as we go through life. A sedentary lifestyle will wreak havoc on your posture since our muscles need to be extended.

When your posture is right, the spine moves better and is less likely to injure. You will also breathe better. When your core is strong, the whole body alignment follows.

Does Pilates Make you Younger?

While Pilates won’t erase those fine lines, It can make you younger by:

It gives you a sense of calm because you take time out for self-care.
Having better posture. You will stand taller and walk with confidence, giving you a youthful appearance.
Allows you to be agile for many more years.
It helps prevent osteoporosis so that you can be active longer.
Allowing you to be and look slimmer and move gracefully.

Pilates and Menopause

Pilates is perfect for women going through menopause or in peri-menopause. This practice helps restore the calm within you. While you relax and unwind, you will be able to guide your body to easier movement.

Slow and Controlled Breathing– Controlling your breath with deep exhalations as you perform helps to activate your muscled. This slow and controlled breathing increases your lung capacity to allow your ribs to move freely. Slow and controlled breathing will also energize you and help with stress relief.
Trains Your Body- Pilates trains your entire body as an integrated system. It not only strengthens your core but works your whole body. Through this exercise, you will improve your strength, flexibility, and range of motion.
Keeps You Flexible- By stretching and moving your body with Pilates, you will become more flexible. Pilates allows you to stretch without realizing it. After a bit of time, you will notice that you can twist your body further. Bending to pick up something from the floor will be easier!
Improves Posture- Pilates strengthens your body’s core and helps maintain good spinal alignment. This, in turn, improves your posture.
Build Some Strength-In Pilates, you will build strength by building toned muscles as a whole. One study found that Pilates strengthened the upper body, lower body, and abdominal muscles in a group of postmenopausal women.
Increases Joint Mobility-As we age, our joints often become stiff due to menopause and lower estrogen levels. Pilates moves work all of your joints, keeping them supple and mobile despite hormonal changes.

Getting Started With Pilates in Midlife

How often you do a Pilates workout depends on you. It depends on your fitness capability and goals. It can range from once a week to every day.

Starting something new can be scary. With Pilates, you can begin by doing mat work at home and following a YouTube video.

Once you get comfortable with the at-home workouts, you may sign up for a mat class or look into a reformer workout at your gym or Pilates studio.

Final Thoughts on Pilates For Women Over 50

We all want to live a long life, and we know that we should be fit to enjoy our later years in good health.

Pilates is low impact that has a plethora of benefits. Check out some videos on YouTube or sign up for a class to get yourself on a path to better fitness and flexibility. Start today to discover why Pilates for women over 50 is a great way to stay in shape and perfect for middle-aged women.