How Do You Measure Age?

What is age? How do you measure age?

Traditionally, age is measured by the number of years, or decades that have ticked by on the calendar.

And along with those decades, there is a long held belief that there will be a general decline in physical capability, leading to a decline in the quality of a person’s life experience.

There is no doubt that there are physiological changes that happen as we get older.

One of the major changes to the body as it ages, occurs in the spine and joints, leading to poor posture, joint degeneration and chronic pain.

This results in freedom of movement being severely compromised and if you’re not proactive about counteracting these changes, you might find yourself needing assistance to walk with a frame or need help to do basic tasks like showering or using the toilet.

Nobody wants this!

The original pilates method of exercise and the philosophy behind it is built on the belief that every person has the right and capability to enjoy a healthy, fit and active life for the duration of their lives.   

Here at Pilates Plus our vision and mission is to change how people think about aging!

And we teach people that age isn’t measured in years, but in the strength, flexibility and resilience of their posture and spine.

Joseph Pilates who developed this exercise method was famously quoted as saying:

“If your spine is inflexibly stiff at 30, you are old. If it is completely flexible at 60, you are young”

And we agree!!

Pilates is the only exercise method that has at its foundation postural integrity and perfect balance of strength and flexibility of all the muscles in the body.

What causes the spine to get stiff and weak with age?

There are many factors that contribute, but postural strength plays a major role.

There are a group of muscles that are responsible for holding your body upright and keeping it in good alignment, these are your postural muscles.

Unless you exercise these muscles specifically, they become weak and stop doing their job!

When this happens, the spine lacks support, posture becomes imbalanced and the lack of strength leads to stiffness, tightness and pain.

The term, “use it or lose” applies to these postural muscles.  If you haven’t actively developed postural strength, then the aging process will only accelerate the development of poor posture leading to a stiff and immobile spine.

But the good news is that the human body is incredibly adaptable at any age, It’s never too late to start and a little bit of pilates goes a long way.

The pilates method of exercise truly does change how people think about aging and we get inspired every day by our clients.