How Pilates Helps Improve Flexibility and Mobility
How Pilates helps improve flexibility and mobility
Many people come to Pilates hoping to feel a little less stiff and a little more comfortable in their bodies. Whether it’s tight hips from sitting at a desk, shoulders that creep up after a long day, or a general sense of reduced mobility, stiffness is something most of us recognise. Whilst Pilates is often known for its focus on core strength and control, it can also play a helpful role in supporting suppleness and ease of movement.
Unlike stretching routines that may focus on holding positions for a prolonged time, Pilates approaches flexibility through movement. Exercises are performed slowly and with control, encouraging joints to move, through a comfortable range of motion, while muscles lengthen and strengthen at the same time. This combination may explain why people find that Pilates feels different from traditional stretching classes.
A key feature of Pilates is the emphasis on alignment and awareness. Rather than pushing into a stretch, Katie’s Pilates members are guided to notice how their body is positioned and how it feels as it moves. This can help us recognise where we tend to hold tension and where movement feels restricted. Over time, paying attention in this way can help improve our body awareness, and therefore make it easier to release habitual tightness and start to move with more freedom.
Pilates also focuses on balanced muscle use. Tightness can develop when certain muscles are overworked while others are underused. For example, if we only strengthen the muscles at the front of the hips, the muscles at the back may become less active, which can contribute to a feeling of stiffness. Many Pilates exercises gently encourage different muscle groups to share the workload more evenly, which can support a more comfortable range of motion. Additionally, Katie’s Pilates sessions aim to involve the whole body during each class, utilising a wide range of positions, movements and stretches.
Breathing plays an important role in improving flexibility too. In Pilates, the breath is coordinated with each movement, helping to avoid bracing or holding excess tension during the exercises. Learning to breathe smoothly whilst moving can create a sense of ease and rhythm, making stretches feel less forced and more natural.
Another reason Pilates can help with tightness is that movements are often performed in multiple directions. Instead of stretching a muscle in just one way, Pilates moves might involve bending, rotating, and lengthening through different planes of motion. This variety can encourage joints and muscles to explore a larger range of motion, whilst staying within what feels comfortable. Within Katie’s Pilates classes, movements can be made smaller, slower, or supported with props so that exercises are kept within a range that feels safe for each individual.
Whilst many people join a class to try and improve their flexibility, many also fear that they won’t have enough flexibility to join a class in the first place. The main pre-requisite for joining Katie’s Pilates is the ability to safely and independently get from standing down onto the mat and back up again (using a chair for assistance if required). Exercises are typically performed in standing, lying on our side, back, or front and resting on hands and knees. From these positions the movements themselves can be modified to suit varying levels of strength, flexibility and experience.
Over time, many people notice that everyday movements start to feel smoother and less restricted, such as reaching, bending, and turning. Although Pilates doesn’t offer any guarantees, or promise dramatic overnight changes, it can offer a thoughtful way to explore movement and release tension at a pace that suits you. By combining control, awareness, and steady movements, it can support a sense of ease in the body that carries beyond the mat and into daily life. Practising Pilates can support us in many of our activities of daily life, and I believe that we do Pilates to get better at life, not better at Pilates! If you’re interested in giving it a try, feel free to get in touch, I’m looking forward to hearing from you. All my class details can be found here.