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Pilates Tuition

  • Personalised Pilates tuition by Suzanne – an experienced Pilates instructor who is also a practising GP
  • Tuition is on a one-to-one or one-to-two basis from Suzanne’s studio in Radlett
  • Individualised programmes allow you to achieve your personal goals more easily than in a group setting
  • Pilates can improve your core strength, posture, flexibility and joint stability
  • Pilates can also help with reducing your weight, stress levels and back pain
  • To book or to discuss your requirements

About Suzanne

Suzanne, who is an experienced GP, has been interested in fitness for many years and, as well as practising Pilates, is a keen swimmer, tennis player and attends the gym regularly. Suzanne, as a doctor, is in a unique position to practise an holistic approach to body health and can offer weight management and dietary advice to complement the improvements to your body gained from Pilates.

What is Pilates?

Pilates is a system of exercises that focus on stretching and strengthening the whole body in order to improve muscle strength, balance, posture and flexibility. Pilates was created by Joseph Pilates at the turn of the 20th century and includes elements of yoga, martial arts and other forms of exercise. Pilates has grown in popularity in recent years and is practiced by many sports people and celebrities. Modern Pilates adapts the original methods in order to better suit the needs of the individual and incorporates pre-pilates exercises to allow a gradual introduction to the techniques.

Benefits of Pilates

Body Alignment

When our bodies are correctly aligned our muscles are held at their optimal length without being under tension.  When your body is not correctly aligned your muscles are being stressed and strained and this can cause aches and pains and can interfere with movement. Pilates allows you to correct your body alignment and will reduce the impact of gravity on your spine and joints. It will also reduce the risk of injury and improve your posture.

Stress Reduction

Pilates focuses on a breathing technique which results in a feeling of calm and a reduction in stress and tension. The lengthened posture adopted in Pilates induces feelings of well-being and calmness which can aid sleep and reduce tiredness. Improved concentration during Pilates allows you to switch off to the stresses of everyday modern life.

Strength

Pilates allows you to use each muscle group in a dynamic and static manner in order to improve muscle strength resulting in a better posture with an improvement in muscle definition and a reduction in aches and pains. Your strength will increase as will your metabolic rate – not just when exercising but also when relaxed. Using your body weight to provide resistance means that you do not need to use heavy weights during your workouts but will still benefit from your exercises – the harder that you work at the exercises the greater will be the benefits. However, where appropriate, weights, resistance bands and other equipment can be used.

Body shape and muscle definition

Regular Pilates will result in an improvement in muscle tone and shape in all body muscle groups.

Flexibility

There is a delicate balance between improving your flexibility whilst maintaining good stability and muscle strength. Performing Pilates allows you to warm up your muscles gradually and by performing movements improve your flexibility whilst maintaining joint stability.

As we age our joints will usually become less flexible however Pilates helps to protect against this by allowing free joint movement and a reduction in joint wear and tear.

Endurance

Pilates combines mental and physical strength as, in order to improve your physical endurance, you will need to be persistent and determined in your approach to your exercise programme. This will allow you to become stronger and then able to increase the length of time that you can exercise and allow more advanced progressions to be performed in your exercises.

Testimonials

“Suzanne is a very good pilates tutor. We started as beginners and through her teaching have developed our core strength, greater flexibility and balance. She has given us confidence and guidance to remain fit and healthy.”

Frances & Robin

“Suzanne offers a personalized approach to teaching Pilates which quickly improved my physical strength and flexibility. Her many years as a GP meant she was able to tailor our sessions carefully around my injuries. She pushed me to achieve more, but in a good way – it’s been transformational. Thank you!”

Janet