You can pick up a Pilates practice at almost any time in your life. Beginners coming into Pilates learn the fundamentals fairly quickly, but it takes a some time to really integrate those fundamentals into your body.
To begin with everybody learns at a different level, and it truly does depend on whether they have an athletic background or not. Ironically, if there’s an athletic background, sometimes that’s a barrier to mastering Pilates because they have to unlearn and undo all the stuff that’s in their bodies already, especially if they are older athletes. So much of the practice of Pilates is fundamentally about alignment in your body, and many people have been working out or practicing a sport without any thought to their body’s alignment. So they’ve overdeveloped certain muscles or caused injuries to their joints that now must be realigned in their Pilates practice. The good news is we can do that with Pilates! We can help you realign your body to minimize pain and restore the balance your body craves. And we also provide everything anyone needs to master a Pilates practice as well.
We have four levels of classes at Club Pilates in Fort Myers and Estero. We have intermediate level classes and advanced level classes, which are very fun and very busy classes. But our level one classes are the fundamentals where you’re learning about alignment, breathing and strengthening your core, and the pace is unique in those classes to allow for you to master those fundamentals before moving on to the more advanced levels.
Some people stay with the level one classes and are comfortable with that. Other people set a goal. They want to be out of that class in two weeks, and we’ll work together to graduate them into the intermediate class. However, I would say, on average, it’s a good idea to set a goal of being in beginner level classes for three months to ensure fundamental integration and mastery of the fundamentals. In fact, at Club Pilates we recommend taking 100 classes before moving on to the next level of advancement. At that point you can sprinkle in and try some intermediate classes. In fact, often people who are at an advanced level of practice will circle back around to some beginner classes because they like to revisit and come back to the basics.
Whatever level you are at in your practice, we can accommodate you at Club Pilates!
