Halloween season is upon us, and with its arrival comes all of the usual October scares — ghosts, goblins, witches, and monsters, oh my! Indeed, October is the scariest month of the year, to the point where we get used to seeing decorations of severed heads and reanimated corpses on people’s lawns on the daily.
Every year, there are always efforts to outspook from the year before, whether it’s from your neighbors, filmmakers, or haunted house organizers. However, there’s one thing that’s truly scarier than anything else you could encounter this Halloween — having a weak core.
That’s right! If it were between being cornered by a crazed, eyeless freak with a chainsaw, or having a weak core for the rest of our lives, we’d choose chainsaw guy, no question. Your core muscles are instrumental to just about all of your movements, so you make life much harder on yourself by not having them!
Here are some reasons why not having core strength is, in fact, the spookiest thing you could experience this Halloween, and why you should consider the best fix on the market — Pilates classes! We’re crazy about Pilates at Re:Gen, because we know just how much they can strengthen you up.
Why A Weak Core is Truly the Spookiest
Your Back Hurts for No Reason
No, your back pain isn’t the source of some witch with a crystal ball who has cursed you from afar. No, it’s not because you transformed into a werewolf last night. In fact, mysterious back pain usually isn’t so mysterious at all — it’s a dead giveaway that your core muscles are weak.
The main function of your core is to be, well, the core of your body around which everything else depends. Think of your abdomen as a ball that your chest and lower body are both attached to — virtually all of your movements are based around this ball in one way or another, and one of the main functions of your core is propping up the upper half of your body.
Unfortunately, if your core muscles are weak, it has a hard time keeping you up all hours of the day, and in these occasions, your back muscles kick in to pick up the slack. This works your back in ways that it wasn’t meant to be worked, thus causing perpetual aching and strain. If it’s between a permanently aching back and taking our chances against a zombie horde, we’ll take the latter.
You Have Poor Posture
Frankenstein’s hunchbacked assistant Igor might be a great costume choice, but do you really want to look like that the rest of your life? Hobbled over and walking everywhere with your neck at a horizontal angle? Probably not. But, if you never work your core, it could end up in disastrously poor posture.
This is somewhat related to the point we just mentioned above. Maintaining good posture requires core strength, and if it’s simply not there, it’s hard to keep your spine, neck, and shoulders where they need to be at all times. This leads to slouching, which contributes even more to your back and neck pain.
Poor posture is uncomfortable in the short-term and disastrous in the long-term. It’s uncomfortable at all times, and if perpetuated for decades, can cause irreversible damage to your back. We’d rather face spooky vampires any day.
Just Standing Up Is Uncomfortable
Standing. We do it a whole lot. There aren’t really a lot of ways around it. So, wouldn’t it be a drag if the simple act of standing was uncomfortable or even painful? The tragic reality is that this could very well be the case if your core strength needs work.
Your core muscles act as stabilizers for your entire body. If they’re not very strong, they’re going to have a hard time holding you up and keeping everything firm like they should. This can cause uncomfortable sensations.
It’s often hard to tell why you’re uncomfortable; it’s something that you just know when you feel it. Ever tried to do your work standing up if you’re used to sitting down? If you find that your body is constantly craving release from standing on your own two feet, it’s probably the symptom of a weak core.
Why You Should Consider Pilates to Improve Your Core Strength
If your core strength isn’t up to par, we have some good news for you — there are ways to improve it. Just like a wooden spike can kill a vampire or a silver bullet to a werewolf, there are ways of defeating this problem, and Pilates is one of the best.
Pilates Specifically Emphasizes Core Improvement
The one thing that you need to know about Pilates is that core strength is the main focus of the workout. We feel it’s important to make this clear, because people often wonder what the differences are between Pilates and yoga, or other similar workouts such as Barre.
The answer is that Pilates is specifically designed to improve core strength, and all of the other benefits, while wondrous unto themselves, are secondary. This is a contrast to yoga, which prioritizes general muscle control, flexibility, and peace of mind. Barre, on the other hand, tends to focus more on cardio movements, creating a fluid dance-like workout.
That’s the important thing to remember — every single workout has its own unique focus, and for core strength, there’s no better answer out there than Pilates.
How Pilates Increases Core Strength
The idea behind Pilates exercises is that they’re designed to put your body in a position where it relies heavily on your core muscles to stabilize itself. If you’re uninitiated to these workouts, it will certainly mean your body will have to get used to these new movements, and there’s a high likelihood you won’t pull them off very well at the beginning.
But that’s one thing that’s so rewarding about Pilates! The more you do it, the more you’ll master your movements. Poses that once felt impossible, or that you could only hold for seconds at a time will begin to come naturally. You’ll be amazed at how much more capable you feel when you begin to build up your core strength. Because it facilitates almost every other movement in your body, you will constantly be reminded every single day at how much stronger you’ve become.
Pilates Classes in Prosper, Texas
While werewolves and demons are a terrifying thing, a much more crushing fear is having a weak core that causes pain and discomfort for the rest of your life. We have the cure! It’s time to enroll in Pilates classes so you can build up the core muscles that you deserve.
At Re:Gen, we offer high-quality Pilates classes, as well as other fitness programs, such as Barre, yoga, and spin classes. Whether you want to build up your core through Pilates or improve separate aspects of your body with our other classes, we’d love for you to stop by. If you’re in or around the Prosper area, stop by today, and feel free to contact us if you have any questions!
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