Mat Pilates Classes For Teens
Develop a strong, coordinated and balanced growing body at our supportive and friendly classes
7 reasons why Mat Pilates classes are beneficial for teens
It’s great for teenagers to be active as their bodies are growing and developing. In our modern society there is a much needed push to reduce screen time for teens and increase physical activity and social interaction to instill healthy habits for their future wellbeing. Mat Pilates classes for teens can be a crucial part in developing lifelong, healthy habits.
Our Mat Pilates classes are ideal for teenagers who may not have an interest in traditional team sports, but still enjoy exercising. Each Mat Pilates class is designed to offer individual attention to help people reach their personal goals and our classes are welcoming and supportive for all, no matter their age.
1. Better body awareness
One of the benefits of Pilates is becoming more aware of your body. Body awareness includes being aware of your posture, how your body is designed to move, the alignment of your body and muscles tension.
When teenagers have an awareness of their body it helps them to develop good habits of movement and posture in their everyday life. Being aware of the muscles that control movement and learning to coordinate those muscles helps teenagers to understand their bodies.
Many teenagers spend large blocks of time sitting and it’s important for them to be aware of their posture during these times. When they are on their phone or at the computer, they can just check themselves and ensure that they are using good postural alignment.
2. Improved balance and coordination
Because Mat Pilates focuses on the entire body, and developing muscles equally across the body it helps to balance the body evenly, and enhance coordination. Each exercise is performed with precision and requires coordination of breathing and muscle focus to complete the exercise in a way that results in maximum benefit. When anyone begins Mat Pilates, it takes a while to develop the coordination required to work the body together in a balanced way.
As teenagers’ bodies grow, they can sometimes experience periods of clumsiness and uncoordination as they mentally catch up with where their bodies are in space. The body awareness gained through Pilates and the ability to coordinate precise movements can help restore this.
The focus of Mat Pilates is on controlled movements that are loaded safely by a person’s own body weight. This method is low impact and quite different to traditional sports (or carrying a heavy school bag over one shoulder) that can result in a more ‘dominant’ side from repetitive use. For teenagers, Mat Pilates can be an ideal way to help re-balance both sides of the body and help coordination of all muscle groups as they work together to achieve the precise movements.
3. Improved posture
The core muscles are those deep muscles that support good posture and are a major focus of a good Mat Pilates class. The core muscles are engaged throughout a class to control and stabilise the body through different ranges of motion.
A key benefit of Mat Pilates for teens is strengthening the core muscles. As their bodies grow and change they can build muscle strength and endurance in order to develop good postural habits which will reduce their need to correct the effects of bad habits when they are older.
4. Strength and Flexiblity
Pilates is well known for improving the strength and flexibilty of all major muscle groups which is very important for growing bodies, especially as the bones and muscles don’t grow at the same rate as each other. Mat Pilates is a gentle form of exercise that generally uses the person’s own body weight as resistance. Pilates for teenagers is ideal because as their bodies grow, the resistance naturally increases. They are less likely to ‘overload’ their bodies and cause injury by using weights that are placing too much strain on their body.
Many teens spend large amounts of time inactive – behind a desk, on a screen – and so balancing this with regular, focused exercise is important for their growing muscles. Stretching the muscles
Having a strong, flexible body is ideal for those teens who are committed to their sporting endeavours. Pilates for teenage athletes helps them to perform at their best and can reduce the risk of injury as it builds strength for all the major muscle groups that support movement.
- breathe + flow Pilates for teens -
introductory offer - your first class FREE
try a beginner class to see if Mat Pilates might be a great form of exercise for you
5. Enhanced focus
A Mat Pilates class is a full hour of intense concentration, learning to breath correctly and focus the mind on particular muscle groups. Training the brain to have this level of focus and concentration is very important in our modern world. So much of our day is filled with things that require our focus, however the competing distractions are always present. Our attention control is about our ability to stay focused on a task or idea for a given time. Mat Pilates classes for teens are a great way to practise attention control skills, maintaining focus on what’s relevant and learning to ignore distractions. This ability to be attentive can then be transferred to other aspects of life such as listening, learning, and problem solving.
6. Relieve Stress
Many teenagers experience significant stresses with school, friendships, social media, families, extra-curricular activities and working environments. An hour long Mat Pilates class is a great way to unwind and after exercise the body produces ‘feel good’ hormones, known as endorphins, that can boost your mood.
Because Pilates for teens is a non-competitive sport, there are no spectators or scoreboards, which allows teens to enjoy exercise in a non-stressful environment. Some can find the gym intimidating whereas our small class sizes provide a supportive, welcoming and encouraging environment with a sense of community and belonging.
7. Increased self-esteem and confidence
Our goal is for you to feel great at the end of each Mat Pilates class and to develop your strength, flexibility, mobility, balance and coordination to improve your overall wellbeing. With this goal in mind, Pilates for teenagers helps them to feel good about themselves, not just after a class but everyday till their next class.
Mat Pilates classes start off with beginner exercises that are designed to build foundational skills and ensure you learn to control the correct muscles and combine the correct breathing, to precisely complete the exercise. This takes effort. As you improve in your strength and flexibility the exercises become more challenging. For teens there is a great sense of achievement that comes as their strength increases and they can feel the improvements in their own body.
Mat Pilates helps teens develop a healthy relationsip with their body, knowing it’s capabilities and being able to physically challenge it in a safe way. Having a healthy understanding of your body and improving the way your body looks, functions and feels is so important in developing a positive self-esteem. Mat Pilates for teens is a great way to establish good habits for life and build teenager’s confidence through being part of a supportive and friendly community.