What Is "Junk Exercise"? With your Mat Pilates Instructor

Health and fitness professionals are beginning to use some strong language to describe what seems like a great idea, but leaves many injured and wishing they knew better before starting a “Junk Exercise”.

Junk Exercise is when people move their bodies and feel as though they are getting a great workout, but they don't really progress in building white muscle mass. White Muscle mass is a special type of muscle that is partially responsible for twitch movements and tends to fatigue easily. These muscles are located near our joints, and when developed, create greater balance and less likelihood of injury. Pilates is a great exercise to build white muscle mass.

The four most common mistakes people make are:

1.   Using only cardio

2.   Omitting resistance training

3.   Doing too many sets of the same exercise

4.   Lifting weight too fast

Junk classes are usually the latest dance, punching, or competitive weight pushing class that you may have heard of this past year. Just as there are “miracle” diet pills, there are also workouts (junk exercise) that promise quick results. Pilates has been around for over 90 years and will continue on long after the latest crazes have disappeared. Mat Pilates concentrate on strengthening your core and the movements in Pilates are all about quality over quantity.

I always recommend a cardio program when beginning Pilates classes. Cardiovascular exercise is crucial for staying resistant to your insulin and keeping weight off, but we must strengthen through a variety of slow controlled weight-bearing movements. Mat Pilates Classes are one of the most perfect ways to prepare to perform those types of exercises. The slow controlled resistance of Pilates while moving and stretching makes Pilates more effective than even yoga for preventing injury.

We are conditioned to be consumers. Our ears perk when we hear about something new in diet and exercise. We think, "Maybe this will be the answer!" So we buy. When it comes to self-improvement be it physical, spiritual, or improving relationships, real results will happen when we first look within ourselves and then commit and purchase a program we can feel really good about.