However, I recently attended two courses on Zoom run by Michael Fritzke and Ton Voogt from California.  Michael and Ton are internationally acclaimed Pilates Master Teachers.  For over 10 years, they worked directly with one of Joseph Pilates original protégés in New York City and have gone on to share their expertise with students all over the world.

On the course, we discussed the benefits of exercise for our bones and muscles as well as the positive effect on our brains.  It can help to improve our cognitive functions such as memory, attention, creativity and mood due to the increased blood flow to the brain. One study has shown that after 6-12 months of regular exercise, the hippocampus, the memory centre of the brain, gets bigger!

Exercise slows the ageing in the frontal lobes of the part of the brain behind your forehead by stimulating bloodflow and can have a positive effect on reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s. 

One thing that I have noticed is how exercise helps me to manage stress.  Evidence suggests that exercise decreases the level of cortisol which makes you more tolerant to stress.

As well as exercise, brain function can be improved by new stimuli such as reading, learning new skills and meeting new people.  The good (or maybe the bad) news for my clients is that they will learn new ways of doing Pilates as a result of my regular training courses.