BY MURAT MOLDOBAEV (CHEM/I)
Pilates is a set of exercises used to improve posture, concentration and endurance.
Pilates also provides coordination and balance training, which is why its founder Joseph Pilates originally called it contrologia, meaning the study of (bodily) control.
Pilates is offered at Bilkent as a course through the Physical Education and Sports Center every semester, including the term just starting. We interviewed course coordinator and instructor Ahsen Bilen to learn more about Pilates and how students can benefit from it.
What are the benefits of Pilates?
Students, and adults in general, tend to have bad posture because of their busy and sedentary lifestyles. Many of their daily activities—sitting in front of a computer, driving a car, having a meal—negatively affect posture. Even I notice from time to time that I don’t have good posture. The consequences of having bad posture can be back and neck pain, shoulder injury and many other problems. The neck carries approximately 4 kilograms of weight when posture is optimal; only a slight deviation can increase that load to 50-100 kilograms. This kind of abnormal load can result in neck pain and also affect the shoulders and other parts of the body.
By strengthening the body’s core muscles, Pilates can help improve posture and prevent these types of injuries. Moreover, in addition to the health benefits it provides, taking a Pilates course has other advantages as well: for instance, students get to meet a variety of people and socialize after sessions.
You mentioned sedentary lifestyle and its harmful effects on posture. My understanding is that Pilates is potentially one of the most important forms of exercise a college student can participate in.
Absolutely. Of course, there is also a need for additional types of exercise, such as strength training and cardio training.
What are the goals of this Pilates course?
One of the main goals of the course is to improve the core muscles of the body. Having a healthy core directly translates to a better quality of life and has numerous long-term health benefits. We want you to be agile; and we want you to be agile twenty years from now as well.
I suppose that would require doing Pilates for longer than a semester?
Correct. In various other countries, people practice Pilates regularly for their health. They think of Pilates as a preventive measure against ill health. There is no such attitude in Turkey, so we are trying to teach it to our students. Contrary to the popular view, Pilates is not a set of exercises for losing weight. It is beneficial for your general health. We encourage students to incorporate Pilates into their college lives and continue practicing it after university. In a more general sense, we are trying to foster a sports culture.
How does Pilates help students with academic work?
Pilates, and this is true for sports in general, is beneficial for your studies in many well-known ways. One of these is that it helps your brain put your studies in the background and let itself “restart.” This is because when you do Pilates, you need to fully focus on the exercises you are performing. Your brain is thus completely preoccupied with exercise and temporarily resting those of its functions that are more related to academics.
Students can register for the Pilates course at any of the Sports Center facilities. Registration for sports courses ends on September 27. However, Ms. Bilen assured me that students won’t be turned away from entering the Pilates course after that date.