The answer is a resounding YES! Recently, I've been getting enquiries from my Pilates clients on whether their teenager children can do Pilates. Growing in competitive Singapore can be a daunting task. Besides spending long hours sitting in the classroom everyday, youth have to carry heavy bags to and fro school. This resulted in rounded shoulders, hunch thoracic spine and head forward syndrome. Bad posture formed in teen years often lead to body pains and other health issues in their adulthood.

Scoliosis is also first diagnosed during health checks in secondary schools. Often, youth with tendency to develop scoliosis are recommended to do backstroke swimming and to be more mindful of their posture in their daily activities. I was one of those kids diagnosed with slight scoliosis. I remembered I was scared and vulnerable. The worst thing was when I asked the nurse if there is anything I can do to reverse the situation, the answer is not much. On the contrary, Pilates will help a lot in reducing effects of scoliosis.

Pilates is perfectly safe for youth. Pilates is a type of strength training where you use your body weight to strengthen your muscles. Do not confuse strength training with weightlifting, bodybuilding or power lifting! Weights training are largely driven by competition; people vying to build bigger muscles or lift heavier weights. This can put too much strain on young muscles, tendons and areas of cartilage that haven't yet turned to bone (growth plates). This is especially so when proper techniques are sacrificed in favour of lifting larger amounts of weight. Compared to weights training, Pilates is low impact exercise that strengthen the postural muscles supporting the skeletal frame. Pilates is highly recommended for youth, especially youth athletes, youth dancers, youth trying to lose weight and youth recovering from injuries.

In fact the best time to introduce Pilates to someone is during Youth. The other issue about the growing up years is that most youth feel awkward about their bodies. During Pilates classes, youth can move without being judged or ridiculed, they are free to express themselves and learn how to control their bodies through mental focus. Pilates results in deeper appreciation of mind-body control, proper posture, development of breathing capacity, enhanced performance in sports and most importantly, promotes self confidence and self esteem!

I would strongly recommended youth to pick up Pilates as part of their exercise regimen, especially youth looking for low impact activity to manage weight loss. It is better for them to enrol in a Youth Pilates Class rather than joining the Adult Pilates Class so that they are more comfortable and can work out at ease.