21/11/2025
Why we start and finish in Standing with heel raises in Classical Pilates:
• To integrate the whole body
Heel lifts are about the connections in the body and firing up the centre: inner thighs, pelvic floor, powerhouse, and posterior chain lifting you upward as one connected system.
• To focus and organise the mind and body
Stand tall and organised, lifting upward as one connected system, so that you pick up your heels from the centre, not your feet. Take this into your workout at the start of the class and as a final alignment check before you walk out.
• To train real-life movement
Re-educates your gait, improves balance, and strengthens your ankle-to-hip connection.
• To reinforce length and lift
Heel raises activate the hamstrings, glutes, deep spinal, and abdominal and waist muscles that keep the body lifted, not collapsed or compressed.
• To ground your nervous system
Standing work brings you back into gravity so that you start and finish feeling centred, tall, balanced, and integrated.
This is why we start and finish standing: so the work stays with you the moment you step out the door.
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