5 things everyone should know about Pilates, according to Pilates instructors

• Pilates is great for building strength, flexibility, and stability, the instructor Norah Myers said.
• Myers said Pilates was created for injury prevention and rehabilitation. 
• It can be modified to suit each person's goals and abilities.

Pilates is a form of exercise that's excellent for improving your strength, stability, and flexibility, according to the Pilates instructor Norah Myers.

While it has become increasingly popular over the past few years, Myers said that there were still a lot of misunderstandings about it. For example, she said, for some reason, people often think that Pilates works for only a specific body type, but anyone can benefit from it. Ultimately, Pilates should cater to each person's needs.

Myers and her fellow instructor Lisa Hubbard told Insider the five essential things they thought everyone should know about Pilates.

Pilates was created to treat and prevent injury

The best way to grasp Pilates, according to Myers and Hubbard, is to first understand why it was created.

Pilates was invented in the 1920s by Joseph Pilates as a way to help veterans recover from their injuries. His method soon became famous among athletes and dancers as a form of rehabilitation and injury prevention.

While it has clearly reached a more mainstream audience, Myers said that many people came to her classes to address injuries from accidents. Specifically, she said she'd had clients come in for bicycle and motor-vehicle accidents immediately following their physiotherapy.

"They came to Pilates after physiotherapy as a form of rehabilitation for their accident and stayed on with it as a part of a lifestyle of exercise," she said. "The physio deals with the acute pain and the acute injury, and then once you're past the acute pain, the Pilates teacher takes care of the chronic pain."

Myers, who has been practicing Pilates for 15 years, said she noticed an immediate reduction in the pain caused by her cerebral palsy once she started the exercise.

Even if you don't have an injury or disability, she said Pilates could be a great way to strengthen your body to prevent injury.

Pilates should look different for everyone

Pilates differs from many other forms of exercise because each workout is unique to the person, Hubbard, the instructor and founder of Rhythm Pilates, said.

"Pilates is not one size fits all," she said.

A good Pilates instructor will tailor your session to what you want to develop, as well as help you figure out adaptations if you have certain injuries or abilities.

"I have some clients who are professional athletes that need a particular workout," Hubbard said. "I have to train that person for him. And I have to train this professional dancer for her so she doesn't go and throw her hamstring or her hip or her shoulder out."

Myers starts all her classes by asking people whether there are specific areas they want to work on to make sure the class is effective for them, she said. She uses props and exercise modifications to tailor to her clients' needs.

For example, "a client's hamstrings were tight, so we did shoulder bridge with the foam roller under his hips, and he felt better," she said.

Pilates is a comprehensive form of exercise

Pilates isn't meant to target one aspect of your physical fitness, Hubbard said, such as muscle growth or cardio.

While those elements will improve as you continue with Pilates, she said, you'll see a more holistic growth in your fitness.

"As we age, we start developing imbalances, so it's great for posture, alignment, asymmetries, and injuries," she said.

Myers said that her clients often noticed these changes after just one or two sessions, but staying consistent with it is the best for long-term growth.

Pilates complements other forms of training

Pilates' holistic approach and focus on injury prevention make it a great addition to other forms of training, Myers said. For example, if you lift weights, a common way people injure themselves is by lifting too much weight, she said, which recruits other surrounding muscles to move the weight.

These assisting muscles can get strained, she said, which can lead to injury.

"Pilates is going to give you the basis of strength and stability, and it's going to teach you how to safely and effectively engage the right muscles," she said.

Anyone can do Pilates

The biggest misconception Myers hears about Pilates is that it's only for people who are fit and slim, she said. Myers added that this idea completely missed the point of what Pilates was invented for.

"It was literally created for injury and disability, so the stuff we see on social media is a small fraction of what Pilates actually is," she said.

As a plus-size, queer instructor with a disability, Myers said she hoped to make Pilates as a whole feel more inclusive and introduce more people to the practice who might have been discouraged in the past.