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According to Joseph Pilates, founder of the widely-practiced Pilates method, “After 10 sessions you will feel your body changing, after 20 you will see it changing and after 30 you will have a whole new body.”

Here, Alycea Ungaro, owner of Real Pilates in NYC and published authority on fitness and wellness who has trained scores of celebrities including Madonna, Uma Thurman, Kyra Sedgewick, Claire Danes, Molly Sims and Christy Turlington, shares 10 reasons to try Pilates for yourself.

1. You hate to exercise. If you can't imagine anything worse than trudging through a boring and repetitive exercise class, Pilates will be perfect.  With over 600 exercises to choose from on over a dozen pieces of equipment you just can't get bored.  Seriously.  

2. You love to exercise. If you love the idea of a playground of spring-driven equipment and a routine you can memorize and practice for life, you will fall in love with Pilates.  Spring training is unlike any other type of training. 

3. You like to talk to yourself. Welcome to your Pilates workout where an inner dialogue will be critical to keeping you in good form and makes the workout fly by. Your teachers will coach you through your own mental checklist to keep you focused and improving each and every second.

4. You are a rockstar multi-tasker (or want to be).  Pilates is multi-tasking for the body.  You will be required to use multiple muscles to execute multiple tasks at the same time.  This is training for your real life.

5. You crave a custom tailored workout for all your personal "issues".  Let's face it.  Your body is different than everyone else's.  You need certain things harder, certain things easier.  Pilates people know there is no "one size fits all" fitness. Pilates lessons always always always address individual needs.

6. You dig leather straps and chains.  Welcome to the dungeon.  Pilates has by far the coolest equipment you'll ever meet. Dozens of springs, straps, chains, barrels and more and you'll learn to man all of it. Oh, and did we mention it's eco-friendly? No plugs anywhere. 

7. Your last physical exam had you at an inch shorter than you used to be. Pilates is known for its ability to preserve height.  Strength and length go hand in hand in your training.  Who knows - you might even gain an inch?!

8. You hate loud music pounding in your ear.  Don't get us wrong - we love music. But we want you to concentrate on what we're telling you what to do and what you feel rather than lyrics or tempos. 

9. You believe in one-stop shopping.  Why drive all over town for resistance training in one place, bodyweight training in another and flexibility somewhere else.  Your Pilates workouts can do it all in a neat, tidy, uber-efficient 55 minutes. 

10. You deserve it.  You work hard all day - shouldn't your workout make you feel better?  Pilates will give you the right balance of hard work and yummy delicious hands on work that you deserve.

Owner of Real Pilates, published authority on fitness and wellness and a pioneer of the Pilates method, Alycea Ungaro brought some of the very first mat Pilates classes to New York City.  She has expanded her popular Pilates classes into a fitness media empire with best-selling titles including Portable Pilates™, an at-home mat workout, Pilates: Body in Motion, The Pilates Promise, and The Pilates Practice Companion. In addition to serving on the advisory board of Fitness Magazine, Alycea travels widely as a guest teacher hosting retreats at world-famous locations and she has trained scores of celebrities including Christy Turlington, Madonna, Uma Thurman, Kyra Sedgewick, Claire Danes, and Molly Sims. Alycea also is a licensed physical therapist having graduated from New York University’s prestigious program, and is a certified Peri-natal specialist.