Lie down and think of six-packs

Reckon Pilates is a bit too soft? You're wrong

Look into any Pilates class at your local gym and you would be forgiven for thinking it was all about middle-aged art mistresses doing gentle stretches. You would be wrong. Although Pilates is often neatly grouped with other holistic regimes such as yoga and Alexander technique, it is about much more than just synchronised breathing and standing up straight. An hour of Pilates involves probably the most intense abdominal work-out of any class on the timetable. It hurts, not just when you are doing it but for days afterwards.

If a six-pack is what you want, Pilates is an excellent place to start. Those who think Pilates is only for wimps should try mentioning that to a professional rugby player, many of whom include it in their training regimes."Pilates works and builds up the core postural muscles – the muscles in and around the stomach," explains Noel Butler, a Pilates teacher at Holmes Place Health Clubs for the last four years. "These then form a corset of strength which supports the back and helps control virtually every movement we make."

When these muscles are underdeveloped, the other joints and muscles in the body will be constantly under strain – for instance, if you use a mouse every day, but are not engaging your stomach muscles properly, your arms, shoulders, elbows and wrists will be under stress. Eventually this may lead to RSI. Those who do Pilates frequently will recover from back and knee injuries much more quickly than those who don't.

As well as being preventative, Pilates is also corrective. Doctors will often refer those suffering from a bad back, knee or RSI to a Pilates class. In addition to its curative benefits, Pilates will also fit very neatly into any body-sculpting programme. No exercise will enable you to completely alter your basic figure, but dramatic changes are very possible with Pilates. Within a month you will begin to see a difference; after three months of committed work you will have reshaped your body.

Often gym work can make people look rather stocky – Pilates has the reverse effect, lengthening the silhouette, and giving a lean, toned look. The apparent gentle pace of the average class is deceptive: one set of muscles is worked, with a variety of different exercises, after another, with no pause for breath. You do sweat and you do grimace, the instructor will often introduce the next exercise with the warning "this should be excruciating", and it always is. But the results are worth the pain. I can now locate different sets of abdominal muscles (although the six-pack still eludes me), I am far more supple and my friends have noticed my improved poise.

The discipline was devised in the 1900s by the German-born Joseph H Pilates, who became interested in physical fitness after being teased at school for his puny frame. He studied yoga and martial arts and eventually devised the new form of exercise following an injury and a spell in a British internment camp during the First World War. Pilates rigged up a hospital bed so that he could begin his recovery while still laid-up. Now there are two different schools of Pilates : mat-based and studio equipment-based. The main piece of equipment used in the latter is the reformer bed; based on the invention of Joseph Pilates, this is basically a rudimentary-looking bed with springs and pullies. Those who learn on the studio-based equipment work harder; students isolate and develop specific muscle groups using resistance against tensioned springs. But those who are trained to do mat work, like myself, tend to have a better technique. They can also exercise anywhere.

For information and a list of Pilates Foundation studios: www.pilatesfoundation.com. Holmes Place Health Clubs: 020 7795 4100