Joseph H. Pilates

As I was chatting with a gal in my triathlon training program today, she began asking me questions about Pilates, and the difference between Pilates and Yoga.  As a triathlete, she made the comment that she runs, bikes, swims, and does some weight training, but had never really worked much on her flexibility, and is now realizing that she needs to do something to improve it.   She wondered which would be better to do for improving flexibility – Yoga or Pilates? 

As a Pilates enthusiast, and a Yoga novice, I see great benefits from both practices, and feel that they complement each other nicely if you have the time to do both.  I also believe that if I had to pick only one Pilates or Yoga, I’d start with Pilates.  During my almost twenty years of teaching Pilates I have had a handful of really great Yoga teachers come to me for Pilates training.  Why did they come…because they got injured in a Yoga class.  Each of these well-qualified Yoga teachers made the comment that Pilates helped them better understand how to support their bodies during their Yoga poses.  But we don’t always have time for both…  Time seems to be a challenge just for getting a workout in.  So for a lot of people this means skipping out on their stretching and missing the benefits of this very important component of their health & wellness program.  Eventually, these overly tight muscles can increase your risk of injury.

I love Joseph Pilates quote above, “True flexibility can be achieved only when all muscles are uniformly developed.” Our body is a system of levers and pulleys.  For one part to lift, another part has to lower.  If one muscle contracts, the opposing muscle has to lengthen and release.  This is a much different concept than the all or none principle which is how some people address their stretching exercises.   

Training efficient body mechanics for functional movement with Pilates develops this work-release system – And that is what helps improve real flexibility.  Our brain is smart enough not to let go and really relax a muscle, unless it can sense that something else is supporting the body structure.  If you were standing upright and “let go” and relaxed all of your muscles what would happen?  You’d fall down!  Stand and strongly engage your leg and core muscles to lift up, and it’s possible to let the shoulder and arm muscles drop and relax.

With proper strength comes length.  The point is not to get into a wild stretching position and tie yourself into a knot – and relax everything while holding this position,  but to smoothly and gracefully flow from one endpoint to the next moving the body with balance and control through as full a range of movement as possible.  Some muscles will work harder, and others will release to allow this movement to happen.

Yes, there are some different types of “Power” Yoga classes that also work on this flow, but to a certain extent – Yoga is about holding poses or postures, and Pilates is about maintaining good posture, balance, support, and control while moving gracefully and efficiently from one position to the next.  I think of Pilates like a game of connect the dots to create a beautiful picture of effortless movement with maximum efficiency of your work-release system.  When this happens you gain true flexibility and have developed not only the strength to push yourself to the limits of your flexibility, but you also have the body awareness and control to safely pull yourself back to center!

Pilates Matwork allows you to work on these concepts against the resistance of gravity.  Pilates equipment work on the Reformer, Chairs, and Cadillac allows you to work against the resistance of springs – which act like the lengthening and recoil action of your muscles.  It would be ideal to optimize the use Pilates for improved flexibility by working the system and doing exercises that utilize both equipment and Matwork.  And Pilates Matwork is something you can learn and do on your own, at home, anytime, anyplace to continue to reinforce proper functioning of your lever/pulley systems.

Both Pilates and Yoga can help improve flexibility.  Both are mind-body methods for health-enhancement.  Both I would also consider forms of meditation.  Yoga is more of a meditation in stillness (you’re holding a still posture or pose and focusing on your breathing.)  Pilates is  more of a moving meditation.  (every bit as focused on riding the breath – but doing it while you’re on the move.)

So, in encouragement of you incorporating a little more Pilates Matwork into your weekly workout routine…  I hope you enjoy this quick Basic/Intermediate 10-Minute Mat Workout designed to inspire you to stay on track and improve your flexibility with Pilates.

Basic/Intermediate Pilates Mat – Focus: “Improving Flexibility”

This may look like too many exercises to accomplish in a short 10 minute workout.  But if you know your exercises, and are riding your breath for flow, you will be able to get this workout completed in approximately 10 minutes.  Getting started it may take you 15-20 minutes.  You will know you are progressing when you can move easily from one exercise to the next using your body’s work-release system to maximize the strength/stretch relationship of your levers & pulleys for efficient movement.

Pilates Matwork is not just about developing core strength!  But it IS this strength that give you the opportunity to develop and improve your flexibility.

Give this Mat workout a try and let me know what you notice.   Joseph Pilates in his book Return to Life recommends doing your mat exercises at least 4 days a week.  If you think about  only four 10-minute workouts a week, it’s not an overwhelming amount of time to be focused on improving your health.

If you’re looking for additional resources to help you with your Pilates Mat exercises, here are some Pilates books, and Pilates Audio Workouts (CD & MP3) that can assist you in learning & doing your Pilates program.

Have fun “riding your breath” and using your Pilates exercises to improve your flexibility!

Here’s a great health article that was recently in The San Diego Union-Tribune about dangerous stretching techniques and the benefits of dynamic stretching before exercise.  It also includes some great tips on how to stretch safely, and a few examples of good stretching exercises for your post-exercise cool down stretching routine.

Are you on track with your flexibility training exercises to stretch safely for your fitness workouts and sports performance goals?

Here’s my revelation for the week!  (or perhaps it’s just today’s revelation – and something else will pop up eager for me to share tomorrow.)

I’ve always cued my clients to begin learning their exercises with the awareness of working within the framework of the Pilates “Box.” Think about the torso from shoulder to shoulder, and hip to hip.  Every exercise starts from the center of the box, moves away from, and back to center.  The farther away from center you move, the stronger you have to be to maintain balance, control, and core support for your exercise or movement.  Feeling where the corners of the “box” are help create an awareness of being evenly  distributing your weight and staying centered.  Great concept!

So when the knees bend in towards the chest on any exercise where should they go? 

I encourage clients to stay within the framework of their “Box” and here’s why:

When the knees don’t open wider than the body there are multiple benefits for strength, flexibility, joint range of motion, core stability and control.

Here are 5 Great Benefits for “Knees Over Chest is Best – For Pilates Training”:

1. Better abdominal support for a safe and healthy back. The abdominal muscles have to pull in – out of the way when the thighs/knees pull in towards the chest.  This cues the core muscles to work and get stronger while the legs are moving.
2. This improved abdominal support, and the relationship with the thighs to the chest, provide a massaging action on the internal organs to assist the digestive system and elimination processes. If the knees open wide and the abdominals “pop” out to the front – support for the spine is lost, as well as the strength to hold the organs in a natural resting position in the torso.
3. Strengthen the Adductor Muscles. The inner thigh muscles work more effectively to stabilize leg control, and guide the legs in a precise plane moving away from and back to center.
4. Improve Knee Flexion. The medial hamstrings will do more work and get stronger as the legs bend in towards the body. This will help strengthen the knees and assist with smooth, controlled movement.  (With the legs opening wider than the body the inner thighs and medial hamstrings might not be working much at all!
5. Moving the legs while tracking within the Pilates Box, strengthens efficient alignment and allows the ball to drop in the hip socket to a good posterior-inferior position.  This helps to develop a free full range of motion for the hip joint (which is necessary to maintain and improve bone density),  trains the legs to move independently of the pelvis, and effectively stretches the glutes, and lower back.  AND while all this is happening, you are maintaining support with the back and core muscles.

I encourage you to play with this concept and see how it feels.

With which Pilates exercises can you see value in thinking about the “Box” and Knees Over the Chest position?

Has this post changed your perspective on wide knees vs. knees over the chest?

I’d love to know what you think!  Comments please….

I may be a bit behind the times when it comes to enjoying the fun and benefits of all the new interactive video game products on the market – like the Nintendo Wii Fit…  but recently my techno-geek boyfriend purchased a Wii Fit for home.  (He’s had one at work since they first hit the market.)  Being a bit shy about actually getting a computer to do what I want, for me is intimidating, never mind the hand-eye coordination it takes to “win” a computer game…..I was never any good at these games as a kid.

I have to admit my extreme skepticism about the benefits of staring at a TV screen and using a computer game for fitness.  But am always excited to hear about new ways to inspire and encourage people to increase their exercise and activity level, and ANYTHING that people enjoy doing that involves movement can be a great way to improve health and fitness.

After playing with the Wii Fit only a couple of times, I am a happy to report that I am a fan of the fun, interaction, and health benefits that this gadget can provide!  Last night my family spent 6 hours playing Wii Fit games together!!!  Tennis, Baseball, Boxing, Bowling, Golf, balance games, yoga.  I think we explored the gamut of options!  I can honestly say that I can feel my abs this morning – so core muscle strengthening was definitely happening, and I wasn’t one of the folks that spent tons of time playing! So can only imagine how sore a few other people might be today!  We had more fun, spent more time laughing, talking, and encouraging each other in competition that the evening flew by and nobody wanted to stop playing.

While I wouldn’t want to spend all my workout time on the Wii…I think it’s a great option for friendly competition, a way to check-in on your health status with weight, Body Mass Index (BMI), goal setting, and some basic fitness testing for strength, balance, and control.  This gizmo provides instant feedback to see where you’re at, games and skill challenges to improve your health, and a way to do something besides just be a couch potato in front of the TV.  I also think that the balance awareness and assessment tools are excellent.  More about that in an upcoming blog post!

Do you Wii???  If you’re doing or teaching Pilates and haven’t tried this yet…find a friend who’s got one – create your Mii (your own personal cartoon version of you!) and go play!  I’d love to hear what you think about using Wii Fit as a tool to help your clients track improvements with their health and check-in with Posture and being “on center” for balance and body control that is such a key aspect of Pilates training.

Share your Wii Fit experience!

Question: Is Pilates appropriate for someone with peripheral atrophy? Balancing is becoming more & more difficult so yoga is no longer an option. If appropriate, please tell me where I might find a certified teacher/instructor. Please advise.

Answer: I do not feel it’s appropriate for me to answer this with a specific yes, or no – because I’m out of my scope of practice to recommend Pilates for a specific person, with a specific medical issue. (Especially someone I’ve never seen or worked with!)

However, here are my personal thoughts on the subject:

There can be many different reasons for peripheral atrophy. It would be important to know the causes, what parts of the body are being affected, how long it’s been an issue, symptoms, challenges, goals, a personal medical and exercise history, AND get prior approval from your primary care physician and medical specialist who is treating you for this — before starting a Pilates program. Your physician should give you the green light that it’s ok for you to begin (or continue) an exercise program – Pilates training or other forms of exercise.

Based on my years of Pilates teaching experience, and having worked with several clients with moderate to severe health challenges related to degenerative nerve and muscle diseases, Pilates training didn’t help reverse the clock and make everything “normal” but I have watched my clients enjoy substantial benefits in regards to gaining and maintaining strength, flexibility, balance, and body awareness for an improved quality of life.

Because a training session with the Pilates equipment can get you off your feet, and into more supportive positions – the challenge of balance can be taken out of the equation while learning different ways to improve strength and body control. The goal, of a Pilates program (in my opinion) would be to help identify things in your daily life activities, movements, and posture that are becoming a challenge, and then develop a program with the Pilates exercises that will best help to maintain and improve your fitness.

Some of what I do with my special needs clients is Pilates. Some exercises have been creatively modified; other exercises I pull from my experience in dance and general fitness that I feel are applicable to continue gently encouraging the body to stay strong and healthy. This is my approach! It might be different with a different teacher.

If your Physician agrees that Pilates might be beneficial and recommends you give it a try, then you can start the search for a qualified Pilates teacher with the knowledge and background to work with you.

Not all Pilates teachers are created equal. With health challenges, it would be best to find a teacher with good experience, and it might be advisable to find someone with rehabilitation background or physical therapy experience (You want to find a Pilates teacher who is confident to work with special populations.)

Ask your potential Pilates trainer if they’ve worked with other clients with special needs or peripheral atrophy. If you’re lucky enough to be in an area of the country with an abundance of Pilates professional, I’d recommend visiting several studios, asking lots of questions, and possibly take lessons from a few different teachers to be sure you’ve found one that has a personality that clicks with yours and fits the bill for knowledge, expertise, ability to help encourage you, and can design a Pilates training program that allows you to work at your own pace.

Begin with private one-on-one Pilates training, and let the teacher you are working with help guide you into Pilates Mat or other equipment classes if and when it’s appropriate for you. (Private Pilates lessons may be your long-term best and safest option.) Chances are there will be lots of exercises and concepts that you will be able to take out of the studio for “homework” as a supplement to your Pilates personal training routine.

To locate a Pilates Teacher near you:

• See what’s listed in your local phone book under Pilates.
• Inquire with your local health clubs.
• Call sports medicine / physical therapy / or kinesiology / chiropractic clinics and ask where they refer their patients for Pilates Training.
• Check with the Pilates Method Alliance. The PMA is an international membership organization for Pilates. You can search on their website to locate a PMA member Pilates Teacher/Studio at http://www.pilatesmethodalliance.org/curntmemb.html
• PilatesStyle Magazine also has a good studio referral network at http://www.pilatesstyle.com/web/directory.aspx

It’s so important – that we maintain a good level of wellness! Finding an exercise program that you can do safely to maintain strength and flexibility will keep you as healthy as possible. It doesn’t have to be a wild and vigorous workout to get results. There is a difference between a professional athlete training for sports performance, and you or me enjoying exercise to maintain a good quality of life. Check with your doctor to be sure it’s ok for you to be active, and then find exercises you can do and enjoy that keep you moving at your own pace… and keep on moving!

*************************************

If you’re looking for more general info on peripheral atrophy visit: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000593.htm