Pilates is not like other exercise
Pilates is not like other exercise. It isn't just to make people fitter. Instead; Pilates consciously effects change throughout the body to allow us to move with grace and ease.
I spent Sunday participating in a teachers' workshop at the Pilates Pod in Hitchin. The tutor, Michelle, is trained in classical Pilates, which means that her teaching draws more from the original style and method of Joseph Pilates than a contemporary teacher such as myself. A key focus of the day was how the mat, reformer and other apparatus work together to help create change in the bodies of our students.
At the Pilates Pod. Photo credit: Michelle Smith.
Most - if not all - of us have movement patterns that hinder us from optimal efficiency. Pilates can help us to identify and correct those patterns, through improved strength, flexibility, alignment and coordination. Often, we focus on strength and flexibility by going to ever bigger and more challenging movements. However, if these are performed dysfunctionally, those "bigger" exercises simply work around the dysfunctions and may even reinforce them. They will create strength and flexibility, but not necessarily the ease of movement that comes from an aligned and coordinated body. That requires going deeper into our Pilates exercise to create the necessary change in our movement patterns. In Pilates there are many tools we can use to do this. During the workshop, we learned how to identify where improvements need to be made and how to use different cues, imagery, exercises, and studio apparatus to help.
If you want your body to change, more of the same isn't enough. You need to do something differently.
For example, I struggle with holding the legs in the classical position of the 100 (pictured) - because, like many people it is hard for me to support my legs using my core. What happens is that the legs weigh heavily down and cause my back to arch off the floor. To accommodate that, I raise my legs higher up, where I can support them. What I didn't know until yesterday, is that this same issue means that I am not doing my reformer footwork optimally - who knew? We tried a couple of tools including the ominous-sounding 'foot corrector' and 'spine corrector' to help me feel some key connections in my body so that I could 'unweight the weight of my legs'. I'm not going to pretend that I could hold it for long, because changing movement patterns is hard, but for a brief moment, I could support my legs lower. And with practice, I will be able to build the stamina to sustain that for the full 100 beats of the arms!
Joseph Pilates demonstrates the 100 in his book, Return to Life Through Contrology.
This kind of thing is hard to change with only one approach. So, if you are struggling with a particular exercise, or you have reached a plateau, why not try switching it up? Try the reformer if you normally use the mat, or vice versa, or even book a few private lessons to help you to figure out how you can change your movement for the better.
Most - if not all - of us have movement patterns that hinder us from optimal efficiency. Pilates can help us to identify and correct those patterns, through improved strength, flexibility, alignment and coordination. Often, we focus on strength and flexibility by going to ever bigger and more challenging movements. However, if these are performed dysfunctionally, those "bigger" exercises simply work around the dysfunctions and may even reinforce them. They will create strength and flexibility, but not necessarily the ease of movement that comes from an aligned and coordinated body. That requires going deeper into our Pilates exercise to create the necessary change in our movement patterns. In Pilates there are many tools we can use to do this. During the workshop, we learned how to identify where improvements need to be made and how to use different cues, imagery, exercises, and studio apparatus to help.
If you want your body to change, more of the same isn't enough. You need to do something differently.
For example, I struggle with holding the legs in the classical position of the 100 (pictured) - because, like many people it is hard for me to support my legs using my core. What happens is that the legs weigh heavily down and cause my back to arch off the floor. To accommodate that, I raise my legs higher up, where I can support them. What I didn't know until yesterday, is that this same issue means that I am not doing my reformer footwork optimally - who knew? We tried a couple of tools including the ominous-sounding 'foot corrector' and 'spine corrector' to help me feel some key connections in my body so that I could 'unweight the weight of my legs'. I'm not going to pretend that I could hold it for long, because changing movement patterns is hard, but for a brief moment, I could support my legs lower. And with practice, I will be able to build the stamina to sustain that for the full 100 beats of the arms!
Joseph Pilates demonstrates the 100 in his book, Return to Life Through Contrology.
This kind of thing is hard to change with only one approach. So, if you are struggling with a particular exercise, or you have reached a plateau, why not try switching it up? Try the reformer if you normally use the mat, or vice versa, or even book a few private lessons to help you to figure out how you can change your movement for the better.
If you want to try the classical Pilates method, visit the Pilates Pod https://www.thepilatespod.co.uk/
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