Ideal Pilates Body Postures

Before you start the Pilates exercises it is important to be aware of your body alignment. You can test your alignment by doing one of these two checks:

* Supine body alignment check
* Standing body alignment check

Supine body alignment check

The best and easiest position to do this in is the Supine Position. This is when you are lying down on your back. It is always helpful to have someone watching to make sure you are in the correct position and that can help you to correct your posture. Start lying down on a soft mat or towel supporting your head with a flat pillow or folded towel if necessary. Check the following:

* The feet and knees are hip width apart, both facing forward and are parallel.
* Your hips are level.
* Your arms are resting a short distance from your sides, palms facing up and elbows are slightly bent.
* The shoulders are level and relaxed.
* Your head is not tilted forward or back. Your neck should be lengthened.

Your pelvis should be in a neutral position, which means that the front of the pubic bone and the hip bone should be level. The lumbar curve should remain its natural concave curve. The exact position of the neutral pelvis is different for each person. It is very important to know what your neutral pelvis position is before starting the exercises. You may need some help from a qualified Pilates instructor to help you achieve this.

Standing body alignment check

It is easy to see when your body is out of alignment in a standing position. Misalignment occurs when areas of the body is shifted away form the centre for example; if the head pokes forward. The ideal upright standing position is when;

* The head is balanced evenly over the neck and spine, not tipping forward or back.
* The shoulders are level and from the side they should neither be to far forward nor too far back.
* The curves of the back should not be flattened or exaggerated in any way.
* The pelvis should neither tilt forward nor back. The pelvis position is critical for good posture.
* The kneecap should be pointed forward not angle inwards or outwards. The upper and lower leg should be aligned vertically between hips, knees and ankles. If the lower leg curves back away from the vertical line then the knees are said to be hyper-extended.
* Your feet should be directly forward and carry your weight evenly across the soles off your feet.

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The choice between Yoga and Pilates

The choice between Yoga and Pilates depends on what you are looking for. If you want an exercise that improves flexibility while toning your muscles – especially the abdominals – then Pilates is probably your better choice. If you want to concentrate a bit more on flexibility and a less on toning (perhaps you’re getting your strength training elsewhere), and you are also searching for something that helps reduce stress and gives you an opportunity for some quiet time, then you should try Yoga.

Pilates or Yoga, what’s the difference?

Yoga and Pilates has a different focus and approach. What you decide to take up really depends on your personality and own philosophies. Yoga originated in India and has been around for thousands of years. It was brought to the Western world more than a hundred years ago and was popularized by people like Paramahansa Yogananda and Indra Devi in the middle of the twentieth century. Yoga is and has been a very popular form of exercise since the 1960s. While Pilates takes a mind-body approach to exercise, Yoga’s view involves mind, body and spirit.

Pilates focuses on mental concentration, breathing and movement. Yoga’s approach is holistic, emphasizing balance in all areas – equally strengthening all muscle groups, creating mental and physical balance, encouraging moderation in everything.

Pilates works on the core muscles in your trunk and building strength there above all. Yoga, for the most part, involves static poses, which are held while exploring your breathing, physical feelings and emotions.

Pilates is about moving in ways that help strengthen your powerhouse, including your stabilizing muscles. Yoga emphasizes flexibility over building strength (although it enhances both), while Pilates emphasizes toning over flexibility (but, again, it enhances both).

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In Pilates we use the body as a whole unit to develop strong and lean muscles. Pilates concentrates on working our body’s stabilisers or postural muscles (such as the Pelvic Floor and Transverse Abdominis) before training the global or outer layer of muscles (such as the biceps). Pilates should invigorate & energize the body by stimulating the mental clarity. Pilates will improve posture and correct muscle imbalances. By practicing Pilates you will add more holistic strength, which enables you to cope better with day-to-day activities.

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Is it safe to practice Pilates during pregnancy?

As with any other exercise there are exercises that are safe and unsafe during pregnancy. It is therefore important to seek medical advice and guidance of a qualified Pilates teacher that can help you design a program that is suitable for you during your pregnancy. Pilates is also a great way to get back into shape after childbirth, but again, make sure you consult your doctor when it is safe for you to return to exercise again.

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There are 8 principles that helps define the Pilates Exercise Method

1. Concentration
2. Centering
3. Control
4. Precision
5. Flowing movement
6. Isolation
7. Routine
8. Breathing

1. Concentration

Pilates require concentration or mental focus. It is important to focus on the body while you perform the exercises and don’t let your thoughts wander. Put all your focus on the exercise or move you are doing and focus on each detail of the exercise. This will make sure that you perform the move correctly. You see; most movement control occurs at an unconscious level but we can learn correct movement patterns and retrain insufficient patterns by applying our conscious awareness to control the movements. The more often we perform the move the more ingrained the pattern becomes.

Focus = The ability to focus on the muscles as you exercise will help you to perform the Pilates move correctly. Pilates exercises require a need for constant awareness.

Proprioception = Proprioception is the awareness of the correct sequence for each Pilates move. It is the balance in between movement and the movement pattern.

Correct Movement patterns = This is the balance in between three systems; passive elements (muscles that do not contract), active elements (muscles that contract and relax) and the neutral or control system (co-ordinates the movement).

2. Centering

In Pilates based exercises your centre is your ”Powerhouse”. Your centre consists of the neck, shoulder blades, trunk and pelvis. Co-ordination between the core areas enables us to establish good movement patterns, which are safe. Pilates has often been described as “movement flowing out from a strong centre”. The centre should be the foundation of all movements.

The Pelvic Floor – One of the most important centering muscles.
The Pelvic floor is the muscles that hold the internal organs within the pelvis. It is important for both men and women to be aware of this muscle and how to exercise it. The Pelvis floor runs from the pubic bone and runs to the base of the spine. It acts like a hammock supporting the internal organs. The Pelvic floor surround and control the neck f the bladder and the urethra (outlet from the bladder), the anus and in women, the vagina. The Pelvic floor provides a strong support for the pelvic organs during activity. They also help control your urination and defecation. In Pilates we refer to the Pelvic Floor as the lowest part of the girdle of strength that stabilizes and strengthens the torso as a whole. These muscles are important for initiating the toning of the postural muscles deep within the abdomen. All your centering muscles will need to be developed to the same degree to achieve harmonious results.
Engage the stabilising/centering muscles

It is important to understand how to engage the deep postural muscles to protect the spine as you exercise. This is called ’stabilising’ and creates what Joseph Pilates called a ‘girdle of strength’. This is one of finding these deep muscles: Come onto all fours, your hands beneath your shoulders, knees beneath your hips. Look straight down at the floor, the back of the neck stays long, the spine maintains its natural neutral curve.
a. Breathe in to prepare and lengthen through the spine.
b. Breathe out and engage the muscles of your pelvic floor (as if you are trying not to pass water) and hollow your lower abdominals back to your spine. Do not move the pelvis or spine at all – if you do, you will be using a ‘cheating mechanism’.
c. Breathe in and release. Repeat 10 times. We have just used this position to help you to find the muscles. Once found, you can engage them in any position! You can think of it as an internal zip. It begins underneath and zips up and in to hold your lower abdominal contents in place, just like zipping up your trousers – ‘Zip up and hollow’.

3. Control

Pilates is done with control. In physical science control has to be practiced and developed. Pilates requires the complete control of your body by your mind. Practicing every Pilates move with control will strengthen the body. The slower and controlled movements we perform the greater strength we gain. Engage your mind Joseph Pilates put a lot of importance of the mental aspect of the exercising. He attached a great importance on how important it is to carry out physical actions with conscious control of the brain; hence he called his first studio Contrology. Joseph described the effect of bringing greater control of the body as a reawakening of thousands of brain cells. When first practicing Pilates it can be hard to co-ordinate your breathing technique with the correct use of particular muscles. Be prepared to accept that by enhancing your control over your body can take time, but if you are confident you will succeed with practice and focus and beliefs that you can.

4. Precision

Practice the Pilates moves with precise movements and your body will benefit. It is hard to place the body to a certain exact position at the beginning but by keeping Pilates exercising a routine it will lead to control of the movement & therefore exact execution of the exercise. It is not the structure of the exercise but the work you put in to it that determines your results.

5. Flowing movements

All movements are continuous therefore Pilates exercises are continuous movements which focuses on flow. Doing exercise this way will improve your balance, coordination, control and it will help you in daily life as most movements are continuous.

6. Isolation

The exercises challenge each person differently as with different body types & different training programs we all have different strengths and weaknesses. The educational side of the technique is that through the balancing effects of the technique we begin to learn our bodies our bodies structure & therefore the control of different muscle groups let’s us isolate.

7. Routine

As with any principal; repetition and frequency leads to the skill level rising. Pilates should not replace other activities but used as an addition so that you strengthen your body for whatever exercise or movements you are doing. By developing a routine i.e. practicing Pilates on a regular basis will give you excellent results.

8. Breathing

Breathing is one of the most important parts of Pilates. You might find that the breathing part is hard to get used to as you start and the hardest to perfect. It is thought the most important principle in Pilates to master. To breathe correctly can be the difference between straining to complete an exercise and performing the move easily. Correct breathing involves tightening the abdominal muscles. This gives you a strong core from which all moves originate. This is a typical way of breathing through a Pilates Move: Breathe in to prepare (wide and full into your back). As you begin the movement, breathe out and contract your abdominals. Breathe in as you return to neutral position or before you start the next stage. The main rule is to breathe out on the greatest effort. The deeper abdominal muscles are contracted (30%) and you breathe out sideways.

The Pilates Breathing Method

When practising the Pilates exercise method you should use ‘lateral thoracic breathing’. This entails breathing into the lower ribcage and, back to make maximum use of lung capacity. The increased oxygen intake replenishes the body and the action itself creates greater flexibility in the upper body. It also works the abdominals. To learn this way of breathing you may sit, stand, or kneel, with your pelvis in neutral and your spine lengthened.

To practise Lateral Thoracic breathing you can either wrap something around your ribcage (i.e. a scarf). Cross the ends over at the front and pull a little on them to feel where you are working. You then take a deep lateral breath (into the scarf) – directing the breath into your sides and back. Make sure you keep the shoulders down and relaxed, and the neck calm while you take the breaths. The ribs should expand as you inhale and close down as you exhale. Practise this approximately 5 or 6 times but do not over-breathe (or you may feel dizzy). Do not try more than six at one time. Breathe softly in a relaxed way.

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Aspire Pilates DVD #1 – Level 1 Beginner Pilates.

This DVD includes an Introduction to Pilates (approx. 8 min.) and a Workout (approx. 30 min.)

Aspire Pilates DVD #2 – Level 2 Intermediate Pilates.

This DVD includes an Introduction to Pilates (approx. 8 min.) and a Workout (approx. 35 min.)

Price: 1 DVD for $28.95 including GST or 2 DVD’s for $49.95 including GST. The DVDs are on sale at www.aspirepilates.com.au

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Some of the benefits of practising Pilates:

– Strengthens and firms the abdominals.
- Prevention and healing of lower back pain.
- Improved posture. You will feel taller and look slimmer.
- Builds long, lean muscles without bulk.
- Improved stamina, coordination, flexibility and joint mobility
- Relaxes the mind.

Who benefits from Pilates and what are the Benefits of practising Pilates

Pilates is an exercise method, which is a safe and effective body conditioning for people of all ages. Pilates can help to improve or correct physical imbalances that have occurred from ingrained poor postural habits.

Many people take up Pilates because they suffer back pain. The reason for this is that Pilates place a focus on strengthening the core muscles, which in its turn will ease or cure back problems.

People with joint problems also benefit from practicing Pilates. Strains on the joints are often a result of failure to engage the appropriate muscles involved in a particular action of the body. This can in its turn cause chronic inflammation of the joints (arthritis).

Pilates teaches you to use your body in a way that is free from excessive strain. It also strengthens muscles that protect weight bearing joints i.e. hip and knees. People who perform a particular action repeatedly such as sportspeople, workers develop muscular imbalances. This can force the body out of alignment and to strain or injury. The practice of Pilates helps to prevent and correct imbalances and support recovery from injury.

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The founder of Pilates

Pilates (which is pronounced Pil-ah-tees) was developed by Joseph Hubertus Pilates in the 1920’s. Joseph Pilates was born in a small town near Dusseldorf ( Monchengladbach) in Germany. Joseph Pilates suffered from asthma, rickets and rheumatic fever and this drove him to find ways of overcoming his own disabilities. He therefore decided to strengthen his body.

Joseph Pilates

The history of Joseph Hubertus Pilates

Pilates tried many different forms of exercise and therefore became an accomplished sportsman. Pilates practiced Yoga, martial arts, skiing, boxing, gymnastics, bodybuilding and diving.

His body became very well developed and was therefore asked to be a model for anatomical charts. He really developed a great interest in the Human Body and he used to study an old anatomy book, which had been given to him by his family doctor.

Pilates finished formal education by the time he was fourteen but he continued studying the human anatomy and this molded his future beliefs.

Pilates moved to England when he was thirty-two years old in 1912. He was trying to avoid the German military draft. He started to work as a circus performer, self-defense instructor and a boxer.

He developed the Pilates Matwork routine in 1914, just as the war broke out. He started to help and assist injured people at an interment camp on the Isle of Man. He came up with a way to create resistance and developed some strength based exercises using the beds with springs. This was the start of the Universal Pilates Reformer, which is still used today in Pilates settings. All off the internees that used the Reformer survived the deadly influenza that killed thousands of people in England.

Joseph Pilates then returned to England in the early 1920s. Five years later, in 1925, he immigrated to the United States. He met his wife Clara on the journey there. Clara was a Nursery and Kindergarten teacher. Clara also suffered health problems such as arthritic pain.

Joseph shared his knowledge about his beliefs about the human body and ways on how to improve health, which created a personal and professional bond.

Joseph and Clara settled in New York. In 1926 they opened up their first fitness centre, which was called Contrology. Contrology was the name Joseph had chosen for what we know as Pilates.

Joseph taught people from all walks of life but also became good friends with many great dancers and choreographers. His unique exercise method grew a reputation amongst them in the 1940s and he built up a wide clientele amongst New York’s dancers and actors.

Many world famous people and celebrities are using the Pilates Method. Many sportspeople are also using the method to improve or correct physical imbalances imposed by rigorous sports training.

Pilates work was based around creating excellent health & physical strength although he also believed this should complement broader approach to life and its goals. He thought it was important to work on both the mind as well as the body.

Joseph Pilates died from pneumonia in 1967, shortly after his Contrology Pilates Studio suffered a fire. Joseph was trapped inside suffering smoke inhalation and this was the major cause of his death.

Many of Joseph Pilates students became very knowledgably with his method and opened their own Pilates Studios.

Each Pilates teacher, even up to this day give their own interpretation to the basic exercise program that was created by Joseph Pilates.

Joseph wrote two books called “Your Health” (1934) and “Return to Life Through Contrology” (1945), which I suggest you read if you are interested in learning more about him and the unique Pilates exercise method that he developed.

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