How Pilates Affects Your Body
Pilates (puh-LA-teez) takes a holistic approach to body, mind and spirit. Here, I will educate you on its varied physical aspects for rank beginners. Hey, I was one too not long ago! Strengthening and stretching muscles with a focus on the important core muscles of the torso—from the shoulders to the hips—is what sets it apart from yoga, weight lifting and even aerobic sports. It’s a method of body control not intended to build bulk or big muscles in limbs. It doesn’t involve the high intensity of heavy weight machines or the multiple repetitions of aerobic oriented activity. It’s not sport specific training either. Your mind participates a great deal where it is able to control your movement so you don’t perform it too fast, which is a common tendency. Delicate, fundamental movements form the basis for learning it. Generally, it does not cause much of a rise in body temperature or an increase in circulation.
Back in the 1920's a man named Josef Pilates developed this system which originally consisted of 34 moves that achieved mobility in patients injured in the world war. Likely his own frailness as a child plagued by illness made him determined to experiment with ways to improve his physical and emotional health. No special equipment is needed for many of the moves. Only a towel or exercise mat, a scarf or stretchy exercise band and a small cushion for your head are what you need to assist you. Not all at the same time! You can benefit from the stability challenge of a burst-resistant exercise ball (aka Swiss ball), that actually didn’t originate from Josef Pilates himself, for some movements. Be Warned: If you've sustained any injuries, especially to your spine or neck, get medical advice first.
Rundown of 9 Benefits
A rundown of ways Pilates benefits your body is as follows:
1) Gain flexibility, balance and better posture.
2) Improve body awareness—a sense of how the body feels in space.
3) Reduce stress, fatigue and injuries.
4) Causes you to reexamine your current exercise and lifestyle habits.
5) Gives you excellent muscle control.
6) Lengthens and strengthen muscles.
7) Has proven body shaping results.
8) Tests your current level of strength or weakness.
9) Even the elderly can do this safely and mobilize joints.
There are over 500 exercises developed to keep any boredom at bay. The very physically fit are still challenged by some of these exercises geared for them. To receive real results from Pilates you are forced to concentrate, as all movement is carefully controlled. Visualization is also used. Always do slow, precise movements. Breathe appropriately so tension will not build up. More power is gained by breathing appropriately. The muscles being worked must be isolated from your other muscles. Varied resistance is applied to increase strength. As flexibility is slowly gained there is no sacrifice in joint stability.
There is a branch of Pilates called Office Pilates that caters to those of us—and we number in the millions you know!—sitting for lengths of time in a habit of being rigid. It brings awareness of how to sit by using your very own transversal abdominus to support the weight of your body and integrating the ribs forming a strong posture. The good news here is that it’s proven that having a developed mid-section correlates with fewer back pains and problems. Your office-mates will love not hearing all about your physical pains! Wink and grin!
A Sampling of Movements
Finding Neutral means that you must maintain a neutral spine while in all positions of standing, sitting or lying down. This is how you gain from the precise execution of all the other movements. Standing in neutral is with your spine in alignment and weight evenly distributed over both feet. Feet are hip-width apart, knees directly over your ankles. Your head is directly on top of your spine. Make sure it is not jutting forward. Drop shoulders downward. They should not be too far forward. Sitting in neutral is sitting on chair's edge with feet hip-width apart flat on the floor. Flatten out your back enough so that there is a slight natural curve to it. Lying in neutral is lying on your back with feet—yes, you guessed it—hip-width apart; knees pointing to the ceiling. Place your arms by your side palms down. Relax your back. As a beginner you'll need to remain dedicated to doing it as a regular routine. Emphasize regular. A minimum is only 60 minutes per week, at least 2 sessions per week; which would be 30 minutes each. Am I sounding like a coach or drill sergeant yet? Then, may I politely suggest working at a progressive Pilates program where you perform specified movements until you master them. Wouldn’t you be proud to say you’ve mastered a move? Work at beginner level exercises and then switch to intermediate level and then switch to advanced. This should give you some idea of the variety of moves available to work various parts of your body.
An example of an easier movement is called The Hundred. It works your abdominal core. You begin lying in neutral and lift a leg so shin is parallel to the floor. Hold it. Drop your shoulders and lengthen your arms. Lift and lower with a pulsing action to a count of 100. An intermediate movement is called The Saw. It is stretching that mobilizes your upper back. Sitting in an upright position with legs apart 45 degrees raise both arms and reach your left arm toward your right foot and take your right arm behind you. Keep your hips relaxed as you are only working your upper body. Inhale and return to center. Repeat 10 times each side. Now to an advanced movement called The Leg Pull that is a demanding exercise to strengthen the abdominal core, buttocks, arms and shoulders. It involves sitting on the floor with legs extended. With your hands behind you lift your hips to straighten your body. Raise your right leg slowly up while keeping the rest of your body in a line. Inhale and slowly lower it back down. Repeat with your left leg. Do a sequence of 5 to 10 times.
Some movements use a stretchy band or scarf. One called Chest Stretch requires that you stand grasping the band out in front of you 18" apart, and stretching and releasing 30 times. Feet are hip-width apart, knees directly over your ankles. Another movement called Swan Dive uses an exercise ball. This is an inflatable ball about 2 feet in diameter. Kneel down with your knees and ankles together. Place your hands behind your ears and curve your body over the ball. Contract your abdominals and raise toward the ceiling. Lower and repeat 10 times.
These movements just outlined are to give you the basic idea of what kind of effort you will exert in Pilates. Another method uses a Pilates machine to provide the force to work against in various movements. This would be done at a Pilates studio. A Pilates machine comes in different forms for different purposes. A typical machine would have a padded table long enough for you to lie flat. Supports are attached on top for resistance cords and hand and foot loop straps. Because of its popularity, classes are springing up all over the U.S. An instructor qualified to teach you would be certified by a rigorous group requiring several hundred hours of training. Ready to take on bellydancing now??