Teresa Malins

The Man Himself

Let's face it...Pilates was a genius!

Joseph was born in 1880, which means that he was around at the same time as Queen Victoria!  When we think about it like that, we start to see what groundbreaking work he was coming up with.

This was a time when there were no Gyms, no Studio's as such and certainly no Lycra based yoga and Pilates pants.  Was it that Joseph Pilates had some sort of foresight as to how his system of exercise would work in the 21st Century? Or did he purely devise some excellently, well mastered exercises which took his clients body through every movement plane in a varied, balanced and controlled way?  I believe it was both and although I make it sound so simple, that was the whole thing about Joseph's method, how simple it was, yet at the same time, magnificently profound.   

So years and years later, here we are; passionate, interested and eager to learn about Joseph Pilates method.

Whether we use Pilates as a form of rehabilitation or as a part of our fitness regime, whether we are an expert at his exercises, or purely just starting out, his exercises challenge us.  Lets face it, his exercises WORK.

We undoubtedly grow stronger, leaner, feel more energised and at the same time relaxed, knowing that everything we are doing in Pilates is contributing to a healthy body and mind.

The more we do Pilates, the more we learn, the more we learn, the more we realise how much there is to Joseph's method of exercising that we have all grown to know and love.

Today I celebrate Mr Joseph Pilates and the inspiring work he devised.  He was a true genius.

 

8 Benefits Of Having One to One Sessions

Motivation - One to one Pilates is the perfect place to help you with the very basics and to give you the motivation to move forward with your Pilates practise.

Consistency - One to one Pilates is perfect if you find it difficult to stick to a program.  Scheduling regular appointments helps eliminate any excuse you may come up with for not exercising.

Safety - During your one to one session I will show you how to exercise safely, including instructing you on which exercises are more beneficial to you and which ones to avoid.

Individualised Instruction - A program that works for one person may not work for another.  I will help you develop an effective program based on your personal needs and goals.

Supervision - I will make sure that the exercises you are performing are done correctly.  With correct form you will ensure you are getting the most out of your program and see and feel results much much quicker.

Injury Rehabilitation - If you are returning to exercise after an injury, then this is the perfect way to begin.  Pilates is recommended by Physio's, Osteopaths and Chiropractors as a safe way to return to health.

Personal Preference - If classes just aren't your thing and you feel happier to work on a one to one basis, then this is for you!  You can work at your own pace, ask questions as you go and have a laugh along the way!

Ego Boost - It's a fact that feeling good makes you look good and vice versa.  Remember Joseph Pilates mantra.." In 10 sessions you'll feel the difference, in 20 you'll see the difference and by 30 sessions you'll have a whole new body!"

Breathe...

Breath = life.

It's the first and the last act we will ever perform.

To be able to inhale fully is to be able to fill ourselves  with the energies of life and to be inspired.

To be able to exhale fully is to be able to let go and to open ourselves to the unknown.

But how often do we breathe fully?  Probably very rarely if at all.

If we pay attention to our breathing process, we find that what naturally happens is that our chest cavity expands and contracts. As we inhale our intercostal muscles (the muscles in between our ribs) expand and elevate our ribs, the breast plate moves up as the diagphram flattens down. During exhalation the intercostals relax, the breast plate moves down and and the diagphram relaxes upwards.

Depending on what we are doing and on our specific physcological state( angry, stressed, peaceful, relaxed) our breath can range from fast and shallow to slow and deep and can be either diaphramatic, thoracic or clavicular.  Most of us choose chest (thoracic) and clavicular breathing whilst having little experience of diaphramatic breathing, which means that we never fully breath oxygen into the deepest areas of our lungs where most of our blood awaits oxgenation. By continuing shallow breathing, we reduce the capacity of our respiratory system to only one third of its potential therefore diminishing the production of energy in our cells and increasing the dis-harmony and dis-ease in our bodies.

We know that Pilates and breathing go hand in hand and that the way in which we breathe assists us in the performance and execution of the exercises yet we still remain somewhat unaware of our breathing techniques from day to day.

So... I'll offer you a challenge of noticing your breath today.  Noticing the speed of your breath, the depth of your breath and the possibility of letting your inhalation last a little longer as you get a sense that you can allow your breath to reach the lowest lobes of your lungs before exhaling fully... Ahhhh!

The Great Imprint Debate

In every Pilates course that I teach, when the topic of 'imprint' is discussed it causes much debate, so I thought I would do my best to shed some more light on the issue!

Neutral - when supine- is when the natural curve of the lumbar spine is present. If the hip bones become higher than the pubic bone an anterior pelvic tilt is the result.  If the pubic bone is higher than the hip bones a posterior pelvic tilt is the result. Neutral spine is the most stable position for the pelvis to be in.

'Imprint', on the other hand, refers to the position of the pelvis when there is a slight posterior pelvic tilt coupled with slight lumber flexion - meaning that the natural curve in the lower back lengthens towards the floor.

We get to this position by engaging the interior oblique and abdominals and drawing the ribcage closer to the pelvis so that the pelvis tilts up slightly.  There is no need to press the lower back to the floor neither to tuck the pelvis under by over using the gluteus maximus (bottom) and rectus abdominis(six pack muscle).   

So why and when do we imprint?

• An 'imprinted' position should be used to ensure pelvic stability when 'neutral' stabalization cannot be maintained.
• 'Imprint' is used when there is a weakness in the abdominals.  Using 'imprint' will help to maintain engagment.
• When we take both feet away from the floor 'imprint' can be used to stablize the pelvis and lower back under load. * When the abdominals have developed enough strength in this position, neutral can be used*

What 'imprint' isn't...

• 'Imprint' isn't a position to use all of the time unless stabalization in neutral cannot be maintained.
• 'Imprint' isn't pushing the lower back into the floor.
• 'Imprint isn't a tucking under of the pelvis.

Well...I hope that clears some questions up.

Just remember, whether you are teaching Pilates or a participating in classes or one to ones, the saftey of the spine should be your primary concern so take time over your set up for the exercise and you are ensured to get the maximum benefit out of your workout. 

Joe said...

Here are some photo's and some quotes written by Joseph Pilates...

This is Joseph Pilates in his late 70's performing a perfect squat!

"I must be right. Never an aspirin. Never injured a day in my life. The whole country, the whole world, should be doing my exercises. They'd be happier." - Joseph Hubertus Pilates, in 1965, age 86

The Pilates Method: "my work is 50 years ahead of its time".

Here's Joe at the age of 59!

"A few well-designed movements, properly performed in a balanced sequence, are worth hours of doing sloppy callisthenics or forced contortion."

"Patience and persistence are vital qualities in the ultimate successful accomplishment of any worthwhile endeavor."

Pilates aged 82!

"the attainment and maintenance of a uniformly developed body with a sound mind and the ability to perform life's daily activities with zest and ease."

..."I invented all these machines. Began back in Germany, was there until 1925 used to exercise rheumatic patients. I thought, why use My strength? So I made a machine to do it for me. Look, you see it resists your movements in just the right way so those inner muscles really have to work against it. That way you can concentrate on movement. You must always do it slowly and smoothly. Then your whole body is in it."

Practice, Practice, Practice

I think it's obvious to see that Pilates plays a pretty big part in my life and a big part of my Pilates life include tutoring students to become Pilates instructors.

Passing on my knowledge of Joseph Pilates brilliant method of exercise is one of the most rewarding things I feel I can do as an instructor. With every course I teach I'm always amazed at how many people are taking a career change from maybe a 9-5 office job to focus on teaching Pilates as a full time career. It puts me in the mind of one of my favourite books Running in Heels by Anna Maxted which tells a hilarious story of a woman who decides to do the same herself.

If only Joe could see us all now I'm sure he'd be smiling!

What also never ceases to amaze me is the amount of students I teach that have NEVER taken part in a Pilates class before attending a teacher training course.

For me, I started to attend Pilates because I was encountering back problems and the Pilates method allowed me to still exercise, but in a pain free way. I got used to the exercises and 'idea' of Pilates before thinking about teaching it. 

It's a pretty tough and a very brave thing to do to learn to teach a method of exercise and movement in which you have no experience of. How do you know that you are going to like it for starters? 

However, if you have decided to do it this way, here's some valuable pieces of advice to help you on your way:

• PRACTICE.
• Practice on your own, practice in classes and use books and DVD's to get as much information about Pilates as you can. 
• Embody the exercises yourself and this will enable you to give more precise teaching points throughout your classes.
• In your own practice, mimick the habits of your participants to get to understand their shortcuts and easy way outs of doing the excerises with precision.
• Once you've finished practicing, practice a bit more!

Doing Pilates is one thing, teaching it is another.  As an instructor you will be correcting, watching and instructing more than you will be actually taking part in the class and before you know it your participants will become stronger than you.

A class will very rapidly lose faith in an instructor who cannot demo an exercise correctly and if it's a beginners class that you're teaching and you're demonstrating exercises incorrectly, you could end up with a bunch of injured people or a class full of Pilates enthusiasts who are getting no results!

So no excuse, get to it straight away; Practice makes perfect remember!

 

Too much navel to spine

As I mentioned in one of my last posts, we have assossiated modern day Pilates with a 'navel to spine' technique.  It does infuriate me!  Although 'navel to spine' gives the impression that we're 'drawing in' or 'scooping'(I prefer the latter), it also is very often confused with sucking in the stomach and if you do this, you automatically hold your breath, which gives the opposite to the desired effect. 

It's pretty difficult from an instructors standpoint as sometimes, and especially when teaching beginners, we have to find cues to describe the technique of recruiting the deep abdominals without adding too much confusion. Hence 'navel to spine'!

So often my clients tell  me that during their daily activities, they remember what they have learnt during their Pilates session and start to draw in their navel to their spine.  This is great! It helps to create a more general awareness of how we carry ourselves and also helps to improve posture- but have you ever considered that maybe you are using your transversus abdominus(deep abdominals) too much?

Have you ever considered that our transversus abdominus(TVA), which along with other muscles, help to protect our spine and if recruited too much will lose its desired effect?  If we spend all our time in Pilates sessions pulling navel to spine and then practise again whenever we remember during the day, for sustained periods of time, our poor TVA loses its power of contraction when it is really needed. 

If we were to have an accident or fall over for example, normally at times such as these our TVA will automatically contract to protect our spine (the flight or fight syndrome).  If it has been previously recruited over long periods of time, come to the time when it's really needed, it will inevitably lose its power, making us more prone to injury.

So what do we do?

We chose our teachers carefully. 

By finding an instructor that knows enough about the functioning of the human body and its responses to different, subtle anatomical changes - the TVA can fire naturally and great results can happen in the body without one mention of pulling 'navel to spine'! 

The History of Pilates

Joseph H Pilates (1880-1967) had been an accomplished boxer, diver, gymnast, circus performer and had even worked as a model for anatomical drawings. Not bad for someone, that as a boy suffered from asthma, rickets and rheumatic fever!

German born Pilates, moved to England and with the outbreak of World War 1 was interned in English camps, along with other German Nationals. Whilst in these camps, Joseph devised a series of exercises that could overcome injuries and postural problems.

He started to train other internees in his matwork exercises and devised makeshift exercise aids by attaching bedsprings in various positions so patients recovering from injury could exercise safely.

In the late 1920's Joseph Pilates moved to New York where he opened a studio, sharing an address with the New York City Ballet. Ballet dancers were drawn to his work and the word began to spread. After his death, his work continued, being passed down by his wife and friend and then on through a second generation of Pilates instructors.

Hollywood celebrities discovered Pilates and soon the media began to cover the Pilates Method extensively. The public then listened and the Pilates Method went 'through the roof'! Millions of people continue to practice Pilates and the numbers are still growing.

It has become a firm favorite for movie stars, dancers and the general public alike, benefiting anyone from pregnant women, back pain sufferers, people recovering from injuries and professional sports people.

What is Pilates?

Pilates is a unique approach to exercise which develops body awareness, improves postural alignment and increases flexibility. When we practice Pilates, the body's core strength and posture is built by using a series of stretching and conditioning exercises which strengthen without building bulk.

Focusing on awareness of the spine, proper breathing, core strength and flexibility, the outcome is a balanced body which is strong and supple, flat stomach and balanced legs and back.

Therapy or Exercise?

How can Pilates be beneficial to back pain sufferers yet challenging enough for a sports person? The Pilates Method is a complete program of mind/body conditioning with huge scope and a spectrum of potential exercises.

There are many small and therapeutic movements designed to help people return to exercise after injury which can be expanded, intensified and choreographed to challenge even the most agile sportsperson.

In the past the Pilates Method was mainly used by dancers and celebrities but now, Pilates has taken the general public by storm and attracts anyone from tight-neck and shouldered office workers, to sciatica-plagued mothers, businessmen and women and elite athletes and their physiotherapists, knowing that by practicing bi-weekly it will help them to strengthen their back and abdominals and restore flexibility to their joints.

Physiotherapists, Osteopaths and Chiropractors are all keen to refer clients to a fully qualified and experienced Pilates Instructor.