Pilates is a fitness method that is adaptable to most levels of experience and strength. Joseph Pilates honed his method of body conditioning in the early 1920s to help people incorporate fitness into their everyday lives. His principals included proper breathing, muscle balance and attention to spinal alignment, strength and flexibility. Performing Pilates exercises requires practice of the basic principals used to guide the entire series of movements with precision. Done correctly, the exercises are shown to stimulate enough electrical activity to provide "an ample challenge to the abdominal muscles," according to Pilates-based experiments done for Inner IDEA, the education arm of international fitness and wellness association IDEA.
Pelvic Clock
Step 1
Lie on your back on the mat with your knees bent, feet flat and arms at your sides. Let the back of your head, shoulder blades, ribs and pelvis press gently into the mat.
Step 2
Place your hands flat on your pelvic bones at the sides of your lower abdominal muscles. Imagine the flat face of a clock imprinted on your pelvis with 12 o'clock up just below your navel.
Step 3
Curl your tailbone up from the floor and press your low back into the mat, as if you are raising the six on your pelvic clock, then tilt the pelvis down and away to create a larger arch in your back, as if you raising the 12 on your clock. Rock back and forth in this way two more times to feel the difference between the spinal positions.
Step 4
Settle back to a neutral spine with your hands flat at the sides of your pelvic clock. Draw down on the abdominals and draw in on the upper ribs. Place your arms at your side and hold this spinal position when doing Pilates.
Step 5
Flatten out the pelvis and hands to create a neutral lower spine, which allows for a slight natural arch in low back. Draw down on the abdominals and draw in on the upper ribs. Work to maintain this position while doing Pilates exercises.
Proper Breathing
Step 1
Lie on your back with a neutral pelvic alignment, with knees bent, feet flat and arms at your sides. Imagine wearing a corset or wrapping a large bandage across your ribcage.
Step 2
Inhale through the nose to fill the lungs without raising the back off the floor or distending the ribcage or stomach. This is called lateral breathing in Pilates. Fill the sides of your lungs with your breath.
Step 3
Exhale slowly and smoothly through slightly pursed lips to create friction and sound with your breath. Imagine blowing out a candle from far away while exhaling, and feel how your abdominal muscles draw in to aid your respiration. Float your shoulder blades down your back and keep your neck relaxed.
Step 4
Breathe in and out in the same manner for several breaths to practice the style of breathing used when doing Pilates exercises.
Stretch and Flex
Step 1
Lie on your back with your legs straight and your arms reaching overhead to prepare to perform The Rollup in order to practice working with a flat pelvic clock and proper breathing. Inhale while maintaining a slight arch in the low back and keeping the navel drawn down toward the spine.
Step 2
Pull your arms around and over your body as you exhale through your mouth and peel your spine up off the mat one vertebra at a time, keeping your legs stretched and on the mat.
Step 3
Bend at the knees if you cannot roll up off the floor while keeping your legs extended. As described in "The Pilates Body" by Brooke Siler, the goal of this exercise is to keep still in the lower body while rising off the floor. This is not always possible for a beginner. Bending the knees is an acceptable modification.
Step 4
Continue forward with your arms and spine to reach out over your legs toward your feet. This is spinal flexion, often called "C-shaped spine" in Pilates. Inhale deeply and engage the abdominals to support the spine and pull the navel down and flat.
Step 5
Repeat The Rollup three to eight times.
Things You'll Need
- Pilates or yoga mat
References
- "Return to Life Through Contrology"; Joseph H. Pilates and William J Miller; 1945
- Easy Vigour: Pilates Pelvic Clock
- Inner IDEA: Pilates Exercise, Lessons from the Lab
- "The Pilates Body"; Brooke Siler; 2000
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