When Joseph Pilates authored his book, "Return to Life Through Contrology," he highlighted the health benefits of his method. His wife Clara, a trained nurse, adapted some of the exercises to improve the health of her ill or injured patients. The spring-and-cable-based reformer, the iconic Pilates machine, facilitates strength, balance and flexibility exercise. Adding the jump board to the reformer enhances leg power. The AeroPilates machine, a decedent of the Pilates jump board, has a foot pad similar to a trampoline, which adds aerobic conditioning to the list of Pilates health benefits.
Early Discoveries
Pilates' theories about his methods proved true during World War I, when, as a German living in England, he spent time at a British internment camp, where he rigged the hospital bed springs to create exercise equipment for his fellow internees. This makeshift exercise machine eventually inspired the reformer and other Pilates equipment. The influenza virus that broke out in the camp did not affect any of the internees who exercised with him, proving that balancing all the body's muscle groups, while improving alignment, strength and flexibility, enhances overall health. In addition to aerobic exercise, the AeroPilates machine facilitates most of the beneficial leg, upper body, abdominal and gluteal exercises performed on the regular reformer.
AeroPilates Evolution
Pilates came to America in the 1920s, where he opened a New York City fitness studio. Professional dancers and athletes, as well as his wife's patients, were his main clients. Dancers and athletes both required exceptional leg power, but practicing jumps from a standing position caused excess impact on the knee joints and spinal disks. The jump board facilitated leg power exercise from a supine position, allowing clients to avoid joint and spinal injury. Nobody spoke of aerobic exercise in the 1920s, but when Stamina Products created the AeroPilates machine in the late 1990s, the company marketed it as an aerobic Pilates machine.
Athleticism
Active recreation promotes mental, physical and social health, reports the World Health Organization. Having an athletic hobby motivates you to stay with your fitness program and avoid sedentary and/or excessive solitary activity. Many of these activities, such as basketball, dance, and advanced skiing and snowboarding, require jumping movements. Efficient jumping demands sufficient core stability for maintaining a stable upper torso. Observe a jumper with weak core muscles, and you will notice energy-wasting excess upper body movement. Performing jumping movements while lying supine on the AeroPilates reformer carriage stabilizes your spine and promotes muscle memory of the correct jumping alignment. Meanwhile, the traditional, non-aerobic Pilates exercises strengthen your core and improve your athletic jumping skills.
Bone Density and Hamstring Strength
The AeroPilates machine also provides weight-bearing exercise, which, according to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, maintains bone density and prevents diseases such as osteoporosis. The jumping movements performed on the AeroPilates reformer require you to use your hamstrings to bend your knees when you land from a jump. This helps correct the common hamstring/quadriceps muscular imbalances, which frequently cause knee injuries. Women frequently have hamstring weaknesses that cause them to land from a jump with straight legs or locked knees. This makes them susceptible to ligament tears, say researchers at LifeFitness.
Aerobic Exercise
Regular mat Pilates exercise does not improve aerobic fitness, reports University of Wisconsin exercise physiologist John Porcari, Ph.D., in an American Council on Exercise sponsored study. Stamina Products commissioned Neil Wolkodoff, director of the Center for Health and Sport Science at the Rose Medical Center in Denver, to study the aerobic benefits of the AeroPilates reformer. Wolkodoff reported that after eight weeks of AeroPilates exercise, the subjects showed significant improvements in aerobic capacity, as well as reduced body fat and increased lean muscle mass.
References
- Pilates Sport Center: What Is Pilates?
- Stamina Products: AeroPilates
- "Club Solutions" Magazine; Welcome to the New World of Pilates; Christine Romani-Ruby; January 2008
- Lighter Living; The Fitness Effects of A Combined Aerobic and Pilates Program: An Eight-Week Study Using the Stamina AeroPilates Pro XP555; Neil Wolkodoff, Ph.D., et al.
- LifeFitness.com: ACL and the Female Athlete: Theoretical Causes and Prevention
Member Comments