Moira Stott is one of the pioneers of the modern Pilates technique. Joseph Pilates, who developed the method in Germany in the early 20th century, created his exercise plan as a means of overcoming his physical limitations. Research about the safety and efficiency of various exercise methods became more sophisticated in the later part of the 20th century. Stott used this information to revise the Pilates method. Her organization certifies instructors in the Stott Pilates method of exercise.
History
Moira Stott was a dancer with the City Ballet of Toronto and the Atlantic Ballet Company. A dance injury inspired her to go to New York City to study with Pilates with Romana Kryzanowska, one of Joseph Pilates' original students. When she returned to Toronto, Stott and her husband Lindsay G. Merrithew worked with physical therapists and sports medicine experts to revise the method so that it adhered to modern principles of movement dynamics. They opened the Stott Pilates studio in Toronto in the 1980s, and began manufacturing Pilates equipment.
Distinguishing Features
Stott Pilates takes a different approach to postural alignment. Traditional Pilates involves imprinting or pressing the lower back into the floor whenever you are on your back. Stott uses the imprint when both legs are in the air, but allows the spine to stay in a neutral position as long as one foot is on the floor.
Identification
A Stott Pilates class begins with a series of warm-up and postural alignment exercises. In contrast, the traditional technique begins with a challenging Pilates exercise known as the hundred, which involves lying on your back, lifting your head and legs from the floor and pumping your arms up and down for 100 counts. The Stott warm-up includes pelvic, neck, ribcage and scapula alignment exercises, as well as exercises that promote proper breathing and core activation. Dynamic flexibility exercises, which are flexibility exercises that involve movement, are also performed before the more challenging exercises.
Benefits
The Stott-designed warm-ups enhance body awareness, release muscular tension and facilitate proper form. When the neck and shoulder muscles are relaxed, it's easier to keep your head lifted from the floor for an extended period of time. This enables you to perform more repetitions of the Pilates abdominal exercises.
The neutral spine position used in the Stott technique is healthier for the lower back, since it allows the spinal disks to remain in their natural alignment, thereby preserving the natural curvature of the spine.
Types
Stott Pilates has a variety of programs. The mat series is performed without equipment. The resistance training small apparatus includes the fitness circle, which is a flexible metal ring, resistance bands and toning balls, which are small weighted balls weighing between one and three pounds. Stott has a series of DVDs that feature Pilates exercises performed on the stability ball, foam roller and bosu, which is half a stability ball. The equipment series includes exercises for the reformer, the Cadillac, the stability chair and the arc barrel.
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