Pilates… How It Enhances Any Training Program

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Pilates is a uniquely transformational method of body conditioning that yields profound results for people of all ages and abilities. Equally engaging your body and mind, Pilates emphasizes the uniform development of all muscle groups while promoting flexibility, circulation and skeletal alignment. This development occurs once the initiation of movement comes from the “powerhouse” or core of the body including the deep abdominal muscles, buttocks muscles and the muscles around the spine.

Pilates training stabilizes the pelvis and shoulder girdle while stretching and strengthening the entire body, always engaging the core. Fitness professionals are beginning to recognize the benefits of Pilates. Where traditional methods of training tend to produce short, bulky muscles prone to injury, Pilates elongates the muscles, realigns the spine, increases the elasticity of muscles and increases flexibility of joints. This balance between strength and flexibility reduces the potential for injury. Pilates emphasizes flowing movements requiring the use of multiple muscle groups simultaneously.

Controlled breathing and concentration are essential making Pilates not only a workout for the body but also the mind. The focus is on quality of each movement. You will cover the basic principle of Pilates which include: Stabilization, Control, Flow, Concentration, Breathing and Alignment that encourage full range of movement. Using these principles allows your clients to achieve maximum change in their bodies.

Within a few sessions of Pilates, you will experience a resurgence of energy and self-confidence as your body and mind return to a natural state of balance. The Reformer provides a structural support system that puts the body in correct alignment while you retrain the muscles to be used correctly. It never isolates a muscle group, nor does it emphasize stronger muscles; or neglect those that are weaker. It only helps you regain efficient patterns of motion, making you feel better. Pilates is also a great benefit to those recovering from injury or anyone seeking good posture and optimal health.

The Equipment: The Pilates Reformer

Why equipment? Isn’t the mat work enough? The answer is no. Most Pilates trainers immediately get a client on a Reformer to diagnose their imbalances. Once the imperfections are spotted the Reformer aligns the body correctly so that you are able to retrain their body to move using the right muscles, initiating from the core. There is little risk and lots of benefit as the Reformer assists where they are weak and challenges where they are strong.However, the support of the Reformer adds a whole other dimension to Pilates work…it is where the magic happens!

History shows that Joseph Pilates invented his equipment to replace himself as a spotter for his clients. He got tired of pulling people up who were unable to do a roll-up by themselves. So he invented the roll-back bar. The roll back bar (from the Pilates Cadillac) consists of a wooden dowel that has two fairly strong springs attached to it. The dowel is attached to a wall or structure against which you can easily roll up or down. The spring’s resistance/assistance properties assist you in rolling up and rolling down. In essence, it makes it possible to complete a movement that would otherwise be impossible. The assistance of the springs allows you to complete the movement smoothly with articulation and control.

The springs act as abdominal muscles that you do not yet have. As you get stronger, the spring resistance can be diminished so that your abdominal muscles can slowly do more and more of the work, until one is able to do the exercise on their own. The Reformer can enable you to experience all kinds of positions that you might not otherwise be able to accomplish on your own.

The mat work focuses mainly on core strength, your abs, butt and back. The Reformer, like the Cadillac, combines core training with strength training for your legs, hips, arms, shoulders and inner thighs. The Reformer gives you the full-body resistance training, much like a weightlifting routine, without the bulk. It also makes corrections in your movement patterns, not possible on the floor.

You gain strength because of the resistance from the tension cords. A spring’s resistance increases along a continuum – as a spring/cord stretches, it becomes more and more taut. The muscle that is challenging the spring is challenged along this continuum.

When you first pull on a spring/cord, it may have 5 pounds of resistance, but by the time you’ve stretched it all the way out, it may have 10 pounds of resistance. The muscle that is working to pull that spring/cord will be affected by this change. Working the muscles along a continuum builds long, strong and supple muscles. Working out with free weights or doing impact sports creates a bigger, bulkier, tighter muscle.

The spring/cord resistance emphasizes control. After you stretch out a spring/cord, it wants to shorten back to its original resting length. When doing a Pilates exercise against this resistance, you must work to bring the spring/cord back home to its original length slowly and carefully – WITH control. When working on the Pilates Reformer, you must always control the movement on the return portion of any exercise. If you’re straightening your legs out against resistance, for example, you must control the movement back to the starting position, with your legs bent. When you train your body to control the movement that extends the spring/cord and that contracts it, you train your body to have greater balance and control in general.

100Controlling both directions of a movement challenges the muscles while they’re shortening (when you make the initial push against the spring/cord, called concentric action of a muscle) and while they’re lengthening (on control portion of the movement, called eccentric action of a muscle). Eccentric training builds long and lean musculature.

The Pilates Reformer is one of the most versatile pieces of Pilates equipment ever developed. It consists of a large frame with tracks on either side on which a padded carriage rolls back and forth and on which you can lie, stand or sit. The carriage moves back and forth creating an unstable surface that forces your brain to register that you are needing to stabilize. Your core muscles immediately learn to engage. Attached to the carriage are five cords that you can modify based on the exercise and its intention. More cords engages mobilizing muscles and less cords forces the stabilizers to engage. Attached to the frame is a removable foot bar that you press against to do leg, foot or arm strengthening exercises. Adjustable straps are attached to the carriage and are used to place on your feet or hands to create resistance training for your lower and upper body. Risers at the head of the machine raise the straps to customize the angle from which you create resistance. The head rest is adjustable to 3 heights allowing you to find the right support for your neck. The Pilates Reformer is on a raised surface making certain exercises easier to accomplish.

You can do over 500 hundred exercises on this remarkable piece of equipment. It is definitely the most popular piece of Pilates equipment used today. The additional Cardio Trampoline and Board allows the user to exercise their heart without impact, making this the most unique and versatile fitness piece of equipment you will ever find.

It is recommended you do 2-3 one hour Pilates Reformer sessions per week to achieve the quickest results possible.

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