PILATES PRINCIPLES
The modern day principles of Pilates are based on the 8 traditional Joseph Pilates principles, being: Concentration, Breathing, Centering, Control, Precision, Flowing Movement, Integrated Isolation, and Routine.
Today, when I introduce clients to Clinical Pilates the five key elements that I discuss with them are:
- Lateral Breathing
- Centering
- Ribcage Placement
- Shoulder Blade Placement
- Head & Neck Placement
1. Lateral Breathing
- Pilates aims to improve the breath pattern and depth which is vital to get sufficient oxygen to the working muscles as well as remove any waste products that are associated with muscle use and fatigue.
- For optimal oxygen transfer, we want to encourage lateral ribcage movement (visualise the ribcage like bucket handles moving out and up as you breathe in).
- As you breathe in, the diaphragm lowers into the abdomen subsequently increasing the intra-abdominal air pressure. This can put more pressure on the pelvic floor, which is why when we want to challenge the core we encourage the breath out.
- To practice lateral rib cage breathing, lie on your back with knees bent and feet flat (rest position). Interlace hands across the lower ribcage. As you breathe in, visualise the breath going to the back of the lower rib cage and feel your hands move apart. As you exhale the fingers will slide back together.
- In sitting / standing you can practice lateral rib cage breathing with a scarf, towel or theraband around your lower rib cage, crossed gently at the front. Start with a little tension on the band/towel, as you breathe in the ribcage will push out into towel, causing your hands to come closer together. As you exhale, the ribcage will move down and in, the hands can draw apart on the band.
2. Centering
- Pilates aims to build a strong centre of abdominal (Transverse abdominis), lower back (multifidus) and pelvic floor muscles, forming an internal muscular “corset” to support the spine and pelvis.
- They are postural muscles, designed to work at a low level throughout the day. Therefore when we activate them for most exercises, it should be a 30% maximum contraction (gentle!) to ensure they have endurance and not fatigue too quickly.
a) Neutral Spine:
- Everyone's neutral will be different depending on the shape of their spine (some people have a flatter spine, others more curved) — work with your own spine.
- Lie on your back, knees bent and feet flat. Place the heel of your hands on the pelvic bones at the front, your finger tips on the pubic bone at the base of the pelvis, thumbs on your belly button, creating a “Pelvic Diamond”.
- Roll pelvis forwards towards 6 o'clock (anterior tilt) to arch the back.
- Roll pelvis backwards towards 12 o'clock (posterior tilt) to flatten the back.
- Find your midway point, where the diamond is flat. You should have a small natural arch under your lower back.
b) Engaging the core
- Transverse Abdominus: imagine a piece of string attached to both pelvic bones, draw them together to tie a bow in the middle. You should feel a gentle tension under the fingers just inside the pelvic bones, muscles should pull away from the fingers rather than bulge up into them.
- Pelvic Floor: sling of muscles at the base of the pelvis, when we engage we want to think about drawing up inside, to tighten the sphincter around the urethra, anus (and vagina for women). Think “stop the flow of urine” or “stop gas escaping”.
3. Rib Cage Placement
- With ideal posture, the ribcage should be aligned directly above the pelvis, however many people tend to flare their ribcage forwards. This can place excess load on the muscles at the back of the ribcage, leading to tightness, stiffness and pain.
- To focus on control of ribcage, lie on your back, knees bent and feet flat. Find your neutral spine and pelvis, exhale as you lift arms slowly over your head while keeping the back of your ribcage heavy towards the floor.
- Visualise a set of springs running down from the lower ribcage to the top of the pelvis. As your arms go overhead, we want to keep the springs closed.
4. Shoulder Blade Placement
- Stability around the shoulder blades is crucial for efficient movement of your arms and neck.
- The key muscles that stabilise the shoulder blades are the lower trapezius and serratus anterior muscles.
- To feel the serratus anterior muscles, lie in the rest position and take the hands to the ceiling. Visualise you're holding a helium balloon, allow the shoulder blades to move out around the ribcage as the balloon lifts the arms up to the ceiling — this movement is created by the serratus anterior.
- Breathe out as you gently draw the shoulder blades down around the ribcage towards the centre of the spine (watch the ribcage doesn't flare up at this point). Another good position is a ‘push up plus’, press away into the floor and feel shoulder blades move out around the ribcage.
- To activate the lower trapezius, lie in the rest position. Breathe in as you glide the shoulder blades up towards the ears (upper trapezius), exhale as you glide the tips of the shoulder blades down towards the centre of the spine (lower trapezius). To ensure you don't over-engage the large latissimus dorsi muscle (under the armpits) and lock down, focus more on creating width across the collar bones.
5. Head and Neck Placement
- “Lengthening the back of the neck” helps to align the neck and head.
- Prolonged sitting, computer work etc tends to lead to a head forward posture, meaning the weight of the head isn't aligned over the spine and creating an extension force in the upper neck, often leading to headaches.
- When we “lengthen the back of the neck” we are actually gently engaging the deep neck flexors at the front of the neck to help support and align the neck.
- Lie on your back in the rest position, use a small folded towel under the head if needed. Start with your eye gaze at the ceiling (12 o'clock) then lower your eye gaze to approximately 2 o'clock. You should feel a closing down on the windpipe and a lengthening of the back of the neck.