Writer: Lucia Farina
I’ll share something I’ve been thinking about the last little while. The exercises we do in Pilates have a rhythm, a tempo. That’s all about timing of going in and out of the full expression of the move. The movement that happens to get us TO the full expression, is really what the work is about. Not the full expression, that’s just a small part of it.
Often what happens is we get to the full expression, then check all the things. For example, shoulder placement, ribs, pelvic placement, length in the back etc. Ideally when we get to that exercises full expression, all the things should already be set. So essentially we’d organise the body DURING the exercise, not just at the peak or end of the exercise. After all, we do this practice to make our bodies cope better with day to day movements and do it pain free and easy. The main key word there is “movement”. So, we need to be conscious of what our bodies are doing WHILE we are moving.
When we cue or give instructions in relation to the Pilates method, (in fact I'm pretty sure this applies to all types of exercise) there’s a reason we are giving them in that staggered and specific way. I’m sure there’s more than only ONE specific way to do this, I think it’s down to the teacher and the desired result based on what that body in front of us could benefit from or what they actually need.
When we take a look at muscle action, when they work to move our body, they don’t all fire at once. Our smaller muscles (those deeper ones we’ve mentioned before) are fatigue resistant so will fire up first, then that superficial layer or external layer will fire up to continue the movement. This coincidently (and very conveniently) marries with the blog post that’s titled “lighten the load”, which speaks on working deeper to take tension out of those outer layers of muscles which allows for a smoother, less grippy and free movement.
So, when we teachers give detailed instruction, it’s important to follow that order when you then guide your body through the movement. I can mean that when you reach your full expression, there is no tension and you’ve got all the support in the right places. So you can feel confident and safe as you practice. Let me give you an example so this is clear.
So if we visualise being on the tower and doing swan prep (upper back extension), when you use the push through bar laying on your front and arms reach out long. I might say, lengthen through the crown of the head, pull the chest forward and draw the abdominals in and up. There are 3 instructions there (totally there are more but for ease, let’s use these three for the purpose of making this point) said in that order, 1, 2, 3.
Now, you can totally shuffle that around and move in the order 2,3,1 or 3,1 2 BUT there are reasons I would ask it to be that specific way. And it can change spending on who I am teaching.
Recently at class, this whole blog idea came to me as I was watching one of our advanced students do an exercise which really does require the subtle lifts and connections to make the exercise achievable without discomfort. Gripping was only making her shoulders sore, a bit pinchy. So once in the full exercise, then decided to go ok, crown long, chest forward, abdominals lifting. However the real sauce of the exercise is to do 1, 2, 3 in that order, AS YOU LIFT into the exercise so when you ARE at the full expression, there’s nothing to organise. You really want the entire exercise to feel good, not just that moment at the end. That’s where we really see Pilates working.
Let’s look at it this way. Coming up to the peak of the exercise and organising your body there, is like revving a car really hard and waiting for the gears to change. Instead of slowly putting your foot on the gas and allowing the gear box to shift comfortably between gears. It’s way kinder on the transmission and less damaging to the car. Over revving strains the system.
Much like the body, if you follow the pattern of the cueing, you’re being kinder, possibly more able to achieve the exercise comfortably, and more to to the point, in a softer way which encourages an ease in the movement and less of that gripping that we tend to do that serves no purpose, other than makes us tight and maybe cause discomfort.
If we focus on what’s happening during the movement more and more, I'm convinced it then becomes second nature, and over time, the body then can move better, more free and more connected with less conscious effort. What a DREAM!!
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