Your Fitness Pilates Info Pack

Fitness Pilates classes will comprise of the original principles of Joseph Pilates, they are: Breathing, Concentration, Control, Centering, Precision and Flow.

Breathing – Breathing properly encourages effective oxygenation of the blood.   Incorporating proper breathing during exercise, helps relax the muscles and avoid tension.  A relaxed and full breath pattern helps focus the mind and allows concentration upon each exercise, exhaling deeply can help activate the deep abdominal muscles.  Natural, conscious breathing patterns co-ordinated with movement, helps to activate muscles and keep you focused.

Inhale through the nose allowing the rib cage to expand, try to avoid breathing into the abdominals – maintain thoracic breathing into the ribcage.  Exhale through the mouth.  Generally, breathe in to prepare for the exercise or stretch and breathe out on the greatest effort of any given exercise.  Co-ordinating breath with movement takes time to master so beginners should ensure each breath is balanced, natural and relaxed - not forced, not held.  As you become more familiar with postures and sequences, you can elongate the breath and you may choose to synchronise the exercises with breathing.

Concentration – You’ll be encouraged to focus exactly on each movement and to concentrate.  Fitness Pilates is truly a mind-body fitness class which encourages the mind fully and works the body precisely.  It is the mind itself that builds the body and that all important connection between mind and body comes with concentration. 

Control – “Good posture can be successfully acquired only when the entire mechanism of the body is under perfect control” – Joseph Pilates.  All Pilates movements are slow and controlled and should be performed at a constant speed.

Centring – Joseph Pilates believed that the abdominal muscles function as the “powerhouse” of the whole body.  In Pilates, the abdominals are the centre and they initiate every movement.  A strong centre combines an equal balance of strength between the abdominals and the back.  Core stability means providing a strong and stable base from which the limbs can move from.  Focusing on the muscles of the pelvic floor and deep abdominals develops a strong core and enables the rest of the body to function efficiently.  All action initiates from the centre and flows outward to the extremities. 

Precision – Pilates focuses on the quality and precision of each movement and exercise.  Each movement is precise and flows smoothly with emphasis on the quality of each movement and not the quantity.  You will be encouraged to work at your own pace and level.  Different body and posture types will perform the exercises at different speeds. 

Flow- The flow of a Fitness Pilates session should be smooth, flowing, rhythmical with continuous movement of no beginning and no end but movement which is effortless and strong.   Each repetition flows into the next: nothing should be forced, strained or sharp.  The same amount of effort should be applied through each part of the movement/exercise.

More about Fitness Pilates classes -

We’ll learn the fundamentals of Pilates which are:

Stabilisation - with particular emphasis on the shoulder girdle, lumbar spine and pelvic girdle  *

Breathing diaphragmatic, thoracic breathing and applying breathing with movement  *

*(read more about stabilisation and breathing in section below called ‘Pilates Breathing and Posture/Body Alignment tips’)

Mobilisation of joints and soft tissue through full natural ranges of movement and

Articulation of the spine in all 3 planes of movement

Other benefits/considerations:

Relaxation – This is very important when starting Fitness Pilates.  You’ll learn to relax and recognise areas of tension that need releasing.

Alignment – Proper alignment is the key to good posture. 

Co-ordination – When combining 2 or 3 movements, we go through the phases of learning: we start with the “cognitive stage” then proceed to the “motor stage” and then reach the “automatic phase” – this all takes practice but achieves results.

Stamina – Endurance is built up slowly which challenges strength and stability.  Also..

Posture    Improvement    Lengthening    Awareness    Tone    Energy    Stability.

The Technique

Involves breathing in through your nose and contracting your pelvic floor muscles (with some low level tension in your abdominal muscles at the same time).  Think of breathing in to prepare for the exercise.  On breathing out through your mouth, you increase the intensity of the contraction in the abdominals as you move your legs and/or arms while performing the exercise.  This can be quite difficult to master and will take time to practice and learn. 

Why should I do Fitness Pilates?

Pilates will strengthen and rebalance tight and weak muscles thus preventing future injury.

Should I do Fitness Pilates if I have a bad back?

If you are attending your GP/physio/ chiropractor for a bad back or an injury, please get their clearance to attend a Fitness Pilates class first.  Pilates will stretch and lengthen tight muscles around the spine.

I have tried Pilates but I don’t feel very much happening?

It takes time and practice for the brain to use muscles that have stopped working effectively due to injury, childbirth or surgery.  Be patient - you will see gains in your flexibility, posture and abdominal area.

Will Pilates give me a flat stomach?

It can help but only if you combine Pilates with a low fat diet and aerobic exercise.

Can anyone attend Pilates?

Fitness Pilates is for everyone: men and women (except pregnant clients) regardless of age or fitness ability and everyone works at their own level and speed.  Please note however that a group exercise class is not the place to fix injuries to the spine or undiagnosed pain.  Fitness Pilates simply offers safe and effective conditioning exercises that focus on the body's stabilizing structure.  New participants to a Fitness Pilates class will be asked to fill out a Health Screening Form and a Health and Fitness Lifestyle Questionnaire to ascertain suitability for participation.

I have recently had a baby, is Pilates suitable for me?

Absolutely, Pilates is perfect to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles.  Please wait until after your post natal check up before attending.  Pilates is also excellent for anyone recovering from a Hysterectomy operation.

The Fitness Pilates technique takes time to learn it can’t be taught in 1 hour.  You will need to practice at home and attend at least 6 sessions before you feel comfortable with the technique, be patient!!   Always remember to work at your own pace.  If any particular exercise hurts, STOP but you do want to feel the muscles of the core working and stabilizing.

PELVIC FLOOR MUSCLES

We all have pelvic floor muscles.  They are attached to the inside of the pelvis and form a sling between the legs supporting our internal organs.  If they were not there, all our insides would fall out!  The strength of these muscles is reduced in pregnancy and in very obese individuals.  The tone of the muscle also reduces as we get older and gravity begins to take over causing our internal organs to drop and rest on the muscles causing them to weaken.  When the muscle is weak, we experience incontinence when coughing, sneezing or jumping.  It is therefore important to regain control of the pelvic floor muscles and there is no age limit when starting to strengthen these muscles.  In Fitness Pilates, we focus on pelvic floor muscles while re-educating the other core stability muscles which form the internal corset.

Pelvic floor exercises

Learning how to use the pelvic floor again is an exercise in itself and should be performed as often as possible.  To check the strength of your pelvic floor, next time you go to the bathroom, try and stop the flow of urine half way.  The muscle you use to do this is the pelvic floor muscle.  If you find this impossible, you should consult your doctor to check the severity of the weakness as it can lead to prolapse and incontinence in both men and women.  This exercise will help:

Lie on your back with your knees bent.  Relax the buttocks and leg muscles.  Begin to tighten the muscle around the back passage.  Don’t squeeze the buttocks when doing this.  Try to take this feeling now towards the front: the muscle you rely on when you need to prevent passing urine.  Try to hold this for a couple of breaths and then relax.  Try doing these exercises on a regular daily basis.  You can do them while sitting in the car, standing in line in the supermarket or just watching TV.  Doing these anywhere and anytime is extremely important to our health and well being.

The pelvic lift/elevator

Think of the pelvic floor muscle as a lift/elevator inside the body.  When you engage the muscle, the elevator comes up to the 1^st floor.  Hold it for at least 1 breath before relaxing back to the ground floor.  As it gets stronger, it will feel as if it is coming up to the 2^nd floor – try not to let it drop back down but release it slowly.

The importance of working the pelvic floor

The above exercise helps us to work the pelvic floor slowly and with control and by doing this, we increase the ‘slow twitch’ fibres.  These fibres increase the stamina within the muscle and help to sustain it’s strength.  As we age, we fight against gravity but strengthening the pelvic floor and core stabilisers keeps our muscles in place and assists in core strength.  We also use our ‘fast twitch’ fibres in cases of emergency ie when coughing, sneezing, when we slip or jump and these also need conditioning.  To condition them, do the above exercises but quickly like switching a light on and off repeatedly: pulling up and releasing.  Do these anywhere, any time.

Pilates Breathing and Posture/Body Alignment tips

1.     Lateral (thoracic) breathing

2.     Neutral pelvis

3.     Rib cage placement

4.     Scapula placement

5.     Neck alignment

1   LATERAL (THORACIC) BREATHING

The power of breath

Breathing is one of our automatic functions that many of us take for granted although it is one of our primary sources of energy.  The way we breathe is mirrored in the way we live.  Negative emotions can affect our breathing patterns and this has a knock on effect on our posture.  Notice that when we’re stressed or worried that our chest begins to tighten and your breath becomes shallow and faster which increases your heart rate.  When we’re calm, our breathing and heart rate is slower and we take the air deeper towards the abdomen using the diaphragm.  Focusing on your breathing will help to increase the oxygen flow and rids us of carbon dioxide in the blood.  It increases our lung capacity and circulation.  If our breathing is impeded, then the flow of oxygen slows down allowing toxins to build, gathering bacteria and causing congestion.  It is now becoming widely accepted that breathing exercises have profound results in improving our physiological and psychological well being.  When the breath is calm, your moves are smooth and the body is relaxed and free of tension.

Mastering lateral breathing

In Fitness Pilates, lateral breathing is difficult to master and people often say that they can’t get it right but it’s really quite easy if you allow your breath to become natural.  Most of the moves follow the natural rhythm of the body so it becomes logical to breathe in when we want to extend the spine and to breathe out when the body wants to flex.

Take a deep breath in and you’ll see that your ribs should expand widthways and when you breathe out, your ribs relax inwards. 

The principles of Fitness Pilates are on core stability and we use the deep lower abdominal muscles which prevent the breath from travelling down into the stomach.  We are also concentrating on shoulder stability which prevents the breath from staying high in the chest.  The breath laterally expands the rib cage.  Try placing your hands on your lower ribs and feel your ribs expand as you breath in through your nose and on breathing out through your mouth, feel your ribcage close down.

Opening up the ribs is essential for full and healthy breathing.  You can practice this in front of a mirror and watch your shoulders.  When you breathe in, don’t allow your shoulders to rise up.  Direct the breath into the ribcage and let them expand like bellows.

2   NEUTRAL PELVIS

In order to maintain a healthy back, it is imperative that we try to restore and maintain neutral alignment.  A neutral position is where the hip bones and the pubic bone are in a parallel line to one another.  This means you have a natural lordotic curve (in the lumbar spine).

Some people have a Lordotic posture or antererior tilt where the hip bones are forward of the pubic bone and this increases the lordotic curve of the spine which places pressure on the lumbar discs.

Others have a Kyphotic posture or posterior tilt where the hip bones sit behind the pubic bone in a posterior tilt.  Their curve is lost and this puts strain on the lumbar discs.

Finding a neutral pelvis – standing position

Stand with your feet parallel and hip width apart.  Keep your knees soft, not bent or locked out.  Keep your hands placed at the waist on top of the hip bones as if resting on top of a bucket of water.  Draw the shoulders down and keep the upper body still and stable.  Tilt the “bucket” and imagine pouring the water out of the front.  You’ll feel your back arch creating an increase in the lordotic curve.  Now, tilt the bucket back to pour the water out of the back – you’ll now loosen the lordotic curve.  Continue doing this a few times to feel the movement.  You may be surprised at how small the movement is when you don’t allow the upper body to move.  Remember: your shoulders remain still.  Bring the bucket to where you consider level – this will be your neutral pelvis.

Finding a neutral pelvis – lying down on your back (supine)

Lie with your feet parallel.  Keep your knees bent in line with your hip bones.  Place the heel of your hands on your hip bones and your fingers towards the pubic bone and thumbs towards the navel: forming the shape of a triangle.  Place an imaginary marble into the triangle and roll it towards the fingers: arching the back.  Now roll towards your thumbs and feel your back press into the mat.  Continue through those 2 ranges of movement.  Notice how much movement is going on in the upper body.  Bring your marble to the centre of your triangle now.  Your back should not be arching or flat on the floor: just in a natural curve.  From the side, your hands should look level to the floor.

3   RIB CAGE PLACEMENT

The ribs are ingeniously arranged to allow the movement required for breathing while also providing protection for the heart and lungs.  When we breathe, the ribs should move laterally like bellows which massage the internal organs.  With every breath, the ribs should move freely in 3 ways: lifting, extending outwards and rotating along it’s axis.  Unfortunately, more often than not, when we breathe, the breath goes either down into the abdomen or stays high in the chest raising the shoulders.  If our ribs are stiff, they will rise rather than expand causing the spine to extend.  This in turn causes the pelvis to anteriorly tilt placing pressure on the lumbar discs.  Correct placement of the rib cage is essential to the stability of the spine.

Rib cage placement while standing

Stand with your feet hip width apart.  Keep your knees soft and in line with your hip bones.  Your pelvis is in neutral (see 2) Neutral Pelvis above).  Place your thumbs on your bottom rib.  Place your middle finger on your hip bone.  Draw your thumbs and ribs down towards your hips and fingers (your body will bend/flex forward).  Open the distance between your thumbs and fingers (your body will extend and the back will arch).  Feel the movement coming from the rib cage.  Now stand upright and find a neutral pelvis.  Find the gap between your ribs and hips and stay there for the correct rib cage placement. 

If structurally your rib cage sits high, then you can’t change that but the fact that your ribs sit high, may be because you are slightly lordotic as you are arching too much in your lower back.  In this case, as you work with Fitness Pilates exercises, the back will start to re-align and the ribs will soften down. 

Rib cage placement when lying down (supine)

Lie on your back with your knees bent.  Your feet are parallel in line with your knees and in line with your hips.  Keep your pelvis in neutral.  Place your hands on your ribs, your fingers touching.  Imagine your ribs are like butterfly wings: when you breathe in, the wings open and when you breathe out, the wings close.  If you find your bottom rib with your thumbs and your hip bones with your fingers, you’ll have a gap of about 4 inches (10cm).  Draw the ribs closer to the hips so your thumbs come closer to the fingers and your shoulders will want to lift off the floor.  You are closing the gap and the body is beginning to flex.  If you expand the distance between your thumbs and fingers, the back will arch away from the floor and your ribs will flare.  Bring yourself back into a neutral pelvis position and just allow the ribs to soften down so the back is not over-arching nor flat on the floor.

4   SCAPULA PLACEMENT

The shoulder blades (scapula) should ideally lie flat against the rib cage.  They move quite freely upwards/downwards/outwards/inwards and rotate and the muscles that are attached to them stabilise the shoulders.  There are many muscles which directly affect the position of the scapula and when these muscles become tight, short or lengthened, the scapula will be displaced. 

Aligning the scapula

Stand in front of a mirror, feet hip width apart.  Keep your knees soft in line with your hip bones.  Keep your pelvis in neutral.  Keep your arms by your sides.  Shrug the shoulders up to the ears.  Draw the shoulders down and away from the ears.  Repeat a couple of times to focus on the shoulder blades rather than the shoulders.  Feel them move up in your back when you shrug and move down when you release.  Visualise the scapula moving down your back. 

Look in the mirror and see where your arms are.  Press the middle finger into your leg gently.  Now draw the shoulder blades together as tightly as possible and you’ll notice your fingers will shift around the leg.  This shows you that the position and movement of the scapula affects the position of the arms.  Draw the shoulder blades towards one another again but only slightly and release.  Keeping your shoulder blades moving down your back helps with shoulder stability and corrects faulty movement patterns in the upper body.

5   NECK ALIGNMENT

The position of the head on top of the spine is extremely important.  When correct, the natural curve in the neck is present.  The head weights approx 10-15 lb (5kg) so if it is not centrally placed, the distribution through the first few vertebrae is doubled, sometimes tripled, causing overload and tension.

Ideally, the head should sit centrally on top of the atlas, the first vertebrae, so the load can be evenly distributed down the spine.

Aligning the neck

Lie on your back with your knees bent.  Keep your feet in line with your knees and your knees in line with your hip bones.  Your pelvis is in neutral (see Neutral Pelvis above).  Your rib cage and scapula should be in correct alignment (see above).  With your head resting on the floor, nod your chin towards your chest and create a double chin.  Slide your head back to look behind you.  Go through these 2 ranges of movement and stop where you feel the centre is.  You should be looking directly at the ceiling.

For details about Fitness Pilates (and other) classes, please log on to: www.complementaryfitness.co.uk

Thank you  

Susan Cockburn