Benefits:
- heightens the mind/body connection
- improves core strength, posture, spinal and core stability
- customizable to rehab or sport-specific patients
- enhances daily functional movement and proper body mechanics
- improves balance, coordination and flexibility
- relieves stress and tension with use of breath and increased body awareness
- helps to keep bone structure in alignment
- boosts body perception and confidence
- increases energy and daily stamina
These are just a few of the many benefits gained through the practice of Pilates. Be safe, be aware and be patient, as Pilates is a life long process of refinement and a learning tool of our everyday body patterns and posture.
Pilates is a system which integrates the mind with the body. It is performed with continuous movement while using control, deep concentration, efficiency and precision. The focus is on quality not quantity of movement which is why any where from 3 to 10 repetitions are performed for each exercise. The idea is to work the deep stabilizers of the body to their peak potential during that one exercise and then moving on to the next. This creates a flow to the routine and gains balance in the body by working in in all its desired ranges of motions.
Joseph H. Pilates:
Joseph Pilates was born near Dusseldorf, Germany in 1880. He spent his lifetime
teaching and promoting his method which he called Contrology. As a child, Joseph was plagued with various illnesses such as, asthma, rickets and rheumatic fever. This led him to study and practice various ways to heal and strengthen his body. At a very young age he became a self taught athlete in practicing bodybuilding, boxing, gymnastics, skiing and diving. By the age of fourteen he was asked to model for a series of illustrated anatomical charts due to his incredibly sculpted body.
In 1912 Joseph traveled to England but as World War 1 broke out he was interned in a camp on the Ilse of Man . Here he was teaching his fellow internees wrestling and self- defense and devising pieces of apparatus using bed springs and pulley type devices to help rehabilitate the disabled and sick. After the war, Pilates returned to Germany and was invited to train the German Army. Realizing that it would compromise his abilities to pursue his own path, Joseph set sail to America.
While on the ship, he met his wife Clara who also began to teach his method and they opened a studio in New York in 1926 which was in the same building as several New York Dance Company’s. Soon many of the dancers were coming to him along with socialites and influential New York citizens. The studio was known as “the” fitness center in New York City which also drew circus performers, gymnasts and athletes there for fitness and rehabilitation. He continued to teach in the studio throughout the 60’s and after his death in 1967 Clara continued to teach and run the studio until she retired in 1971. She then turned over the studio to a trusted and experienced friend Romana Kryzanowska.
Romana along with Carola Trier, Eve Gentry, Kathy Grant and Ron Fletcher carried on the Pilates method to other students over the years. Some have since past on but three out of the five, known as the “Pilates Elders”, are still alive today and continue to travel, educate and lecture the workings of the late Joseph Pilates. He was a man ahead of his time in his ability to develop more than 600 exercises, invent exercise equipment and a philosophy of treating the whole being – body, mind and spirit.
He studied Eastern and Western Philosophies which shows in his movements which are influenced by Yoga, gymnastics and martial arts. Joseph believed that his method could affect every aspect of ones life from physical fitness, daily tasks, relationships health and overall well-being. He incorporated ten principles into every movement that he performed and taught and believed it was all these principles working together that one could achieve a sense of true wellness and balance of the body, mind, spirit connection. The ten principles are:Awareness, balance, breath, concentration, center yourself ( where your center of gravity is), control, efficiency, flow, precision and harmony. It is the act of continuous practice and study that enables one to achieve balance of all these principles.
Pilates is for all ages young or old. Joseph wanted his teachings to be taught in schools and colleges for everybody to enjoy and benefit from. He was known for saying, “You’re only as young as your spine”. He believed that if you had an inflexible spine at 30 you are old, if you have a flexible spine at 60 you are young. Although there are many different “schools” of Pilates that exist today, they all hold several things in common such as a tremendous amount of respect, gratitude and appreciation for what this amazing revolutionary man had brought to the world.
STOTT PILATES®:
STOTT PILATES is a contemporary approach to the original exercise method pioneered by the late Joseph Pilates. Co-founders Moira and Lindsay G. Merrithew, along with a team of physical therapists, sports medicine and fitness professionals, have spent more than a decade refining the STOTT PILATES method of exercise and equipment. This resulted in the inclusion of modern principles of exercise science and spinal rehabilitation, making it one of the safest and effective methods available. This clear and detailed approach forms the basis for STOTT PILATES training and certification programs. It’s used by rehab and prenatal clients, athletes, celebrities and everyone in between.
Stott Pilates has five principles that are incorporated into all the movements. They are: breathing, pelvic stability, rib cage placement, scapular stabilization and mobilization and neck and cervical spine. An emphasis is put on proper spinal alignment and a more anatomically based awareness of the overall positioning of the body in the various movements. Safety has a great importance to the Stott Pilates method. There are many modifications offered to assist in helping with certain weaknesses, injuries or to make an exercise more challenging, training the elite athletes to rehab patients. The client’s muscular imbalances and skeletal structure are taken into consideration when designing a personalized program. By utilizing the specialized Stott Pilates equipment and various pieces of apparatus, they can help in accommodating many different levels to make it safe, effective and challenging.
Stott Pilates offers an intensive certification program for professionals with a wide-range of educational options to build from. There are essential, intermediate and advanced levels to the mat and to all the quality pieces of equipment. To find a certified instructor in your area go to the Stott website www.stottpilates.com and look under instructor find, it will give you a list of certified instructors in your area. Although there are many home videos offered, a private or small group class is most ideal to learn Pilates in the first stages. Once a good understanding and awareness is gained, the home videos are a great way to continue to build on proper musculoskeletal performance, strength, flexibility and endurance. Participating in at least one private or small group class per week is still recommended in order to maintain proper body alignment and to receive the required feedback in order to ensure you are performing your movements properly in order to fully benefit from the Pilates experience.
Joseph Pilates had designed a variety of unique pieces of equipment that were used in his New York studio. They are: The Cadillac, Reformer, Stability Chair and 3 different types of Barrels: the arc, spine corrector and the ladder barrel. Together there are more than 600 exercises for the various pieces of equipment and of course different levels of intensity. Stott Pilates equipment is the leading manufacturer of commercial quality equipment. They continue to add various pieces of apparatus like the toning balls, mini ball, foam roller and the fitness circle into their repertoire that can be used along with their ever expanding library of instructional home videos.
Various Books that I would recommend:
Return to Life Through Contrology by: Joseph H. Pilates
The Everything Pilates Book by: Amy Taylor Alpers and Rachel Taylor Segal
Pilates by: Rael Isacowitz
The Pilates Body by: Brooke Siler
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