Pilates fundamentals

Pilates fundamentals: How can they still be relevant today?

Joseph Pilates born near Düsseldorf, Germany in 1880, was passionate about health and fitness. Having been a sickly child, he was determined to create a strong body for himself. He worked so hard on his own fitness and body building that he was used as a model for anatomical drawings at the age of fourteen. From there he went on to become a gymnast, skier, diver, boxer, acrobat and circus performer.

In 1912 he came to England as a professional boxer and taught self-defence at Scotland Yard. During the first world war he was interned here, as a German national, in a prisoner of war camp. He used his time in captivity to explore, develop and promote his ideas. He was adamant that his method had prevented fellow captives from being taken ill in the influenza epidemic of 1918, which took many lives outside the camp. He also acted as a nurse in the hospital there, helping patients to exercise while they were still bedridden. His adaptation of a standard hospital bed using springs for resistance is the basis of the Reformer we use in the studio today. It is generally acknowledged in modern times, that the more active and happy patients are during their convalescence, the more speedy and greater the likelihood of their complete recovery; a point not generally acknowledged in mainstream medicine of the time.

After the war he returned to Germany to train the Hamburg police force in his technique, and to work with many other movement pioneers of the day; most notably Rudolf von Laban, creator of Laban dance notation. He didn’t stay in Europe long, escaping Hitler’s new political regime by emigrating to America. En route he met and married Clara and together they set up his first studio in New York in 1923. He seemed to tap into the new modern dance world that was developing and he became an instant success. New contemporary technique pioneers and choreographers such as Martha Graham and George Balanchine trained with Pilates. They found that they could still exercise while injured, and like his hospital patients back in England, they found that they could recover more quickly than usual from injuries.

By looking at the way people and animals use their bodies throughout their lives, by watching the way small children move with naturally good posture and alignment, and also by studying a variety of martial arts and fitness ideas from all over the world, he came up with his ‘Contrology’ method as a way of life for everyone. He first published ‘Your Health’ in 1934, a hard edged, preaching essay, looking at every aspect of fitness and well being. Claiming to have scientifically proven his theories through his explorations, he set out to convert anyone who would listen, insisting that his fitness regime would help stave off disease and relieve the tension produced by new rigours of modern 1930’s life, which by then included the telephone and the car. His style softened a little for his book ‘Return To Life Through Contrology’ in 1945, with detailed explanations and photographs of the exercises he was using on his clients in his studio.

His method consisted of a series of exercises to strengthen and stretch the entire body, all of which rely on six basic fundamentals:

1. Concentration; each exercise is to be performed with complete focus and concentration on every part of the body and the movement, so that the mind is working with the body. This association between physical fitness and mental well being, a mainstay of Pilates’ method, was controversial in it’s time but has come to be standard thinking in today’s world. Modern neuropsychological research is bringing proof of these connections between mind and body, by showing the sections in the brain responsible for movement, with brain scanning technology. This concentrated focus helps us to tune into our bodies and improve our body awareness and with practice our bodies will respond more quickly to our bidding.

2. Control; Pilates entire method was built around the idea of control of both mind and body in unison - hence ‘Contrology’ - to avoid injury and to gain maximum results from Pilates each movement has to be executed precisely as instructed, with as much control as possible.

3. Breath; Pilates believed exercises should be performed outside as much as possible for greater fresh air intake, he believed that we need to cleanse the blood through greater oxygenation brought about by rigorous exercise. He proposed deep inhalation and exhalation to expel stale air and gases from the lungs completely, before refilling, to revitalise the system. The extended lateral breath we use, in through the nose and out through the mouth, helps to circulate oxygen around the body, improving muscle and brain functions. This breath also helps the muscles to relax and stretch as we work, creating long, lean muscles instead of shortened bulky ones.

4. Flow/fluidity/co-ordination; most wild animals move with natural fluidity and grace; Pilates studied this movement and tried to emulate it through his martial arts practice, which then became part of his method. Watching videos of his movement from the thirties, his movements seem fairly staccato, but compared to other exercise regimes of the day his movements were relatively flowing and graceful. Moving with tension uses more energy than relaxed movement, which is one of the reasons exercises are performed slowly, to give the mind and body time to get to grips with the movements and learn to move more economically, putting less stress on the entire body inside and out.

5. Precision/Alignment; Pilates emphasised exact positioning of every part of the body, combining co-ordination with the breath, giving precise directions for execution, requiring great concentration and attention to detail. This focus on alignment will reduce wear and tear on every part of the body as it learns to move more easily. Extra repetitions will not create better results, the muscles will tire and begin to fatigue, probably leading to an already strong set of muscles taking over from the weaker ones that we are trying to strengthen; two well executed repetitions are better than twenty rushed and badly executed.

6. Centre/Core stability; All of Pilates exercises were designed to create a ‘girdle of strength’ around the abdomen, as he believed that strong abdominal muscles would support the entire body. We now include the pelvic floor in the ‘navel to spine’ mantra that precedes nearly every Pilates exercise, to help support all of the internal organs and the spine, creating a strong core for the rest of the body to ‘hang’ from.

These 6 fundamentals are brought together in every exercise, as we concentrate on the precision and placement of the body in motion; focusing on the breath to help engage the core stability and aid fluidity of movement, flowing from one position to another with complete unity of mind and body. At least that is the aim.

The concentration on our physical efforts helps to take our minds off the rest of our busy lives for a short while. This in turn helps to release tension, where necessary, giving weaker muscles a chance to improve; allowing more balance to often stressed out bodies and giving respite from hectic and stressful lives.

Pilates was always fond of telling everyone that he was fifty years ahead of his time. He would have been horrified at how stressed out a new millennium has found the western world. It seems that many of his ideas were truly inspired and have since been proven by modern medicine and research. His style may have evolved further, were he still around today, but the basics still stand as a strong base for all his followers to hold onto. His technique works as well if not better, now, as it did then, and is improving and evolving all the time. The Pilates method is becoming widely recognised as a useful rehabilitation tool, with physiotherapists and GPs, as well as being a source of personal fitness for all ages and abilities. So as long as we misuse our bodies in our modern lifestyle, or over use muscles in sports and other physical activities, Pilates will have a relevance; to help retrain, re-educate and reconnect, misaligned, stressed out bodies and minds.

The Thoughtful Body Pilates studio would like to thank Katherine McKenzie for this essay