Mistakes reforming your body

Posted by Marjolein Brugman on Monday, February 21, 2011

Even though I have worked hard to teach you the correct alignment and form while performing AeroPilates from my DVDs, I want to share some helpful tips that will ensure the maximum benefit from your workout.

1. Imprinting or flattening your Spine versus maintaining Neutral Spine

When you move through life it is important to have good posture which maintains the natural "S" curves of your spine. These include a concave cervical or neck curve, a convex thoracic or upper back curve, a concave lumbar or lower back curve and a naturally convex coccyx. Through Pilates we teach that you should aim for a neutral spine throughout most movements.

Try this, lie on the floor with your feet flat and your knees bent, inhale and exaggerate a pelvic tilt by tucking your coccyx under and up, now roll your pelvis down by arching your back into an exaggerated pelvic arch. Half way in between these exaggerated positions is your neutral spine. When doing any type of Pilates movement you always want to aim for a neutral spine. However, if your abdominal muscles are weak you may feel the need to imprint the lower back by flattening the lumbar curve and having your back connect with the platform.

As an example let´s look at the Warm-up Footwork. When lying down on the platform try to push away from the foot bar with a small space under the lumbar spine or lower back. Whenever you lift your legs in the air into the chair position or at 45 degrees as in The Hundred, aim to keep the spine neutral even when the natural tendency is for the spine to imprint. When your legs are raised and in the straps as in Leg Lowers it is still important that you work to maintain a neutral spine. However, it is always more important to stabilize the pelvis than to neutralize the spine. Maintaining a neutral spine will become less challenging as you become stronger in the abdominals, even when your legs are moving and in the air.

2. The Cervical Nod or lifting of the Head

When asked to raise your head off the neck rest it is important to do so carefully. Your head always remains a natural extension of your spine so you must not arch it or tilt it forward. As you lift your head gently nod forward drawing the chin down slightly but without creating wrinkles in the skin of the neck. When lifting the torso the aim is to lift the shoulders until the tips of your scapulas or backs of your shoulder blades are touching the platform.

3. More Cords versus Less

Typically we are taught that more resistance makes it harder to perform an exercise but in Pilates this is not necessarily so. The cords provide resistance to the movement of the platform away from the foot bar. This movement of the platform is usually achieved by pulling on the straps with the feet and hands or pushing away from the foot bar with the feet or hands. The muscles used for this task are our large mobilizing ones. Dragging the platform back in however involves the engagement of the abdominal muscles or the adductors of the legs and arms. These muscles are smaller and referred to as our stabilizing muscles.

In Pilates we focus on initiating every movement by engaging the stabilizing muscles before we begin to put weight on the mobilizing muscles of the arms and legs. Consequently, as we become proficient at Pilates we tend to reduce the number of resistance cords as we get stronger, thereby often making the movement more difficult.

If we look at The Elephant exercise, you will see that you use your arms to stabilize the upper body. The lower body moves by pushing the platform back using the back of the heels and the hamstrings. More cords makes these mobilizing muscles work harder. Dragging the platform back towards the foot bar requires the use of the lower pelvic floor and abdominal stabilizing muscles which is made more difficult by using fewer cords. I recommend that before you progress from Level 1 to 2 or Basic to Intermediate, that you attempt each exercise with one more and one less cord so that you truly understand this concept of "less cords is actually more work".

4. When to Breathe

Joe Pilates believed in inhaling at the beginning of each movement to draw in oxygen and exhaling at the end to expel all the stale air out of the lungs thus leaving the body feeling more invigorated. The easiest way to understand this is by exhaling where you feel the most exertion and require the most stabilization.

This method protects your back and so I recommend that you try Joe Pilates method of breathing. Inhale as you open and expand or extend your body and exhale as you close, contract or flex your body. However, if you have weak abdominal or stabilizing muscles then begin by breathing out when the exertion is the greatest and as you develop stronger stabilizers slowly try to incorporate this reverse method of breathing and see how you feel.

5. Don´t give Up

Because my machine is designed to be used at home without the supervision of a trainer there are times when a new user may feel afraid to try an exercise that looks intimidating or uncomfortable. Firstly, I want to reassure you that all the exercises are safe and that the instruction is geared to you being on your own. Secondly, you should always take sensible liberty to modify any exercise as you intuitively see fit.

Here is a list of common modifications:

When your legs are at 45 degrees and you cannot hold them there without feeling a strain on your lower back you may lift them up to 90 degrees or bend your knees and bring them into the chair position or into the chest, as in The Hundred.
When you are unable to sit cross legged because of knees that won´t bend, straighten both legs out in front of you. Be aware however that this will make the exercise a little more difficult so you may need to reduce the number of cords or hinge forward slightly at the waist, as in Hug a Tree Sitting.
When you are unable to sit close to the end of the platform because your belly is in the way then gently slide your bottom back until you can comfortably get into position, as in Stomach Massage.
When Kneeling is too hard and you feel yourself wobbling, lower your body, closer to the machine by sitting, as in Kneeling Chest Expansion.
If your knee caps don´t face the ceiling or it is hard to align them over your feet, place a small pillow in between your knees, as in the Warm-Up Footwork.
If your hamstrings are too tight to sit in your sit bones without bending your legs or flexing in the lower back causing you to lose your lumbar curve, place a foam roller under your bottom to lift your body off the platform, as in Arms in Straps.

If all of these modifications fail then you may omit the exercise for the time being but be sure to try it again after a few days. You will be amazed at how quickly you will master it.

6. Strap Length

The straps should extend about 3 inches beyond the shoulder pads and must be even. If you have extraordinarily long legs and arms or are above 6 feet tall, then add 2 inches and if you have very short arms and legs or are less than 5 feet shorten them by 2 inches.

7. Shorten the Lever

Remember that your arms and legs act like levers extending from your spine and the longer the lever the harder the load on your mobilizing muscles, so if your arms and legs seem weaker than they should you can shorten the lever by placing the straps on the elbows instead of in your hands and on your knees instead of on your feet, as in Leg Lowers or Hug a Tree.

8. Speed

Joe Pilates always believed that every movement should be executed with a focus on the quality and not on the quantity. This approach takes immense discipline and control. It takes deep breathing and mindfulness. For example The Hundred is not frenetic the maximum benefit comes from a slow and controlled movement. The Warm-up Footwork is done with slow, fully executed extension and slow, resisted contraction.

9. How many Cords

The DVD and chart will recommend how many cords to use for each exercise. Don�t be fooled by adding cords to make an exercise more difficult. As I have explained, above, in #3 fewer cords are often more challenging. However the key to deciding the right resistance is twofold. To exercise the mobilizing muscles or the major muscles of the arms and legs more cords will tone and strengthen them. When focusing on the stabilizing or abdominal muscles fewer cords will tone and flatten that area. If you are adding cords however it is most important to maintain stability of the body that is not actually working before trying to tone the working muscles. For example: In the Chest Expansion, more cords will tone the triceps but if your torso wobbles back and forth as you pull on the straps then you know you are unstable with that much weight and need to reduce a cord.

10. How much, how many, what order and how often?

Pilates, unlike traditional weight training which tears muscle fiber and requires a recovery time, may be done every day. If you have time constraints you may even break up your routine to do a few minutes whenever you have time. The most important thing to know is that the workout is designed with a very specific order in mind. Your body gets warm from The Warm-Up Footwork and The Hundred.

It is then ready to stretch and strengthen using The Arms and Legs in Straps, then you are ready to stretch a bit more in The Elephant and the Knee Stretch Series continuing through the exercises until The cool down at the end which helps to ... while it is fine to choreograph your workout to make it fun it is important to understand that there is a rhyme and reason to why you begin lying down and progress through raising and lowering your body on the machine. I believe that the right order will enhance the benefits of your workout.

Adding cords has been explained in #9 however adding reps will build stamina and endurance. We do not however recommend more than 20 reps since the goal is to retrain and not to tear muscle fiber.

10 Common Pilates Exercise Mistakes