Why Pilates is Amazing - Part 4: Control and Centring
Several of weeks ago we began our journey to find out what Pilates is exactly and why is it so amazing for our bodies. If you missed Part 1: Intro, you can find the article here.
As a quick recap: Pilates has a set of principles that we can apply to our Pilates practice, but also to our daily life:
Awareness (proprioception)
Balanced Muscle Development
Breath
Concentration
Control
Centring
Flowing Motion
Precision
Two weeks ago we explored Awareness and Balanced Muscle Development, please head here to read the article. Last week we dove into Breath and Concentration, please click here to read that article and to receive a 3 minute guided video on Pilates 360 breathing. Today let’s investigate Muscular Control & Our Centre (core muscles).
CONTROL
In the first article in this series I wrote a little about the history of Pilates and that Joseph Pilates originally called his movement system Contrology. Pilates wrote "Contrology begins with mind control over muscles".
This concept of moving with intention is what separates Pilates from a lot of other exercise and movement disciplines.
When performing Pilates exercises we try to move with precise neuromuscular control of the appropriate muscles.
With that, I'd like to add a disclaimer that this method of control does NOT need to be perfect. We are working on improving control, we are not doing Pilates "wrong" if we can not maintain connection between the movement and our muscles all the time. But what is important is that we are conscious of trying to maintain control. Helpful ways to make the movement easier which in turn could help with maintaining control would be to make the range of motion smaller and/or lighten the load. Another effective method to help feel the muscle work is to tap or rub it.
Here is the cool thing about our bodies: they are highly adaptable. There is a principle in kinesiology (the study of human movement) which states that the human body adapts specifically to what we demand of it. Meaning that specific stressors on the human system, whether biomechanical or neurological, will produce specific adaptations to imposed demands (SAID). This means the more we practice controlling our muscles during Pilates, the better we get at it. Awesome!
Let's enjoy exercise, kicking judgement to the curb, do our best, and love every minute of the process :)
CENTRING
Centring in Pilates practice means all movement originates from the core (or centre), which is comprised of our “powerhouse” muscles. Part of our powerhouse is the internal support system, which are the deep and intrinsic muscles of the trunk:
Transversus Abdominis (what I call our "TVA", our waistband muscles)
Multifidi (lower back supporting muscles)
Diaphragm (our breathing muscle)
Pelvic Floor Muscles (imagine the bottom of a paper bag, holding everything in the bag from falling out)
Psoas (deep hip flexor)
Our inner unit attach directly to the spine and offer stabilization. These muscles work differently than other skeletal muscles, and are harder to activate. Using the principles of breath, concentration, control, and mind to muscle connection we are able to work the powerhouse more intentionally.
Click the video below to follow along with a 11 minute mat sequence where the focus is to activate our inner unit during stabilization exercises while maintaining neuromuscular control.
Our outer unit is just as important and consists of:
Rectus Abdominis (six pack muscles)
Internal and External Obliques (our front side core)
Glutes (butt)
Erector Spinae (muscles that run along each side of the spine)
While the inner unit helps stabilize the spine, our outer unit works powerfully every time we move the spine during flexion, extension, and rotation. We focus on both the inner and outer units in our Pilates practice.
Fantastic! We explored 2 more Pilates principles, that's 6 out of the 8, only 2 more! Next time we will explore Flow and Precision and how they apply to our Pilates practice.
