“Physical Fitness is the first requisite of happiness. Our interpretation of physical fitness is the attainment and maintenance of a uniformily developed body with a sound mind, fully capable of naturally, easily and satisfactorily performing our many and varied daily tasks with spontaneous zest and pleasure.”
About Pilates
Born in 1883 in Dusseldorf Joseph Pilates was a sickly child, Not content to accept the limitations of his own body, he worked tirelessly and systematically to develop a series of exercises that enabled him to overcome his own physical shortcomings, including several debilitating childhood ailments that that twisted his body and stunted his growth.
He went on to become a boxer, a self-defence instructor and even a circus performer before opening his first body conditioning studio in New York in 1926. He called his method 'contrology' meaning the body must be controlled and trained through the mind and his system soon became popular amongst the dance community as a way of improving technique and recovering from injury.
Some of Joseph Pilates ideas were truly inspirational yet some may seem a little strange to the modern mind.
Before his death in 1967 Pilates only taught his method to a very small number of teaches. Among them were Ron Fletcher, Carola Trier, Romana Kryznowski and Eve Gentry. They then passed on his methods each with their own particular style.
Pilates only ever published one book about his system, perhaps because he was fearful of his methods being poached, but this has meant that his exercises have in many ways been “open to interpretation”
Today there are many different styles of Pilates, some very strenuous, others more gentle. There are also many variations upon the original exercises along with countless new exercises that have evolved from many different schools of teaching.
Today Pilates can be simplified into the “classical” approach which honours Joseph Pilates original exercises and “Modern Pilates” which has been adapted in line with recent biomechanical thinking and is ever evolving.
Although modern Pilates works in a more individualized way the fundamentals are still based on a thorough understanding of human anatomy, and although Pilates as an exercise practice has evolved to reflect current biomechanical thinking, the philosophy and the movement patterns remain true to Joseph's original principles.
My Pilates training was with Rachel Rafiefar, then of the Pilates Foundation, now founder of Mamas Pilates™ . Rachel is a truly inspirational teacher, who's intuition, in-depth knowledge of, and ability to read the human body is truly remarkable. My work has since been influenced by the teachings of Katy Bowman, but I owe much of my movement journey, and also my personal journey, to Rachel.
What style of Pilates do I teach?
I would say that I teach “Pilates for modern bodies”.
Joseph Pilates designed his series of 34 matwork exercise to be perfomed in a specific order and in a flowing sequence. The original exercises are very advanced and some would be contraindicated in light of modern day thinking.
I believe this is in part because our lifestyles have changed since Joseph Pilates first started teaching. We are much more sedentary today and as a result many of the classical Pilates exercises our bodies are not ready for yet.
Some of Joseph Pilates original thinking is also quite controversial. Pilates believed that we should imprint the spine like a baby and his classic stance was, knees locked, thighs rotated outwards and buttocks squeezed tight. We know now that it is not advisable to force the spine to flatten and not a great idea to “lock” our joints. We know that too much tension in the abdomen can create pressure related issues (hernias / diastasis recti / prolapse etc). Had Pilates had the opportunity to continue his teaching, I am sure that the method would have evolved to reflect this.
The original 34 matwork exercises have a strong focus on Flexion (forward bending), but our bodies are in almost constant flexion with sitting and I don't feel we need to overly train our bodies in this way. In a well trained body, these exercises may not be problematic, but they are also not completely benign.
I am not saying any of the original Pilates exercises are bad! I don't think any movement or position should be considered “bad”. But there are certain exercises and positions that our bodies are simply not ready for due to a lack of range of movement. Our bodies have adapted, you could even say they have been casted through our lifestyle choices.
This is where the modified or pre-pilates repertoire comes into its own, as it allows us to break down the original pilates exercises, and when practiced alongside some of the “corrective exercises” we can begin to restore the functional and whole body movement that Pilates was striving for.
Joseph Pilates believed there is little value in practicing an exercise incorrectly, one precise and well executed movement can give you way more benefit than many half hearted ones. I couldn’t agree with this more, there is so much value in paying attention to the way in which we move.
By thinking, learning and understanding our bodies, we can improve the way we move.