Basic principles to practice the Pilates method
The objective is to carry out the movement that each exercise requires while keeping the lumbo-pelvic area, the rib cage, the shoulder girdle and the neck stable, thus we will be able to work the muscles that are necessary without forcing any area of the body.
Extremely important when practicing Pilates is the breathing that we will coordinate with each movement. We perform a costal-lateral breathing, that is, during inspiration we bring the air to the lower part of the lungs, filling them completely, expanding the rib cage to the sides and on expiration we slightly close the rib cage making a small descent of this .
It is very important to fill the lungs well when breathing, generally we use only part of them and we do not oxygenate ourselves properly. The greater the air flow that we use, the greater the oxygen that we will send to the blood and therefore to each cell of the body, which helps us when exercising, preparing the muscles for work, improving blood circulation and avoiding unnecessary tensions. It is equally important to completely empty the lungs, thus avoiding residual air that will eventually become dirty. In addition, this type of conscious and deep breathing induces mental relaxation, considerably reducing the level of stress.
The movement of the rib cage with this type of breathing activates the transverse-abdominal muscle, a great unknown but very important. This muscle is the largest abdominal that we have, the only one with horizontal fibers and the deepest, it originates in the lumbar area and inserts in the linea alba (belly), forming a natural girdle that when activated gives fixation to the lumbar spine protecting it and stylizing the figure. This is the star muscle of the Pilates method since with each exhalation we are activating it, only with the breath we are doing sit-ups.
Within the breathing section it is important to include the work of the pelvic floor muscles, more and more women and younger people have problems of sexual dysfunctions or urine losses produced by the lack of strength in the pelvic floor muscles. We can work this musculature by exerting a contraction of muscles in the genital area, as if we had to put up with the urge to urinate.
Placement of the lumbo-pelvic area (lumbar area and pelvis). We can work the Pilates exercises while we are lying on our back, with the lumbar supported completely on the "Printed Position" mat or maintaining a slight distance between the mat and the lumbar "Neutral Position". The position that we will choose for the work will depend on the shape of our lumbar spine, in the case that our lumbar spine has a correct natural curvature, we will work in "Neutral Position", if our lumbar spine presents hyperlordosis (exaggerated lumbar curve, the area lumbar sags excessively), we will work in "Printed Position" to prevent the hyperlordosis from increasing and try to correct it as much as possible. People with this problem tend to have a lot of discomfort at the lumbar level (localized pain, pinched nerves, lumbago, lumbosciatica, etc.) that notably improve practicing Pilates, reducing and even eliminating the symptoms that cause the discomfort.
Placement of the rib cage. The abdominal muscles must work, as we have explained at the point of breathing, to keep the rib cage and the thoracic and lumbar spine stable. It is very common for the rib cage to move forward (ribs too far out), using breathing we will help the rib cage to stay stabilized. When we exercise lying on our back (lying supine) and we stretch our legs or bring our arms back, the rib cage tends to rise and the lumbar area to arch excessively, for this, doing the Pilates breathing, we contract the transverse-abdominal and we keep the rib cage (ribs) stable.
Mobilization and Stabilization of the scapulae. The scapulae are a part of our body that we do not see, since they are located on the back, and therefore we do not usually pay attention to them, but their mobilization and keeping them stable during exercise is extremely important. There are six movements that our scapulae have:
- Retraction: Bring the scapulae closer to the spine, bringing the shoulders slightly back. (attach photo "scapular retraction")
- Protraction: Move the scapulae away from the spine, bringing the shoulders slightly forward. (attach photo of scapular protraction ")
- Elevation: Bring the shoulders slightly towards the ears. (attach photo scapular elevation)
- Depression: Lower the shoulders away from the ears. (attach photo of scapular depression ")
- Inner bell: Draw a wide circle with the arms outwards, making the scapulae move slightly inwards.
- External bell: Draw a wide circle with the arms inwards, making the scapulae move slightly outwards.
Positioning of the head and cervical spine: It is very important that before starting to do abdominal exercises we position the neck correctly to avoid pain and injury. When raising the trunk, we must place the neck by means of a cranio-vertebral flexion, that is, slightly bring the chin towards the chest by stretching the back of the neck, we do not flex the neck excessively to avoid a "hyperflexion" of the same. When performing the abdominal exercises, the neck should work holding the weight of the head, so we will get it to strengthen, but it should not force it in any case, if necessary we will start the exercises holding the neck with both hands and as it strengthens we will work with him without restraint.
Likewise, the placement of the neck is equally important when we work lying prone (lying prone) and raise the trunk in extension. Before raising the trunk, we will perform a cranio-vertebral extension.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW- It consists of doing the exercises while maintaining the alignment and stabilization of the body without forcing any body area.
- It is very important to carry out correct costal-lateral breathing and the total emptying of air from the lungs.
- You have to know how to have a good positioning of the lumbo-pelvic area, rib cage, head and cervical spine.
«Informative note: the contents included in this section offer information related to existing therapies explained by specialists with experience in the field with an informative objective. MAPFRE does not intend under any circumstances to position itself on its suitability or expressly promote its use. "
(Updated at Apr 14 / 2024)