Stable Body Points With Pilates

Well Spring is here for sure and with it the return of those intentions to get more healthier, feel better, look better as the short sleeves and skirts or shorts come out.”I want to get rid of my tummy”, is something I often hear and it is entirely possible with Pilates, I see it happening in my clients all the time, dieting or doing aerobic type exercise or not.

However, it does happen quicker with a better food intake and getting out walking or running or doing something cardio. All these things work and so does Pilates.

Here is the exercise hot tip of the month for your health and fitness. In movement or exercise there are three basic stable points on the body to work around. The pelvis, the feet and the breastbone.

The feet are your grounding and contact. The contact points on the feet are below the 1st and 2nd toe in the space between and underneath, known as the first ray. Also, the outside rear foot down by the heel. With these two points, the foot hits the ground and they activate the whole body system up from there- especially for moving. If one or the other do not contact , certain mechanisms and muscles in the body don’t function well. Often it is the 1st ray connection that never meets the ground.

Then the pelvis where the core resides. The pelvis is the resting place for the body above and the legs below. The junction point. It needs to be stable, neutral ( balanced and even) and have all its muscles and joints functioning well.

The last one is the breastbone and its opposite point on the back. A focus point for breathing and moving the arms and head. Correcting its position on the body corrects muscle imbalance and often over extension of the chest or the rounded over chest and corresponding over long or short muscles as a result.

Having these areas functioning correctly is a great stabilizer for the body and are points from which to work to strengthen, tone , release tightness and gain flexibility. These are worked on in Pilates exercise.

Success

Here are the latest comments from some of my clients:

This is from a client whose posture I am working on as she tends to slouch:
From your class last night , I felt 5″ taller today and someone said to me “Your’re peppy today”

From client with a broken leg from skiing accident one month ago:
” I feel like you are healing me. I feel so much better. My body is moving more and I went to use my crutches and they were too short for me. Could it be possible you have lengthened out my body already.” ( This is after 3 one hour sessions)
Your instruction is so good, I am learning things about my body that have been a mystery to me and I am becoming aware of things every day.

I can really feel my abdominals, they have never worked like that before.

Louise Forscher is a native New Zealander, trained as a certified instructor in dance in London at the Royal Academy of Dancing and as a Pilates instructor at Long Beach Dance Conditioning.