Pilates And ….
“Pilates is an awesome cross-training exercise for any sport because it focuses on functional movement.” ~ Natalie Coughlin
Inevitably, I get the question “should I do Pilates or <insert your other activity here>?” And my answer is you should do both!
Here’s why!
Pilates packs it all in for you. Pilates is the secret sauce for many athletes. It’s either incorporated into their workout routine, their primary method of training, their off-season training, or a complement to weight training. I’m going to start name dropping now: Lebron James (basketball), Cristiano Ronaldo (soccer), Simone Biles (gymnastics), Missy Franklin (swimming), Kerry Walsh-Jennings (volleyball). Look at all these different sports/activities, different ways of moving the body, and yet, Pilates is a great foundation.
But WHY?
It’s a whole body workout. It’s a full body workout. Lower body work, upper body work, side body work, abdominals, obliques, core muscles (let’s not forget these include your diaphragm and pelvic floor muscles especially correlated to breathing). Guess what – these all lead to complete and better coordination of your body. For an athlete, this decreases their chances of injuries (and pain!), allows them to recover faster from minor injuries, which in turn improves their performance, and promotes career longevity. Doing more of what they love!
So I know what you’re thinking or saying (in your head or out loud!). But I’m not an athlete, so why should I do Pilates?
To do more of what you love! Any sports or movement activity you mention requires you to move from the center of your body. Then the lower body and upper body follows. Then the limbs follow. Lastly, the extremities of your fingers and toes. This leads to a better quality of movement, in fact, an efficient and effective movement. The order of this movement in your body is important because how many of you move from your limbs? Or how many of you move with your head then your body? Read this blog to see why the order of these movements are so important for your health.
If you think Pilates doesn’t apply to you, then I ask you how would you like to live your life better?
Hear me out. How would you like to sit better, stand taller, improve your balance, tone your muscles? Would you like to get out of bed easier? Or even getting in and out of your car? And let’s talk about the new smoking – SITTING. Sit in a chair, a couch, the bed, your office chair, and let’s be perfectly honest – the toilet. And that’s only one direction. How about moving from sitting in those places to standing up? How about walking up and down the stairs? How about stepping on/off an escalator, an elevator. It can’t be avoided. What about the floor – how do you get down to the floor and stand up from the floor? There’s actually a sit-stand test you can try for yourself right now.
Are you able to do it with legs parallel? If you cross your legs, be sure to switch the cross. Did it make a difference which leg was crossed in front of the other? How many points did you get when you took the test? SPOILER ALERT: The goal is 0 points with legs parallel, and look ma – no hands!
Regardless of your age, the most important step is to start. Start your Pilates practice. The next step is consistency, which takes time. Between those two, you’ll be certain to make progress. In the beginning, we all start with the choreography of each exercise. With practice, consistency, and time, we start to make connections. And with those connections, change happens.
As for thinking it’s “too advanced”, I’ll keep you moving even if you can’t do the “full expression” of the exercise. I offer adjustments/modifications. Sometimes the body needs to repeat a previous exercise later in the class, and see how it feels different from when you practiced it earlier. And remember, it’s practice to make progress. You might be surprised at what you can do. Practice x Time = Progress. But if you never start, you’ll never “advance”, or progress.
Drop into my regular Wed mat class where we use the Pilates tools while practicing our mat order to help with those connections, so you can feel muscles you didn’t know you had! Let’s get you toned, which will help you stand taller, walk with better balance, sit better with less slouching in your shoulders and less slump in your lower back, and help you get all the things you need to do in a day (food shopping, laundry, cooking, cleaning the house, washing dishes, taking care of your kids/grandkids/loved ones, working at a desk, driving, etc).
Pilates helps you with ALL the above, AND MORE! And because mat is the hardest workout because you’re trying to find your reach and your pull in space, in air without any feedback from springs. So, grab your Pilates props. However in Pilates, these are more thought of as tools. It helps you find the internal connections of your body, so you can try an exercise without the tool, to see if your body can recreate that connection by moving your body using air. And if you need the tool for a while, you need the tool. Nothing wrong with that. You’re just meeting your body where it is today, and that’s awesome!