The Two-Way Stretch in Pilates
Pilates, Joseph H. and Miller, William John. Photo of Joseph Pilates at 60 years young practicing the Double Leg Pull [Return to Life Through Contrology, originally published in 1945]
One of the fundamental concepts of Pilates is the two-way stretch. Other terms you may have heard are oppositional reach, dynamic opposition, an energetic tug-of-war. What does this even mean? It’s a simultaneous lengthening of the body in opposite directions while keeping a stable center. The lengthening of the body is your spine reaching up through the crown of the head and out through the toes. Space and length between the hips and ribs too. The stable center is the engagement of the muscles of the torso (all sides) as well as the hips, glutes, belly, back, and inner thighs. Now, think of your head, arms, and legs as weights for your body to challenge and strengthen the lengthening and the stable center. Yep, that’s right. Your limbs are weights – the closer they are to your center, the “lighter” they are. The further they are from your center, the “heavier” they are.
I usually have an image of a rubber band, caramel, dough, or gum being pulled apart. Think of the length and strength of these items as you pull those apart. In Pilates, we’re not working just the “belly” of the muscle like in weight-lifting. We’re working the entirety of the muscle, either in a lengthened (eccentric) state or a shortened (concentric) state. We’re also working all the insertion points of the muscles to the center of the body.
In my opinion, I think this is why Pilates is harder than lifting weights, harder than yoga, harder than most activities. Pilates exercises are also deceptive in movement – you think it’s only about arms, but it requires more legs. You think it’s forward, but it’s more up than you think, then forward. Or you think it’s back, but it’s down, down, down, then back, back, back. Or sometimes you think it’s down, but it’s back. On the reformer, you think the focus is about moving the carriage out, but it’s about bringing the carriage ALL. THE. WAY. IN. where it’s more than just closing the spring when you have long-neck springs. It’s ALL YOU to bring that last bit in of the long-neck springs.
One Pilates exercise that’s a great example of this fundamental concept of the two-way stretch is the double leg pull. Above is a photo succession of Joseph Pilates practicing the double leg pull in 1 rep. You may know this more commonly these days as the double leg stretch. Essentially, you start in a rolling like a ball shape on your back with arms and legs close to the body before moving the arms and legs away from the body while maintaining the proper curl up of the head, chest, and shoulders.
Can you move the ribcage with your full inhales and deep exhales? Can you work the seat more to feel your legs connected to your center? Can you maintain the arm back connection so the shoulders are on the back, and out of the ears? As the limbs move away from the torso, can you feel the stretch of the back, legs, arms, neck, and shoulders? As your limbs return to the torso, can you feel the stretch of the upper back? Can you feel the strength and engagement through the center whether the limbs are close to the body, or moving away from the body? Can you keep the same curl up of the head, chest, shoulders from the first rep to the last rep?
To me, this is why Pilates is a workout and a movement meditation. You’re constantly fine-tuning these details, so your exercises are fluid and continuous until it carries over into your day-to-day activities, and transforms your life. Beginners may have a hard time understanding this, let alone feel it, but they’ll feel the work. Then, feel the work change you as you progress in your practice. There’s always more, another level, additional insight into the practice, the more you practice. This is why the work is never done.
Focus on the full body engagement, constant movement, no static holds, to work on improving your body’s alignment, posture, coordination, balance, ALL. THE. THINGS., with a strong, stable, and even center/powerhouse/core. All of this may be challenging to understand or feel on the mat. If this is you, come to my private studio to work with me, various apparatuses, and the springs to give your body the feedback it needs to come into alignment. A session personalized for your needs for that day.