The Basic Principles of Pilates
There are Basic Principles that provide the foundation of Pilates which are key to performing the exercises safely and effectively. They show you how to breathe properly and position your body through the exercises. These principles will make you more aware of your ‘core’ and help you get better results from your workout.
1) BREATHING
Proper breathing ensures that enough oxygen is flowing to the muscles you are using, and helps prevent unnecessary tension. A relaxed and full breath pattern encourages focus and concentration.
The breath pattern involves an expansion of the rib cage out to the sides and back without allowing the shoulders to lift too high. It is also important to breathe into the lower part of your lungs, because there is more efficient gas exchange when we do.
This breath pattern will help engage your deep abdominal muscles and stabilize your torso.
Breathing Principle – Exercises
- Notice Natural Breath Pattern
Lying on your back. Breathe smoothly and first just draw you attention to your natural breath pattern. Is your breath going into your belly, upper chest, sides of rib cage, or your shoulders?
- Breathing Flexed Forward
This encourages breathing into the sides and back of the rib cage. Sit up tall on the sit bones, with the knees bent, feet flat on the floor, with the hands resting on the knees. Inhale and then exhale and bring the upper body forward to look toward the mat between the knees. Inhale into the back and sides of the ribs and exhale to stay for three breaths. Then bring yourself back into a seated position, allowing the shoulders to stay down the back.
2) PELVIC PLACEMENT
Pilates emphasizes the stabilisation of the pelvis and lower back in a neutral or position.
Neutral Placement: Maintains the normal curves of the lower back so it is slightly off the mat as shown with the arrows, right. When lying on your back, front of hip bones and pubic bone should lie parallel to the mat as shown, and your lower back should not be pressed into the mat. This is the most stable and optimal shock-absorbing position for your back. (note arms are raised in picture so you can see lower back better)
Neutral (click to enlarge)
Make sure you’re not arching your back to achieve neutral alignment. While breathing and engaging abdominals in this position no strain should be felt through the lower back. If you feel muscle tension, shift the pelvis to a more comfortable position.
When to use: This is the ideal position when one or two feet are on the mat or other equipment.
Pelvic Placement – Exercises
Starting Position for Exercises 1-3
Lying on back, pelvis and spine neutral. Knees bent, feet hip-distance apart on mat. Arms long by sides, palms down. (note arms in air in picture to see lower back better).
- Rocking Pelvis
Rock pelvis, alternating arching lower back off floor and pressing lower back into floor. Neutral placement will be somewhere between the two.
Tabletop Legs (click to enlarge)
- Leg Lifts
To prepare inhale..exhale to lift one foot off the mat, maintaining neutral.
Inhale and return foot to mat.
Repeat with other leg. When stronger and stable progress to lifting legs consecutively (lift one leg, then other to join it known as tabletop legs as shown).
3) RIB CAGE PLACEMENT
The rib cage position affects the alignment of the upper back. When lying on your back in a neutral position, maintain the sense of the weight of the ribs resting gently on the mat (i.e. maintain the normal curve of the upper back). Don’t lift off or push your rib cage into the mat. Pay particular attention to the placement of your rib cage when inhaling or while performing arm movements overhead.
Using the breath pattern described below and engaging your abs will help stabilize the rib cage. Emphasize breathing into the back and sides of your rib cage during inhalation. Feel your ribs expand and widen on the mat underneath you. When you exhale, allow you ribs to soften, with the two sides gently closing in toward each other.
Breath Pattern
Inhale through your nose, feeling sides and back of rib cage expand three dimensionally.
Exhale through pursed lips, feeling front of ribs knit back together.
Rib cage placement – Exercise
- Arm raises
Lying on back, arms by the sides in neutral. Firstly we’ll try without applying any Pilates principles. Raise your arms towards the ceiling and bring your arms as far back overhead as you can – all the way to the floor if you can. Now from here think about how your back feels – it will be arched up off the floor, and the front of your rib cage lifting up towards the ceiling off the mat. Bring your arms back down by your sides.
Next, lets apply Pilates principles. Inhale reach the arms to the ceiling, exhale bring arms overhead, just to the point you can control it i.e. keep the back of the ribs on the mat without letting them lift. Think about sliding your ribs down as the arms reach overhead. Inhale reach the arms back up to ceiling and then exhale, and bring your arms back down by your sides.
4) SHOULDER STABILITY
Stabilising your shoulder blades on the back of your rib cage is as important as contracting your abs during the initiation of every exercise. This will help you avoid strain through your neck and upper shoulders.
To achieve proper placement, a sense of width should be maintained across the front and back of the shoulders. Make sure you neither allow your shoulders to round forward too much nor squeeze together toward the spine. Shoulders should not be lifted too far, or over-depressed. Placement should be somewhere between these two positions – in neutral.
The shoulder blades have a large range of motion, so remember to maintain stability (but not rigidity) at all times: a) when the spine is neutral and the arms are resting; b) when the spine is moving, and; c) when the arms are moving in any direction.
Shoulder Stability – Exercises
- Scapula Isolations 1
Protraction & Retraction while lying down on your back. Hands directly over the armpits, reaching for the ceiling. Inhale, reach your fingertips up to the ceiling, allowing the shoulder blades to slide around the rib cage. Exhale, draw the shoulder back down so they are flat on the mat, keeping the arms long.
- Scapula Isolations 2
Protraction & Retraction while seated. Repeat as above.
- Scapula Isolations 3
Elevation & Depression lying on back (AKA Shoulder Shrugs). Inhale shrug the shoulders up towards the ears, exhale and slide the shoulders down away from the ears and back to neutral. Inhale slide the fingertips down the mat towards the feet, keeping the shoulders as wide as possible and then exhale draw them back to neutral.
- Arm Scissors
One arm moves overhead as the other arm stretches down by the side. Try to keep the rib cage still as the arms reach.
- Arm Circles
Start with the hands down by the sides, reach them up and overhead, only as far as you can keep the back of the ribs resting on the mat. Exhale and circle the hands back around and down by the sides.
5) HEAD AND NECK PLACEMENT
Your neck should hold its natural curve with your head balanced directly above your shoulders when sitting, lying and standing. In some cases, a small pillow should be used when lying on your back to put your head and neck in a comfortable position.
Whenever you lift your head and upper body from the mat, lengthen the back of your neck and nod your head forward without jamming the chin into the chest. There should be enough room to fit a tennis ball between your chin and chest. Once your head is in proper position and your shoulder blades are stabilized (Principle 4), the upper torso can be lifted by engaging the abdominals.
When lying prone on your stomach and lifting the upper torso, pay particular attention to maintaining an even line from the upper back to the neck. Avoid lifting the head too high and crunching up the back of the neck.
Head and Cervical Placement – Exercises
- Head Nods
Practice doing Head Nods properly before lifting head and shoulders off the mat.
- Modified Ab Prep
Practicing ab prep prepares you to safely do other more challenging abdominal exercises. Lying on your back, knees bent, feet flat on the floor. Hands behind the head and the fingers interlaced. Nod the chin towards the chest, exhale activate and connect to the abs, and curl up to look towards the knees. Keep the lower back in neutral and the neck and shoulders relaxed. Inhale to hold the curl up and exhale to slowly lower back to the mat.
Avoid jamming chin into chest, which results in too much compression of the neck. Keep thinking of a ripe peach under the chin which you’re trying not to squash. Try not to pull the head and neck with the hands.
- Modified Breast Stroke Prep
Lying on your front with the forehead resting on the mat. Hands are flat on the mat, either side of the face, roughly in line with the eyes. Inhale, lengthen through the back of the neck and slowly bring yourself up to look towards the front of the mat, just as far as the bottom rib. Inhale to hold it there and exhale to slowly release yourself back to the mat, keeping the length in your neck all the way.
With this exercise, use your upper back muscles to lift head and shoulders instead of pressing up with the arms. Keep your abs contracted to protect lower spine.