When I first moved to Tasmania I went along to a Pilates class at a gym. The guy teaching the class told us during The Hundred that we should aim to engage our deep core muscles but keep the surface abdominals relaxed. I was horrified! If you are doing The Hundred well it isn’t possible to do that, and even if it was, why would you want to? The Hundred is an exercise that strengthens your abs, so why leave half of them out?
Many Pilates instructors today have become distracted by the idea of ‘isolation’, with some so focused on the idea that Pilates strengthens the core muscles they have forgotten what it should be doing for the rest of the body! They are teaching people, and being trained to teach people, to try and engage just one muscle, or group of muscles, and no others. ‘Isolation’ is only a great tool to use if you understand that your body’s muscles never function in isolation.
The fundamental approach of body movement that I learnt is that the weak muscles are isolated and made stronger in Pilates because you pay close attention to the whole movement of your body. When you achieve a full engagement of all your muscles, making sure your position is square and your movements are even and controlled, your weaker muscles will have to learn to pull their weight. The core muscles are strengthened so well because they are the centre and support of all the movements. That is how muscles are isolated and made stronger through Pilates. If you train your body by trying to engage just one part and nothing else you are not training it to function as a whole, which is what you need it to do for everything else in your life.
When I was first training to be a Pilates Instructor, whenever my teacher was asked what a particular exercise was good for, she would often reply that it was ‘good for the whole body’. Pilates is for the whole body.
If you are persistent with this approach to working out, you will transform your workouts from something ordinary into real body changing experiences. Using this one simple key you will be able to change your body fast, improve your posture, increase your muscle tone and experience the dramatic changes that Pilates is famous for.