world ever since. More recently, the principles of the Pilates method have been adapted for use without machines and this system has become particularly popular. It is this version of Pilates that has been used in this book.
The Pilates method has changed substantially over the decades but its underlying principles remain the same. One of these is that Pilates is, quite simply, the thinking person’s exercise. Unlike the kind of workout that involves jumping around to loud music, where your main priority is to keep up, in Pilates every movement is carefully controlled for maximum effect. To work, it requires concentration. For each and every exercise there are questions you need to ask yourself. Is the navel drawn towards the spine? Is the heel in the correct position? Is the neck long and aligned with the spine? Are you doing the correct breathing?
In the Pilates method, the placing and movement of every part of your body counts and the body works as an integrated system. The more you use your body correctly during exercise, the more you will use it correctly in everything you do. Your posture improves and the headaches, tight, contracted muscles and tensions that arise from poor posture all fade away.
Interestingly, all this concentration does not leave you mentally drained or exhausted. On the contrary, it is a profoundly relaxing method of exercise, and its slow, rhythmic movements are a stress relief in themselves and leave most people feeling simultaneously calm and energized.
In the long term, the effect of Pilates on the body is to give your muscles a long, toned shape rather than bulk. Think of a dancer’s body, rather than a gym fanatic’s.
THE PRINCIPLES
Before you begin the exercises, it is important to understand the theory that underlies the Pilates method. These are the essential principles to bear in mind whenever you exercise:
Concentration: As I have already said, concentration is fundamental to this way of exercising. This is not only because it is important that every part of your body is moving or positioned correctly – a part of a synchronized whole. It is also because, when you concentrate on your body in this way, it actually leads your mind away from any immediate concerns or anxieties and is profoundly relaxing.
The breath: The way you breathe is vitally important within the Pilates method –– you should breathe deeply, rhythmically and to your full capacity. The other point to remember is when you breathe. In Pilates exercises, you breathe out with the effort. This is not the way most people breathe – in fact, it’s the opposite – but it does help you to relax into a movement. If you breathe in for the effort of an exercise, you will automatically tense up.
The girdle of strength: According to Joseph Pilates, the ‘girdle of strength’ was essential for all exercise. This ‘girdle’ incorporates three main areas – the back, the abdomen and the buttocks. The upper back can be a major seat of tension, but when you learn to move the arms correctly (from the middle of the back rather than the shoulders), this tension will disappear. Nearly every exercise in this book begins by drawing the navel gently towards the spine. This strengthens the abdominal muscles to ensure you will have the flat stomach you want, and it protects the back against undue strain during the exercise. The third element in this girdle of strength is the buttock muscles. By engaging and squeezing these during the exercises, you not only tone the muscles themselves but you also bring the body into perfect alignment, improving the posture and protecting the back from strain or injury.
Flowing movements: Unlike many forms of exercise, Pilates admits no sudden, jerky movements. Instead, one position flows as slowly and naturally as possible into the next. You move rhythmically, your pace set by your own breathing, and this warms the muscles and makes them lengthen out rather than bunch and bulk up. Moving slowly also gives you time to become aware of each part of your body so that you perform all the exercises with precision and in a co-ordinated way.
Relaxation: This is an important element of the Pilates method, particularly as the stresses and strains of modern living can result in bunched-up, tense muscles that in turn lead to headaches, strains and injuries. The relaxation exercises at the end of each session are very important. Make sure you do them to restore flagging energy levels and, just as crucially, to induce a tranquil state of mind.
How Pilates Helps You Get a Flat Stomach
A flat stomach is not so much an aim of Pilates’ technique as its inevitable side-effect. As has already been explained in the Pilates Principles, the girdle of strength is the key to the technique and, of all the muscles in the body, the abdominals play the greatest part in creating it. The girdle of strength gives you your core strength and it is from this centre that all your movements should originate.
There are four layers of abdominal muscles, criss-crossing the body over the front, sides and back. They are the means by which you can bend and twist but, even more importantly, when developed and used correctly, they protect the spine and the internal muscles from strain and injury. When they are strong, they give all of your movements support and flexibility. Unfortunately, though, the sedentary lifestyle most of us have nowadays means not only are these muscles not strong, we are often barely aware of them.
The four layers of abdominal muscles form a girdle (hence Pilates’ name for them) between the rib cage and the pelvis. The top layer (see below) is the rectus abdominis, running vertically down the front of the body from the sternum to the pelvis.
It draws the front of the pelvis upwards and is important for maintaining posture. Divided into four sections, it is also the muscle people tend to notice the most – and is responsible for visible six-packs!
The external obliques run diagonally from just below the sternum and wrap around the waist. The internal obliques are underneath them, and run diagonally from the lower ribs down to the pelvis. Both sets of oblique muscles are used in turning and bending the body.
The deepest layer is the transversus abdominis. This runs horizontally around the waist to the back and down in front of the hips towards the pelvis. This is an often forgotten muscle and strengthening it will not only create a strong, flat stomach, it will also give support and stability to the lower back.
As you do the exercises in this book, you will become aware of these layers of muscle and start to strengthen them. However, it is not only when you exercise that you should be using them. One of the most important benefits of Pilates’ technique is that it re-educates your body, how you hold it and move it in everyday life. So, the instruction to ‘draw the navel to the spine’ that starts off almost every exercise that follows is just as relevant to your normal standing posture or the way you walk.
Posture is covered in more detail later and in the exercises in the following section, Applying the Principles. But, even before you begin to exercise, it is worth taking
