PilateSpeak with Alycea: Recent Comments2008-05-09T13:48:25Zhttp://pilatesblog.realpilatesnyc.com/comments/atom.aspxQuick BlogComment on Fusion Schmuzion!!tag:pilatesblog.realpilatesnyc.com,2008-05-08:1029685Ryan2008-05-09T08:23:09Z2008-05-08T08:00:10ZI'm interested in your opinion as a PT and pilates instructor... . What is the difference between representing pilates as a form of aerobics as you described above, and representing pilates as a means to address back problems (disc problems, herniations, stenosis, scoliosis, whiplash, etc.)? I see many, many pilates teachers claiming pilates helps these situations, yet the anatomical and physiologic education in pilates teacher trainings doesn't even come close to providing adequate knowledge and understanding to work with these scenarios. As a PT you understand that each of these conditions, and others, can present very differently in each individual... thus necessitating the need to work differently.
Isn't this a form of "misrepresentation" as well... Possibly to the detriment of the student in many cases? It seems to me that unless you're a PT as well (or something of the like), as you are, then teachers probably shouldn't be working with these people in a 'classical' sense. This would be when modifications (possibly many) would be very relevant... But would that mean you're not doing pilates any more? Should we ignore these concerns for an alternate approach simply to prevent 'bastardization' of the authentic style?
w/ regards,]]>Comment on Functional Pilates????tag:pilatesblog.realpilatesnyc.com,2008-05-07:1028368Tiago2008-05-07T16:47:20Z2008-05-07T16:47:20Z So, I disagree with the way you talk about "Functional Pilates". I think it is important to teach exercises in a way that is helpful for everyday lifes. Think of the teaser. In the original illustration of the teaser - or the open leg rocker - we have two terrible pictures of Joseph demonstrating them. He holds too much spine flexion and the pelvis is tilted back. You want to balance on your siting bones and feel the activation of the erector spinae, lifting you the spine from the very base. So itºs much better to do a teaser with both legs quite bent, even with both feet on the floor and lift the heels, but do it properly, with the spine upright. Like here:
OF course this requires quite a bit of hamstring, lower back and glutes flexibility. But if you teach if properly, focusing in body alignment, the student will be able to progress (extending the legs gradully) while keeping the lower back in proper aligment. It is in this sense that I think callling "us" "body workers" is not that bad, because you want to reshape the way we use our bodies everyday. I think body awareness is vital, and thatºs why Iºm not comfortable with the word "fitnesS" - though I understand your point in using it.
On another not, Iºve seen some Pilates classes - most of them called "Fitness Pilates", for which you probably just need a weekend to qualify to teach - that are more "ABS and lower back" classes, just working the superficial muscles and leaving you with a terrible posture.
One of the major flaws of the strict original matwork Pilates workout is that is lacks exercises standing. Now you may say that he had a lot of other stuff - true. However, he wrote his little book pretty much saying that that was "all" you need to be fit and active and all that... wish I have to disagree with.
What are the sports that - if done in moderation, not professionally - may give you a strong core and good awareness of pelvic and shoulder stability?
Both these men (particularly the second) do not need much teach about either of those "stabilities". Now Iºm not advocating that everyone does olympic weight lifting and sprinting, certainly because both (particularly the first) have their flaws too! But we can learn a lot from them. Particularly from weight lifting, in a age where there is too much upper body flexion (rounded shoulders), we can only gain by the exxagerated upper back extension involved in the "snatch".
But for that you need to start with an open view about exercise and how to improve people's lives and not so much on praising some particular thing for its greatness... There are many ways to achieve balance and well-being.]]>Comment on Functional Pilates????tag:pilatesblog.realpilatesnyc.com,2008-05-07:1028349Tiago2008-05-07T16:33:50Z2008-05-07T16:33:50Z Nice blog you had, I don't agree with everything, but it's nice to read your views about Pilates and exercise in general. I think a lot of disagreement may lie in the use of words and their meaning. For instance, you say Pilates instructors are "fitness teachers" and not "body workers". Well, I would disagree - with both. I understand your use of the word "fitness" in the context, trying to differentiate a more dedicated, profound and holistic approach that probably can only be provided on a one-to-one basis. But stressing the "fitness", in our days - even though Joseph Pilates uses the word himself very clearly -, has a conotation, at least for me, that is related quite a bit to the "external body". In that sense, I think it betrays the body-mind connection that the system advocates.
In my classes I focus a lot on body awareness and modify exercises so that they are more functional. Let me give you an example. The "single leg stretch", in classic Pilates, actually involves an active stretch, by pulling the the knee / thigh towards the chest / front of the torso. For me, this is completely inadequate for students. If you want to stretch - stretch. If you want students to improve their core strength and be more aware of what it means to keep a neutral pelvis, then forget about that "pull". Just lie them down, even with heads back to start with, and even them switch legs on each exhalation (quick inhalation in between), while holding the pelvis completely still. Keep the distance between pelvis and ribs the same, fingers touching both, to gain more awareness. If this is easy for you, allow the lower leg to come to a few inches of the floor, and the top leg to come ONLY to a table top position - knee directly above the hip, lower leg paralell to the floor.
Want more challenge? Bring the head up, hands supporting just the head and hold what I call a "sprinter position" - one leg 90o in a table top, the other leg straight, a few inches of the floor, in the hundred position. Inhale bring the lower leg to 90o - just above the hip! Balance that pelvis! - and exhale straighten the other leg, while NOT moving the leg in a table top.
More challenge? Again with one leg 90o, other leg straight, this time exhale and lower the leg in a table top to meet the other leg, in a hundred position. Etc.
What I disagree with original Pilates is that there is not enough focus on a neutral pelvis. This contributes to a lot of people walk out the classes without being able to squat properly, sit properly, walk up the stairs properly, stand properly, etc.
Another problem with original Pilates - for today - is that there is too much flexion and not enough extension. People today have rounded shoulders like then hadnºt in Josephºs years. This is not a critic of his method, necessarily, if we keep as the "basic concern" a wish for a better life and better well-being.
(to be continued...)]]>Comment on Functional Pilates????tag:pilatesblog.realpilatesnyc.com,2008-05-03:1019435Ryan2008-05-03T09:10:28Z2008-05-03T09:10:28Z I would agree with the notion that pilates teachers should be responsible for TEACHING PILATES, in a safe manner, as a form of exercise.
However, the 'infiltration' of PT insights into the discipline certainly can't be a bad thing... As PT's have far more education and knowledge about the body than Pilates instructors, or Joe himself did for that matter (We've definitely learned a lot about biomechanics and exercise physiology since his days... which should not be ignored in attempt to 'preserve' some sort of 'classical ideology'.) Yet I think there's a fine line between utilizing PT type theory and practice in a training that lacks the fundamental and complex anatomical understandings required for their application. Enter the realm of pseudo-PT's claiming to offer something to the public that can address a myriad of musculo-skeletal dysfunctions.
Why does the general public want or expect this type of approach from a Pilates teacher? Probably, most likely, because so many Pilates teachers outright advertise its usefulness for various spinal problems, back pain, neck pain, etc.... . I find that teachers are actually creating these expectations themselves... which turns pilates into something it's not, PT.
And maybe Joe's teachings are worth revision in certain ways... I'm sure he'd agree that expansion on his initial ideas would be a natural and healthy evolution of the work. After all, much of pilates is performed in the horizontal position or such where the feet lack connection with the ground and the nervous system lacks functional proprioceptive orientation to gravity. It seems that this would be a point worth consideration if pilates teachers are emphasizing greater stability and alignment as benefits of the work.
I agree that you, and many others, have seen benefits in your students by practicing pilates as it was intended... and that should be suffice and rewarding enough, as you put it. But the reality is that many pilates teachers are reaching to accomplish more without adequate education, and therefor the public has been mislead into thinking that if they have back pain they should see a pilates teacher for help as their primary care to address it. That's fine if you're a PT as well, and you're capable of such endeavors, but most are not and should be referring out to the appropriate people during or prior to embarking on an exercise program of any kind.
Just my thoughts... . Don't mean to ruffle an feathers.
Kindly, Ryan]]>Comment on Functional Pilates????tag:pilatesblog.realpilatesnyc.com,2008-05-02:1016810Ashley2008-05-02T06:15:50Z2008-05-02T06:15:50ZComment on April Happenings!tag:pilatesblog.realpilatesnyc.com,2008-05-01:1015394Tom2008-05-02T14:44:00Z2008-05-01T16:43:46Z I need your help. My achy knees and hips are in need of an underwater treadmill. Can you recommend a gym or a facility?
Thanks,
Tom]]>Comment on Functional Pilates????tag:pilatesblog.realpilatesnyc.com,2008-04-27:1005544dropshot2008-04-28T09:17:06Z2008-04-27T22:01:24Z I'm surprised sometimes to see how many Pilates studios and teachers operate at an almost therapeutic pace. I tend to think that if you're not dripping in sweat with body shaking at the end of your lesson, you've not done proper Pilates. Come on, it's exercise and hard work.
At a local gym, there is a Pilates mat class. I've walked by it and the students are all lying down listening to the teacher speak softly while New Age music plays in the background.
I can't imagine Joe having his boxers do this.]]>Comment on Functional Pilates????tag:pilatesblog.realpilatesnyc.com,2008-04-27:1005299Ryan2008-04-27T21:20:12Z2008-04-27T20:14:40Z I just wanted to comment on the example you gave Alycea in your initial post as well. I do see your point regarding representation... is it Pilates or something altogether different? And if people are coming for Pilates is it appropriate (and within that teachers scope of practice)to be doing such things with folks? I don't think it should be labeled as 'Pilates' per say, however I would have to disagree that subtle activation of the intrinsic or tonic musculature is not functional or applicable to Pilates. Every 'functional' movement/activity begins with a pre-firing/pre-activation of these intrinsic muscles milliseconds prior to the gross movement to follow. True stability is a dynamic process of proper coordination more-so than actual strength... And stability certainly isn't synonymous with rigidity as it pertains to the human body. Without proper coordinative activation there can be no stability, no matter how much we try to strengthen. So if someone is not recruiting key muscles in a proper fashion then any movement to follow will be flawed and limited in its effect... no matter what ones alignment 'looks' like. I think that is a useful and functional tool to acquaint a person with the kinesthetic feeling/education of what it means to engage on that level. Especially effective because it focuses on the subtlety that is inherent in the action... Once they begin moving in a gross manner we've lost the ability to 'feel' that foundation as other phasic muscles enter the picture (& often take over the job that the tonic muscles were designed for).
Now whether this person was really qualified or educated enough to properly utilize that approach is not something I can comment on with any accuracy... but the work itself can be imperative to building a solid foundation for the 'true Pilates' exercises to follow.
W/ Respect & Regards]]>Comment on Fusion Schmuzion!!tag:pilatesblog.realpilatesnyc.com,2008-04-16:974713Ashley2008-04-16T17:11:49Z2008-04-16T14:26:51Z I saw you had Irene Dowd at your studio. Wish I'd known sooner. Please add me to your email list for further workshops.
Thanks,
Ashley]]>Comment on Functional Pilates????tag:pilatesblog.realpilatesnyc.com,2008-04-15:972174Alycea Ungaro2008-04-15T19:36:44Z2008-04-15T19:36:44Z Perhaps we are simply trying to be too many things at once!