Joseph Pilates believed in
circulating the blood so that it could awaken all the cells in
the body and carry away the wastes related to fatigue. For the
blood to do its work properly, he maintained, it has to be
charged with oxygen and purged of waste gases through proper
breathing. Full and thorough inhalation and exhalation are
purportedly a part of every Pilates exercise. Pilates saw forced
exhalation as the key to full inhalation. He advised people to
squeeze out the lungs as you would wring a wet towel dry.[5]
The way you breathe is vitally important within the Pilates
method. In Pilates exercises, you breathe out with the effort.
In order to keep the lower abdominals close to the spine; the
breathing needs to be directed laterally, into the lower
ribcage. Pilates breathing is described as a posterior lateral
breathing, meaning that the practitioner is instructed to
breathe deep into the back and sides of his or her rib cage.
When practitioners exhale, they are instructed to note the
engagement of their deep abdominal and pelvic floor muscles and
maintain this engagement as they inhale. Pilates attempts to
properly coordinate this breathing practice with movement,
including breathing instructions with every exercise. Joseph
Pilates stated, “above all, learn to breathe correctly.”
_________________________________
pi·la·tes
[ p-lätz ] A trademark used for a system of conditioning exercises often
performed on specialized apparatus
Joseph Hubertus Pilates 1883–1967
Joseph went to England
in 1912, where he worked as a self-defense
instructor for detectives at Scotland Yard. At the
outbreak of World War I, he was interned as an
"enemy alien" with other German nationals. During
his internment, Joe refined his ideas and trained
other internees in his system of exercise. He rigged
springs to hospital beds, enabling bedridden
patients to exercise against resistance, an
innovation that led to his later equipment designs.
An influenza epidemic struck England in 1918,
killing thousands of people, but not a single one of
Joe's trainees died. This, he claimed, testified to
the effectiveness of his system.
After his release,
Joseph returned to Germany. His exercise method
gained favor in the dance community, primarily
through Rudolf von Laban, who created the form of
dance notation most widely used today. Hanya Holm
adopted many of Joe's exercises for her modern dance
curriculum, and they are still part of the "Holm
Technique." When German officials asked Joe to teach
his fitness system to the army, he decided to leave
Germany for good.
In 1926,
Joseph Pilates emigrated to the
United States. During the voyage
he met Clara, whom he later
married. Joe and Clara opened a
fitness studio in New York,
sharing an address with the New
York City Ballet.
By the early
1960s, Joe and Clara could count
among their clients many New
York dancers. George Balanchine
studied "at Joe's," as he called
it, and also invited Pilates to
instruct his young ballerinas at
the New York City Ballet.
"Pilates" was becoming
popular outside of New York as
well. As the New York Herald
Tribune noted in 1964, "in dance
classes around the United
States, hundreds of young
students limber up daily with an
exercise they know as a pilates,
without knowing that the word
has a capital P, and a living,
right-breathing namesake."
These six
moves from trainer Leisa
Hart will trim, tighten
and tone your
midsection. Do this
workout three times a
week and you'll see
results within a month.
The
STOTT PILATES method has exercises designed to restore the
natural curves of the
spine and rebalance the
muscles
around the
joints. The STOTT PILATES method places more emphasis on
scapular
stabilization than other methods do.The method focuses on the following five basic principles
-lä
t
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