Ultimate Pilates: Achieve the perfect body shape
by Dreas Reyneke

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Just what are Pilates exercises and how do they differ from bodywork philosophies
and methods that we're already familiar with?

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Why Pilates?

Right back at the beginning of the 20th century, Joseph Pilates warned of the ill effects of the fast tempo of modern living, and of the need to acquire a strong, healthy body and to develop the mind. In the 1920s he was already concerned with ways of combating unnatural physical fatigue and nervous strain caused by the use of telephones, automobiles, and by economic and political pressures. He published his exercises as a remedy for the mental effects of what we now call stress, and the results of physical neglect. By practicing them, he believed, his clients could acquire complete control of the body and regain the natural rhythm and coordination of movement that civilized living erodes.

Rather than overdeveloping certain muscles, as in weight-lifting, or work exclusively on one part of the body, such as the hips and thighs, pilates conditions the whole body. It teaches correct breathing, emphasizing rhythmic movements of the diaphragm--the large muscle whose actions force air in and out of the lung--and prolonged, controlled out-breaths. Several classic pilates exercises involve gently rolling the spine down and then up, which exercises the lungs as well as improving the spine's flexibility.

What makes modern pilates different from other exercise systems is the way the exercises are performed. By contrast with the mindless repetitions of step aerobics or weight-training, for example, pilates requires concentration and attention to detail: to the exact position of a foot or the arc of movement of a shoulder. The result is not to strengthen one muscle or one set of muscles but to benefit the whole body. Exercising the muscles of the pelvic floor, for example, improves posture, relieves backache, and flattens the stomach.

The pilates-based exercises in this book are gentle and designed to be carried out slowly and rhythmically. If you practice with care and attention to the position and movement of your body parts, they will correct postural defects and improve the fitness of your whole body, inside and out and from head to toe. One immediate benefit is a sense of well-being. In time and with perseverance, they will also condition your body, improving its appearance and its carriage and bearing.

Starting with massage

Massage plus frequent and regular exercise sessions makes the best combination of techniques for improving body posture rapidly. For a beginner, massage is especially useful to correct rigidity in the neck and upper back. The hands can stretch and ease tight shoulder muscles. Balancing exercises then establish new patterns of posture and movement, erasing the imprinting of earlier, structurally incorrect ones. It is expensive and sometimes inconvenient to arrange to be massaged by a professional, but self-massage can be surprisingly effective. These pages introduce ways of massaging the soft tissues using the hands, plus some unorthodox massage aids.

Through years of experience in correcting postural imbalances, I have learned to begin each person's program with massage. An essential first step is to release the serratus anterior muscles to free the muscles that move the shoulders. Mental tension is commonly expressed in rigidity of the upper body, and many people arrive with the common symptoms: the shoulders dropped forward, the shoulder blades fixed to the thorax, the head tilted back, the chin lifted, and the neck stiff. The middle spine may be curving, making the upper body look hunched.

Touching the sides of the neck often reveals how one-sided a body can be. We get tension headaches and are surprised at the tightness and pain we feel when we touch the muscles, and at the gradual disappearance of these symptoms as full circulation is restored, first to the muscles, then to the head. Applied at the beginning of a practice session, this treatment equalizes muscle tone on both sides of the body. Consequently the first exercises for the arms and shoulders are more balanced, since equal effort is applied on both sides. Massaging the shoulders relieves tension in the neck and upper spine, so the skull sits more squarely on its pivots: the atlas and axis vertebrae in the neck.

I encourage everyone to begin pilates by massaging these areas three times a week for at least 20 minutes, and then to begin each practice with a short session of 10--12 minutes. Massage can relieve tension all over the body. The feet, always in use but often neglected, respond. These four pages present self-help techniques for massaging the whole body from head to toe. They can all be done through a T-shirt or a tracksuit.

Using the hands

Sit in an upright chair to massage yourself, with your feet on the floor. Begin massaging with either hand, but if your fingers tire at any point, change hands and massage the other side of the body, then change back again later. Spend about 1 minute on each step.

1 Warm your hands: interlace the fingers and rub the palms together. Unlock the fingers, move them along one slot, and interlace again to rub the palms together once more. Unlock the fingers, make fists of your hands, then release. Form fists again and circle them from the wrists, clockwise and anticlockwise. Use one hand to stretch the fingers and palm of the opposite hand backward.

2 Place the right hand on the left shoulder and support the right elbow with the left hand. Using all four fingers as a unit, search gently for sore spots with the right-hand fingertips along the top of the left shoulder blade, then massage them with a circular movement and firm pressure.

3 Move the hand to the ridge between your neck and shoulder, and down the upper arm, pressing down with fingers and thumb to find tense spots.

4 Move the hand up the side of your neck close to the skull, and press the fingers down firmly while turning your head slowly from left to right.

5 Rest the fingers of the right hand beside the left shoulder, just below the collar bone, and gently massage the muscles of the upper chest toward the breast bone.

6 Place the fingers of the right hand below the left armpit (where the pectoral and the latissimus dorsi muscles meet). Over the ribs beneath your fingertips stretches the thin serratus anterior muscle. If it is tight, the opposing rhomboid and trapezius muscles cannot pull the shoulder blades downward and toward the spine. Massage and stretching will relax the serratus anterior and release the shoulder blades.

7 Lift your left elbow and massage gently along and across the ribs. Although the serratus anterior beneath the skin is thin, it is sensitive. But massaging the area improves the mobility of the shoulder blade, so persevere even if it is uncomfortable at first.

8 Move your right hand to the left side of the neck and massage very strongly from the skull downward, as in step 4.

9 Repeat steps 2--9, crossing the left hand over to the right shoulder and using the left fingers to massage while supporting the left elbow with the right hand.

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The above excerpt is taken from the new book Ultimate Pilates: Achieve the Perfect Body Shape. It is published by Hay House, Inc., and is available at all bookstores, by phone (800-654-5126), or via the Internet at www.hayhouse.com.

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