Pilates During the Winter, Start Mobilizing
Winter decreases your walks outside and the overall activity. Everything warm and cozy, encourages immobility and snuggling. Pilates will mobilize you during the winter months.
Pilates during the winter
You’re finally heeding the advice of your friends and physician regarding the countless, scientifically backed benefits of a Pilates practice: increased flexibility, endurance, and improved posture. While Pilates may seem intimidating at first, we’re here to explain the key principles to follow and mistakes to avoid. Whether you’re on the Reformer, Mat, or other Pilates apparatus, we want you to enjoy your first Pilates class while avoiding injury.
Prepare for Class
What should you bring to Pilates classes? If you are taking a Reformer class, you may be required to wear sticky socks with rubber grips on the bottom. Check with your studio's policies – you may have to purchase them at the studio if you do not bring your own. If you’re taking a Mat class, you likely will not need socks.
What should you wear to class? Your ability to focus on the exercises and your teacher’s ability to see what you’re doing rely heavily on what you wear. Think of the last time you were in a business meeting in an uncomfortable outfit – you probably were not able to focus on the subject matter at hand. Dress for Pilates in clothes that are comfortable, but not too baggy, as your teacher will be looking for your pelvic and spine alignment. Choose pants that have stretch. Avoid zippers, pockets, or anything that might get caught in equipment.
Move slowly and intentionally
Joseph Pilates originally called his method Contrology, the study of control, so maintaining your teacher’s intended pace with control is key. More often than not, you will likely move slower than you might like, or than you think you should move based on other exercise modalities. The turtle wins the Pilates race. Avoid using momentum and know that moving at a stable, slower pace requires your stabilizing muscles to fire, and that is what makes Pilates so good, and so difficult!
Breathing with Intention
Most often in Pilates, you will be breathing within the diaphragm and ribcage with as little movement in the abdominals as possible. The focus should be on using breath to expand the ribcage laterally (outward and sideways) rather than vertically. Deep intentional breathing releases stress and relaxes tension.
A good way to get a feel for Pilates breathing is by placing your hands on each side of your ribcage. As you inhale, visualize your ribcage gliding apart. As you exhale, visualize your ribcage knitting back together. Alternatively, imagine you have a heavy weight right on top of your torso (like an x-ray mat you would wear at the dentist), so that when you breathe, your chest is only able to expand outward, not upward. The nuances of Pilates breathing may be hard to execute at first, so make sure you are breathing as you learn the repertoire and the lateral breathing will come in time.
Control your head
In Mat Pilates, you will likely be asked to lift your upper chest and back off the Mat, requiring you to keep your head lifted too. To avoid stressing the neck, gaze slightly forward and up, with your chin in a position where it could hold an orange between your chin and chest. This chest lift position is repeated throughout Pilates. It's normal if you initially have trouble holding your head up. You will eventually gain enough strength to execute these forward flexion exercises without neck strain. Take breaks or use a small pillow if you feel discomfort.
Relax shoulders
When you’re focusing on strengthening muscles in the body, your shoulders are often the first to tense up in response, bunching up at the ears and closing the upper torso inward. Remember that laterally expansive, ribcage breathing? Visualize your shoulder blades gliding down the back to lengthen the neck. In most exercises, thinking of rolling your shoulders up, down, and then back helps put them in the ideal place for movement.
Abdominal Strength for Abdominal Stability
While most exercises start from the feet up (generally because you’re standing), Mat Pilates and Reformer Pilates all start from the center outward. Pilates teachers often refer to your abdominals and core as the second spine.
Abdominal strength and abdominal stability are not necessarily the same thing. You can gain abdominal strength by doing a thousand crunches per day, but that abdominal strength will not necessarily ensure that your torso is in proper alignment with your pelvis in a standing position. Your abs could be nice and strong, but totally off center, which ends up taxing your spine and lower back! Pilates' focus on deep abdominals will create stability and strength.
Lift Pelvis
In class, you will probably hear cues like “tuck the tailbone under” and “scoop the abdominals." While these cues can be hard to follow at first, they are important in executing proper form of the exercises. Essentially, you do not want to compromise your back when you engage your abdominals, so be sure you aren’t sinking down in your spine when you pull in your abdominals or tuck the tailbone. Keep your back long; some teachers call this a lifted C-curve, but the “lifted” part will become second nature to you.
To ensure your pelvis is “tucking” correctly without compensating the integrity of the rest of your core, use the B-Line Method (often referred to as the bikini line or belt line). With your fingertips, find the place 2-3 inches below your belly button. Now, keeping the ribcage in direct alignment over the hipbones, engage your core to pull away from your fingertips. When in doubt, lift, don’t tuck!
The Studio is a Safe Space
When in doubt, always ask. Your teacher is there to guide you! Be patient with yourself. Pilates is a very specific method of muscle isolation and extensions that sometimes feel like tongue twisters for the body. You may find it helpful to familiarize yourself with the common Pilates terms or arriving at class 15-25 minutes early to voice your concerns with the teacher. The most important part of Pilates is to have fun mobilizing during the winter.
Start Your Pilates Journey at ChaiseFitness
At ChaiseFitness, we believe that anyone can be fit—no matter what skill level or body type. This belief inspired the creation of our patented Reinvention Method, which is for everyone—the athlete, the dancer, the beginner, the advanced, the rebuilder. We blend Pilates, ballet, and strength training and equip you with a chair and overhead bungees so that you work out all your muscles every time. We are located in the Upper East Side in Manhattan. For more information, you can contact us at (973)996-2063, or visit our website.
