Pilates Five Principles

Pilates Five principles

　　What are the small details that need to be paid attention to in Pilates? What else should I pay attention to in addition to the correctness of the posture when doing Pilates? Today I will tell you: Five principles of Pilates exercise

　　1. Breathing

　　First of all, in terms of breathing, breathing will affect the generation and efficiency of movements. Basically, most people use abdominal breathing and chest breathing. STOTT Pilates will want to use transverse diaphragm breathing, but it must keep the abdominal muscles (transverse abdominal muscles) continuously and stably contract. Therefore, when inhaling air, the ribs expand to both sides and back, and try to avoid too obvious ups and downs in the abdomen and chest (it does not need to be kept still, because The breathing movement is naturally carried out in 3D space, so it is also a natural training to make the chest and abdomen slightly fluctuate, and it affects the maintenance and movement of the posture. During exercise, the abdominal muscles need to maintain contraction and force. If breathing in abdominal style will inevitably affect the contraction of the abdominal muscles. Chest breathing will affect the entire ribs, making it floating too obvious, and affect the posture position of the thoracic and cervical vertebrae (it is useless to deliberately maintain the correct posture). Moreover, abnormal (too many) chest ups and downs are likely to cause a shrugging movement, which makes the shoulder and neck muscles too tight, which causes muscle imbalance. Moreover, this breathing method can allow air to enter the bottom of the lungs and increase the change of the entire lungs. Qi rate.

　　Another important point of improvement is the nose inlet and the mouth can remain small round when exhaling (imagine the mouth shape of a straw), so that the method can induce the contraction of deep abdominal muscles to enhance the training effect.

　　2. Pelvic position

　　Why is the pelvic position so important? In addition to the fact that the position of the pelvic position will affect the curvature of the lumbar spine, if you look at it in an upright position, the pelvis bears the weight of the entire spine and upper body, so the pelvis is maintained in the correct posture in the middle, which can achieve the best shock absorption and load-bearing effect. The pelvis is like a foundation. If the foundation is stable, it will not tilt if it is built up. After saying so much, how to place the pelvis in the center? First find the convex points (ASIS) of the pelvis on both sides in front of the body, and then find the position of the pubic bone. These three points form a surface. When you lie flat, this plane must be parallel to the ground, and this posture is the center position of the pelvis; if in a standing position, the plane is perpendicular to the ground and the center position.

　　In Pilates exercise, the pelvic posture is not just placed in the center position, the second is the pelvic backward tilt (imprint), which can be more conducive to abdominal muscle contraction, so some movements during exercise require the coordination of the pelvic backward tilt.

　　3. Rib position 　　Because there are ten of the twelve ribs connected to the thoracic vertebra, under normal circumstances, the curvature of the thoracic vertebra can be judged by the shape of the thoracic vertebra, and how to find the correct position of the ribs? In a lying position, the ribs must be as flat as possible, especially the lower edge of the posterior rib. Some people's hindrance ribs cannot be flat, which means that the curvature of the spine may need to be corrected. Muscles such as oblique abdomen, upper back, and so on to slowly restore the normal curvature of the spine. However, the actual physical condition still requires a doctor or physical therapist to make a conclusion. All ribs must be flat on the ground, especially the lower edge of the thoracic vertebra. Some people's thoracic ribs cannot be flat on the ground, which means that the thoracic vertebra The curvature needs to be corrected. The strength and tension of the oblique abdomen must be trained so that the ribs can return to the correct position.

　　4. Scapula position

　　Scapula joint is a very special joint in the human body. There is no joint capsule. It is just that the scapula is attached to the ribs. The scapula slides on the ribs. Therefore, the muscles of the shoulders are particularly important. The muscle coordination, tension, softness, etc. are all very important links, which will affect the stability of the joint and whether the movement is smooth. As long as one of them is missing, it will inevitably cause shoulder problems. The most basic thing is that the scapula can be attached to the ground when lying flat, but the scapula must also be observed The relative position between the bone and the spine is used to determine whether the position of the scapula is correct, whether it is too high or too low, whether it is rotated, flipped, etc.

　　5. The position of the head and cervical vertebra

　　Finally, the position of the head and cervical vertebrae, of course, the head should also be maintained in the middle position. It can be judged by the height of the eyes, the distance between the ears and the shoulders, the posture of the chin, etc. During the exercise, some people will need to use their sight to assist in maintaining the posture of the head and cervical vertebrae. The maintenance of the curvature of the head and cervical vertebrae. The problem of mobile phone syndrome also causes the general problem of head bowing, so shoulder and neck problems must not be ignored. If you look at it from the side in a normal standing or sitting position, your head will fall When the body is facing forward, you may be a high-risk group that is prone to problems with shoulders and neck.

　　The five principles are the most basic things. Of course, most people cannot memorize these things in the first exercise, let alone apply them very standard. Instead, they need to practice continuously so that the body can subconsciously remember these basic principles. When the training reaches a certain level, the body will naturally react. This is the ultimate goal of our Pilates training, allowing our body to re-learn, and naturally use the right strength and the right muscle groups to protect ourselves in daily life, and even during exercise, so that the body can maintain the best state.