'Side-effects' of Pilates - movement variety
Second 'side-effect' of Pilates - more variety of movement
When I asked my participants about the benefits they've experienced from attending a regular weekly Pilates class, another common response was related to the physical movement within the body. Improved range of movement and flexibility in general has been recognised by some of my participants and this has translated into improvement in their ability to carry out tasks and activities in their day-to-day lives.
Many of our daily life activities require a certain range of movement within our body, even driving a car requires a certain physical ability in our arms, legs and neck. During a Pilates session we will do a range of different movements and stretches to encourage our bodies to move and stretch in a multitude of different ways.
Movement variety was also picked up on by another participant who is a regular runner. In this case, they are regularly performing repetitive movements during running and have recognised the benefit of attending Pilates because of the variety of movements involved. They've also noticed activation and improved strength in muscles that they were previously unaware of.
This movement variety is discussed at length in Katy Bowman's fantastic book 'Move your DNA - restore your health through natural movement'. She explains how the movements we do are feeding our body with information that then informs the body of how it should respond. An example of this might be that when we lift heavy weights, the body responds to that stimulus by improving our strength and boosting our lean muscle mass. When we do movements with impact, such as tennis, the body may respond with the laying down of more bone mineral mass, helping to strengthen our bones and potentially protect us from fractures. I like to think of having a varied movement diet, much like I also aim to eat a varied diet too. I'll try and incorporate a few different movements by sitting on the floor in the evenings, or perhaps by reaching or stretching in novel ways. Have you thought about how varied your movement diet has been recently?
Whilst Pilates can be fairly gentle, we can still use these principles to help boost our movement variety, and bone and muscle health. It can also be a fantastic addition to a weekly routine that includes other regular exercise such as running, cycling. swimming or tennis. It provides an opportunity to move and challenge the body in a guided and supportive environment, whilst also adding in an element of core muscle activation in combination with postural awareness and balance challenges and of course the much-deserved relaxation session at the end of class!
If you've noticed that your movement variety has decreased as you’ve got older and would like to start a gentle Pilates class each week, feel free to check out the details here and email me to book your place in a class at Hook Community Centre, or Elizabeth Hall.
