Why is knowing Pilates positions so important? Have you ever been in a foreign country and not spoken the language? Have you ever been in an exercise class where you seemed to be moving in a different direction than everyone else? Knowing the speak, so to speak, is as important as walking the walk. So it is with Pilates. This exercise has a language all it's own and if you don't learn the basics, you might find yourself hurting more than helping.
Pilates instructors use imagery to assist their clients in feeling or performing an exercise properly. For instance, you might be told to zip up your abdominals. Imagine zipping up a very tight pair of jeans. What happens to your belly? It moves in deeper towards your spine.
Pilates also has definitive positions that you're required to get into on a regular basis. Here is a list of just a few of the positions you will come across:
• Pilates Stance: Refers to a slightly turned out position of the legs. It is less turnout than a Ballet first position, actually about 15 degrees of turnout.
• Neutral Spine: or neutral pelvis. A place where your hipbones and pubic bone are held in the same plane. It is neither too flexed nor too extended in the lumbar spine.
• Imprinted Spine: A term generated in the Stott Pilates method. A place where the lumbar spine is slightly more flexed giving the feeling of your lower back being closer to the mat.
• Parallel: Neither turned out nor turned in. A place where your feet, knees, and hips are in straight alignment.
• C-Curve: Where the spine is flexed into a letter "C" position. Enables the feeling of strong navel to spine and prepares you to roll through the spine smoothly.
• Spinal Flexion: Where the angle at your hips decreases, like when bending over to touch your toes or when performing the Spine Stretch Forward exercise.
• Spinal Extension: Where the angle at the hip increases, like when bending backwards or performing the Swan Dive exercise.
• Table Top: A position when you are lying on your back and your legs are elevated and bent at a 90 degree angle both at the hip and at the knees.
Knowing the basic Pilates positions and terminology not only increases your knowledge of Pilates, but also honors the legacy of a Joseph Pilates. It builds continuity so that no matter where you are, you'll understand what your instructor is saying.
Susannah Marchese is a certified Pilates fitness instructor and a senior contributing editor to the popular and well read web site http://www.everything-about-pilates.com
Source: www.isnare.com
