Part One
Pilates has become so popular in the last few years that nearly everyone has heard of this wonderful form of exercise. But what is Pilates exactly, how did it start, and what benefits could you expect to gain from doing Pilates exercises?
Joseph Pilates was born in Germany in 1880. He was a sickly child who ended up dedicating his entire life to becoming physically stronger. Immigrating to New York in the late 1920’s, he opened his first exercise studio and began his long term association with professional dancers. His original form of exercise was known as "Contrology" as it involved controlled movements of the body to exercise the deep postural muscles and stretch and strengthen the entire body. Prior to his death, Pilates did not trademark or register his exercise techniques, so after his death, the door was left wide open for Pilates exercise to take on many different forms.
The aim of these exercises is to improve the stabilisation of the deep postural muscles in the body. In Part 1 of the recent series Riding from the Inside Out (HM April 2003), we explained where your deep postural muscles are and how to activate them. Here’s a recap:
Our postural muscles can be likened to a corset. The corset has a front, back, top and bottom. The front of the corset is a muscle called your transverse abdominus. Sometimes this is also referred to as the ‘belt buckle muscle’ because it runs horizontally across your abdomen below the belly button. The back of the corset is a small group of muscles deep in your back that connect your vertebrae (the multifidus muscles if you like knowing names). The top of the corset is your diaphragm or ‘breathing muscle’ and the bottom of the corset is made up of the pelvic floor muscles. Importantly, both men and women have pelvic floor muscles and benefit from exercising them.
Our deep postural muscles are very different from our larger global muscles which are more on the ‘outside’ of the body. These muscles are so used to jumping in and organising the movement of our bodies, that our deep postural muscles often become weak and unstable. To make our bodies move and function from the ‘inside out’ we need to wake up these postural muscles – and one way to do this is through Pilates exercises.

Our deep postural muscles are very different from the other muscles in the body. They are low intensity, sub-conscious, long endurance type muscles. To effectively exercise them we need to use visual imagery and good breathing techniques. Once these muscles become more ‘turned on’ in the body, our balance, stability, posture, and coordination all improve.
Pilates is one form of a growing number of exercises that are called ‘mind-body’ because of their slow, controlled nature, need for precision, and the coordination of deep breathing with the movements. Pilates exercises won’t cause you to ‘feel the burn’ or sweat heavily. Nor will they leave you feeling incredibly tired and sore. The goal is to heighten your awareness of the deep postural muscles and how important they are for improving and maintaining good posture both on and off the horse. This makes Pilates exercise appropriate for anyone – regardless of their previous exercise history.

Part of executing the Pilates movements correctly is to have your breathing right. Activation of the corset is directly linked with correct breathing. To practice the correct technique, place your hands on your rib cage and breathe in. Feel the rib cage expand outwards. Now, as you exhale, imagine that you are drawing your pelvic floor muscles upward. You should feel that your ‘belt buckle muscle’ moves inward or your belly button moves gently towards your spine. Remember that the movement is VERY gentle and visualizing the drawing up of the pelvic floor muscles with each OUT breath is paramount. The OUT breath should always occur with the greatest effort of the movement, or when your arms or legs are moving AWAY from the body.
A key component to all Pilates exercises is what is known as Neutral Spine. To find your neutral spine in standing try these easy steps:
• Stand with your feet shoulder width apart
• Arch your back too far
• Slump so your shoulders move forward and your tummy collapses
• Now find the balance position between these two extremes
• You’ve found your Neutral Spine
In all Pilates movements, whether sitting, standing, kneeling, lying on your tummy or lying on your back, Neutral Spine should always be maintained.

The Pilates Movements
Warm-up for your first Pilates movement by doing an exercise called Leg In/Leg Out which was developed by my friend and colleague Anna-Louise Bouvier for her Physiocise program:

Leg In/Leg Out
Focus: Activation of the pelvic floor
Set-up:
• Lie on your back
• Knees bent
• Shoulders and neck relaxed
• Establish Neutral Spine
• Place hands in a triangle position on abdomen
Movement:
• Breathe in
• As you exhale, turn on your pelvic floor and allow one leg to drop
• Only allow the leg to drop as far as you can without the pelvis rolling to the side
• Breathe in as you return the leg to start position
• Repeat 10-20 times on each leg in a slow, flowing way

SWIMMING

Focus: Shoulder and Hip Stabilisation
Set-up:
• On all fours position
• Hands under shoulders
• Knees under hips
• Establish Neutral Spine
Movement:
• Breathe in
• As you exhale, turn on your pelvic floor and slowly move your leg back
• Keep your toe on the ground
• Use the out breath to stabilize your body
• Breath in as the leg returns
• Repeat 5 x on one leg, then switch to the other
Challenges:
Once you feel you can move the toe forward and back while keeping your weight evenly balanced and your spine in neutral, you can move to the next step.

Step Two:
• On the out breath, turn on your pelvic floor and extend the leg back in the air
• Watch that the leg does not come up too high
• Keep the spine in neutral, do not raise your head, imagine lengthening through your back
• Hold the leg in the extended position for a few seconds and then repeat
• Do 5-8 repetitions on each side

Step Three:
If you are able to do Step Two without wobbling or feeling overly fatigued, try adding your arm to the movement
• In the all fours position, breathe in
• As your exhale, turn on your pelvic floor and lift the alternate arm and leg
• Keep the spine in neutral, do not raise your head
• Lengthen from your fingertips to your toes
• Hold the extended position for a few seconds before returning to all fours
• Repeat in a flowing, controlled way – one side/then the next
• Do 5-8 repetitions on each side Imagery

For Step One: Imagine your toe is making a groove in the sand. For all levels: Imagine you have a tray of drinks resting on your back – don’t let them spill!
If you’re convinced that working on your deep postural muscles will help your riding, try to do these exercises 2-3 times per week. It should only take 10 minutes or so. Over the next few months, we’ll add new exercises to the routine and you should end up being able to do your own mini-Pilates class in the comfort of your pajamas!