Read this book especially if you are a teacher or client w. back issues.

You might know of Blandine’s other book,  Anatomy of Movement.  This is a brilliant book that finally addresses the poor training of abs and the possible effects of this training.  The “crunch” is poor use of the abs especially when the abs are used incorrectly and is compressing the disks.  A lot of clients know how to harden the abs and destroy the length of the spine.  Here is a book that addresses the whys and hows to correct training.

Great points of the book

• Alternately stretch and strengthen abs
• Coordinate w. breath
• Risks to the pelvic floor, disks and wall

Breathing Question
Hi Lesley,

I have a question about breathing in Pilates. I have found in my teaching that many students breath ‘loud’ and seem to associate a loud breath with a deep breath. But I don’t find that to be the case in my own breathing and in observing clients. It seems to me that the noise in their breathing can be coming from some sort of tightening of the throat, mouth, lips etc. So when I hear this I usually cue them to relax their breath, throat, mouth and visual a deep quiet breath that is connected to their abdominals. Often then I see better sinking of the abdominals and an overall relaxation of tensed muscles. Would love to know what you think or have seen with clients.

Thanks!
Dana

There are many ways of breathing.  Sometimes sound can tell you about the quality of breath.  A shallow breath will be more in the throat.  A deep breath brings a different resonance.  That is what actors and singers try to achieve.  Sometimes sound can get a client aware of breath.  For others, breath can create tension in trying to achieve it and not feel it.  In traditional Pilates there is a forceful breath which is great for fast forceful movements.  Look at Karate and there is a clear reason to make the holler with a kick.  It mobilizes your strengthen.

With the new information about how the diaphragm and the pelvic floor,  my practice with myself and clients, is a much slower and softer breath.  To get to the deep transverse abdominals, I sometimes have clients count out loud on the exhale to a least 8 and the goal is more.  I hear how they phrase the breath.  Is graceful like an adagio or punchy like a march?  I find a fast punchy breath that most clients harden the superficial abs without getting the hollowing of the transverse.

I always use Breath especially in the beginning of a session.  I find that it centers clients to better concentration and better use of abs.  With some client whose breath patterns are poor, I might move away from breath.  I once took some classes on breath, the Middendorf Technique.   There were exercises of breath to improve breath; then movements to improve how one breathes.

Kathy Grant at a PMA conference had people spell out their names or telephone numbers to make sure that they are breathing. In yoga, you have the “OM”.  Irmagard Bartenieff had used the vowel sounds to get people conscious of breath.  Different sounds, letters and words invite different kinds of breath.

The best breath is laughter.

“Knit your ribs together and pull down.” Would this feel great?

There are generic cues that you hear over and over. We need to modernize our cueing and imagery that will really enhance function. This cue is a poor solution for hyperextended ribs. I see so many dancers overexergerating this cue that they have made their ribcage rigid to not be able to use their arms and back correctly and expressively. One of the most beautiful lines is the arabesque or attitude. Pulling the ribs down will change this line.  We need to come up with cues and training that will enhance the line and improve function.

As teachers, we need to look deeper why there is poor function. Why are the ribs hyperextended?

• Tight structures such as back muscles and iliopsoas.
• Are the ribs in response to poor grounding of the feet and hyperextended legs?
• Is the neuromuscular system going first to the back muscles firing in shortness?

Knitting the ribs together is not a dynamic cue.  It does not solve the problem and can create other problems in different level changes.  Why don’t we go deeper in our cueing?

1. Put your attention to your spine and give support for the entire spine.
   
2. If your ribs are hyperextending, visualize the hyperextended section has support to bring that section back to neutral.
   
3. If you are doing footwork in Pilates, stop in the middle of the movement when the ribs start hyperextending.
4. Relax the back muscles and imprint the thoracic spine back to neutral.  Continue footwork.

Understanding the function of the spine and legs can make huge differences.  When the facets of the spine are evenly spaced for neutral and move equally extension or flexion,  there is an invitation away from compression.  Hyperextension is usually at one section of the spine.

When the legs are hyperextended, important muscles for stability are kicked out.  Improving function of the legs will enhance the placement of the spine.

Remember: When you see a problem, look above or below.   The problem is usually an organization around a poor function.

Chest Lift on the Physioball

Transcript: Pilates Chest Lift Ball Exercise

Hi! I am Lesley Powell, the director of Movements Afoot, a pilates wellness studio in mid-Manhattan. This is Mandy Chan, one of my Pilates teachers at our studio. She will be demonstrating the chest lift ball exercise.

Abs During Chest Lift

We are going to use a 65 cm ball. We are going to do a great exercise: the chest lift and then with rotation. All Pilates exercises you want to get the abdominals to hollow in. If you are bulging the abdominal muscles out, you are not going work deeply. Learning to hollow is what brings the abdominal wall in. The goal with abdominals is to train them to improve your posture. Better posture is key to better looking torso.

Pilates Exercise Ball Chest Lift Set Up

To start, sit on the ball with your legs parallel. Use a mat if the floor is slippery. Inhale and feel the breath move down. Exhale and feel the breath rise up. Adding on, inhale and feel your lower ribs expand. Exhale and lift your pelvic floor and lower abs up your spine. Inhale with new wide lower ribs Exhale, lift and hollow the lower abs so much, the abs press the lower spine towards the ball. Slowly walk your feet forward as if they are on railroad tracks. Once the upper ribs are on the ball, release your spine backwards on the ball. Your hips should be relaxed. The fold of the hip in front should be soft. If you are hardening this femoral fold, you are taking important work away from your core workout.

Exercise Ball Chest Lift

Raise your arms towards the ceiling. Imagine that you holding a ball in front of you. Inhale and feel your ribs expand into the ball. Exhale and hollow the lower abs. Inhale again. Exhale and bow towards your knees. Inhale lower the spine. Adding on, exhale and bow forward. Inhale and rotate your upper body to the left. Feel how your left rib imprints more. Exhale and bow center Inhale and twist to the right Exhale and bow forward. Inhale and lay backwards

Chest Lift Tips

Remember the movement is initiated from the spine. Feel how the ribs roll on the ball. The arms should stay in the same relationship to your shoulders. Otherwise you are initiating through your shoulders and taking work away from the abs.

Avoid Moving Shoulders

See how Mandy is moving from her shoulders. This bad version takes the work away from your core.

Around the World Exercise

Now we are going to do ‘around the world.’ Inhale your ribs into the ball. Exhale and bow forward. Inhale and rotate to the left and the lie backwards. Exhale and rotate to the right and bow forwards. Inhale and rotate to the right and sequence to lie backwards. Exhale and rotate to the left and then bow forwards.

The lower body should remain still throughout this exercise. The action is the ribs pivoting on the ball using all of your abs muscles.

Thanks for watching. To learn more, visit us on the Web at About.com.

My favorite way to get people to understand their pelvic floor muscles (PFM) is using the physioball.

Lateral shifts on physioball

• Have them sit on a physioball.
• Moving the lower spine in flexion and extension, drawing a line from the pubic bone to the tailbone.
• Now draw a line from both sitz bones.  This will cause a lateral shift.
• Draw a circle from the pubic bone along the rames  to the sitz bone to the tailbone and then the other side.  Make circles clockwise and counterclockwise.
• This get the client in touch with their pelvic floor bones.
• As if you pelvic floor bones were a circle, narrow to a smaller circle. Practice that a few times.
• Add with narrowing the pelvic floor bones, lifting the surface of the pelvic floor off of the ball.
• You also could use a chair or sitting on a chair.

A great image from Marika Molnar, Physical Therapist for New York City Ballet,

“Pick a raisin up with your PFM.”

Remember the squeezing of the gluteals will tuck the pelvis.  With the pelvic floor lifts, the spine is in neutral.  Eventually you can take the pelvis in posterior tilt through engaging the PFM.  Using the gluteals is using the superficial muscles to engage.

A Fun-D Raising event for Breast Cancer with Dr. Martha Eddy and Lesley Powell

Come October 16 6-7:30 PM
Take care of your body as you support 
The Breast Cancer Research Foundation

All proceeds will go to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation
Cash or check, credit card donation can be made by going online

Moving On Aerobics with Dr. Martha Eddy

Unique Aerobics class that not only changes your heart rate but improves your lymph health, flexiblity and feels absolutely great on your body; heart & soul.

Pilates Mat & Stand with Lesley Powell

Get to the core of the matter- you for a fun dynamic Pilates class

I just got the manual for this upcoming course.  I went over the material and already teaching in classes.  Wow,  new ideas and moves brings about new connections to your body.

Some of my clients, who have been with me awhile, made incredible changes with this material.  To get clients to experience the deeper core muscles is a foreign concept for some.  This material will up the ante for all!!

Balanced Body’s Pilates

Cost: $149.00 per course

Please join us for our third ‘On the Road’ program

Learn how to use a variety of small props in your Pilates Mat classes with this four part workshop including the foam roller, resistance bands, rings and small balls. New moves, new choreography and a lot of fun will be had as you learn how to play with your new toys! Choreography, prop safety and creativity will be covered.

BBU – Rolling for Length, Rolling for Strength 9/11/2009

Friday 5:00pm to 8:00pm The Foam Roller, originally designed as packing material will have you packing your classes with moves that lengthen, strengthen and feel great. For a challenge, offer a great Reformer on the Mat class and if you want to make your clients feel good, learn how to sequence a self massage program to speed up recovery. Th

Just yesterday at Movements Afoot, a client complained about not working her abs hard enough in a Pilates class.  Pilates is alway about the core and it coordination with the limbs.  Most clients are not working correctly.

Decades ago, I was the movement trainer at a high-end club.  Clients would come to me after their sessions for stretching or to help with an injury.  A man came to me about his back.

I had just observed him doing a hundred crunches.
His form was terrible with his cranking his head to perform the crunch,
bulging his belly out and activating his hip flexors.

I asked him to pull up his abdominals in standing to improve his posture.
He DiDn’t have a clue how!

As teachers, we all know how important training the transverse abdominals.  To get to them, they are never going to feel like the physicality of a bicep curl.

So what do we teachers do?

Keep teaching what we teach.  Make sure in the lesson you include something that requires more endurance like the hundred.
Keep emphazing

” Are your abs hollowing or bulging? “

” How’s your hip flexors?”

“Are you breathing?”

“Come a little higher in the hundred (or whatever you do)?

Kathy Grant at the PMA conference had us to a rollup that took about 5 minutes.  She would allow no momentum to get up.

So teachers in this hard times of recession and needing to keep clients.

Hold the poses a little longer.

Give a little burn at the same time make them aware of their form.

Send them home to practice.  Go to our podcasts to deepen their use of the transverse.

As Doris Pasteleur Hall says, “Abdominals comes in different flavors”

Give them a little of the flavor that they are used to and introduce the others.

I have been talking with some of my teachers who are also singers.  Amongst some singing teachers, pilates is not recommended.  A lot has to do with past training about locking the ribs down to solve the problem of hyperextended ribs.

The great change in Pilates and knowledge about the body is the importance of the movement of the diaphragm.  As in our past post, we talked about how the diaphragm moves 3 dimensionally within our torso in a healthy person.  There is a real inter-relationship between the diaphragm, the pelvic floor and the transverse abdominus.

Using sound is a great way to get in touch with the breath and discover the quality of your breathing.  Many systems like Yoga’s OM inspire the deep breathing necessary for core support and freedom of the spine.  Irmgard Bartenieff used our Western vowels, a,e,i, o, u, to get students conscious of their breath.

At the PMA conference this November, Kathy Grant had us do roll downs reciting our full names, addresesses with phone numbers and then whistling.  By having your clients speak as they move, will force them to breath.  You can not talk and not breath.

Using sound is a great way for students to become aware of their breath.  Deep breathing will create a sound with resonance.   Poor breathing makes the sound strained and coming from tension of mouth and throat.

When the breath is not moving 3 dimensionally, you will see sometimes the client moving the spine with breath. Usually the pattern is they hyperextend the ribs on the inhale and compress the ribs down on the exhale.

One of my favorite images of breath is from the Franklin Method.  See the breath spiral down to the pelvic floor on the inhale and spiral up on the exhale.  Think of the breath going up and down like a spiral staircase or spiral straw.

The cue in dance and Pilates, that closes the ribs, does not connect us to our deep core muscles.  In many ways, that cue creates more problems in the organization of the spine and shoulders especially in standing.  Finding full breath in all positions; supine, prone, quadriped, sitting and standing, will enhance how you use your core muscles.