Pilates And The ‘‘powerhouse’’FI - Learn Muscles

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ARTICLE IN PRESSJournal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies (2004) 8, 15–24Journal ofBodywork andMovement ILITATION AND CORE STABILITYPilates and the ‘‘powerhouse’’FIJoseph E. Muscolino*, Simona Cipriani7, Long Ridge Road, Redding, CT 06896, ontrology;ExerciseAbstract The Pilates method is a comprehensive body-conditioning method that isdirected toward the development of both the body and the mind of the individual.Toward this end, the Pilates method incorporates six key principles: centering,concentration, control, precision, breath, and flow. The purpose of this paper is toinvestigate the underlying biomechanical foundation of the principle of ‘‘centering’’.The principle of centering refers to the concept that all movements of the humanbody emanate from the center or core or what Joseph Pilates called the powerhouseof the body. The Pilates method endeavors to strengthen the powerhouse as one of itsprimary goals. In effect, strengthening the powerhouse is core-stabilization. Part oneof this article investigates what the boundaries and components of the powerhouseare as well as the muscle groups that effect movements of the powerhouse. It thenexplores the three major effects that Pilates exercises have upon the health andintegrity of the powerhouse: (1) its effect upon pelvic posture, (2) its effect oflengthening the spine, and (3) its effect upon the structural integrity or tone of theabdominopelvic cavity. The sum total of these effects is to create what may betermed the Pilates Powerhouse Posture. Part two will then illustrate various Pilatesexercises and describe their effects upon the powerhouse.& 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.IntroductionThe Pilates Method of body conditioning wasdeveloped by Joseph H. Pilates. Joseph Pilatesbegan to develop his system of body conditioningduring the First World War (Siler, 2000) andcontinued to enhance and refine this system overthe next 50 years until his death in 1967. All told,the Pilates system of body conditioning containsover 500 stretching and strengthening exercises.These exercises may be divided into two broadcategories: mat and apparatus exercises. The firstexercises developed by Joseph Pilates were mat*Corresponding author. Tel.: þ 1-203-938-3323; fax: þ 1-203938-9284.E-mail addresses: jemredd@optonline.net (J.E. Muscolino),simona@cloud9.net (S. Cipriani).URLs: l.com.exercises, which as the name implies are done on amat on the floor. Pilates next created a number ofapparatuses that require one to exercise againstresistance, the resistance being provided by the useof springs and pulleys.Upon creation of his method of body conditioning, Pilates named it ‘‘The Art of Contrology’’.Inherent in this name is Pilates’ belief that it shouldbe the goal of a healthy person to attain a strongmind and use it to gain total mastery or controlover his/her physical body. Therefore, the PilatesMethod as advocated by Joseph Pilates is more thanjust a physical regimen for the body; it is also abalanced regimen for strengthening and conditioning the mind as well (Gallagher and Kryzanowska,2000; Pilates, 1945).Pilates felt that modern society had robbed us ofour natural physical and mental vitality. He notedthat with the advent of civilization and sedentary1360-8592/ - see front matter & 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.doi:10.1016/S1360-8592(03)00057-3

ARTICLE IN PRESS16indoor living, our activities have failed to exercisethe body in ways that are structured and balanced.Additionally he observed that our compensatoryefforts via hobbies, activities and recreation, areall too often performed in ways that are unbalanced and ineffective at truly encouraging goodcontrol of the body (Gallagher and Kryzanowska,2000; Pilates, 1945; Siler, 2000).Key principles of PilatesFor this reason, Pilates developed a comprehensivemethod of stretching and strengthening exercisesthat together aim to create a strong and limberbody as well as a strong will of mind that cancontrol the body. Certainly, any method as comprehensive and diverse as Pilates will have manycore principles. This is true for the Pilates Method,which may be said to have six key principles(Liekens, 1997). They are: centering, concentration, control, precision, breath, and flow.1. Centering is considered to be the main focuspoint of the Pilates Method. The ‘‘center’’ refersto the center or core of the body and is usuallyknown as the ‘‘powerhouse’’.2. Concentration is important in that it is the mindthat guides the body; hence focused concentration is necessary when carrying out Pilatesexercises.3. Control refers to the fact that when the work ofan exercise is being done from the center withconcentration, you will be in control of themovements performed.4. Precision refers to the precision Joseph Pilatesemployed in developing each exercise and theprecision with each exercise should be carriedout. A common saying in the world of Pilates thatillustrates this is: ‘‘It is not how many, but how’’.5. Breath is of utmost importance because allexercises should be done with a rhythm to thebreathing for the purpose of obtaining optimalcirculation of oxygenated blood to all tissues ofthe body.6. And finally, flow refers to the graceful andflowing succession of one exercise to anotherduring a Pilates session.It is not within the scope of this article to try toexhaustively cover every one of these six keyprinciples. Instead, this article narrows its focusin on the concept of Centering. More specifically,the relationship between the Pilates Method andthe effect that it has upon strengthening whatis called the powerhouse is investigated. ThenJ.E. Muscolino, S. Ciprianiimplications that a strong powerhouse has for thehealthy structure and function of the human bodyare explored.Centering and the powerhousePerhaps the major tenet of the Pilates method isthe concept of centering. While Joseph Pilatesbelieved that all muscles of the body should bestrengthened and stretched (Gallagher and Kryzanowska, 2000; Pilates, 1945), he felt that the majoremphasis should be placed upon the muscles of thecenter, or core, of the body (Selby, 2002; Siler,2000; Winsor, 1999). He referred to this region asthe powerhouse of the body. Joseph Pilates himselfnever set down in writing what the exact parameters of the powerhouse were and there does notseem to be exact agreement amongst the masterteachers of Pilates today.It is worth mentioning that after the death ofJoseph Pilates, his student and disciple, RomanaKryzanowska, was chosen by Clara Pilates to carryon the artistic interpretation and dissemination ofthe Pilates Method (Siler, 2000). Meanwhile, thearchival material and trademark of the namePilates became the property of Sean Gallagher,P.T. In a recent legal decision, the ability totrademark the name Pilates, and consequentlythe sole right of certification of Pilates instructorswas lost. This means that there is no longer onecertifying or governing body that determinesexactly what the Pilates Method is or is not. As aresult, the practice and method of Pilates, alongwith the underlying biomechanical basis, has beendiverging greatly in recent years. There are nowmany techniques within the Pilates world, someadhering strictly to the system of exercises developed by Joseph Pilates, and others that areincorporating changes into this system. This articletries to address the biomechanical basis of theoriginal Pilates method as far as is possible.When most strictly defined, the powerhouse issaid to be the ‘‘ycenter of the body. It is the exactpoint between the upper half of your body and thelower half of your body, between the right side andthe left side’’ (Winsor, 1999, p. 30). Others havedefined it as a 6-inch band that runs around theentire body and is located just inferior to the navel.However, many in the Pilates world view thepowerhouse more broadly and define it as rangingfrom the pelvic floor inferiorly to the ribcagesuperiorly (Winsor, 1999) (see Fig. 1). Another termthat is of importance to the subject of centering isthe box (Liekens, 1997). The box is defined by twohorizontal lines: one running from the top of one

ARTICLE IN PRESSPilates and the ‘‘powerhouse’’FIFigure 1 The powerhouse: The powerhouse in Pilates isusually defined as extending from the pelvic floorinferiorly to the ribcage superiorly. Effectively, thepowerhouse is the center of the body.17ribcage. However, this will have an effect upon,and will incorporate to some degree, the largercenter known as the box. What is clear anduniversally accepted within the world of Pilates isthat the powerhouse is thought of as the core of thebody from which the power and strength of thebody is derived (Winsor, 1999). In other words,the powerhouse is the core center of the body fromwhich peripheral muscle actions are carried out.The concept of centering is to create not only astrong structural powerhouse, but also a flexibleone. Indeed, Joseph Pilates used to have thefollowing maxim on his business card: ‘‘A man isonly as old as his spine is inflexible’’. With a corecenter to the body that is strong and flexible,Pilates asserted that the integrity of functioningwould be improved. That is, the ability to move andfunction throughout the activities of daily lifewould be optimized (Pilates, 1945; Siler, 2000),The Pilates method of body conditioning does notaim to bulk a person’s musculature; it aims tostrengthen and lengthen a person’s posture andmusculature (Gallagher and Kryzanowska, 2000;Pilates, 1945; Selby, 2002; Siler, 2000).Components of the powerhouseFigure 2 The box: The box is defined by two horizontallines; one running from the top of one shoulder to the topof the other shoulder, and the second line running fromone hip joint to the other hip joint, i.e., the boxencompasses the entire pelvis and trunk. Just as thepowerhouse is defined as being the center of the humanbody, the box is a more broadly defined center of thebody.shoulder to the top of the other shoulder, and thesecond line running from one hip joint to the otherhip joint (Liekens, 1997) (see Fig. 2). In effect, thebox incorporates the entire trunk and pelvis as awhole. The concept of centering may be broadenedbeyond the powerhouse to include the rest of thetrunk and when this is done, the box becomesthe center in that the box is a broader center of thehuman body. Thus the concept of centering refersto strengthening the center of the body. For thepurpose of this article, the core powerhouse isdefined as ranging from the pelvic floor to theUsing this expanded concept of the powerhousethat reaches from the pelvic floor to the ribcage, itcan be seen that the body parts that are containedwithin the powerhouse are the pelvis and theabdomen; the abdomen being defined as theanterior abdomen as well as the posterior abdomen, i.e., the lower back. The joints that areinvolved with the powerhouse are the lumbar spinaljoints, including the lumbosacral joint between thelumbar spine and the pelvis, and the hip joints(femoroacetabular joints) between the pelvis andthe thighs (see Fig. 3). The muscles of the powerhouse are the major muscles and muscle groupsthat are located within this region; of particularimportance to the purpose of this article will be themuscles and muscle groups that move the bodywithin the sagittal plane.Taking a closer look at the muscles of thepowerhouse, they may be divided into the followingfive major groups (see Fig. 4):**Anterior abdominals (also known as spinalflexors). These muscles include the rectusabdominis, external abdominal oblique, internal abdominal oblique and the transversusabdominis.Posterior abdominals (also known as spinalextensors or low back muscles). These muscles

ARTICLE IN PRESS18J.E. Muscolino, S. CiprianiFigure 3 (a) Components of the powerhouse: The powerhouse contains the pelvis and the abdomen. (b) The jointswithin the abdomen are the lumbar spinal joints. The pelvis is a body part that is bounded by the lumbosacral jointsuperiorly and the hip joints inferiorly.***include the erector spinae group and thetransversospinalis group, as well as the quadratus lumborum.Hip extensors. These muscles include the gluteusmaximus and may also include the hamstringsand the posterior head of the adductor magnus.Hip flexors. These muscles include the iliopsoas,rectus femoris, sartorius, tensor fasciae lataeand the more anterior adductors of the thigh atthe hip joint.Pelvic floor musculature (also known as perinealmuscles). These muscles include the levator ani,coccygeus, superficial and deep transverse perineals and others.Given the structural components of the powerhouse, it can be stated that the principal tenet ofworking the powerhouse will be to affect themuscles and joints of the pelvis and lumbar spine;the thrust being to not only affect the staticposture of this region, but also to affect thedynamic strength and flexibility of this region aswell.Effects of working the powerhouseThe Pilates method of body conditioning may begeneralized to have three major effects upon thepowerhouse. First, Pilates affects the posture ofthe pelvis, which results in postural changes to thelumbar spine. Second, it works directly upon themusculoskeletal structure of the spine (the lumbarspine in particular) by strengthening, stretching,and lengthening the spine. Third, Pilates affectsthe structural integrity or tone of the abdominopelvic cavity as a whole.The neutral pelvis and its effect upon thespineIt is often said that the pelvis is the keystone ofthe skeletal structure of our body. Examining thestructural and functional considerations of thepelvis, it is seen that the pelvis is a body part thatis located between the trunk and the thighs. Whenthe pelvis moves, it may move relative to the trunkat the lumbosacral joint and/or it may moverelative to the thigh(s) at the hip joint(s) (seeFig. 5). Muscles that attach from the trunk to thepelvis move the pelvis at the lumbosacral joint;muscles that attach from the lower extremity tothe pelvis move the pelvis at the hip joint(s). Aprimary concern involves pelvic sagittal planemovements and the resultant sagittal plane effectson the spine. Unfortunately, there are a plethora ofterms used to describe the movements of thepelvis. Probably the most common terminology forsagittal plane pelvic movements and the one thatwill be used in the article is posterior tilt andanterior tilt of the pelvis (see Fig. 6).The posture of the pelvis largely determines theposture of the spine. The spine sits upon the base ofthe sacrum; therefore, any change in the sagittalposture of the pelvis will change the level of thebase of the sacrum. The level of the base of thesacrum will then affect the curve of the lumbarspine. For example, if the base of the sacrum werelevel, the spine would be totally straight. However,once the base of the sacrum is unlevel to anydegree, the spine must have a curve in it tocompensate. This curve is necessary to eventuallycreate a level base for the head to sit upon. Thisrighting mechanism to create a level base for thehead is necessary to place the eyes and the

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control of the body (Gallagher and Kryzanowska, 2000; Pilates, 1945; Siler, 2000). Key principles of Pilates For this reason, Pilates developed a comprehensive method of stretching and strengthening exercises that together aim to create a strong and limber body as well as a strong will of mind that can control

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