STOTT Pilates is a system built on five biomechanical principles. These act as a foundation to developing body awareness and moving with proper alignment. With these, you can be sure of performing the exercises with focus and control and thus reap their full benefits.
Place your hands on your stomach and cough a few times. Did you notice that as you cough, your stomach muscles contract? With a Pilates breath, we try to engage those same muscles as we breathe. Next, take a deep inhale through your nose (about 3 seconds) and force an exhale through your mouth as though blowing out candles on a birthday cake. Did you feel the stomach muscles activate again? If yes, great! If not, now try imagining that you are blowing up a balloon. That should get the muscles fired up. You can use this breath all day long. Whenever you stop for a couple of minutes - at a set of traffic lights, as you’re waiting for the kettle, etc. Give it a go!
A couple of other things to think about. Direct your breath down into you ribs (instead of your chest). Imagine your ribs are an accordion, that is, they move wider and narrower as you breathe in and out. You should notice that your shoulders rise less and relax as you do this. Breathing deep down here will help to activate the deep abdominal muscles (transversus abdominis) and all the muscles in the ribs too and bring fresh air to 100% of the lungs, not just the 30% reached with shallow breathing.
Most of us (i’m certainly guilty of it) tend to round our shoulders forward as a result of sitting at a computer or hunching over an iPhone. Failing to counteract this repetitive action can result in a shorter and weaker set of front body muscles (the anterior chain) and longer and weaker set of back body muscles (posterior chain).
Imagine you are wearing a Tiffany’s diamond necklace or an Olympic gold medal (whichever you would prefer). Now widen across the collarbone and show it off. This will help strengthen and lengthen the pecs and strengthen and shorten the set of muscles that support your shoulder blades which in turn anchor the arms and support the cervical spine.
A couple of other things to think about. The set of shoulder blade muscles referred to here aren’t attached by bones to the ribs or spine, so it is super important to strengthen them. We want to mobilise them with a gentle sliding/gliding movement.
One of the best reasons to do Pilates is to improve your posture. Not only does this make you look better (taller, leaner, etc.), it is the most efficient way to stabilise the spine because muscles and joints are working effectively. A neutral posture is with the head, ribs and pelvis stacked like boxes directly one on top of the other. Stand sideways in front of a mirror. Are you stacked?
Starting with your arms out in front of you (at about shoulder height), take them above your head towards the ceiling/sky. This should be a slow, smooth movement (as if moving through treacle). Think about what your ribs are doing. Are they still stacked or have your ribs popped forward? Chances are that they have popped forward. Return your arms to shoulder height and now really concentrate on pulling your ribs down towards your hips and directing your breath into the lower and back part of your ribs. Try lifting your hands up again. Better? Thought so! You’ve just activated your oblique muscles which along with the transversus abdominis are two key muscles that support the spine.
As you walk down the road next or even sit on a chair, think about whether you are stacked. Even better, really watch for the ribs popping next time to yawn and stretch! Keep those obliques engaged and stabilise the spine.
Head and Cervical Placement
Also known as cranio-vertebral flexion - quite the tongue twister! The average human head weighs about 5kg (that’s a lot of potatoes). When we flex our bodies forward, this puts a lot of strain on the cervical spine. We want to be able to flex forward as we build our core strength, so we use the “head nod” to help stabilise the head on the neck and prevent any strain as we exercise.
Lying down on the floor on your back, gently nod your head forwards as you inhale. Your head stays on the floor and the back of your neck will lengthen. This is a really small movement, you’re not trying to jam your chin into your chest, you should still be able to fit an orange between them.
The science. There are seven vertebrae in the cervical spine, the head nod activates the first two of these (the axis and atlas) only (hence the tiny movement). It’s said that there is a neuromuscular connection between the eyes and the neck flexor muscles, so your gaze is important here. It might help to imagine a set of traffic lights on the ceiling. As you nod your head, your gaze will move from red, to amber to green. Again, it’s a really small movement!
One more thing to note here. Head and cervical placement is important in all positions, not just when lying down on your back. Always be conscious to stack the head on the shoulders when sitting/standing and not allow it to hang forwards or back when kneeling or extending the back.
Lying on your back, with your knees bent, relax into what feels like a comfortable resting position. Notice how your ribs are positioned - are they relaxed/melting into the floor? If not, consciously try to imagine they are heavy to encourage that. Now, think about your lower back (the area directly below your belly button). Is it jammed into the floor? A neutral lumbar spine, will have a slightly curve to it (a lordotic curve). Imagine ants being able to walk through a little tunnel created by your bottom and ribs. This is our aim throughout the Pilates practice and out into daily activity because it is the most stable and shock absorbing position.
To encourage stabilising in this neutral position, place your hands in a triangle just below your belly button. Could you place a glass of champagne on that triangle without it tipping forwards, backwards or sideways? If so, you’re in neutral. Gently glide your ribs and pelvis closer together and away from eachother until you think you’ve got that triangle lying close to horizontal.
Occasionally, when we have fewer body parts on a solid surface to support our weight, we’ll use an imprinted position instead. This is even more supportive of the spine, particularly as you build your core strength. To find your imprint, place your thumbs on the bottom of each rib and your index finger down to your hip bones. You’ve essentially traced out your obliques! As you exhale, glide the ribs and hips closer together. It’s a small movement, probably only a centimetre. This activates and shortens the obliques to help strengthen them. Inhale and hold that position before releasing on an exhale. It helps here to imagine that as you exhale and draw your belly button closer to your spine, you are hollowing or scooping out the abdominal muscles.
So, that was A LOT of information to take in. Give it a couple of days and then have another read through and practice the exercises introduced. As you become more familiar with them, try incorporating them into daily activity. Perhaps when you wake up and are still lying in bed or when you find yourself with a couple of minutes as you wait for a train. That is the beauty of Pilates, it can be done anywhere and everywhere. You don’t need to spend any money or have any fancy equipment. Although you can do it that way too! Please reach out with your thoughts or questions, i’d be delighted to hear from you at [email protected].
Are you following me on social media? Visit bit.ly/esp-insta or bit.ly/esp-fb for more tips!
