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Pilates and Conditioning for Athletes
An Integrated Approach to Performance and Recovery
by Amy Lademann and Rick Lademann
264 Pages
- Agility
- Flexibility
- Mobility
- Power
- Speed
- Stability
- Strength
Then follow detailed instructions for 124 Pilates mat and traditional conditioning exercises to strengthen your core, improve your posture, increase flexibility, and correct muscle imbalances. You will learn the following:
- Breathing exercises to increase lung capacity and reduce stress
- Stretching routines to open your hips, hamstrings, and back
- Joint articulation to improve range of motion and balance
- Resistance training for strength and power
- Medicine ball training for working in diagonal and transverse planes
- A dynamic warm-up series to begin each training session
Successful athletes never leave their training to chance: Every workout is planned, every exercise is done for a specific reason, and each movement and program builds upon the previous one. Whether you are a weekend warrior, a college or professional athlete, or a 70-year-old triathlete, Pilates and Conditioning for Athletes will help you incorporate Pilates training to become a stronger, faster, healthier, and better-equipped athlete.
Earn continuing education credits/units! A continuing education exam that uses this book is also available. It may be purchased separately or as part of a package that includes both the book and exam.
Chapter 1. Functional Philosophy
Chapter 2. Goal Setting, Primary Assessment, and Visualization
Chapter 3. Daily Movements That Enhance Performance
Chapter 4. Movement Prep: Dynamic Warm-Up
Part II. Foundational Movement
Chapter 5. Pilates Exercises
Chapter 6. Training With Medicine Ball and Resistance Bands
Chapter 7. Fundamental Strength Exercises
Part III. Pick Your Program
Chapter 8. Foundational Workouts
Chapter 9. Intermediate, Advanced, and Sport-Specific Workouts
Amy Lademann, PMA-CPT, and her husband, Rick, are the founders of Beyond Motion, a state-of-the-art performance facility in Naples, Florida. Beyond Motion is designed to combine the worlds of athlete performance and Pilates. Since 2009 Amy and Rick have been recognized as leaders in the industry.
Amy danced as a child. At 16 she began her fitness career by becoming certified in aerobics and step aerobics. Her passion for fitness fueled her quest for knowledge, and throughout the next two decades she completed instructor training in the Nia Technique, Bellatone, Barre, Zumba (and other dance fitness programs), and yoga. Unfortunately, Amy developed very severe sciatica and back issues. After trying everything to alleviate her discomfort, she discovered Pilates and was instantly hooked: Pilates was the one thing that finally helped heal her pain. She began her Pilates career with Polestar in 2001 and continued her education in a variety of contemporary Pilates methods, including instructor training in MOTR and Bodhi through Balanced Body. In 2016 Amy partnered with the esteemed Pilates Education Institute to create Beyond Motion’s comprehensive Pilates Teacher Training Program. She has been nicknamed the Teacher’s Teacher by her students.
In 2017 Amy competed in her first figure and bikini competitions through the National Gym Association (NGA), a drug-free bodybuilding organization. At her first competition, she won first place in Figure Debut (first-time competitors), Figure Masters (competitors over 35 years old), and Figure Open (every age and level), and she won second place in Bikini Open. She also earned her pro card (meaning she can compete at the professional level) in figure competitions. In 2018 she competed again on an even larger stage and earned second place and third place in her divisions. Striving to improve herself is just as important to Amy now as it was when she began all those years ago.
Rick Lademann began working for Al Vermeil and the world champion Chicago Bulls while in his 20s. After three years, he headed to Colorado Springs, where he worked for USA Weightlifting under the care of former Romanian Olympic weightlifter Dragomir Cioroslan. Rick lived on the United States Olympic Training Center campus for two years and was instrumental in developing the junior squad and programming volume numbers for our Olympic athletes.
He then further expanded his career when he went to the U.S. Air Force Academy, also in Colorado, to assist the football team with their speed and strength program. During this time, he also worked with the USA Figure Skating team in Colorado Springs.
Next, Rick worked with internationally recognized orthopedic surgeons at the Steadman Hawkins Clinic as the strength and conditioning consultant. At the clinic Rick handled post physical therapy on their professional athletes, including the Colorado Rockies players. This led to the opportunity to become the primary performance coach for baseball player Larry Walker, the only Rockies player to ever win the National League MVP award. Even famed sportswriter Ken Rosenthal noticed a change in Walker’s performance after Rick began his work, stating that the program Rick created made such a difference in Walker’s performance that it was evident from the start of spring training.
Rick then served as the strength coach at the University of California at Berkley, where he was instrumental in helping the rugby team win a national championship in 2003. In addition to rugby, Rick served the men’s and women’s tennis, baseball, and basketball teams.
“I am so fortunate to have found Rick and Amy Lademann. Their extensive knowledge of Pilates and strength and conditioning has helped me achieve and maintain peak performance throughout my career. Without their training programs, I wouldn’t be where I am today.”
—Chris Sale, Pitcher for the Boston Red Sox
“Today’s athletes are looking for ways to develop optimal performance and longevity in their careers, and Pilates has become an important tool in that development. Pilates and Conditioning for Athletes is a must read for those looking to take their workouts into the future of athletic conditioning.”
—Jeff Smith, First-Base Coach for the Minnesota Twins
“The hardest thing for an athlete to find in the weight room every day is the desire to train. Rick Lademann and the Beyond Motion team create a fun and seriously detailed work environment, which made me want to be there and work even harder. Rick is one of the best strength coaches in the country, which is why so many world-class athletes seek him out for their off-season training programs. Having the book Pilates and Conditioning for Athletes is just like having him as your personal coach.”
—Bronson Arroyo, Former MLB Pitcher, MLB All-Star
“Rick Lademann has dedicated his life to coaching and developing professional athletes. He is the best I have ever seen at applying knowledge of how the body works to a specific sport. There’s no team I would trust more than Rick and Amy Lademann to prepare me for a healthy, successful season.”
—Collin Cowgill, Outfielder for the Philadelphia Phillies
Lateral skip with rotation exercise
Use the same marching rhythm of the lateral skip and add a crossover.
Use the same marching rhythm of the lateral skip and add a crossover.
TECHNIQUE
- As you perform the lateral skip, cross the back leg in front of the front leg by rotating the back hip up and forward (a and b).
- Rotate only the back leg forward. Do not rotate the forward leg backward. When going to the right, only cross over your left leg and come back to center each time and vice versa.
Coaching Tip
We can't express enough how important it is for an athlete to understand movement, and this education starts with skipping. Skipping teaches an athlete not only how to warm up correctly, but also how to move correctly.
The rhythm skips are elasticity exercises that teach an athlete how to become more reactive to the ground. This is important in developing speed, which is essential in all sports. The key factor in reaching full velocity is very little ground-contact time. In other words, the athlete's feet must be reactive and quickly push off the ground. This dynamic skipping series focuses on the athlete's reactivity to the ground. Skipping develops the first aspect of the agility pillar: establishing simple patterns for efficiently responding to the ground.
Pilates principles and the seven pillars
Pilates is a complete body-conditioning program that integrates your mind and body to improve precision in muscle control, strength, flexibility, and breath control.
Pilates is a complete body-conditioning program that integrates your mind and body to improve precision in muscle control, strength, flexibility, and breath control. Joseph himself described his system of Contrology as “a method of physical and mental conditioning.” The exercises within the Pilates repertoire help to activate lesser-used muscles and require full recruitment of your core (powerhouse). The movements work to develop more symmetrical muscle development, allowing you to work more efficiently and effectively.
Stability and Mobility
As mentioned earlier, each Pilates exercise incorporates a component of both stability and mobility. Integrating these components helps to create fluid movements that feel as if they glide from one exercise to another rather than a constant sensation of stopping one movement and then starting another. Think of Pilates as a way to create space and length within your body. It will open your joints, elongate your muscles, deepen your breath control, build your endurance, and connect your mind to your body. Your Pilates practice will help you to create an entirely new relationship with your body.
Flexibility
Pilates can correct body imbalances caused by injury or postural problems by aligning the body correctly and balancing the muscular and external forces affecting the joints, muscles, and skeleton. We use Pilates as an integral part of rehabilitation from overuse or misuse of the body, helping athletes reduce their chance of additional injuries postrecovery. We often find that many athletes' injuries are caused not only by weakness and compensation, but also by muscle tightness. By incorporating Pilates into their weekly program, they are able to increase their range of motion and enhance their overall flexibility.
Agility
Pilates will help to increase your spatial awareness and body control. These new patterns are fine-tuned through repetition and are directly transferable to the gym, field, court, course, or track.
Power
Pilates will help you increase your power output. Your body cannot generate power from a position of instability. Increased core stability is one of the key benefits of every Pilates program, enabling you to channel and maximize your power more efficiently and effectively. As your body develops greater strength and stability through your hips and core, you will be able to generate greater power and force. Many exercises mimic specific patterns along the kinetic chain that are used in movements on the field and court. The National Academy of Sports Medicine defines the kinetic chain as the relationship or connection between your nerves, muscles, and bones. The kinetic chain is broken into two categories, the open kinetic chain and the closed kinetic chain, and is used to help describe or classify exercises. For example, when you squat, your foot presses against the floor to raise and lower your body. This is a closed kinetic chain exercise. Using a leg curl machine, where the lower leg swings freely, is an example of an open kinetic chain exercise.
Strength and Speed
Pilates exercises such as the side-lying leg series place people in unilateral positions. By working through similar exercises, you discover how to balance your body's weaknesses and find greater symmetry and strength from your right to left side, and from the front to back of your body. Strength and flexibility have a direct correlation to speed. When athletes have a strong base and their muscles are “elastic” and flexible, they are more likely to increase their speed. Weak and tight muscles limit speed.
Relationship between Pilates and resistance training
Pilates and resistance training have a symbiotic relationship. Lifting weights is actually a neurologically driven movement working against external forces on your body while maintaining internal stability.
Pilates and resistance training have a symbiotic relationship. Lifting weights is actually a neurologically driven movement working against external forces on your body while maintaining internal stability. The patterns of what we do under tension are for a specific amount of time or a specific number of reps. Pilates is similar in the sense that it uses the stabilizing muscles in movement patterns using internal forces, but it demands fluidity. While these may sound similar, Pilates and resistance training have two different applications on our central nervous system. Weightlifting heightens the sympathetic nervous system, which is a response to stress on the body. Pilates heightens the parasympathetic nervous system, which slows the heart rate and relaxes the musculature within it. These two methods together create balance in your body that cannot be duplicated. Put them together in your training program and you will notice very quickly that your body moves with a greater sense of ease because you will be able to balance the two components of the central nervous system. Either component tends to be overtrained if you focus on just one or the other.
All wins happen because the players on a team are prepared. The coach created a game plan and each player knew their role and perfected their skills. What is your goal? Is it to become stronger? Do you need to improve your flexibility and mobility? Are you working to become faster? Are you recovering from an injury and need to improve your agility and stability?
Single-leg stretch exercise
The single-leg stretch increases the flexibility of your hip flexors, strengthens your core, and stretches your back and legs.
The single-leg stretch increases the flexibility of your hip flexors, strengthens your core, and stretches your back and legs. Because your upper body remains in flexion throughout the series, your entire powerhouse works, which increases your stamina and endurance.
TECHNIQUE
- Lie supine. The knees are bent, feet on the floor hip-width apart, and arms alongside the body (a).
- Exhale while straightening one leg and place the hands firmly on the shin of the opposite leg just below the knee. The knee comes in to the body just beyond tabletop while the other leg extends away fully from the body at a 45-degree angle (b).
- Inhale as that leg comes back toward the body, and exhale to extend the other leg while holding the bent leg with both hands.
REPETITION
Repeat, inhaling as the legs pass and exhaling as the single leg extends. Extend each leg 6 to 10 times.
Lateral skip with rotation exercise
Use the same marching rhythm of the lateral skip and add a crossover.
Use the same marching rhythm of the lateral skip and add a crossover.
TECHNIQUE
- As you perform the lateral skip, cross the back leg in front of the front leg by rotating the back hip up and forward (a and b).
- Rotate only the back leg forward. Do not rotate the forward leg backward. When going to the right, only cross over your left leg and come back to center each time and vice versa.
Coaching Tip
We can't express enough how important it is for an athlete to understand movement, and this education starts with skipping. Skipping teaches an athlete not only how to warm up correctly, but also how to move correctly.
The rhythm skips are elasticity exercises that teach an athlete how to become more reactive to the ground. This is important in developing speed, which is essential in all sports. The key factor in reaching full velocity is very little ground-contact time. In other words, the athlete's feet must be reactive and quickly push off the ground. This dynamic skipping series focuses on the athlete's reactivity to the ground. Skipping develops the first aspect of the agility pillar: establishing simple patterns for efficiently responding to the ground.
Pilates principles and the seven pillars
Pilates is a complete body-conditioning program that integrates your mind and body to improve precision in muscle control, strength, flexibility, and breath control.
Pilates is a complete body-conditioning program that integrates your mind and body to improve precision in muscle control, strength, flexibility, and breath control. Joseph himself described his system of Contrology as “a method of physical and mental conditioning.” The exercises within the Pilates repertoire help to activate lesser-used muscles and require full recruitment of your core (powerhouse). The movements work to develop more symmetrical muscle development, allowing you to work more efficiently and effectively.
Stability and Mobility
As mentioned earlier, each Pilates exercise incorporates a component of both stability and mobility. Integrating these components helps to create fluid movements that feel as if they glide from one exercise to another rather than a constant sensation of stopping one movement and then starting another. Think of Pilates as a way to create space and length within your body. It will open your joints, elongate your muscles, deepen your breath control, build your endurance, and connect your mind to your body. Your Pilates practice will help you to create an entirely new relationship with your body.
Flexibility
Pilates can correct body imbalances caused by injury or postural problems by aligning the body correctly and balancing the muscular and external forces affecting the joints, muscles, and skeleton. We use Pilates as an integral part of rehabilitation from overuse or misuse of the body, helping athletes reduce their chance of additional injuries postrecovery. We often find that many athletes' injuries are caused not only by weakness and compensation, but also by muscle tightness. By incorporating Pilates into their weekly program, they are able to increase their range of motion and enhance their overall flexibility.
Agility
Pilates will help to increase your spatial awareness and body control. These new patterns are fine-tuned through repetition and are directly transferable to the gym, field, court, course, or track.
Power
Pilates will help you increase your power output. Your body cannot generate power from a position of instability. Increased core stability is one of the key benefits of every Pilates program, enabling you to channel and maximize your power more efficiently and effectively. As your body develops greater strength and stability through your hips and core, you will be able to generate greater power and force. Many exercises mimic specific patterns along the kinetic chain that are used in movements on the field and court. The National Academy of Sports Medicine defines the kinetic chain as the relationship or connection between your nerves, muscles, and bones. The kinetic chain is broken into two categories, the open kinetic chain and the closed kinetic chain, and is used to help describe or classify exercises. For example, when you squat, your foot presses against the floor to raise and lower your body. This is a closed kinetic chain exercise. Using a leg curl machine, where the lower leg swings freely, is an example of an open kinetic chain exercise.
Strength and Speed
Pilates exercises such as the side-lying leg series place people in unilateral positions. By working through similar exercises, you discover how to balance your body's weaknesses and find greater symmetry and strength from your right to left side, and from the front to back of your body. Strength and flexibility have a direct correlation to speed. When athletes have a strong base and their muscles are “elastic” and flexible, they are more likely to increase their speed. Weak and tight muscles limit speed.
Relationship between Pilates and resistance training
Pilates and resistance training have a symbiotic relationship. Lifting weights is actually a neurologically driven movement working against external forces on your body while maintaining internal stability.
Pilates and resistance training have a symbiotic relationship. Lifting weights is actually a neurologically driven movement working against external forces on your body while maintaining internal stability. The patterns of what we do under tension are for a specific amount of time or a specific number of reps. Pilates is similar in the sense that it uses the stabilizing muscles in movement patterns using internal forces, but it demands fluidity. While these may sound similar, Pilates and resistance training have two different applications on our central nervous system. Weightlifting heightens the sympathetic nervous system, which is a response to stress on the body. Pilates heightens the parasympathetic nervous system, which slows the heart rate and relaxes the musculature within it. These two methods together create balance in your body that cannot be duplicated. Put them together in your training program and you will notice very quickly that your body moves with a greater sense of ease because you will be able to balance the two components of the central nervous system. Either component tends to be overtrained if you focus on just one or the other.
All wins happen because the players on a team are prepared. The coach created a game plan and each player knew their role and perfected their skills. What is your goal? Is it to become stronger? Do you need to improve your flexibility and mobility? Are you working to become faster? Are you recovering from an injury and need to improve your agility and stability?
Single-leg stretch exercise
The single-leg stretch increases the flexibility of your hip flexors, strengthens your core, and stretches your back and legs.
The single-leg stretch increases the flexibility of your hip flexors, strengthens your core, and stretches your back and legs. Because your upper body remains in flexion throughout the series, your entire powerhouse works, which increases your stamina and endurance.
TECHNIQUE
- Lie supine. The knees are bent, feet on the floor hip-width apart, and arms alongside the body (a).
- Exhale while straightening one leg and place the hands firmly on the shin of the opposite leg just below the knee. The knee comes in to the body just beyond tabletop while the other leg extends away fully from the body at a 45-degree angle (b).
- Inhale as that leg comes back toward the body, and exhale to extend the other leg while holding the bent leg with both hands.
REPETITION
Repeat, inhaling as the legs pass and exhaling as the single leg extends. Extend each leg 6 to 10 times.
Lateral skip with rotation exercise
Use the same marching rhythm of the lateral skip and add a crossover.
Use the same marching rhythm of the lateral skip and add a crossover.
TECHNIQUE
- As you perform the lateral skip, cross the back leg in front of the front leg by rotating the back hip up and forward (a and b).
- Rotate only the back leg forward. Do not rotate the forward leg backward. When going to the right, only cross over your left leg and come back to center each time and vice versa.
Coaching Tip
We can't express enough how important it is for an athlete to understand movement, and this education starts with skipping. Skipping teaches an athlete not only how to warm up correctly, but also how to move correctly.
The rhythm skips are elasticity exercises that teach an athlete how to become more reactive to the ground. This is important in developing speed, which is essential in all sports. The key factor in reaching full velocity is very little ground-contact time. In other words, the athlete's feet must be reactive and quickly push off the ground. This dynamic skipping series focuses on the athlete's reactivity to the ground. Skipping develops the first aspect of the agility pillar: establishing simple patterns for efficiently responding to the ground.
Pilates principles and the seven pillars
Pilates is a complete body-conditioning program that integrates your mind and body to improve precision in muscle control, strength, flexibility, and breath control.
Pilates is a complete body-conditioning program that integrates your mind and body to improve precision in muscle control, strength, flexibility, and breath control. Joseph himself described his system of Contrology as “a method of physical and mental conditioning.” The exercises within the Pilates repertoire help to activate lesser-used muscles and require full recruitment of your core (powerhouse). The movements work to develop more symmetrical muscle development, allowing you to work more efficiently and effectively.
Stability and Mobility
As mentioned earlier, each Pilates exercise incorporates a component of both stability and mobility. Integrating these components helps to create fluid movements that feel as if they glide from one exercise to another rather than a constant sensation of stopping one movement and then starting another. Think of Pilates as a way to create space and length within your body. It will open your joints, elongate your muscles, deepen your breath control, build your endurance, and connect your mind to your body. Your Pilates practice will help you to create an entirely new relationship with your body.
Flexibility
Pilates can correct body imbalances caused by injury or postural problems by aligning the body correctly and balancing the muscular and external forces affecting the joints, muscles, and skeleton. We use Pilates as an integral part of rehabilitation from overuse or misuse of the body, helping athletes reduce their chance of additional injuries postrecovery. We often find that many athletes' injuries are caused not only by weakness and compensation, but also by muscle tightness. By incorporating Pilates into their weekly program, they are able to increase their range of motion and enhance their overall flexibility.
Agility
Pilates will help to increase your spatial awareness and body control. These new patterns are fine-tuned through repetition and are directly transferable to the gym, field, court, course, or track.
Power
Pilates will help you increase your power output. Your body cannot generate power from a position of instability. Increased core stability is one of the key benefits of every Pilates program, enabling you to channel and maximize your power more efficiently and effectively. As your body develops greater strength and stability through your hips and core, you will be able to generate greater power and force. Many exercises mimic specific patterns along the kinetic chain that are used in movements on the field and court. The National Academy of Sports Medicine defines the kinetic chain as the relationship or connection between your nerves, muscles, and bones. The kinetic chain is broken into two categories, the open kinetic chain and the closed kinetic chain, and is used to help describe or classify exercises. For example, when you squat, your foot presses against the floor to raise and lower your body. This is a closed kinetic chain exercise. Using a leg curl machine, where the lower leg swings freely, is an example of an open kinetic chain exercise.
Strength and Speed
Pilates exercises such as the side-lying leg series place people in unilateral positions. By working through similar exercises, you discover how to balance your body's weaknesses and find greater symmetry and strength from your right to left side, and from the front to back of your body. Strength and flexibility have a direct correlation to speed. When athletes have a strong base and their muscles are “elastic” and flexible, they are more likely to increase their speed. Weak and tight muscles limit speed.
Relationship between Pilates and resistance training
Pilates and resistance training have a symbiotic relationship. Lifting weights is actually a neurologically driven movement working against external forces on your body while maintaining internal stability.
Pilates and resistance training have a symbiotic relationship. Lifting weights is actually a neurologically driven movement working against external forces on your body while maintaining internal stability. The patterns of what we do under tension are for a specific amount of time or a specific number of reps. Pilates is similar in the sense that it uses the stabilizing muscles in movement patterns using internal forces, but it demands fluidity. While these may sound similar, Pilates and resistance training have two different applications on our central nervous system. Weightlifting heightens the sympathetic nervous system, which is a response to stress on the body. Pilates heightens the parasympathetic nervous system, which slows the heart rate and relaxes the musculature within it. These two methods together create balance in your body that cannot be duplicated. Put them together in your training program and you will notice very quickly that your body moves with a greater sense of ease because you will be able to balance the two components of the central nervous system. Either component tends to be overtrained if you focus on just one or the other.
All wins happen because the players on a team are prepared. The coach created a game plan and each player knew their role and perfected their skills. What is your goal? Is it to become stronger? Do you need to improve your flexibility and mobility? Are you working to become faster? Are you recovering from an injury and need to improve your agility and stability?
Single-leg stretch exercise
The single-leg stretch increases the flexibility of your hip flexors, strengthens your core, and stretches your back and legs.
The single-leg stretch increases the flexibility of your hip flexors, strengthens your core, and stretches your back and legs. Because your upper body remains in flexion throughout the series, your entire powerhouse works, which increases your stamina and endurance.
TECHNIQUE
- Lie supine. The knees are bent, feet on the floor hip-width apart, and arms alongside the body (a).
- Exhale while straightening one leg and place the hands firmly on the shin of the opposite leg just below the knee. The knee comes in to the body just beyond tabletop while the other leg extends away fully from the body at a 45-degree angle (b).
- Inhale as that leg comes back toward the body, and exhale to extend the other leg while holding the bent leg with both hands.
REPETITION
Repeat, inhaling as the legs pass and exhaling as the single leg extends. Extend each leg 6 to 10 times.
Lateral skip with rotation exercise
Use the same marching rhythm of the lateral skip and add a crossover.
Use the same marching rhythm of the lateral skip and add a crossover.
TECHNIQUE
- As you perform the lateral skip, cross the back leg in front of the front leg by rotating the back hip up and forward (a and b).
- Rotate only the back leg forward. Do not rotate the forward leg backward. When going to the right, only cross over your left leg and come back to center each time and vice versa.
Coaching Tip
We can't express enough how important it is for an athlete to understand movement, and this education starts with skipping. Skipping teaches an athlete not only how to warm up correctly, but also how to move correctly.
The rhythm skips are elasticity exercises that teach an athlete how to become more reactive to the ground. This is important in developing speed, which is essential in all sports. The key factor in reaching full velocity is very little ground-contact time. In other words, the athlete's feet must be reactive and quickly push off the ground. This dynamic skipping series focuses on the athlete's reactivity to the ground. Skipping develops the first aspect of the agility pillar: establishing simple patterns for efficiently responding to the ground.
Pilates principles and the seven pillars
Pilates is a complete body-conditioning program that integrates your mind and body to improve precision in muscle control, strength, flexibility, and breath control.
Pilates is a complete body-conditioning program that integrates your mind and body to improve precision in muscle control, strength, flexibility, and breath control. Joseph himself described his system of Contrology as “a method of physical and mental conditioning.” The exercises within the Pilates repertoire help to activate lesser-used muscles and require full recruitment of your core (powerhouse). The movements work to develop more symmetrical muscle development, allowing you to work more efficiently and effectively.
Stability and Mobility
As mentioned earlier, each Pilates exercise incorporates a component of both stability and mobility. Integrating these components helps to create fluid movements that feel as if they glide from one exercise to another rather than a constant sensation of stopping one movement and then starting another. Think of Pilates as a way to create space and length within your body. It will open your joints, elongate your muscles, deepen your breath control, build your endurance, and connect your mind to your body. Your Pilates practice will help you to create an entirely new relationship with your body.
Flexibility
Pilates can correct body imbalances caused by injury or postural problems by aligning the body correctly and balancing the muscular and external forces affecting the joints, muscles, and skeleton. We use Pilates as an integral part of rehabilitation from overuse or misuse of the body, helping athletes reduce their chance of additional injuries postrecovery. We often find that many athletes' injuries are caused not only by weakness and compensation, but also by muscle tightness. By incorporating Pilates into their weekly program, they are able to increase their range of motion and enhance their overall flexibility.
Agility
Pilates will help to increase your spatial awareness and body control. These new patterns are fine-tuned through repetition and are directly transferable to the gym, field, court, course, or track.
Power
Pilates will help you increase your power output. Your body cannot generate power from a position of instability. Increased core stability is one of the key benefits of every Pilates program, enabling you to channel and maximize your power more efficiently and effectively. As your body develops greater strength and stability through your hips and core, you will be able to generate greater power and force. Many exercises mimic specific patterns along the kinetic chain that are used in movements on the field and court. The National Academy of Sports Medicine defines the kinetic chain as the relationship or connection between your nerves, muscles, and bones. The kinetic chain is broken into two categories, the open kinetic chain and the closed kinetic chain, and is used to help describe or classify exercises. For example, when you squat, your foot presses against the floor to raise and lower your body. This is a closed kinetic chain exercise. Using a leg curl machine, where the lower leg swings freely, is an example of an open kinetic chain exercise.
Strength and Speed
Pilates exercises such as the side-lying leg series place people in unilateral positions. By working through similar exercises, you discover how to balance your body's weaknesses and find greater symmetry and strength from your right to left side, and from the front to back of your body. Strength and flexibility have a direct correlation to speed. When athletes have a strong base and their muscles are “elastic” and flexible, they are more likely to increase their speed. Weak and tight muscles limit speed.
Relationship between Pilates and resistance training
Pilates and resistance training have a symbiotic relationship. Lifting weights is actually a neurologically driven movement working against external forces on your body while maintaining internal stability.
Pilates and resistance training have a symbiotic relationship. Lifting weights is actually a neurologically driven movement working against external forces on your body while maintaining internal stability. The patterns of what we do under tension are for a specific amount of time or a specific number of reps. Pilates is similar in the sense that it uses the stabilizing muscles in movement patterns using internal forces, but it demands fluidity. While these may sound similar, Pilates and resistance training have two different applications on our central nervous system. Weightlifting heightens the sympathetic nervous system, which is a response to stress on the body. Pilates heightens the parasympathetic nervous system, which slows the heart rate and relaxes the musculature within it. These two methods together create balance in your body that cannot be duplicated. Put them together in your training program and you will notice very quickly that your body moves with a greater sense of ease because you will be able to balance the two components of the central nervous system. Either component tends to be overtrained if you focus on just one or the other.
All wins happen because the players on a team are prepared. The coach created a game plan and each player knew their role and perfected their skills. What is your goal? Is it to become stronger? Do you need to improve your flexibility and mobility? Are you working to become faster? Are you recovering from an injury and need to improve your agility and stability?
Single-leg stretch exercise
The single-leg stretch increases the flexibility of your hip flexors, strengthens your core, and stretches your back and legs.
The single-leg stretch increases the flexibility of your hip flexors, strengthens your core, and stretches your back and legs. Because your upper body remains in flexion throughout the series, your entire powerhouse works, which increases your stamina and endurance.
TECHNIQUE
- Lie supine. The knees are bent, feet on the floor hip-width apart, and arms alongside the body (a).
- Exhale while straightening one leg and place the hands firmly on the shin of the opposite leg just below the knee. The knee comes in to the body just beyond tabletop while the other leg extends away fully from the body at a 45-degree angle (b).
- Inhale as that leg comes back toward the body, and exhale to extend the other leg while holding the bent leg with both hands.
REPETITION
Repeat, inhaling as the legs pass and exhaling as the single leg extends. Extend each leg 6 to 10 times.
Lateral skip with rotation exercise
Use the same marching rhythm of the lateral skip and add a crossover.
Use the same marching rhythm of the lateral skip and add a crossover.
TECHNIQUE
- As you perform the lateral skip, cross the back leg in front of the front leg by rotating the back hip up and forward (a and b).
- Rotate only the back leg forward. Do not rotate the forward leg backward. When going to the right, only cross over your left leg and come back to center each time and vice versa.
Coaching Tip
We can't express enough how important it is for an athlete to understand movement, and this education starts with skipping. Skipping teaches an athlete not only how to warm up correctly, but also how to move correctly.
The rhythm skips are elasticity exercises that teach an athlete how to become more reactive to the ground. This is important in developing speed, which is essential in all sports. The key factor in reaching full velocity is very little ground-contact time. In other words, the athlete's feet must be reactive and quickly push off the ground. This dynamic skipping series focuses on the athlete's reactivity to the ground. Skipping develops the first aspect of the agility pillar: establishing simple patterns for efficiently responding to the ground.
Pilates principles and the seven pillars
Pilates is a complete body-conditioning program that integrates your mind and body to improve precision in muscle control, strength, flexibility, and breath control.
Pilates is a complete body-conditioning program that integrates your mind and body to improve precision in muscle control, strength, flexibility, and breath control. Joseph himself described his system of Contrology as “a method of physical and mental conditioning.” The exercises within the Pilates repertoire help to activate lesser-used muscles and require full recruitment of your core (powerhouse). The movements work to develop more symmetrical muscle development, allowing you to work more efficiently and effectively.
Stability and Mobility
As mentioned earlier, each Pilates exercise incorporates a component of both stability and mobility. Integrating these components helps to create fluid movements that feel as if they glide from one exercise to another rather than a constant sensation of stopping one movement and then starting another. Think of Pilates as a way to create space and length within your body. It will open your joints, elongate your muscles, deepen your breath control, build your endurance, and connect your mind to your body. Your Pilates practice will help you to create an entirely new relationship with your body.
Flexibility
Pilates can correct body imbalances caused by injury or postural problems by aligning the body correctly and balancing the muscular and external forces affecting the joints, muscles, and skeleton. We use Pilates as an integral part of rehabilitation from overuse or misuse of the body, helping athletes reduce their chance of additional injuries postrecovery. We often find that many athletes' injuries are caused not only by weakness and compensation, but also by muscle tightness. By incorporating Pilates into their weekly program, they are able to increase their range of motion and enhance their overall flexibility.
Agility
Pilates will help to increase your spatial awareness and body control. These new patterns are fine-tuned through repetition and are directly transferable to the gym, field, court, course, or track.
Power
Pilates will help you increase your power output. Your body cannot generate power from a position of instability. Increased core stability is one of the key benefits of every Pilates program, enabling you to channel and maximize your power more efficiently and effectively. As your body develops greater strength and stability through your hips and core, you will be able to generate greater power and force. Many exercises mimic specific patterns along the kinetic chain that are used in movements on the field and court. The National Academy of Sports Medicine defines the kinetic chain as the relationship or connection between your nerves, muscles, and bones. The kinetic chain is broken into two categories, the open kinetic chain and the closed kinetic chain, and is used to help describe or classify exercises. For example, when you squat, your foot presses against the floor to raise and lower your body. This is a closed kinetic chain exercise. Using a leg curl machine, where the lower leg swings freely, is an example of an open kinetic chain exercise.
Strength and Speed
Pilates exercises such as the side-lying leg series place people in unilateral positions. By working through similar exercises, you discover how to balance your body's weaknesses and find greater symmetry and strength from your right to left side, and from the front to back of your body. Strength and flexibility have a direct correlation to speed. When athletes have a strong base and their muscles are “elastic” and flexible, they are more likely to increase their speed. Weak and tight muscles limit speed.
Relationship between Pilates and resistance training
Pilates and resistance training have a symbiotic relationship. Lifting weights is actually a neurologically driven movement working against external forces on your body while maintaining internal stability.
Pilates and resistance training have a symbiotic relationship. Lifting weights is actually a neurologically driven movement working against external forces on your body while maintaining internal stability. The patterns of what we do under tension are for a specific amount of time or a specific number of reps. Pilates is similar in the sense that it uses the stabilizing muscles in movement patterns using internal forces, but it demands fluidity. While these may sound similar, Pilates and resistance training have two different applications on our central nervous system. Weightlifting heightens the sympathetic nervous system, which is a response to stress on the body. Pilates heightens the parasympathetic nervous system, which slows the heart rate and relaxes the musculature within it. These two methods together create balance in your body that cannot be duplicated. Put them together in your training program and you will notice very quickly that your body moves with a greater sense of ease because you will be able to balance the two components of the central nervous system. Either component tends to be overtrained if you focus on just one or the other.
All wins happen because the players on a team are prepared. The coach created a game plan and each player knew their role and perfected their skills. What is your goal? Is it to become stronger? Do you need to improve your flexibility and mobility? Are you working to become faster? Are you recovering from an injury and need to improve your agility and stability?
Single-leg stretch exercise
The single-leg stretch increases the flexibility of your hip flexors, strengthens your core, and stretches your back and legs.
The single-leg stretch increases the flexibility of your hip flexors, strengthens your core, and stretches your back and legs. Because your upper body remains in flexion throughout the series, your entire powerhouse works, which increases your stamina and endurance.
TECHNIQUE
- Lie supine. The knees are bent, feet on the floor hip-width apart, and arms alongside the body (a).
- Exhale while straightening one leg and place the hands firmly on the shin of the opposite leg just below the knee. The knee comes in to the body just beyond tabletop while the other leg extends away fully from the body at a 45-degree angle (b).
- Inhale as that leg comes back toward the body, and exhale to extend the other leg while holding the bent leg with both hands.
REPETITION
Repeat, inhaling as the legs pass and exhaling as the single leg extends. Extend each leg 6 to 10 times.
Lateral skip with rotation exercise
Use the same marching rhythm of the lateral skip and add a crossover.
Use the same marching rhythm of the lateral skip and add a crossover.
TECHNIQUE
- As you perform the lateral skip, cross the back leg in front of the front leg by rotating the back hip up and forward (a and b).
- Rotate only the back leg forward. Do not rotate the forward leg backward. When going to the right, only cross over your left leg and come back to center each time and vice versa.
Coaching Tip
We can't express enough how important it is for an athlete to understand movement, and this education starts with skipping. Skipping teaches an athlete not only how to warm up correctly, but also how to move correctly.
The rhythm skips are elasticity exercises that teach an athlete how to become more reactive to the ground. This is important in developing speed, which is essential in all sports. The key factor in reaching full velocity is very little ground-contact time. In other words, the athlete's feet must be reactive and quickly push off the ground. This dynamic skipping series focuses on the athlete's reactivity to the ground. Skipping develops the first aspect of the agility pillar: establishing simple patterns for efficiently responding to the ground.
Pilates principles and the seven pillars
Pilates is a complete body-conditioning program that integrates your mind and body to improve precision in muscle control, strength, flexibility, and breath control.
Pilates is a complete body-conditioning program that integrates your mind and body to improve precision in muscle control, strength, flexibility, and breath control. Joseph himself described his system of Contrology as “a method of physical and mental conditioning.” The exercises within the Pilates repertoire help to activate lesser-used muscles and require full recruitment of your core (powerhouse). The movements work to develop more symmetrical muscle development, allowing you to work more efficiently and effectively.
Stability and Mobility
As mentioned earlier, each Pilates exercise incorporates a component of both stability and mobility. Integrating these components helps to create fluid movements that feel as if they glide from one exercise to another rather than a constant sensation of stopping one movement and then starting another. Think of Pilates as a way to create space and length within your body. It will open your joints, elongate your muscles, deepen your breath control, build your endurance, and connect your mind to your body. Your Pilates practice will help you to create an entirely new relationship with your body.
Flexibility
Pilates can correct body imbalances caused by injury or postural problems by aligning the body correctly and balancing the muscular and external forces affecting the joints, muscles, and skeleton. We use Pilates as an integral part of rehabilitation from overuse or misuse of the body, helping athletes reduce their chance of additional injuries postrecovery. We often find that many athletes' injuries are caused not only by weakness and compensation, but also by muscle tightness. By incorporating Pilates into their weekly program, they are able to increase their range of motion and enhance their overall flexibility.
Agility
Pilates will help to increase your spatial awareness and body control. These new patterns are fine-tuned through repetition and are directly transferable to the gym, field, court, course, or track.
Power
Pilates will help you increase your power output. Your body cannot generate power from a position of instability. Increased core stability is one of the key benefits of every Pilates program, enabling you to channel and maximize your power more efficiently and effectively. As your body develops greater strength and stability through your hips and core, you will be able to generate greater power and force. Many exercises mimic specific patterns along the kinetic chain that are used in movements on the field and court. The National Academy of Sports Medicine defines the kinetic chain as the relationship or connection between your nerves, muscles, and bones. The kinetic chain is broken into two categories, the open kinetic chain and the closed kinetic chain, and is used to help describe or classify exercises. For example, when you squat, your foot presses against the floor to raise and lower your body. This is a closed kinetic chain exercise. Using a leg curl machine, where the lower leg swings freely, is an example of an open kinetic chain exercise.
Strength and Speed
Pilates exercises such as the side-lying leg series place people in unilateral positions. By working through similar exercises, you discover how to balance your body's weaknesses and find greater symmetry and strength from your right to left side, and from the front to back of your body. Strength and flexibility have a direct correlation to speed. When athletes have a strong base and their muscles are “elastic” and flexible, they are more likely to increase their speed. Weak and tight muscles limit speed.
Relationship between Pilates and resistance training
Pilates and resistance training have a symbiotic relationship. Lifting weights is actually a neurologically driven movement working against external forces on your body while maintaining internal stability.
Pilates and resistance training have a symbiotic relationship. Lifting weights is actually a neurologically driven movement working against external forces on your body while maintaining internal stability. The patterns of what we do under tension are for a specific amount of time or a specific number of reps. Pilates is similar in the sense that it uses the stabilizing muscles in movement patterns using internal forces, but it demands fluidity. While these may sound similar, Pilates and resistance training have two different applications on our central nervous system. Weightlifting heightens the sympathetic nervous system, which is a response to stress on the body. Pilates heightens the parasympathetic nervous system, which slows the heart rate and relaxes the musculature within it. These two methods together create balance in your body that cannot be duplicated. Put them together in your training program and you will notice very quickly that your body moves with a greater sense of ease because you will be able to balance the two components of the central nervous system. Either component tends to be overtrained if you focus on just one or the other.
All wins happen because the players on a team are prepared. The coach created a game plan and each player knew their role and perfected their skills. What is your goal? Is it to become stronger? Do you need to improve your flexibility and mobility? Are you working to become faster? Are you recovering from an injury and need to improve your agility and stability?
Single-leg stretch exercise
The single-leg stretch increases the flexibility of your hip flexors, strengthens your core, and stretches your back and legs.
The single-leg stretch increases the flexibility of your hip flexors, strengthens your core, and stretches your back and legs. Because your upper body remains in flexion throughout the series, your entire powerhouse works, which increases your stamina and endurance.
TECHNIQUE
- Lie supine. The knees are bent, feet on the floor hip-width apart, and arms alongside the body (a).
- Exhale while straightening one leg and place the hands firmly on the shin of the opposite leg just below the knee. The knee comes in to the body just beyond tabletop while the other leg extends away fully from the body at a 45-degree angle (b).
- Inhale as that leg comes back toward the body, and exhale to extend the other leg while holding the bent leg with both hands.
REPETITION
Repeat, inhaling as the legs pass and exhaling as the single leg extends. Extend each leg 6 to 10 times.
Lateral skip with rotation exercise
Use the same marching rhythm of the lateral skip and add a crossover.
Use the same marching rhythm of the lateral skip and add a crossover.
TECHNIQUE
- As you perform the lateral skip, cross the back leg in front of the front leg by rotating the back hip up and forward (a and b).
- Rotate only the back leg forward. Do not rotate the forward leg backward. When going to the right, only cross over your left leg and come back to center each time and vice versa.
Coaching Tip
We can't express enough how important it is for an athlete to understand movement, and this education starts with skipping. Skipping teaches an athlete not only how to warm up correctly, but also how to move correctly.
The rhythm skips are elasticity exercises that teach an athlete how to become more reactive to the ground. This is important in developing speed, which is essential in all sports. The key factor in reaching full velocity is very little ground-contact time. In other words, the athlete's feet must be reactive and quickly push off the ground. This dynamic skipping series focuses on the athlete's reactivity to the ground. Skipping develops the first aspect of the agility pillar: establishing simple patterns for efficiently responding to the ground.
Pilates principles and the seven pillars
Pilates is a complete body-conditioning program that integrates your mind and body to improve precision in muscle control, strength, flexibility, and breath control.
Pilates is a complete body-conditioning program that integrates your mind and body to improve precision in muscle control, strength, flexibility, and breath control. Joseph himself described his system of Contrology as “a method of physical and mental conditioning.” The exercises within the Pilates repertoire help to activate lesser-used muscles and require full recruitment of your core (powerhouse). The movements work to develop more symmetrical muscle development, allowing you to work more efficiently and effectively.
Stability and Mobility
As mentioned earlier, each Pilates exercise incorporates a component of both stability and mobility. Integrating these components helps to create fluid movements that feel as if they glide from one exercise to another rather than a constant sensation of stopping one movement and then starting another. Think of Pilates as a way to create space and length within your body. It will open your joints, elongate your muscles, deepen your breath control, build your endurance, and connect your mind to your body. Your Pilates practice will help you to create an entirely new relationship with your body.
Flexibility
Pilates can correct body imbalances caused by injury or postural problems by aligning the body correctly and balancing the muscular and external forces affecting the joints, muscles, and skeleton. We use Pilates as an integral part of rehabilitation from overuse or misuse of the body, helping athletes reduce their chance of additional injuries postrecovery. We often find that many athletes' injuries are caused not only by weakness and compensation, but also by muscle tightness. By incorporating Pilates into their weekly program, they are able to increase their range of motion and enhance their overall flexibility.
Agility
Pilates will help to increase your spatial awareness and body control. These new patterns are fine-tuned through repetition and are directly transferable to the gym, field, court, course, or track.
Power
Pilates will help you increase your power output. Your body cannot generate power from a position of instability. Increased core stability is one of the key benefits of every Pilates program, enabling you to channel and maximize your power more efficiently and effectively. As your body develops greater strength and stability through your hips and core, you will be able to generate greater power and force. Many exercises mimic specific patterns along the kinetic chain that are used in movements on the field and court. The National Academy of Sports Medicine defines the kinetic chain as the relationship or connection between your nerves, muscles, and bones. The kinetic chain is broken into two categories, the open kinetic chain and the closed kinetic chain, and is used to help describe or classify exercises. For example, when you squat, your foot presses against the floor to raise and lower your body. This is a closed kinetic chain exercise. Using a leg curl machine, where the lower leg swings freely, is an example of an open kinetic chain exercise.
Strength and Speed
Pilates exercises such as the side-lying leg series place people in unilateral positions. By working through similar exercises, you discover how to balance your body's weaknesses and find greater symmetry and strength from your right to left side, and from the front to back of your body. Strength and flexibility have a direct correlation to speed. When athletes have a strong base and their muscles are “elastic” and flexible, they are more likely to increase their speed. Weak and tight muscles limit speed.
Relationship between Pilates and resistance training
Pilates and resistance training have a symbiotic relationship. Lifting weights is actually a neurologically driven movement working against external forces on your body while maintaining internal stability.
Pilates and resistance training have a symbiotic relationship. Lifting weights is actually a neurologically driven movement working against external forces on your body while maintaining internal stability. The patterns of what we do under tension are for a specific amount of time or a specific number of reps. Pilates is similar in the sense that it uses the stabilizing muscles in movement patterns using internal forces, but it demands fluidity. While these may sound similar, Pilates and resistance training have two different applications on our central nervous system. Weightlifting heightens the sympathetic nervous system, which is a response to stress on the body. Pilates heightens the parasympathetic nervous system, which slows the heart rate and relaxes the musculature within it. These two methods together create balance in your body that cannot be duplicated. Put them together in your training program and you will notice very quickly that your body moves with a greater sense of ease because you will be able to balance the two components of the central nervous system. Either component tends to be overtrained if you focus on just one or the other.
All wins happen because the players on a team are prepared. The coach created a game plan and each player knew their role and perfected their skills. What is your goal? Is it to become stronger? Do you need to improve your flexibility and mobility? Are you working to become faster? Are you recovering from an injury and need to improve your agility and stability?
Single-leg stretch exercise
The single-leg stretch increases the flexibility of your hip flexors, strengthens your core, and stretches your back and legs.
The single-leg stretch increases the flexibility of your hip flexors, strengthens your core, and stretches your back and legs. Because your upper body remains in flexion throughout the series, your entire powerhouse works, which increases your stamina and endurance.
TECHNIQUE
- Lie supine. The knees are bent, feet on the floor hip-width apart, and arms alongside the body (a).
- Exhale while straightening one leg and place the hands firmly on the shin of the opposite leg just below the knee. The knee comes in to the body just beyond tabletop while the other leg extends away fully from the body at a 45-degree angle (b).
- Inhale as that leg comes back toward the body, and exhale to extend the other leg while holding the bent leg with both hands.
REPETITION
Repeat, inhaling as the legs pass and exhaling as the single leg extends. Extend each leg 6 to 10 times.
Lateral skip with rotation exercise
Use the same marching rhythm of the lateral skip and add a crossover.
Use the same marching rhythm of the lateral skip and add a crossover.
TECHNIQUE
- As you perform the lateral skip, cross the back leg in front of the front leg by rotating the back hip up and forward (a and b).
- Rotate only the back leg forward. Do not rotate the forward leg backward. When going to the right, only cross over your left leg and come back to center each time and vice versa.
Coaching Tip
We can't express enough how important it is for an athlete to understand movement, and this education starts with skipping. Skipping teaches an athlete not only how to warm up correctly, but also how to move correctly.
The rhythm skips are elasticity exercises that teach an athlete how to become more reactive to the ground. This is important in developing speed, which is essential in all sports. The key factor in reaching full velocity is very little ground-contact time. In other words, the athlete's feet must be reactive and quickly push off the ground. This dynamic skipping series focuses on the athlete's reactivity to the ground. Skipping develops the first aspect of the agility pillar: establishing simple patterns for efficiently responding to the ground.
Pilates principles and the seven pillars
Pilates is a complete body-conditioning program that integrates your mind and body to improve precision in muscle control, strength, flexibility, and breath control.
Pilates is a complete body-conditioning program that integrates your mind and body to improve precision in muscle control, strength, flexibility, and breath control. Joseph himself described his system of Contrology as “a method of physical and mental conditioning.” The exercises within the Pilates repertoire help to activate lesser-used muscles and require full recruitment of your core (powerhouse). The movements work to develop more symmetrical muscle development, allowing you to work more efficiently and effectively.
Stability and Mobility
As mentioned earlier, each Pilates exercise incorporates a component of both stability and mobility. Integrating these components helps to create fluid movements that feel as if they glide from one exercise to another rather than a constant sensation of stopping one movement and then starting another. Think of Pilates as a way to create space and length within your body. It will open your joints, elongate your muscles, deepen your breath control, build your endurance, and connect your mind to your body. Your Pilates practice will help you to create an entirely new relationship with your body.
Flexibility
Pilates can correct body imbalances caused by injury or postural problems by aligning the body correctly and balancing the muscular and external forces affecting the joints, muscles, and skeleton. We use Pilates as an integral part of rehabilitation from overuse or misuse of the body, helping athletes reduce their chance of additional injuries postrecovery. We often find that many athletes' injuries are caused not only by weakness and compensation, but also by muscle tightness. By incorporating Pilates into their weekly program, they are able to increase their range of motion and enhance their overall flexibility.
Agility
Pilates will help to increase your spatial awareness and body control. These new patterns are fine-tuned through repetition and are directly transferable to the gym, field, court, course, or track.
Power
Pilates will help you increase your power output. Your body cannot generate power from a position of instability. Increased core stability is one of the key benefits of every Pilates program, enabling you to channel and maximize your power more efficiently and effectively. As your body develops greater strength and stability through your hips and core, you will be able to generate greater power and force. Many exercises mimic specific patterns along the kinetic chain that are used in movements on the field and court. The National Academy of Sports Medicine defines the kinetic chain as the relationship or connection between your nerves, muscles, and bones. The kinetic chain is broken into two categories, the open kinetic chain and the closed kinetic chain, and is used to help describe or classify exercises. For example, when you squat, your foot presses against the floor to raise and lower your body. This is a closed kinetic chain exercise. Using a leg curl machine, where the lower leg swings freely, is an example of an open kinetic chain exercise.
Strength and Speed
Pilates exercises such as the side-lying leg series place people in unilateral positions. By working through similar exercises, you discover how to balance your body's weaknesses and find greater symmetry and strength from your right to left side, and from the front to back of your body. Strength and flexibility have a direct correlation to speed. When athletes have a strong base and their muscles are “elastic” and flexible, they are more likely to increase their speed. Weak and tight muscles limit speed.
Relationship between Pilates and resistance training
Pilates and resistance training have a symbiotic relationship. Lifting weights is actually a neurologically driven movement working against external forces on your body while maintaining internal stability.
Pilates and resistance training have a symbiotic relationship. Lifting weights is actually a neurologically driven movement working against external forces on your body while maintaining internal stability. The patterns of what we do under tension are for a specific amount of time or a specific number of reps. Pilates is similar in the sense that it uses the stabilizing muscles in movement patterns using internal forces, but it demands fluidity. While these may sound similar, Pilates and resistance training have two different applications on our central nervous system. Weightlifting heightens the sympathetic nervous system, which is a response to stress on the body. Pilates heightens the parasympathetic nervous system, which slows the heart rate and relaxes the musculature within it. These two methods together create balance in your body that cannot be duplicated. Put them together in your training program and you will notice very quickly that your body moves with a greater sense of ease because you will be able to balance the two components of the central nervous system. Either component tends to be overtrained if you focus on just one or the other.
All wins happen because the players on a team are prepared. The coach created a game plan and each player knew their role and perfected their skills. What is your goal? Is it to become stronger? Do you need to improve your flexibility and mobility? Are you working to become faster? Are you recovering from an injury and need to improve your agility and stability?
Single-leg stretch exercise
The single-leg stretch increases the flexibility of your hip flexors, strengthens your core, and stretches your back and legs.
The single-leg stretch increases the flexibility of your hip flexors, strengthens your core, and stretches your back and legs. Because your upper body remains in flexion throughout the series, your entire powerhouse works, which increases your stamina and endurance.
TECHNIQUE
- Lie supine. The knees are bent, feet on the floor hip-width apart, and arms alongside the body (a).
- Exhale while straightening one leg and place the hands firmly on the shin of the opposite leg just below the knee. The knee comes in to the body just beyond tabletop while the other leg extends away fully from the body at a 45-degree angle (b).
- Inhale as that leg comes back toward the body, and exhale to extend the other leg while holding the bent leg with both hands.
REPETITION
Repeat, inhaling as the legs pass and exhaling as the single leg extends. Extend each leg 6 to 10 times.
Lateral skip with rotation exercise
Use the same marching rhythm of the lateral skip and add a crossover.
Use the same marching rhythm of the lateral skip and add a crossover.
TECHNIQUE
- As you perform the lateral skip, cross the back leg in front of the front leg by rotating the back hip up and forward (a and b).
- Rotate only the back leg forward. Do not rotate the forward leg backward. When going to the right, only cross over your left leg and come back to center each time and vice versa.
Coaching Tip
We can't express enough how important it is for an athlete to understand movement, and this education starts with skipping. Skipping teaches an athlete not only how to warm up correctly, but also how to move correctly.
The rhythm skips are elasticity exercises that teach an athlete how to become more reactive to the ground. This is important in developing speed, which is essential in all sports. The key factor in reaching full velocity is very little ground-contact time. In other words, the athlete's feet must be reactive and quickly push off the ground. This dynamic skipping series focuses on the athlete's reactivity to the ground. Skipping develops the first aspect of the agility pillar: establishing simple patterns for efficiently responding to the ground.
Pilates principles and the seven pillars
Pilates is a complete body-conditioning program that integrates your mind and body to improve precision in muscle control, strength, flexibility, and breath control.
Pilates is a complete body-conditioning program that integrates your mind and body to improve precision in muscle control, strength, flexibility, and breath control. Joseph himself described his system of Contrology as “a method of physical and mental conditioning.” The exercises within the Pilates repertoire help to activate lesser-used muscles and require full recruitment of your core (powerhouse). The movements work to develop more symmetrical muscle development, allowing you to work more efficiently and effectively.
Stability and Mobility
As mentioned earlier, each Pilates exercise incorporates a component of both stability and mobility. Integrating these components helps to create fluid movements that feel as if they glide from one exercise to another rather than a constant sensation of stopping one movement and then starting another. Think of Pilates as a way to create space and length within your body. It will open your joints, elongate your muscles, deepen your breath control, build your endurance, and connect your mind to your body. Your Pilates practice will help you to create an entirely new relationship with your body.
Flexibility
Pilates can correct body imbalances caused by injury or postural problems by aligning the body correctly and balancing the muscular and external forces affecting the joints, muscles, and skeleton. We use Pilates as an integral part of rehabilitation from overuse or misuse of the body, helping athletes reduce their chance of additional injuries postrecovery. We often find that many athletes' injuries are caused not only by weakness and compensation, but also by muscle tightness. By incorporating Pilates into their weekly program, they are able to increase their range of motion and enhance their overall flexibility.
Agility
Pilates will help to increase your spatial awareness and body control. These new patterns are fine-tuned through repetition and are directly transferable to the gym, field, court, course, or track.
Power
Pilates will help you increase your power output. Your body cannot generate power from a position of instability. Increased core stability is one of the key benefits of every Pilates program, enabling you to channel and maximize your power more efficiently and effectively. As your body develops greater strength and stability through your hips and core, you will be able to generate greater power and force. Many exercises mimic specific patterns along the kinetic chain that are used in movements on the field and court. The National Academy of Sports Medicine defines the kinetic chain as the relationship or connection between your nerves, muscles, and bones. The kinetic chain is broken into two categories, the open kinetic chain and the closed kinetic chain, and is used to help describe or classify exercises. For example, when you squat, your foot presses against the floor to raise and lower your body. This is a closed kinetic chain exercise. Using a leg curl machine, where the lower leg swings freely, is an example of an open kinetic chain exercise.
Strength and Speed
Pilates exercises such as the side-lying leg series place people in unilateral positions. By working through similar exercises, you discover how to balance your body's weaknesses and find greater symmetry and strength from your right to left side, and from the front to back of your body. Strength and flexibility have a direct correlation to speed. When athletes have a strong base and their muscles are “elastic” and flexible, they are more likely to increase their speed. Weak and tight muscles limit speed.
Relationship between Pilates and resistance training
Pilates and resistance training have a symbiotic relationship. Lifting weights is actually a neurologically driven movement working against external forces on your body while maintaining internal stability.
Pilates and resistance training have a symbiotic relationship. Lifting weights is actually a neurologically driven movement working against external forces on your body while maintaining internal stability. The patterns of what we do under tension are for a specific amount of time or a specific number of reps. Pilates is similar in the sense that it uses the stabilizing muscles in movement patterns using internal forces, but it demands fluidity. While these may sound similar, Pilates and resistance training have two different applications on our central nervous system. Weightlifting heightens the sympathetic nervous system, which is a response to stress on the body. Pilates heightens the parasympathetic nervous system, which slows the heart rate and relaxes the musculature within it. These two methods together create balance in your body that cannot be duplicated. Put them together in your training program and you will notice very quickly that your body moves with a greater sense of ease because you will be able to balance the two components of the central nervous system. Either component tends to be overtrained if you focus on just one or the other.
All wins happen because the players on a team are prepared. The coach created a game plan and each player knew their role and perfected their skills. What is your goal? Is it to become stronger? Do you need to improve your flexibility and mobility? Are you working to become faster? Are you recovering from an injury and need to improve your agility and stability?
Single-leg stretch exercise
The single-leg stretch increases the flexibility of your hip flexors, strengthens your core, and stretches your back and legs.
The single-leg stretch increases the flexibility of your hip flexors, strengthens your core, and stretches your back and legs. Because your upper body remains in flexion throughout the series, your entire powerhouse works, which increases your stamina and endurance.
TECHNIQUE
- Lie supine. The knees are bent, feet on the floor hip-width apart, and arms alongside the body (a).
- Exhale while straightening one leg and place the hands firmly on the shin of the opposite leg just below the knee. The knee comes in to the body just beyond tabletop while the other leg extends away fully from the body at a 45-degree angle (b).
- Inhale as that leg comes back toward the body, and exhale to extend the other leg while holding the bent leg with both hands.
REPETITION
Repeat, inhaling as the legs pass and exhaling as the single leg extends. Extend each leg 6 to 10 times.
Lateral skip with rotation exercise
Use the same marching rhythm of the lateral skip and add a crossover.
Use the same marching rhythm of the lateral skip and add a crossover.
TECHNIQUE
- As you perform the lateral skip, cross the back leg in front of the front leg by rotating the back hip up and forward (a and b).
- Rotate only the back leg forward. Do not rotate the forward leg backward. When going to the right, only cross over your left leg and come back to center each time and vice versa.
Coaching Tip
We can't express enough how important it is for an athlete to understand movement, and this education starts with skipping. Skipping teaches an athlete not only how to warm up correctly, but also how to move correctly.
The rhythm skips are elasticity exercises that teach an athlete how to become more reactive to the ground. This is important in developing speed, which is essential in all sports. The key factor in reaching full velocity is very little ground-contact time. In other words, the athlete's feet must be reactive and quickly push off the ground. This dynamic skipping series focuses on the athlete's reactivity to the ground. Skipping develops the first aspect of the agility pillar: establishing simple patterns for efficiently responding to the ground.
Pilates principles and the seven pillars
Pilates is a complete body-conditioning program that integrates your mind and body to improve precision in muscle control, strength, flexibility, and breath control.
Pilates is a complete body-conditioning program that integrates your mind and body to improve precision in muscle control, strength, flexibility, and breath control. Joseph himself described his system of Contrology as “a method of physical and mental conditioning.” The exercises within the Pilates repertoire help to activate lesser-used muscles and require full recruitment of your core (powerhouse). The movements work to develop more symmetrical muscle development, allowing you to work more efficiently and effectively.
Stability and Mobility
As mentioned earlier, each Pilates exercise incorporates a component of both stability and mobility. Integrating these components helps to create fluid movements that feel as if they glide from one exercise to another rather than a constant sensation of stopping one movement and then starting another. Think of Pilates as a way to create space and length within your body. It will open your joints, elongate your muscles, deepen your breath control, build your endurance, and connect your mind to your body. Your Pilates practice will help you to create an entirely new relationship with your body.
Flexibility
Pilates can correct body imbalances caused by injury or postural problems by aligning the body correctly and balancing the muscular and external forces affecting the joints, muscles, and skeleton. We use Pilates as an integral part of rehabilitation from overuse or misuse of the body, helping athletes reduce their chance of additional injuries postrecovery. We often find that many athletes' injuries are caused not only by weakness and compensation, but also by muscle tightness. By incorporating Pilates into their weekly program, they are able to increase their range of motion and enhance their overall flexibility.
Agility
Pilates will help to increase your spatial awareness and body control. These new patterns are fine-tuned through repetition and are directly transferable to the gym, field, court, course, or track.
Power
Pilates will help you increase your power output. Your body cannot generate power from a position of instability. Increased core stability is one of the key benefits of every Pilates program, enabling you to channel and maximize your power more efficiently and effectively. As your body develops greater strength and stability through your hips and core, you will be able to generate greater power and force. Many exercises mimic specific patterns along the kinetic chain that are used in movements on the field and court. The National Academy of Sports Medicine defines the kinetic chain as the relationship or connection between your nerves, muscles, and bones. The kinetic chain is broken into two categories, the open kinetic chain and the closed kinetic chain, and is used to help describe or classify exercises. For example, when you squat, your foot presses against the floor to raise and lower your body. This is a closed kinetic chain exercise. Using a leg curl machine, where the lower leg swings freely, is an example of an open kinetic chain exercise.
Strength and Speed
Pilates exercises such as the side-lying leg series place people in unilateral positions. By working through similar exercises, you discover how to balance your body's weaknesses and find greater symmetry and strength from your right to left side, and from the front to back of your body. Strength and flexibility have a direct correlation to speed. When athletes have a strong base and their muscles are “elastic” and flexible, they are more likely to increase their speed. Weak and tight muscles limit speed.
Relationship between Pilates and resistance training
Pilates and resistance training have a symbiotic relationship. Lifting weights is actually a neurologically driven movement working against external forces on your body while maintaining internal stability.
Pilates and resistance training have a symbiotic relationship. Lifting weights is actually a neurologically driven movement working against external forces on your body while maintaining internal stability. The patterns of what we do under tension are for a specific amount of time or a specific number of reps. Pilates is similar in the sense that it uses the stabilizing muscles in movement patterns using internal forces, but it demands fluidity. While these may sound similar, Pilates and resistance training have two different applications on our central nervous system. Weightlifting heightens the sympathetic nervous system, which is a response to stress on the body. Pilates heightens the parasympathetic nervous system, which slows the heart rate and relaxes the musculature within it. These two methods together create balance in your body that cannot be duplicated. Put them together in your training program and you will notice very quickly that your body moves with a greater sense of ease because you will be able to balance the two components of the central nervous system. Either component tends to be overtrained if you focus on just one or the other.
All wins happen because the players on a team are prepared. The coach created a game plan and each player knew their role and perfected their skills. What is your goal? Is it to become stronger? Do you need to improve your flexibility and mobility? Are you working to become faster? Are you recovering from an injury and need to improve your agility and stability?
Single-leg stretch exercise
The single-leg stretch increases the flexibility of your hip flexors, strengthens your core, and stretches your back and legs.
The single-leg stretch increases the flexibility of your hip flexors, strengthens your core, and stretches your back and legs. Because your upper body remains in flexion throughout the series, your entire powerhouse works, which increases your stamina and endurance.
TECHNIQUE
- Lie supine. The knees are bent, feet on the floor hip-width apart, and arms alongside the body (a).
- Exhale while straightening one leg and place the hands firmly on the shin of the opposite leg just below the knee. The knee comes in to the body just beyond tabletop while the other leg extends away fully from the body at a 45-degree angle (b).
- Inhale as that leg comes back toward the body, and exhale to extend the other leg while holding the bent leg with both hands.
REPETITION
Repeat, inhaling as the legs pass and exhaling as the single leg extends. Extend each leg 6 to 10 times.