Pilates Goes Round To Get Great Results
If you´re into exercise, you may well have heard about and even taken a class in Pilates. It´s a movement class with exercises designed to realign the body, strengthen core muscles especially in the abdominal area, and restore elasticity to the body. When these exercises are linked together, a dynamic and challenging workout results. When these exercises are performed on the unstable surface of an exercise ball, stabilization during movement is better understood.
"A relatively simple Pilates exercise such as the bridge, which without the ball is a relaxing exercise for the spine, becomes challenging when an exercise ball is added," Pilates on the Ball instructor Kathleen Hale of Body & Soul of Kansas City at 59th and Holmes in Kansas City explains. "The physical connection of your feet on the ground is removed; your calves are now resting on the ball and as you roll up through your spine, finding balance depends on connecting to your core. Since learning to engage deep abdominal muscles is a key principle in Pilates, the ball becomes an excellent tool for training the body."
The ball is helpful to both beginners and experienced students of Pilates. The body uses many sensory mechanisms to find balance. Two of these sensory mechanisms are eyesight and the toes spreading wide on the floor. Our balance is affected when any of these are compromised.
For example, poor head alignment means our nervous system has adjusted to the imbalance, so our eyesight does as well. When we challenge our body to balance by changing some of these connections, we are falling through space, so to speak. By taking away what we know, we must move deep within ourselves to find our center, to reconnect with the earth. On a subconscious level, this is what happens by adding the ball to an exercise.
Rolling like a ball is a Pilates exercise that massages the spine as you roll back and forth using your core muscles for balance. Adding a ball throws enough of a shift that greater strength is needed to keep the balance in the roll. A large ball makes it a challenge for the experienced; a small ball enables beginners to understand the exercise principle more rapidly.
"The ball helps you move every part of the body as a unit," student Winn Diekroeger says. "Like a good golf swing, everything is coordinated."
Aid For Arthritis
Both large and small exercise balls help individuals who have injuries or need to modify exercises for one reason or another. It can be particularly helpful if the individual has some arthritis in his or her back, neck or pelvis. People with arthritis challenges may have the strength to perform the exercises, but the arthritis causes pain which limits their ability. The ball provides a soft foundation for the body, allowing one to perform exercises without arthritic pain. Additionally, when the arthritis is aggravated by stress, the ball can create a supportive base --- a cushion to use to help relax the muscles in the inflamed area.
De-Stressing And Stretching
An exercise ball is also wonderful for de-stressing and stretching. Many students begin taking Pilates because of back problems. A benefit after working hard on those transversus abdominus (core) muscles, which by strengthening help prevent back pain, is lengthening the spine by relaxing into a long arch over the ball. Physical therapists have used exercise balls for years to help in the treatment of orthopedic problems; the ball can become a great aid to anyone. Try it ´going round is a great feeling!
Written by Linda Rostenberg