Posted By : Admin / On : January 07, 2023 / In : Health
After years of teaching Pilates, the principles and methodology start to become like a second language to you. I think this is particularly more so for teachers or the forever Pilates devotee. You start to take apart the movements, understand the exercise objective and how to achieve perfection, even without really being taught the mechanics of it, you just get it. But overall, the clear goal is simply ‘Control’. Probably also the reason Pilates used to be called ‘Contrology’.
So what do I mean…?
It is simply about owning the exercise, not it owning you. Are you in control of the movement…are you keeping a steady tempo…are you smooth, are you fluid…is your flow consistent…etc? It is all about being in Control of the movement!
I guess this is why I ended up migrating over to the Reformer, Mat Pilates is amazing with many benefits and I taught it for years. However, Reformer Pilates or the Reformer machine simply takes the element of Control to a completely new level. Which is why it is great for those who might have hit a plateau on Mat, hypermobility, back issues (actually the list of remedial benefits is endless), build strength or people just looking for a banging workout that gets amazing results!
The introduction of the spring system simply means that throughout the entire session you are ‘resisting the tension’ and having to engage every muscle to maintain that element of ‘control’. The fact that you can utilise a variety of spring tensions as well making it either harder or easier depending on your level, gives the Reformer an amazing level of robust flexibility for both a trainer and student. Most resistance based exercises only offer resistance in one direction, whereas the Reformer offers resistance in both directions, as long as you have Control. It means you are working harder for longer and engaging more muscles, even those little ones that are often neglected.
There also comes what I live to think an ‘epiphany moment’ when all of a sudden you can self-correct and fully understand what a major element of Pilates is about and it simply amazing. You start asking yourself those questions, answering them yourself and then putting into action. It can also be frustrating as you now understand how to reach perfection and simply yearn for it every time you do a session. The legs in loops series would be a wonderful example for those in the know 😉
I feel I could go on for several pages now that I have started but hopefully this abridged version explains why we call one of our signature classes Control, Control is our more traditional class trying to achieve the true Pilates philosophy of being in Control of all movements throughout your session.
So next time you are doing a Control session, ask yourself those key questions or simply ‘am I in Control of my Reformer?’
You can find the Control session at both our Godalming and Guildford Pilates studios, it’s one of our main classes and for good reason.
Jeff Waters
Founder of The Pilates Movement
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