What are the basic principles of Pilates?

As with any activity there are rules or techniques or in the case of Pilates, principles, that, if followed give maximum benefit. These eight principles are those outlined by Joseph Pilates himself.  Understanding and striving to incorporate these principles into your Pilates workout is the difference between doing a series of exercises and getting the most out of your Pilates workout.  

These eight principles are: control, breath, flowing movement, precision, centering, stability, range of motion and opposition.

Control:  Before Pilates was called “Pilates”, Joseph Pilates called it ‘contrology’. This is the first basic principle of his method of movement, control.    The idea is to control the body’s movements.  This applies to all the exercises, transitions between them and the attention to detail during the workout.  Ending each exercise in a controlled manner allows the muscles to be held in a lengthened position so that over time they grow “longer” as well as stronger.  By controlling movements, the body is forced to use other stabilizing muscles.  When stabilizing muscles work together to form one movement, the entire body develops greater coordination and balance.  The muscles also don’t get big and bulky.  You never want to let gravity or the springs, when using equipment, to pull you into a position.  You want to always be in control of the movements that you are performing.  This is also when the eccentric contractions of muscles come into play.

Flowing movements: In Pilates positions are rarely held. There is always a flow and continuity of movement throughout exercises.  Keeping the body flowing is essential along with ending movements with control and precision.  This way of movement brings flexibility to the joints and muscles and trains the body to move more evenly.  Throughout your daily life, you flow from one movement to another.  Learning to flow from one movement or exercise to another in a controlled and precise manner while exercises will train muscles to work more fluidly and hopefully help muscles better cope with the flow of movements in your daily life, reducing the possibility of unexpected injury.

Precision incorporates spatial awareness.   Knowing where a movement begins and ends.  While performing a movement posture is always in the back of a Pilates clients mind.   While the performance of the movement and engagement of the muscles performing the movement, the agonist, is important, precision of form and posture is just as important.  This is where the antagonists or synergistic muscles come in.  As for precision, each movement in Pilates has a definite beginning and end.  There are also definite points where the body needs to be while performing these movements.  Keeping these particular points fixed and in place will enhance the value of the exercise being performed.   Precision may also be thought of as “form”.  Precision is maintaining correct form while performing an exercise.

Stability:  As we started to discuss above, while performing any movement, the major muscles performing the movement aren’t the only muscles of importance.  The smaller and opposing muscles also play a key role.  They help keep the body stable while other parts are moving.  This is one of things that makes Pilates so good for those recovering from injuries.  A few examples of this are refraining from arching the back while moving the arms, whether up over head, or in front of behind you.  This is where the abdominal muscles come into the play, engaging them, preventing the rib cage from rising.  Another example would be performing leg circles or any kind of movements at the hip joint.  The pelvis needs to be kept as still as possible.  This requires engagement of the abdominal and pelvic floor muscles

Centering:  The majority of Pilates exercises concentrate on abdominal strength which involves flattening and stretching the abdominals giving the sensation that the navel has been pressed or pulled down towards the spine.  It is the contraction of the deepest layer of the abdominals, the transverse abdominus that results in this stretching and flattening sensation.  Engaging the pelvic floor region helps to activate the transverse abdominus.  Even when working other areas of the body, such as the arms and legs it is important to use that core strength to stabilize that pelvic region to avoid injury.

Opposition:   Think of this as moving the body in two different directions.  For example, during the roll up, the deep abdominal muscles are used however working in opposition will be the hamstrings and inner thighs. 

Breathing is probably the most important principle because we do it every day, all the time so there is no excuse not to be able to work on better breathing habits.