Classical Pilates for Modern Life
(A Harmonious Pilates, Inc. Original Publication)
by Joanna Telacka
Classical Pilates Teacher
Business Owner
Triathlete
April 20th, 2024
Shining light on Pilates truths, honoring Joseph Pilates,
and supporting you in your Pilates journey.
I Wrote Last Week's Newsletter With a Goal...
It was to inspire those of us who, for the sake of maintaining our good health, should get up off the chair or the couch more often.
I hope that my message resonated 😊
(here is a link if you want to read it again)
https://classicalpilatesformodernlife.mykajabi.com/sitting-is-the-new-smoking
Now that you know you should add movement to your life to balance out the negative effects of prolonged sitting, what’s the best way to do it?
My advice is simple:
Avoid the “all or nothing” approach.
Instead, figure out “how” to move to create long-lasting positive changes in your body and eliminate the probability of injury.
Why talk about injury?
Simply because, any time we start a new physical activity, we need to set up some safeguards that will guarantee that we are able to pursue that activity for years to come.
We need to set up an injury prevention system.
You may be thinking of taking up brisk-walking, running, biking, tennis, pickleball, or team sports. All of these activities will benefit your body. All of them also will lead to shortening (tightening) your leg muscles and creating stress on the hip joints, knees, and ankles. Unless you have a support system in place that will provide a balance between effort and recovery, between muscles working (shortening) and muscles stretching (lengthening), the repetitive motion that is built into these activities will eventually result in restricting the movement of the joints and will cause discomfort or injuries.
For example: It is not uncommon to experience hamstring or calf muscle strain from taking up pickleball or tennis, where sudden stops and starts demand the muscles to be ready to perform “on demand” and the joints to move quickly. A lack of uniform development of both can result in an injury. Repetitive running, brisk walking, and cycling can create stress on the knees and the hip joints and result in knee pain and/or inflammation of the hip flexors/hip pain.
So what is the solution?
Dynamic stretching like we find in the classical Pilates system of exercises, combined with controlled movements that strengthen the muscles, increases the range of motion in hip joints, knees, and ankles. This is the proven way to balance out the demands of repetitive movements of the lower limbs. These attributes make classical Pilates a perfect base layer for any physical activities we wish to pursue.
Joseph Pilates on his Method of Contrology
"Nor does Contrology err either by over-developing a few muscles at the expense of all others with resulting loss of grace and suppleness, or at a sacrifice of the heart or lungs. Rather, it was conceived to limber and stretch muscles and ligaments so that your body will be as supple as that of a cat and not muscular like that of the body of a brewery-truck horse, or the muscle-bound body of the professional weight-lifter you so much admire in the circus".
"Return To Life"
My Two Cents
While walking, running, or biking, the constant motion of bending and straightening the legs over time creates wear and tear on the hip joints, knees, and ankles. When the muscles supporting these joints are strong, but also flexible, the movement of the joints is unrestricted and they can work well for a prolonged period of time, and often.
I use Pilates to offset the negative effects of sitting, which I do a lot when creating new content for my newsletters, instructional videos, or social media posts. I run and bike a lot when training for triathlons. I run even more when training for marathons. I don’t have a preferred means of practicing classical Pilates. I can get as good of a workout on the Mat as I can on the equipment.
Try it all, know it all, and mix it up to work towards uniform development of your body.
If you don't have access to the equipment, don’t worry.
Learn the Mat, and feel the positive change in the way you walk, run or bike for years to come.
Start your Pilates journey today!
Look inside my Facebook group: "Classical Pilates for Modern Life" and on the Instagram page "Pilates Knowhow" where I explain and demonstrate one Pilates exercise at a time.
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Please reach out if you need more guidance or encouragement!
Let's share our Pilates journey together 😊
