People will often ask me to explain what Pilates is and the hard truth is I have yet to come up with a perfectly worded explanation, but what I can tell you is as you practice, you will constantly peel back another layer of understanding how your body moves. Beyond core focus are other layers of precision, isolation and conscious, intentional muscle engagement. What does all this even mean? Luckily the internet exists and I can share video footage to explain my point;
For the sake of this blog post, we will be referring to the videos attached to this post. The first video is a compilation of classic Pilates Mat exercises. Depending on the exercise, the core is challenged to control the spine through articulation or stabilization. This sort of control can be particularly difficult because you have to mentally tune into the muscle and then physically turn it on. How do you know if you’re turning it on or not? You feel it.
Which brings me to the second video, where the same exercises are executed on the reformer. The reformer adds resistance to the exercises. This is helpful because the resistance allows you to feel your muscles engage and takes some of the mental work out of the workout. Tactile reinforcement offers you the chance to commit the sensation of engagement to memory, so that when you attempt a move without outside resistance, you can find it from within.
All this brings me to my onion point; when you first start your Pilates practice, it should always be done on the reformer because the reformer teaches you how to move. Only after making sense of your body on the reformer should you take the work onto the mat and determine whether or not you can access those muscles without the use of equipment. In your practice, you should constantly bounce back and forth from mat to reformer as doing so will peel back new sensations and findings.