I want more flexibility
Do you ever think to yourself - I have tight hamstrings, I knees dont bend, I cant get up off the floor, I used to be able to touch my toes?
Spo, why are you not flexible anymore? Could you do these things at 8 or 18 but by 28/38 or 58 sudenly you cant anymore?
Is is that you haven’t done anything to maintain your flexibility during that time?
In my experience as a teacher, the answer more often than not is - yes. If you parked your car on your driveway for 40 years would you expect it to move? Probably not, but many of us do exactly that with our bodies.
Heres the thing - WE ARE LEADING MORE SEDENTARY LIVES
And its only when we put effort into GOOD movement patterns that we will offset the chances we will seize up as we get older.
How does Pilates help with flexibility?
A good Pilates class will work on many levels
- addressing alignment with each movement
- creating the much needed and anticipated CORE
- helping YOU to discover where your body is in need of a bit of extra attention
- restoring dysfunction movement and therefore addressing where your joint movements should be, not where your lifestyle has put them.
Each exercise will not only WORK a muscle but will STRETCH another. It’s pretty clever.
Its important to build strength as well as stretch
There is little gain in being mega flexible unless you are planning on joining Cirque Du Soleil or the Royal Ballet.
The most important thing is to match flexibility with control - stability with mobility. If one of the other takes over - so the dysfunction creeps back in - followed by tightness, pain, poor recruitment.
The key is balance
You need to move to stay healthy, your body needs to be well balanced to feel good. Whatever you do in your day to day life will reflect in your movement patterning and posture.
For example, a common complaint from runners are hamstrings being tight, usually one side only. Why is this? Maybe it’s because there is something wrong in the knee that means the hamstrings are having to work harder on that side, or maybe the feet and ankles aren’t fuinctioning correctly, something in the calf is affecting the knee, so that’s not moving quite so well as it should and it means the hamstrings are working harder too! If tis something in the foot, the strike pattern is affecting the ankle, that affects the lower leg, that affects the knee, and even the hips..but HEY, YOU feel it in the hamstrings.
Good movement can greatly help will all those possibilities and address dysfunction by accessing and training the neuromuscular system.
Get your joints moving and keep them moving
Movement is lubrication for joints, whether spinal, shoulders, hips, knees, ankles etc. The more you move the healthier each joint will be, the better you will feel. It’s not just the fluid in them its the ligaments too, when they stay nice and pliable along with the muscles, it all helps to keep a joint both stable and strong.
Join one of my comprehensive beginner courses, book a one to one, join a group class, including Pilates for life (specifically aimed at the 50+ age group) and see what we do and how that can help you stay fitter longer.
Please do get in touch and tell me what you need help with. I am happy to help you as much as I can.
