Five Basic Principles of STOTT Pilates

The five basic principles developed by STOTT Pilates are breathing, pelvic placement, rib cage placement, scapular (shoulder blade) movement and stabilization and head and cervical (neck) placement.  They work together to create Intelligent Exercise that is both safe and effective for injury prevention and recovery from injury.

1.  Breathing:

The STOTT Pilates breath pattern expands the ribcage out to the sides, without allowing the shoulders to lift.  It allows for breath into the lower part of your lunges, resulting in more efficient gas exchange.  Inhale is achieved through the nose filling the belly, and exhale through pursed lips as if blowing out a candle.  Breathing can also facilitate movement, where an inhale can facilitate an extended or straightened position and an exhale can facilitate a flexed or curled position.

2. Pelvic Placement:

STOTT Pilates emphasizes stabilization of the pelvis and lumbar spine in either a neutral or imprinted position.  Neutral maintains the normal curve of the lower back and the surface you are laying on.  This position provides relaxation for the muscles.  In the imprinted position the lower back is moving towards the mat and the natural space between your back and the surface is slightly flattened.  This position is often used for “safety” for people with special conditions such as excessive lordosis or spinal stenosis.  

3. Rib Cage Placement:

The rib cage position affects the alignment of the upper spine.  It is the rotational center of your spine.  When lying on your back in a neutral position the rib cage should have a sense of weight gently resting on the mat.  You do not want to push your rib cage up towards the ceiling or down into the mat.  It should rest centered and balanced over your neutral pelvis.  Pay particular attention to the placement of your rib cage when inhaling or while performing arm movements as it will often flare out of position.  

4. Scapular Movement and Stabilization:

Stabilization of your scapulae (shoulder blades) on the back of the rib cage is as important as contracting your abdominals during initiation of exercise.  This will help you avoid straining through your neck and upper upper shoulders.  You want to make sure you do not round your shoulders forward or squeeze them together towards the spine.  Shoulders should not be lifted too far up towards the ears, or over-depressed down away from the ears.  They should feel relaxed and tension-free in optimal placement  

5. Head and Cervical Placement:

The cervical spine (neck) should hold its natural curve with your head balanced directly above your shoulders when lying, sitting and standing.  In some cases a small pillow may be needed under the head or neck to find the neutral position.  If any other part of your spine is off, your head will respond to correct your gaze forward, throwing the rest of the body out of alignment.  

These five principles of alignment can help you in a lying, sitting or standing position.  Re-center yourself whenever possible to bring the forces of gravity acting on your body to a minimum to allow pain and pressure relief for your spine and extremities.  A STOTT Pilates trained therapist or instructor can help you find and master these five principles to get you on the road to recovery.

-Katie Chen, DPT, OCS, COMT

What Is Pilates?

Pilates is a low impact form of exercise that focuses on engaging your core to improve postural alignment, strength, flexibility and mind-body movement awareness.  

Pilates was created by a man named Joseph Pilates who was born in Germany in 1883.  Joseph studied yoga, meditation, circus arts, boxing and gymnastics and enjoyed a healthy active lifestyle.  He moved to England before the start of World War 1, but was interned with other German citizens when war broke out.  During his internment he worked with soldiers and detainees in the hospitals.  He began to notice a trend that soldiers who exercised, even if in bed, did not get influenza as often.  This bias began to set up the idea for Pilates, and he began attaching springs to patients beds to provide resistance training to exercise them.    

After the war he returned to Germany, and eventually emigrated to the United States and set up Joe’s Place, a gym, in New York.  He continued to refine his idea of Pilates and began teaching others his new concept.  Thus the Reformer (picture 1) and Cadillac (picture 2)  were born, based off a concept of a bed you could exercise on.

Reformer

Cadillac

Classical Pilates follows a rigid flow based on the growth and development of babies.  Movements begin with flexion based posture, then move to extension based posture and then add combinations of the two postures.  Joseph Pilates trainees began to refine that rigid structure and branch out to provide movements that better fit the clientele they were working with.  Pilates continues to evolve to this day.     

Who is Pilates good for?

Pilates is good for anyone looking to improve their breathing, trunk control, core activation, posture, body awareness and the knowledge of how to move within their own body.  It can be good for healthy persons, persons looking for injury prevention, persons looking to recover from injury and persons looking for continued strength to reduce the instance of re-injury.

-Katie Chen, DPT, OCS, COMT

"Move Better" Series: Exercises To Improve Hamstring Flexibility And Core Strength

Yesterday’s “Move Better” series presented the active straight leg raise test, a test that helps examine hamstring flexibility and core control.  This blog post will present exercises to improve hamstring muscle flexibility as well as exercises to improve core strength.   

WAYS TO IMPROVE HAMSTRING FLEXIBILITY

Hamstring muscle flexibility is important for activities like running and forward bending, as well as sport specific movements like kicking a soccer ball or throwing a fastball.  In some individuals, impaired hamstring flexibility may be a possible contributing factor to low back pain and injury.  Poor hamstring flexibility may alter the movement of the pelvis and lumbar spine during these daily and sport activities.  

Impairments in hamstring muscle flexibility can be improved through static and dynamic stretching as well as eccentric loading exercises.  The video below demonstrates several types of hamstring mobility exercises that can be used to improve hamstring flexibility:

CORE STRENGTH AND STABILITY EXERCISES

In addition to hamstring flexibility, the Active Straight Leg Raise test also requires strength and stability through the core and pelvis.  During the test, lower abdominal strength and hip strength are required to slowly raise one leg while keeping the other leg in a fixed position.  

Similar to hamstring tightness, impairments in core strength and pelvic control with movement may increase someone’s risk of low back pain and injury.  The video below includes progressions of lower abdominal strengthening exercises performed in the supine position.  An appropriate progression should be selected that is an appropriate challenge and is pain-free. 

Questions? Contact Sean Tyler, DPT at sean@salmonbaypt.com.