Old strength-stretch technique gains new popularity

Pilates, among today’s most popular fitness trends, emphasizes elongation of the muscles, middle body strength, and flexibility. Also known as Pilates-based training, this ever-popular system of movements was originally developed by Joseph Pilates (“puh-LAH-teez”) to help rehabilitate wounded World War I veterans.

Later, dancers and other performing artists discovered the benefits these stretching and mobility exercises could bring to the stage, before recent years when the mainstream get-fit public and fitness industry caught on.

Pilates devotees now number an estimated five million across the US and Canada. They’re part of the hottest emphasis in fitness today, the training of the body’s core, or midsection. Pilates exercises are designed to strengthen this core by developing pelvic stability and abdominal control.

Among them is Debbie Adams, who has engaged in Pilates for three years. “I’m concentrating on coordination, balance, strength, and flexibility,” says Adams, huffing and puffing, pulling and flexing in a Pilates workout at her La Jolla, California gym.

Pilates-based exercises can be executed on the floor or on apparatus (one brand is called “The Reformer“) which uses springs and pulleys to add resistance as muscles flex and--unlike free weights--as they relax.

Adams has a weak back so she concentrates on strengthening various support muscles. “I want to practice preventative exercise,” says Adams, who is in her fifties. “My back was bothering me at a certain time to the point where it was getting in my way. It doesn’t rear its ugly head as much, because I’m staying balanced.”

Proponents also claim Pilates-based training sheds inches by creating longer, leaner muscles. Muscles burn more calories than fat when at rest. “Of course you gain a lot of other benefits, such as stronger abs, which I think every woman wants and a leaner, more toned body,” Adams reports.

For maximum effectiveness and to reduce the risk of injury, first time Pilates enthusiasts are advised to hire a personal trainer to learn proper form and the various exercise options.

“Some people describe Pilates as yoga with springs,” says dance medicine and Pilates specialist Elizabeth Larkam, MA, of the Center for Sports Medicine at Saint Francis Memorial Hospital in San Francisco. “What someone can expect after their first session is an increased awareness of their posture and alignment. Some people say they feel taller because they have engaged their deep abdominal muscles. That lengthens the spine: someone can look leaner and taller.”

In big cities, Pilates personal trainers charge up to US$75 an hour, but group classes are now becoming more common now that gyms are equipping themselves to meet growing demand.

If approved by their doctor, pregnant women can engage in Pilates. “Someone in the later stages of pregnancy may need to keep toned but may need to be more supported, instead of weights,” she says. Larkam is a professor at the Sports Science Department at the University of San Francisco.

Physical therapists utilize the supportive qualities of the system to help people like Adams with back and neck pain, multiple sclerosis patients, injured athletes, and those recovering from orthopedic surgery. “Apparatus springs can provide assistance to movement of someone who is injured, then as they move along, the same spring can then provide resistance to build strength,” Larkam says. “They are able to emulate some of the movements they do in their sport or their artistic activity, and then refine their alignment.”

Larkam says controlled research is needed to know how Pilates contributes best to fitness, versus other pursuits. But she says she’s already convinced that “Pilates exercise is the kind of low impact exercise that will support our joints for decades.”

Fitness and nutrition experts agree that Pilates is not much of a cardiovascular workout. “Pilates is not an aerobic activity, it wasn’t really designed to be such,” says Larkam. “So if you need to lose weight, get walking, swimming, get on the treadmill or the NordicTrack.”

As with any type of exercise, many consumers look at the bottom line--waist, buttock, and hip lines--when evaluating a novel activity. “This is going to keep me from slowing down,” says Adams. “Where your pants might be getting tighter as you get older, mine are getting looser.”

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