With the development of modern society, Pilates has continuously made some humanized improvements, incorporating some ideas of yoga, Tai Ji Chuan and ballet and the personalized content of coaches. The training method of Pilates is to follow the exercise principle of using one's own weight, many times, small weight and meditation. The breathing mode during training is nasal inhalation, which is an external training for muscle shape and joints. The purpose of training is to improve the human spine and lumbar spine by changing the muscle function.
Basic training of Pilates
Before practicing martial arts, you should learn to tie horses, and Pilates also has its basic skills. But don't worry, you don't have to spend three months learning the basics first. You only need to read them carefully and move them into Pilates, and you can get the maximum effect of practice.
Lateral respiration
Pilates with lateral breathing can promote correct exercise patterns and make your lungs absorb the most oxygen. When inhaling, the lower part of the sternum expands laterally and sinks when exhaling. Breathing in this way can help you keep your abdomen contracting and bending during exercise.
Sit up straight or stand up straight. Put your hands next to your sternum. Inhale, the sternum expands horizontally, but the stomach does not rise. Feel the movement of the sternum. Shoulder sink.
When inhaling, try to sink into the body under the sternum. Feel the sternum on both sides close to the center.
Cohesive Axis/Dominant Area Core/Power Station
Axis or strength zone refers to a series of muscles that form and stabilize the center of the body. These muscles include abdominal muscles (especially transverse abdominis), lower back muscles and pelvic floor muscles. A strong shaft can not only reduce the chance of back injury, but also improve posture and adjust the balance of the body. Ordinary people tend to ignore these muscles. Pilates teaches you to find and use them.
In order to achieve good axial stability, you need to contract the pelvic floor muscles while pulling into the lower abdomen and start the transverse abdominis. The pelvic floor muscle is located in the pelvic floor (see Figure A), while the transverse abdominis muscle is an inner band around the lower abdomen and waist. To start the pelvic floor muscles, the pelvic floor should be pulled inward and upward, which feels a bit like forbearing urine. When you slowly tighten the pelvic floor muscles, the multifidus (which is hard to feel) and the flat abdomen contract at the same time. Continue to tighten the lower abdomen, and this contraction will progress upward and inward to the spine (see Figure B). Don't shrink with all your strength. It is the standard strength of setting shaft to achieve 30%-40% complete tightening.
Put your shoulders down/down
Many people will accumulate stress on their necks and shoulders. Coupled with bad posture, such as sitting in front of the computer for a long time, hunching your back and protruding, a round arch and tight upper back will be formed over time. The tip of the scapula is outward away from the sternum. Pilates emphasizes that the back muscles sink the shoulders during use to help straighten the upper back.
You can use this little exercise to practice shoulder sinking. At first, raise your shoulders and put them down a few times. Note that when you shrug your shoulders, the tip of your scapula moves outward. When the shoulder is lowered, the tip of the scapula contracts downward and inward. We use this action to fix the position of the shoulder. When the tip of the scapula sinks down to the midline of the back, you will feel the neck stretch naturally at the same time, relieving the pressure and tension on the neck and shoulders.
Axle box trunk box
Imagine four straight lines connecting two shoulders and two pelvis. This "box" implies the arrangement and symmetry of the body. When doing every Pilates exercise, ask yourself, "Is my box square?" Many people habitually rely on one side of their bodies, and you can even notice that you are leaning or rotating to one side. When doing all kinds of daily activities, you often feel that one side of your body is easy to control. Pilates makes you more aware of these imbalances and then correct them.
Chin to chest
The movements of cushion Pilates are mostly supine head-up and hands and feet-up. Correct head position is very important for increasing abdominal muscle use and reducing neck pressure. The head should be lifted forward to the clavicle and the chin should be pushed to the sternum. There should be a distance of about a fist between chin and chest, and the line of sight should be fixed on the axis. Raising your head like this also helps you check the alignment of your torso and feet with your eyes during exercise. Beginners often make the mistake of putting their chin too close to the sternum, or leaning their heads back, so they feel their neck hurts.
Stretch the spine and limbs.
Pilates and dance teachers often tell students to "lengthen their spine" and "grow taller". Can adults "grow taller" like this? It can be! Studies have shown that participants can really stretch their spine and reduce the compression between vertebrae through simple verbal instructions. There are two key positions that can help you "grow taller". First, increase the distance between pelvis and sternum. In addition, pull the head away from the direction of the tail keel. When you learn to "grow taller", you must learn to keep this height. Pilates is to awaken the muscles that maintain sitting and standing posture.
As for stretching limbs, it helps to strengthen the muscles of limbs. Pay attention to the alignment of limbs and don't lock elbows and knees.
Natural axial position of spine and pelvis Neutral spine/pelvis
The natural axial positions of the spine and pelvis are complementary. When the basin is in the natural axis, the lower back bone will automatically fall into its axis position. In order to find the natural axis of the pelvis, put the bottom of the palm on the pelvis and the fingertips on the pubic bone to form a triangle. When this triangle is horizontal, the pelvis and lower back are on the natural central axis (see Figure A). Try to keep this natural central axis position in every pilates movement.
Spine rolling/peeling
A healthy spine should be not only strong, but also soft. Many pad pilates focus on the average movement of the spine segment by segment. In this book, we use the words "rolling the spine" and "moving away from the spine section by section" to bring out the clear and controllable activity pattern of the spinal segment.
Pilates posture
The ankles meet to form a V-shape. Pilates starts from the pool. You should tighten your hips, bring the back of your thighs close to each other, and turn your thighs outward from the pelvic cavity before your feet open into a V-shape. Although the hips and thighs are tightened, the calves and feet should be relaxed and stretched.
Integration integration
One of the characteristics of mat pilates is to participate in thinking about one's own activity mode. A common method is to focus on a set of muscles or areas during activities. But Pilates requires you to expand your attention, even other parts of your body, and realize that your body is actually an integrated activity. Only in this way can your movements be more effective and balanced.
Common movements of Pilates
1. Leg circle
Lie flat on the mat with your arms at your sides. First lift one leg, put the other leg straight or bent on the ground, tighten the abdomen, and press the waist to the ground. When inhaling, lift your legs up and turn in circles, in any direction. When exhaling, return to the starting point and stop the action. Do this 4 ~ 6 times in one direction and 4 ~ 6 times in the other direction.
Tip: Don't wrap your legs too much during the process, and keep your hips and hips still.
Function: This group of movements exercises the leg muscles and can keep the legs in a beautiful curve. At the same time, combined breathing can reasonably adjust the visceral function and make the movements more flexible and coordinated.
Step 2 stretch on one leg
Lift your upper body, lift your shoulders off the ground, straighten your left leg and bend your right leg. Put your ankle on the outside of your right leg and your knee on the inside of your right leg. Breathe 1 time. Switch legs and repeat the action. So the left and right sides exchanged 8 ~ 10 times respectively.
Tip: Don't relax your upper body during the whole process, and keep your upper back off the ground.
Function: This group of movements makes the body more coordinated, and at the same time exercises the toughness of the upper body and the flexibility of abdominal muscles, spine and bones.
Step 3 stretch your legs
Lift your upper body, put your knees on your chest and tighten your body. Then tuck your knees in your hands, inhale and stretch your body. Let the body return to a tight state when breathing. Repeat 6 ~ 10 times.
Tip: During the movement, keep your upper body unchanged and your shoulders off the ground. When opening the body, the arm is from front to top, and when retracting, the arm is retracted from the side and hugged by the knee.
Function: This is a group of stretching movements, similar to swimming movements, which can stretch the body and body joints and get complete relaxation.
4. Side kick
Lie on your side with your head, shoulders and hips in a straight line. Lean your legs forward slightly, push your left toe to the ground, lift your heel, lift your right leg to hip height, inhale and spread your right leg back, clamp your hip, and kick forward twice when exhaling. Switch legs. Say it again. Do it 6 ~ 8 times on both sides.
Tip: During exercise, the shoulders should be relaxed, and the upper body should not be relaxed.
Function: It can strengthen upper limb muscles, including pectoral muscles, upper back muscles and transverse abdominis muscles, and improve muscle flexibility.
Step 5 lift
Hands and feet fixed, legs bent, left leg in front, right leg in back. When inhaling, one arm supports the body. At this time, the whole body is in a straight line and slowly falls when exhaling. Practice changing legs. Do it 4 ~ 5 times each.
Tip: Slow action and strong control. If it is difficult to finish, you can support it on the ground with your elbow.
Function: This is about the exercise of body balance, which can make the body stronger. At the same time, the flexibility of each joint of both legs was exercised.
In contrast, yoga is more helpful to lose weight.