In Depth Analysis of Pilates Part II

BACK TO PILATES

In his system, Pilates stressed the importance of using fewer sets of few repetitions of compound movements that require significant motor skill and coordination (like well-organised strength training!), as opposed to the prolonged repetition of fairly automatic movements (like modern aerobics and jogging!). His reason for this was that endless repetition of unchallenging reflexive routines tends to decrease the degree of mental involvement, whereas carefully executed sets of very few repetitions of skilled movements tend to offer a better balance of mind and body training.

As we have noted above, all of these principles were abundantly evident in the work of Sandow, Krayevsky and other early masters. The major difference is that Pilates entered the world of dance to astutely promote his commercial career there and stressed the sale of his gymnastics-derived devices, while the other fitness leaders of that era allowed clients to use anything and everything that might be appropriate for any given individual, thereby laying the foundations for all modern fitness centres anf gyms.

In one respect, we should be grateful that the Pilates adaptations of the conditioning methods of his time has now offered a way out of the frequently repetitive and mindless militaristic group fitness classes. Not that the latter cannot play a valid role in the attainment of some aspects of general fitness, but they generally tend to be rather impoverished in terms of broader mind-body enhancement of strength, power, flexibility and motor control (unless the instructor happens to be far more creative and unconventional than the average).

Moreover, the likelihood of injury in Pilates type exercises tends to be far less than in most forms of aerobics class. However, the Pilates neglect of strong ballistic movement, high impact, heavier loading and high power output movements with loaded implements in free space also create deficits in all-round human development.

Even if Pilates does not actively add weight training methods to its repertoire of activities, it would go part of the way towards reducing these deficiencies by involving some of the Specific Activation and Specific Relaxation methods from PNF, as well as some of the pattern variations from that discipline.

In fact, if you are fairly well versed in the principles and procedures of PNF, and you are able to modify the traditional Knott-Voss activities to include pulley machines, some gymnastics apparatus, dumbbells, elastic bands, physio balls and a variable bench, you will be able to offer a very extensive form of challenging and productive training that Pilates will struggle to rival. If you are willing to include a few methods from the world of resistance training (Weightlifting, Powerlifting and Bodybuilding) and martial arts, then your system will go far beyond what Pilates can ever offer.

Before anyone extolls the originality and uniqueness of all that Pilates used in his training system, we have to recall that a very sincere Pilates inadvertently came upon or adapted patterns and procedures that mirror some of the methods used in PNF and weight training, as pioneered by other hugely influential fitness gurus who grew up in the European arena of late 19th and early 20th century training. This does not diminish its value, but it simply serves to place his training methods in a far more balanced light.

After all, there are still those who state categorically that

(http://bodymind.net/q&a.htm):

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This could not be further from the truth, as we have noticed in examining the fitness world into which Pilates was born. If anything, the fitness leaders of that time were more holistically inclined than the average fitness instructor of today (e.g., see Webster “The Iron Game”, 1976).

In his 1945 book of exercises, entitled “Return to Life Through Contrology”, Pilates wrote that “Contrology is complete coordination of body, mind, and spirit. Through Contrology you first purposefully acquire complete control of your own body and then through proper repetition of its exercises you gradually and progressively acquire that natural rhythm and coordination associated with all your subconscious activities.” Again, absolutely nothing new at the time. These words simply repeat what Sandow and several of his colleagues had said way before Pilates methods were being taught.

An oft-repeated claim is this: “You will feel better in 10 sessions, look better in 20 sessions, and have a completely new body in 30 sessions.” ( Joseph H. Pilates). If we examine this, it is equivalent to 10 weeks of three times a week of periodised modern strength training, which, in the same space of time easily can produce the same results as Pilates. If it doesn’t, then there is something seriously wrong with your training!

SOME PILATES RESEARCH

While searching for some published research on Pilates methods, I found this website and thought “at last, something!”, but my initial hopes waned the moment that I read these articles.

http://www.pilates.uk.com/research/

These articles are fixated on comparing ‘normal springs’ with the ’special’ Pilates springs used on his ‘Reformer’ machine and offer no information whatsoever on the allegedly special physiology behind Pilates. In addition, here some extracts that reveal significant defects in the calibre of the research:

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***While the acceleration due to gravity is fairly constant over the surface of the earth, any movement against gravity involves acceleration, which means that resistance changes throughout the range of motion. Although springs offer resistance which increases directly with extension, training against gravity with or without weights can also increase resistance anywhere in the range of movement where you try to accelerate the limb or load. Movement at every stage of joint motion involves muscle shortening, so what this remark has to do with “coinciding with shortening of the muscle” is anyone’s guess.

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***This last sentence reveals that the author has never undertaken any biomechanical research, nor does he appear to know that, if the Force-Time curve is a complete rectangle, the acceleration and deceleration phases to and from some apparently constant peak force are vertical lines and the acceleration in each case must be infinitely large. Even if the curve is obtained on an isokinetic dynamometer, the acceleration and deceleration phases cannot be vertical lines.

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***How does work become “lost” in the elastic resistance case? If we wish to be pedantic, and the movement starts and ends in the same place, then no external work is done, be it against gravity or springs. If we wish to consider internal metabolic work, then his analysis is inappropriate and incorrect. Even if we can calculate it accurately in both cases, the work done depends on the magnitude of the external resistance, not simply on what arrangement is used to produce the resistance. More significant is the fact that there are action-specific neuromuscular programmes that will distinguish between the training effects of springs and inertial resistance.

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***Without indulging in another scientific analysis of further inaccuracies in this extract, it is interesting that training on most Pilates machines, especially the gliding seat, spring-resisting ‘Reformer’, ironically also fail to reflect what happens in ‘real life’! The author continues to proliferate the misbelief that the only necessary and sufficient condition for general and rehabilitative conditioning is sport specific movement. Were this to be true, the use of all forms of resistance and supplementary training would be entirely redundant.

SOME PILATES WEBSITES

http://www.eye.net/eye/issue/issue_04.17.97/fitness/macri.html

The following site proliferates the myth that Pilates training somehow produces a Pilates-specific type of longer, leaner muscle and that all strength training aims at increasing hypertrophy:

http://www.fitnesslink.com/mind/pilates.shtml

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The idea of stretching and lengthening runs contrary to the methods used by most of today’s fitness professionals who believe that the only way to “tone” muscle is to increase the muscle diameter. But students of Pilates swear by his method and have even admitted to feeling taller, leaner and “better” after only a few sessions.>>

The proof in the above article? - Anecdote, hearsay and belief, relying on the very misleading idea that all strength training must involve bodybuilding bulking methods.

“Pilates based” training at home:

http://www.gocarolinas.com/living/health/fitness/1999/06/0628_pilates.html

This site includes an old ‘ab exercise’, the supine leg flutter, at which Pilates himself would cringe. At least the author states that “This really isn’t a Pilates exercise — it’s borrowed from the military — but it’s a fabulous ab-shaper.” Actually, the abs are contracted isometrically in this exercise and serve to stabilise the pelvis, rather than to exercise the abdominal musculature in the full range and manner that Pilates would have recommended. This is but one example of many Pilates teachers simply bastardising what Pilates originally taught and sometimes misrepresenting what the grand old man preached, so don’t think that if you attend a so-called Pilates class or “Pilates based” class that you are receiving the kosher article!

http://www.shapeshift.com/Articles/time.htm (Some Time Magazine rave trivia on Pilates)

Some final Pilates sites:

http://www.the-method.com/

http://www.pilates.uk.com/

http://www.shapeshift.com/articles.htm (Popular Glossy Magzine articles on Pilates)

http://www.shapeshift.com/Articles/mnf.htm (Pilates for Weightlifters and Athletes - filled with many errors about pelvic stabilisation and use during heavy lifting

In every single case where Pilates is compared with other forms of conditioning, it is measured against typical bodybuilding training and never against scientific strength training that has been used for many years in Russia and Europe to produce the world’s greatest athletes in many shapes and sizes, all depending on the specific needs of their sports.

Thus, there are some athletes who make Pilates adherents look thoroughly out of shape, just as there are others who make Pilates folk look like pictures of perfection. There are many slender, aesthetically built athletes who are considerably stronger, faster, more coordinated and more flexible that even the most seasoned Pilates practitioners, while there are bulky bionic-looking athletes whose all-round shape and performance is easily overshadowed by some Pilates fans.

It is apparent that far too many Pilates disciples seem to think that all resistance training is some narrow type of bodybuilding training which many years ago gave birth to that myth that all weight trained athletes are bulky, slow, inflexible and prone to injury. This sort of extrapolation from one small aspect of strength training to prove the merits of Pilates work betrays a serious lack of understanding and a very biased view of modern strength training.

In fact, if Pilates teachers were to learn more about what advanced strength training is about, they could raise Pilates methods to far greater heights. If any of them are genuinely curious to learn some of the methods of integrated West-East strength science, then let them examine references such as the following:

Zatsiorsky V “Science and Practice of Strength Training” 1995

Siff MC & Verkhoshansky YV “Supertraining” 1999

Bompa T “Theory and Methodology of Training” 1983

Yessis M “Secrets of Soviet Sports Fitness & Training” 1987



Dr Mel Siff
Dr Mel Siff
Author of Supertraining
Author of Facts and Fallacies of Fitness
www.drmelsiff.com

In Depth Anaylsis of Pilates Part I

There has been so much discussion on the resurgence of Pilates methods of training that I thought it might be helpful to write a lengthy commentary on this conditioning system, based on my own exposure to Pilates training, various Pilates books and dozens of websites (almost all of which are commercial advertisements for classes or certification).

In all of these sources, I was unable to find any quality research which supports the claims of Pilates or shows its superiority over other well-structured multifaceted varied systems of conditioning. All claims to its excellence are based upon comparison with limited bodybuilding regimes and anecdotal testimonials by clients who have had little exposure to the wide world of modern strength science. If there is anyone who can quote some definitive peer-reviewed research, please share it with us.

PILATES HISTORY

Joseph Pilates was born in Germany in 1880 and grew up in England, where he was interned during World War I and used this time to become a nurse. His frail childhood apparently inspired him to pursue a path of lifelong fitness that led him to take up bodybuilding and several other sports to become a competent skier, diver, boxer, and gymnast.

It is apparent that the time spent in those old gymnastics and bodybuilding training halls laid many of the foundations for the design of his special training machines and his training methods. While working as a nurse, he inventively used the springs and frames of hospital beds to make variations of what he had seen used by gymnastics and physique coaches of his time. There can be little doubt that he, like so many young men of his time were impressed by the innovative approaches of training legends such as Eugene Sandow, who consulted for many kings, queens and heads of State at the time.

During the 1920s, he moved to New York, where he opened his first formal studio, which ultimately attracted well-known dancers such as George Ballanchine and Martha Graham to train there regularly, which provided an invaluable marketing boost to his career in the USA. Since his work grew up in the world of gymnastics, an aesthetic art which has strong allegiances with ballet, it obviously received sympathetic support from the emerging dance community in the USA, which, until that time was vastly overshadowed by the dancing giants of Europe.

Consequently, his methods became very well publicised in the dance and drama community and, until recently, have remained confined largely to these same communities that spread his method in its earliest days. Also not surprising is that some of his latter day disciples have astutely discerned that any intriguing apparently novel systems of fitness can make a fortune in the fitness and shape gullible West. In this regard, Romana Kryzanowska, his one Master Teacher, who, after Joseph’s death, was asked by his wife, Clara, to continue with Joseph’s teachings and today she serves as the guru of the Pilates movement.

SOME PILATES METHODS & MACHINES

The following website summarises many of the Pilates methods and machines, giving photographs of devices that clearly have been derived from the world of gymnastics and early fitness training, as anyone with a reasonable background in gymnastics history and coaching will tell you:

This site introduces Pilates thus: <>

http://www.pilates-studio.com/about.htm

Of course, this same sort of preface may be applied to many different fitness and health training regimes, especially those drawn from the world of scientific strength training (see, for example, the major aspects of this field by skimming through the Table of Contents of Siff & Verkhoshansky “Supertraining” at this site: http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/8682/siff.htm).

High Chair (Modified Gymnastics Staking Pommel)
The Reformer (A modified rowing trainer with pulleys)
The Mat (A fat mat!)
The Pedipull (A modified pulley machine)
The Magic Circle (A 14? sprung-steel ring with cushioned handles)
The Cadillac (Modified type of Parallel and Horizontal Bars)
The Low Chair (Modified Gymnastics Staking Pommel)
The Spine Corrector Barrel (Low Level type of Pommel Horse)

Originally Pilates devised over 500 specific exercises using five major pieces of his modified gymnastics apparatus, while his pupils have added something like another 1500 variations to increase this list to its current status today to develop the body more uniformly, in their opinion.

He baptised one of his central principles with the name “Contrology” to define his general programme of fitness exercises which showed a clear appreciation of early Grecian aesthetics of training, their coordination and balance of body and mind, and the burgeoning training schemes of leaders such as Sandow, Professor Attila, George Hackenschmidt and Dr Krayevsky.

According to Pilates (in his book “Your Health”, 1934), Contrology “is the conscious control of all muscular movements of the body. It is the correct utilization and application of the leverage principles afforded by the bones comprising the skeletal framework of the body, a complete knowledge of the mechanism of the body, and a full understanding of the principles of equilibrium and gravity as applied to the movements of the body in motion, at rest and in sleep.”

Interestingly, the above words are very similar to what Sandow wrote when he championed the introduction of physical education and sport as compulsory school subjects and the regular examination of pupils by doctors and dentists. Therefore, it is highly relevant to summarise the fitness world in which Pilates grew up.

THE INFLUENCE OF SANDOW & EARLY FITNESS LEADERS

(Extracted from Siff & Verkhoshansky “Supertraining” 1999 Ch 1)

The great Sandow, born in Koningsberg in East Russia in 1867, was sought out by presidents and rulers from all around the world, with his book, “Life is Movement” being received enthusiastically by nine kings and queens and many princes of Europe, as well as US Presidents William Taft and Woodrow Wilson. Besides defeating many strongmen of his time, he was a generous sponsor of many charitable causes and an early champion of more hygienic conditions of working and living for all, including the central role of formal fitness and health management. As part of his vision, he pressed for the introduction of physical education and sport as compulsory school subjects, and the regular examination of pupils by school doctors and dentists. At the same time, he to ured the world lecturing to promote physical culture as a means of improving quality of life, with his contributions being described as follows by the

“Mirror of Life and Sport” (8 April 1911):

” His Majesty King George has conferred an unique honour upon Mr. Eugene Sandow, the world-renowned exponent and founder of scientific physical culture. Mr. Sandow just having had the honour of being appointed Professor of Scientific Physical Culture to his Majesty. The keen interest which the King has always taken in the physical welfare of his people is well-known, and there is no desire more dear to his Majesty’s heart than to improve the conditions of life for the masses.

Mr. Sandow’s appointment must be regarded as a striking recognition of the undoubted benefits of scientific physical culture, and there is no doubt that the interest shown by his Majesty in the subject will considerably increase the popularity of the science of which Mr. Sandow is the principal authority. Mr. Sandow is a man who has risen by his own unaided effort to a position in which he is not only a national but a world factor in the science of improvement of the human body and the combating of that physical degeneracy which in former eras has always accompanied the advances of civilisation.”

In many respects, therefore, Sandow was one of the most important founding fathers of the fitness revolution, revealing that the modern phenomenon of science-based physical training is by no means novel or innovative. Interestingly, Sandow’s methods focused largely on the development of strength and skill as the foundation of health, an approach which was almost completely deposed more than half a century later by cardiovascular scientists such as Dr Kenneth Cooper of the USA, who massively downplayed the role of these fitness qualities and stressed ‘aerobic’ fitness as being far more important to general health. It has taken more than 25 years for the quality of strength advocated by Sandow to return to academic acceptance.

In Russia, during this same period, the eminent Polish-born physician, Vladislav Krayevsky (Krajewski), founded the St Petersburg Amateur Weightlifting Society (1885), having visited various German towns to familiarise himself with what was already known throughout Europe as weightlif ting or ‘heavy athletics’, because of his great interest in the use of physical culture for the prevention and treatment of illness. Many prominent scientists, artists and athletes became his pupils, including another famous strongman, George Hackenschmidt, who credited Krayevsky for teaching him all that he knew. Hackenschmidt, in his book, “The Way to Live”, added that some of the world’s strongest men of that era, including Sandow, were trained according to Krayevsky’s system.

Krayevsky’s considerable knowledge in medicine, psychology, physical culture, methods of using exercises and organizational abilities made him an acknowledged leader in weightlifting sports (including wrestling). He not only promoted weightlifting, taught classes and organized competitions, but also lifted himself, achieving significant success in barbell lifts.

Krayevsky wrote two of his fundamental works during the period 1896-1899, “The Catechism of Health - Rules for Athletes” and “The Development of Physical Strength with Kettlebells and without Kettlebells” (1900).

Krayevsky displayed an excellent knowledge of the history of physical culture and all forms of gymnastics. He paid special attention to therapeutic gymnastics in his “Diagram of Medico Gymnastic Uses” and its accompanying detailed commentary, a book that was widely read by many people in the training world of the time. Krayevsky was very familiar with Swedish gymnastics and noted its therapeutic applications, but his concern with the lack of scientific substantiation of the Swedish system led him to recruit Russian experimentalists to research it.

Many of Krayevsky’s methodological recommendations are still valid. These recommendations include medical control of the athlete’s health, regularity of workouts and planned sequencing of increasing loads, multi-faceted physical development, psychological management, observation of wellness rules (especially sleep) and refraining from the use of alcohol and smoking. Krayevsky was especially concerned with forming correct breathing habits and methods of combating fatigue, and felt that many of the limitations imposed by heredity could be overcome by appropriate training.

Many of these early strength pioneers devised interesting and unique training weights and machines, including cable machines, variable resistance machines using cams and levers, elastic springs and cables, friction resistance devices, kettlebells, thick-grip bars, hollow-ended barbells and dumbbells whose weight could be increased by adding lead shot, odd-shaped bars, isolation machines, weighted boots and various throwing devices. Yet there are those today who lay claims of originality to designing these machines more than 50 years after their original manufacture. In addition, a large number of weight training, bodybuilding exercises and techniques which are believed to be original today had been tried and tested in that burgeoning exploration era of finding the best methods of strength training.
Dr Mel Siff
Author of Supertraining
Author of Facts and Fallacies of Fitness
www.drmelsiff.com