5 Things You Need To Know About Your Body

"Don't look!" said my former client to her 7 year old daughter who had just walked into my Pilates studio and was viewing an anatomy chart on the wall. The little girl had come to let her Mum know her Dad was waiting in the car to drive her home after her session. Like most kids told not to look, she couldn't take her eyes off the chart. Her mother actually then covered her daughters eyes with her hand and said "I know darling, it's disgusting. Let's go home." My jaw dropped open. The chart she was referring to was
The Muscular System of the human body and there was absolutely nothing pictured on that chart that was unsuitable for children to view. This woman was sending a very negative message to her impressionable young daughter that the human body is embarrassing, shameful and something to be hidden away. This sort of behaviour, combined with all the misinformation and negative attitudes circulating in society, explains why so many clients start Pilates with almost zero knowledge of how their bodies function and move. Most people can tell you more about how their mobile phone or computer works than their own body!

One of the many benefits of practising Pilates is increased body awareness . Getting to know your body as you progress on your Pilates journey is an exciting and rewarding process. The more finely tuned you are mentally to your body and its functions the easier it is for you to detect any warning signs that something is not right and needs attention. Body awareness also allows you to take control of your body with your mind and make positive changes. This is one aspect of the mind -body connection of Pilates which helps you to overcome chronic pain and enjoy pain-free living. The more knowledge you have about your body the easier it is for you to visualise the mucles you are tyring to activate, contract or release., I'm going share the top 5 things that I find clients don't know and need to know when they start Pilates and for everyday life.

1. You Have Voluntary Control Over Your Muscles

Skeletal muscles move your bones and are under our voluntary control. This means we can contract and release these muscles at will. This it what makes it possible to use our minds to change any movement patterns that are no longer serving us and gives us the ability to establish new movement patterns.  If you have very tight gluteal muscles (glutes) for example, this can cause a number of painful conditions such as back, knee, hip or foot pain.  By developing awareness of your glutes you can consciously focus on re-training them to contract and release them at will.  They will then work efficiently for you in daily life when you aren't actively focusing on them to provide the support your body needs to function effeciently and stay pain-free.

2. You Need To Be Able To Locate Basic Muscle Groups

I can't begin tell you how many times a new client has touched a part of their body and said "I have pain here, but I don't know what that's called."  At the front of your thigh are the quadriceps a group of 4 muscles. The back of the thigh is where you find your hamstrings, a group of 3 muscles.  The inside of your thigh is made up of 5 adductors or inner thigh muscles. Thee are some basics of the lower body to start with as the more familiar you are with all the muscles the greater your body awareness will become and the easier it will be for you to connect with and control these muscles. Get curious about your body and google an anatomy chart and familiarise yourself with the muscles mentioned above to start with and then gradually learn some more. Knowledge is power and getting to know your body is an investment in yourself.

3. Maintaining Good Bone Health Is Essential

if you have been diagnosed with osteopenia or osteoporosis, you will have a new appreciation for the importance of maintaining good bone health.  Discovering that you have brittle bones and are at increased risk of fracture can be shocking and hard to come to terms with but fortunately you can take action to strengthen your bones.  If you are fortunate to have healthy bones, you want to ensure you keep it that way.  Bone is living tissue and our bone density can be improved by weight bearing activities such as walking, dancing and Pilates.  Many of my clients have successfully improved their bone density with Pilates which is very empowering for them.  Some movements should be avoided if you have osteopenia or osteoporosis such as forward flexion for example and my online Pilates program provides many osteoporosis safe workouts that are specifically designed to increase bone density.  We all need to keep our bones as strong and healthy as possible, especially as we age.

4. Don't Ignore Your Pelvic Floor

Like bone health, pelvic floor health is not usually a priority until something goes wrong.  Incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse can occur when the pelvic floor is weak or injured.  Even women who have given birth multiple times have very little understanding of the pelvic floor.as there is minimal education provided. This horizontal muscle group at the base of the pelvis, forms the base of the core or centre in Pilate and helps to stabilise the pelvis.  These muscles also support the pelvic organs such as the bladder, bowel and uterus.  Men have pelvic floors too  (which is a common quesion I've been asked!). The pelvic floor plays a vital role in sexual function for both women and men.  Pilates is unique in that it helps keep the the pelvic floor strong and supple.  Whether you want to recover from a pelvic floor injury or prevent one from occurring in the future, my online Pilates program is ideal for maintaining good pelvic floor health.

5. Your Ability To Balance Declines As You Age

I know! That sounds really depressing but the reality is that our ability to hold ourselves upright and maintain our balance declines as we age. The good news is though, that as long as we are actively challenging our balance with appropriate training we can reverse this process!  Balance training is essential for keeping your body and brain sharp.  It improves your proprioception - your ability to know where your body is in space.  If  you misjudge the height of a step, have issues with clumsiness or bump into things you need to sharpen your proprioception and balance training can help you do this. Balance training can literally save your life and prevent a fatal fall.  Test your own balance by standing on 1 leg in front of a wall. Put you hands on the wall for support and very slowly and carefully try to take your hands away from the wall and balance. If this is too hard keep your hands there.  If you can balance, try to hold it for a minmum of 10 seconds. If you are very unstable you will need need to have a fitness professional standing next to you as you learn to do this.  If you have some stability, try increasing the length of time you can balance and you will find with regular practice you will improve quite quickly.  My online Pilates studio contains many on demand videos that are designed to provide lots of different balance training challenges from the very basic to the advanced.  I also include balance training in all my 1 on 1 virtual sessions via Skype. 

 If you are ready to develop your body awareness so you can enjoy pain-free living with Pilates, email me at [email protected] to get started.  Alternatively, you can book an Initial Assessment with me here or  take the free 10 day trial of JS Mind Body Pilates, my online studio and start straight away.  It would be my pleasure to assist you on your Pilates journey to healthy, pain-free living!