Why Pilates Gets Misunderstood as Just Exercise

They think Pilates gets you shaking and being a Herculane work-out.

I've been in the fitness game for 27 years, and this myth drives me crazy. They see Pilates as another fad exercise when in fact it is a very powerful rehab tool.

The fitness community created this problem. So did our cultural attention span.

Everyone wants the shot in the arm, the quick summary. No one invests time for the greater value of what we're actually trying to accomplish.

Your Body Becomes the Teacher

With Monad Pilates, I use a simple technique that changes everything.

I work with one side of a person's body first. Just one side.

We can start with a pigeon stretch, and then move to what we call the tailor stretch on the reformer. You bring your knee up to your chest, take your leg in the strap to the side, try to get your foot on the floor. This stretches your hip and quads.

After those exercises, I have them take the rope off their foot, stand up, and walk around.

That's when they feel it.

They feel more long, more tall, more light. They realize what did happen to their body because they have a frame of reference to work with.

When they say to you "I never thought I could feel this way," they really mean it. Research says that pain reduction through Pilates is clinically meaningful, and 19 studies concluded it was superior to control groups.

The Combat Connection

My training taught me something significant regarding body awareness.

When you're in combat, your body shifts into heightened awareness without you even realizing it. Your eyes get sharper, your reflexes faster, adrenaline runs through your body.

Your body builds a habit of what you do with it.

The same applies to restoration. When you decelerate everything and work with the restorative elements of Pilates, your body reacts just as swiftly.

This is particularly useful for people with chronic pain, which affects up to 28-65% of the U.S. population.

The Healthcare Provider Gap

Here's the missing link that most docs and PTs overlook: somebody with chronic pain already has an intensified awareness of their body.

They're not disconnected. They're in an intensified state because they're dealing with ongoing discomfort.

When I explain this to healthcare providers, I tell them just that. The person who is hurting has awareness, especially if it is localized.

So maybe we start on the other side. "Feel how we made the other side move? Let's do this on the painful side."

There are sometimes pinches you need to cut through. But when they feel one side stretched out and moving more efficiently, they understand.

The Systematic Method

It's not about charging in. It's a slow, careful process.

For general aches, I might start with a warm-up sequence: footwork, the hundreds, core work, bridging. Back to core, and feet and straps.

When we get to feet and straps, maybe we go on to short spine first, test them out. If those are good, we can proceed to long spine.

When they stand up, they feel stretched out. Their back does not hurt. They feel good.

It's going to depend on what it is, where it is, and what we need to approach it from.

Current studies affirm that movement fear decreases significantly when mind-body cueing is added to Pilates sessions, reducing kinesiophobia with statistical relevance.

The Aha Moment

They're not going to get it the first time we work through the sequence.

The ah-ha usually occurs in the second or third class. That's their aha moment.

Getting them there is what it's all about. It's when they get it that their body can feel different, move more, hurt less.

With the mat, reformer, Cadillac, chair, and ladder barrel, we have a number of tools to help the body to move more efficiently. Each machine has its own use in the process of restoring.

The control, breathing, and accuracy that make up Clinical Pilates construct a systematic method from dysfunction to optimal movement.

When someone experiences that side-by-side difference in their own body, they are believers. Not because I told them it was going to work, but because they felt it work.

That's the power of letting the body teach.