What’s Golf Pilates All About?

 (Editor’s Note: I’ve been asked many times how Pilates is related to a better game of golf, and I try to explain, but there is so much to be said and there is none better than a Master of Pilates to say it. Following are some very basic considerations of improving one’s body through Pilates, and seeing the results in you playing a better game on the golf course.)

 By Dolly Kelepecz

 When we hear the word Pilates we think of a workout that has been designed for women. This is just not true. If we go back in the history of Pilates, we learn right away that Joesph Pilates, a man, designed the Pilates method in 1926. Joseph Pilates also write two books, “Return to Contrology” in 1945 and “Your Health” in 1934. As a gymnast, a boxer and a martial artist, Joseph Pilates was a very fine athlete. He also was a nurse in the internment camps in World War I.

While working in these camps, Joesph Pilates gathered statistics that supported his ideas about health including exercise for the United States Army, Navy, and Marine Services. The workout style was much like calisthenics. It was and still is an abdominal-based workout that develops postural muscles or backs stability, and also increases flexibilty. This information alone supports the fact that a man designed Pilates, for men, as well as women.

Increasing the strength of the abdominals will not only improve our appearance but is a large part of correct posturing. In men, the abdominals tend to be a real problem area. Without the help of our abdominals to support our spine, the muscles and skeletal structure of the back and hip become over-used, creating an imbalance. Thus, there are a countless number of different spinal pathologies that can and will occur. At the same time you strengthen the abdominals, you need to increase the strength and flexibility of the back muscles and include the muscle of the hips.

If you were building a house, you would certainly include the supports to the main structure. This would help with balancing the load so the main structure does not have to bare the entire weight of the house. Your body is very similar in its structural design and should be approached in a similar manner when building muscle strength.

Increasing flexibility in the entire body is very important. Flexibility is the component to our physical wellness that keeps us from toppling over. We have to be able to bend to and fro, with ease, in order, to catch ourselves from falling. Flexibility is also the other property of the muscle function. Muscles are made to contract and they are made to be elastic.

In order to have a healthy muscle you must have both properties elasticity and contractibility. It is much like a house that is built to stand in an earthquake. It cannot be completely stiff. It has to be able to bend slightly to and fro. Even to withstand normal ground shifting, the house has to be able to give a little. Again our bodies are not too much different. There is no better exercise to address the above issues than Pilates and they are issues that apply to men, as well as women.

Core training has recently become trendy, but it has actually been around for many years. The technique, which focuses and strengthens the pelvic floor and the transverse abdominal muscles, is one of the most beneficial aspects of spinal stability.

In my 18 years as a rehabilitation therapist, I have used Pilates (a type of core training) to help hundreds of clients with scoliosis (a curvature of the spine), kyphosis (a rounding of the upper back), lordosis (an extreme arch in the lower back), herniations (a bulging of a disc either anterior or posterior), and S.I. joint instability (an over-stretched ligament of the sacrum).

The pelvic floor muscles connect to the very base of the spine, the coccyx or the “tail bone”, the ishium or the “sitting bones”, and the pubis. The transverse abdominal line the pelvic wall and travel up to the mid-thoracic region. The transverse abdominal muscles are the deepest of the abdominal muscles.

If these muscles are not stabilized when you are attempting your workout, your spine is not correctly stabilized. Technically the muscles that are used in the pelvic floor are pubococcygeus, iliococcygeus, levator ani, coccygeus, and the obturator internus. Imagine a basket, in the base of your body; connected to all four sides of your pelvis, that is how these muscles connect to your bones. They are located just below your belly button and above you pubic bone.

When you correctly contract them you lift the base of the body upward. Women are more familiar with these muscles because of the traditional keggle exercises, designed to support the uterus and the bladder.

One of the easiest ways to understand the pelvic floor and the transverse abdominal muscles can be a little graphic. It is so abstract that if not explained clearly and plainly, it will not be understood. It is as if you are going to the toilet and you stop. If you can control those muscles, you are well on your way to stabilizing your pelvic floor and finding your core muscles. This may seem a little simplistic but, it is the bases for the support of not only your internal organs but also, your lower spine and sacrum.

Because Pilates is core training, it is highly beneficial for all levels of spine dysfunction. Many Pilate’s exercises are designed to create postural strength focusing on the abdominal muscles as well as the small intrinsic muscles that support our spinal column, such as the pelvic floor muscles and the transverse abdominal muscles.

The entire theory of Pilates is developed around the idea of lengthening the muscle groups while all the time engaging the abdominals. This type of action increases strength and flexibility around the spinal column as well as other major muscle groups. Creating symmetry is another goal that is important to the health of our spine. When our bodies have proper alignment, we are more apt to exercise correctly with less risk of injury. The practice of Pilates is designed to stimulate the proper neurological innervations to create a deeper since of symmetry

As you journey down the path of a strong and healthy spine, you should take into consideration the pelvic floor and transverse abdominal muscles. If you do not learn to contract them, you are not supporting your spine from top to bottom. Pilates core training is enjoyable to execute yet yields impressive results. From a problem as small as low back tightness to a problem as large as a spine herniation, Pilates core training may be the answer.

Pilates Joint Stabilizer

Before you attempt to lift, or push, or pull heavy loads, the major joints of the body must be stabilized. Because of the deep intrinsic work of Pilates, it is the perfect joint stabilizer. I have mentioned the spine as a series of joints and how Pilates can benefit the spine. Now I would like to give you insight on the shoulder, the knee and the ankle joints.

The shoulder is the most vulnerable joint with only one bony attachment to the body, at the sternoclavicular joint. We all are familiar with the biceps, triceps, the deltoids and the latissumus muscles. These muscles are primary movers and provide gross motor skill movement. But, we need to have a stabilized joint before we do gross motor skill movement, making sure that the long bone of the arm (humerus) is securely held in the shoulder socket. Pilates works those muscles, which stabilize the shoulder, more commonly known as the rotator cuff muscles. This enables safer workouts and a lessened chanced of a dislocated shoulder.

The knee is also another vulnerable joint suffering from many instability problems. This can indirectly affect the health of the spine, the hip, and the ankle. Pilates can be the answer for many common knee dysfunctions, acl problems, misaligned patella, and medial and lateral instabilities. Because Pilates equipment does not use weights, Pilates does not create a load or tension on the joint. It is designed to adjust the pull of gravity though spring resistance. This is a non- stressful method for strengthening major joints and can bring relief and healing to those suffering with knee alignment problems.

The ankle like the knee joint, if misaligned or weak can transfer instabilities sequentially up the leg to the spine. The ankle is also a main source of balance for the body. The muscles of the ankle are smaller muscles and are usually neglected in our standard workout programs. In Pilates the feet are one of the focal points. Working the feet in several different positions builds a bi lateral well rounded strength in the foot, which helps to stabilize the ankle, which in turn effects the entire body alignment.

Keeping every joint strong and supple should be a goal for our health. Pilates can give you both the strength needed for stability and the flexibility required for a supple agile body. www.PilatesbyDolly.com.