I started practicing Pilates back in 2007, during my time in the Royal Air Force, while stationed at RAF Brize Norton. One day I saw a class advertised on the base so I thought I’d give it a try. I loved it. I found it really challenging but rewarding, I discovered muscles I didn’t even know I had. I knew I’d stumbled onto something special. It didn’t take long for me to notice the benefits, particularly when combined with my other passion, surfing.
I practiced Pilates on the mat for years before discovering Reformer Pilates. At first sight the Reformer looks intimidating, like a medieval torture device crossed with bedroom furniture from Ann Summers, I was instantly hooked. You can literally target, work, and challenge every single muscle in your body. I had already trained as a mat Pilates teacher but Reformer certification with STOTT Pilates swiftly followed.
“You will feel better in ten sessions, look better in twenty sessions, and have a completely new body in thirty sessions.”
Joseph Pilates
A Brief History of Pilates
Pilates has been around since the beginning of the last century It’s a dynamic, low impact but high intensity exercise system used to strengthen the core and peripheral muscle groups to restore the natural shock absorbing properties of the spine.
Originally called ‘Contrology’; Pilates takes its’ name from Joseph Pilates, a German who lived in Britain and later in America. He developed the Pilates method as a new approach to exercise and body-conditioning. His method included the use of equipment referred to by him as ‘apparatus’. Probably the best known piece of equipment, is the Pilates reformer.
Joseph Pilates was born in 1880 near Dusseldorf in Germany. As a child he was very frail, suffering with rheumatic fever, asthma, and rickets. As a consequence grew up determined to make himself healthy and strong. He took up bodybuilding as a teenager, building his strength and physique and before he knew it he was getting work as a model for anatomical drawings.
Pilates was possibly one of the first Europeans to combine Western and Eastern concepts on health and fitness. He studied and practised every kind of exercise system he could find; ranging from ancient Roman and Greek exercise modalities to bodybuilding and gymnastics. Joseph also studied the Eastern disciplines of tai chi, martial arts, yoga and Zen meditation. On top of all this he researched and studied human anatomy and also the movement of animals. Pilates was totally focused on his goals, sampling every kind of exercise that he could, meticulously recording his findings.
Joseph Pilates left Germany in 1912, aged 32, moving to the UK. His time in the UK was an interesting one, sampling lots of different jobs and pastimes. He became a professional boxer, a diver, an expert skier, taught self-defence to Scotland Yard police detectives, and also found work as a circus acrobat.
Development of Pilates and the Reformer
When the first World War broke out, he was arrested and interned on the Isle of Mann as a German enemy alien. With not much else to do he used his time to begin developing a new approach to exercise and full body conditioning, the start of what is known today as Pilates.
During his internment he also got the chance to work as a nurse. This allowed him the opportunity to experiment on his patients by attaching springs to hospital beds, so that patients could start toning their muscles even while they were still stuck in their beds. This was the origin of the first Pilates machine now known as the Pilates Reformer. Initially the Reformer was a modified hospital bed, with a sliding platform, using pulleys, straps and ropes, with springs as resistance.
Why should I try it?
The Pilates Reformer is an awesome piece of kit to use both as an instructor and a customer. The ability to isolate and work specific muscle groups with precision is a joy. It gives us the ability to begin to correct, muscular imbalances caused by life and the things we do for fun.
The Reformer facilitates movement by using spring tension and resistance. You can build your strength and mobility through the whole movement range, increasing the challenge with more, or less resistance. As we move through a Reformer session we start in the most stable position for your body, and gradually take away the elements of stability to challenge your muscles to compensate. You work to the limits of your own strength, so no matter your level of fitness, you will always find a challenge.
By working on the supporting muscle groups as well as the superficial muscles you’ll build up resistance to injury and reduce the chances of back pain through muscular imbalance. The Reformer has been embraced by the surfing, football, rugby, and tennis world, with coaches recognising the benefits of injury prevention. Most people come to Pilates as a result of injury and physiotherapy. If you start practicing regular Pilates sessions, you’ll be able to skip the getting injured part and carry on doing the things you do for fun.
If you’d like to come and try Pilates on the Reformer, send me a message from my Surf Fit Pilates home page, or give me a call. I’m based in Newquay in beautiful Cornwall. I’ve plenty of onsite parking so you can come and do a Reformer session, grab your board from your car, and skip gaily down to the sea for a post lesson session, I’ll probably come with you!
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