Pilates is a method of exercise created over 80 years ago by Joseph H. & Clara Pilates. Joe Pilates was born in Germany in 1880 and, as a young man he began a life-long study of health and physical fitness. Over many years of exper­i­men­ta­tion and imple­men­ta­tion, Joe and Clara devel­oped more than 600 exer­cises that they called the “Art of Control­ogy”, which today we call Pilates.

The main focus of Pilates is the spine and the muscles directly related to the spine, which are your deepest core muscles. This process, when taught and performed correctly, will not only strengthen your core, it will also balance your body, and help you move through your daily life more profi­ciently. One of the greatest things about Pilates is that it is based on natural ranges of motion that directly trans­late to daily living!

How Pilates Works

When most people think of Pilates, their first thoughts are core strength, strong abs, 6 pack, and crunches. What they don’t realize is that the muscle that creates the ’6 pack’ is big, thin, flat, and the farthest core muscle from your spine. This is called your rectus abdo­minis. This is NOT the muscle we are looking for in Pilates.

In Pilates you want to work your trans­ver­sus abdo­minis muscle. The trans­ver­sus abdo­minis is the deepest of the abdom­i­nal muscles and is also a stabi­lizer of the spine. It runs hori­zon­tally between the ribcage and pelvis. Imagine a support belt like they wear at Lowes or Home Depot. When properly devel­oped, you’ve got one “built in,” the trans­ver­sus abdo­minis! To find this muscle simply pull your belly in and lift it up. Did you just get taller? That’s your trans­verse abdo­minis in red below.

Another impor­tant group of muscles we focus on in Pilates are the multi­fidi muscles. The multi­fidi are the deepest layer of muscles in the the back. They connect your vertabrae (the bones of the spine). Each multi­fidi connects 1–3 verte­brae, control­ling movement between the vertebrae.

How do you activate your multi­fidus muscles?
Sit up tall; imagine pushing the ceiling away with the crown of your head.It is as simple as that. When we slump, we aren’t using the multi­fi­didus muscles. The trans­ver­sus abdo­minis and the multi­fidi work together to support and stabi­lize the spine, helping prevent low back pain.

Now stand up tall, pull your belly in lift it up, don’t forget to breathe! In the begin­ning this can be diffi­cult to maintain. As these muscles get stronger, this practice gets easier, and your posture gets better. To quote Rebecca Leone, “All of Pilates is performed with this foun­da­tion engagement—you’re multi­task­ing all the way down to your bones in Pilates!”
In Pilates, you truly strengthen your body from the inside out.