Mel:
What a great article--I have been very interested in incorporating Pilates
into my PT practice and was just getting started on researching the method.
You have saved me considerable time and effort which I greatly appreciate.
I only wonder why I can't get CE credits for reading your work.
Herb Silver, PT
At 10:03 PM 3/31/00 EST, you wrote:
>There has been so much discussion on the resurgence of Pilates methods of
>training that I thought it might be helpful to write a lengthy commentary on
>this conditioning system, based on my own exposure to Pilates training,
>various Pilates books and dozens of websites (almost all of which are
>commercial advertisements for classes or certification).
>
>In all of these sources, I was unable to find any quality research which
>supports the claims of Pilates or shows its superiority over other
>well-structured multifaceted varied systems of conditioning. All claims to
>its excellence are based upon comparison with limited bodybuilding regimes
>and anecdotal testimonials by clients who have had little exposure to the
>wide world of modern strength science. If there is anyone who can quote
some
>definitive peer-reviewed research, please share it with us.
>
>PILATES HISTORY
>
>Joseph Pilates was born in Germany in 1880 and grew up in England, where he
>was interned during World War I and used this time to become a nurse. His
>frail childhood apparently inspired him to pursue a path of lifelong fitness
>that led him to take up bodybuilding and several other sports to become a
>competent skier, diver, boxer, and gymnast.
>
>It is apparent that the time spent in those old gymnastics and bodybuilding
>training halls laid many of the foundations for the design of his special
>training machines and his training methods. While working as a nurse, he
>inventively used the springs and frames of hospital beds to make variations
>of what he had seen used by gymnastics and physique coaches of his time.
>There can be little doubt that he, like so many young men of his time were
>impressed by the innovative approaches of training legends such as Eugene
>Sandow, who consulted for many kings, queens and heads of State at the time.
>
>During the 1920s, he moved to New York, where he opened his first formal
>studio, which ultimately attracted well-known dancers such as George
>Ballanchine and Martha Graham to train there regularly, which provided an
>invaluable marketing boost to his career in the USA. Since his work grew up
>in the world of gymnastics, an aesthetic art which has strong allegiances
>with ballet, it obviously received sympathetic support from the emerging
>dance community in the USA, which, until that time was vastly overshadowed
by
>the dancing giants of Europe.
>
>Consequently, his methods became very well publicised in the dance and drama
>community and, until recently, have remained confined largely to these same
>communities that spread his method in its earliest days. Also not surprising
>is that some of his latter day disciples have astutely discerned that any
>intriguing apparently novel systems of fitness can make a fortune in the
>fitness and shape gullible West. In this regard, Romana Kryzanowska, his
one
>Master Teacher, who, after Joseph's death, was asked by his wife, Clara,
>to continue with Joseph's teachings and today she serves as the guru of the
>Pilates movement.
>
>SOME PILATES METHODS & MACHINES
>
>The following website summarises many of the Pilates methods and machines,
>giving photographs of devices that clearly have been derived from the world
>of gymnastics and early fitness training, as anyone with a reasonable
>background in gymnastics history and coaching will tell you:
>
>This site introduces Pilates thus: <<The 'Pilates Method' is not just
>exercise, however. It is a series of controlled movements engaging your body
>and mind, performed on specifically designed exercise apparatus and
>supervised by extensively trained teachers.>>
>
>http://www.pilates-studio.com/about.htm
>
>Of course, this same sort of preface may be applied to many different
fitness
>and health training regimes, especially those drawn from the world of
>scientific strength training (see, for example, the major aspects of this
>field by skimming through the Table of Contents of Siff & Verkhoshansky
>"Supertraining" at this site:
>http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/8682/siff.htm).
>
>High Chair (Modified Gymnastics Staking Pommel)
>The Reformer (A modified rowing trainer with pulleys)
>The Mat (A fat mat!)
>The Pedipull (A modified pulley machine)
>The Magic Circle (A type of fat floor mat)
>The Cadillac (Modified type of Parallel and Horizontal Bars)
>The Low Chair (Modified Gymnastics Staking Pommel)
>The Spine Corrector Barrel (Low Level type of Pommel Horse)
>
>Originally Pilates devised over 500 specific exercises using five major
>pieces of his modified gymnastics apparatus, while his pupils have added
>something like another 1500 variations to increase this list to its current
>status today to develop the body more uniformly, in their opinion.
>
>He baptised one of his central principles with the name "Contrology" to
>define his general programme of fitness exercises which showed a clear
>appreciation of early Grecian aesthetics of training, their coordination and
>balance of body and mind, and the burgeoning training schemes of leaders
such
>as Sandow, Professor Attila, George Hackenschmidt and Dr Krayevsky.
>
>According to Pilates (in his book "Your Health", 1934), Contrology "is the
>conscious control of all muscular movements of the body. It is the correct
>utilization and application of the leverage principles afforded by the bones
>comprising the skeletal framework of the body, a complete knowledge of the
>mechanism of the body, and a full understanding of the principles of
>equilibrium and gravity as applied to the movements of the body in motion,
at
>rest and in sleep."
>
>Interestingly, the above words are very similar to what Sandow wrote when he
>championed the introduction of physical education and sport as compulsory
>school subjects and the regular examination of pupils by doctors and
>dentists. Therefore, it is highly relevant to summarise the fitness world
in
>which Pilates grew up.
>
>THE INFLUENCE OF SANDOW & EARLY FITNESS LEADERS
>
>(Extracted from Siff & Verkhoshansky "Supertraining" 1999 Ch 1)
>
>The great Sandow, born in Koningsberg in East Russia in 1867, was sought out
>by presidents and rulers from all around the world, with his book, "Life is
>Movement" being received enthusiastically by nine kings and queens and many
>princes of Europe, as well as US Presidents William Taft and Woodrow
Wilson.
>Besides defeating many strongmen of his time, he was a generous sponsor of
>many charitable causes and an early champion of more hygienic conditions of
>working and living for all, including the central role of formal fitness and
>health management. As part of his vision, he pressed for the introduction
of
>physical education and sport as compulsory school subjects, and the regular
>examination of pupils by school doctors and dentists. At the same time,
he to
>ured the world lecturing to promote physical culture as a means of improving
>quality of life, with his contributions being described as follows by the
>"Mirror of Life and Sport" (8 April 1911):
>
>" His Majesty King George has conferred an unique honour upon Mr. Eugene
>Sandow, the world-renowned exponent and founder of scientific physical
>culture. Mr. Sandow just having had the honour of being appointed Professor
>of Scientific Physical Culture to his Majesty. The keen interest which the
>King has always taken in the physical welfare of his people is well-known,
>and there is no desire more dear to his Majesty’s heart than to improve the
>conditions of life for the masses.
>
>Mr. Sandow’s appointment must be regarded as a striking recognition of the
>undoubted benefits of scientific physical culture, and there is no doubt
that
>the interest shown by his Majesty in the subject will considerably increase
>the popularity of the science of which Mr. Sandow is the principal
authority.
>Mr. Sandow is a man who has risen by his own unaided effort to a position in
>which he is not only a national but a world factor in the science of
>improvement of the human body and the combating of that physical degeneracy
>which in former eras has always accompanied the advances of civilisation."
>
>In many respects, therefore, Sandow was one of the most important founding
>fathers of the fitness revolution, revealing that the modern phenomenon of
>science-based physical training is by no means novel or innovative.
>Interestingly, Sandow’s methods focused largely on the development of
>strength and skill as the foundation of health, an approach which was almost
>completely deposed more than half a century later by cardiovascular
>scientists such as Dr Kenneth Cooper of the USA, who massively downplayed
the
>role of these fitness qualities and stressed ‘aerobic’ fitness as being far
>more important to general health. It has taken more than 25 years for the
>quality of strength advocated by Sandow to return to academic acceptance.
>
>In Russia, during this same period, the eminent Polish-born physician,
>Vladislav Krayevsky (Krajewski), founded the St Petersburg Amateur
>Weightlifting Society (1885), having visited various German towns to
>familiarise himself with what was already known throughout Europe as
weightlif
>ting or ‘heavy athletics’, because of his great interest in the use of
>physical culture for the prevention and treatment of illness. Many
>prominent scientists, artists and athletes became his pupils, including
>another famous strongman, George Hackenschmidt, who credited Krayevsky for
>teaching him all that he knew. Hackenschmidt, in his book, "The Way to
>Live", added that some of the world’s strongest men of that era, including
>Sandow, were trained according to Krayevsky’s system.
>
>Krayevsky's considerable knowledge in medicine, psychology, physical
culture,
>methods of using exercises and organizational abilities made him an
>acknowledged leader in weightlifting sports (including wrestling). He not
>only promoted weightlifting, taught classes and organized competitions, but
>also lifted himself, achieving significant success in barbell lifts.
>
>Krayevsky wrote two of his fundamental works during the period 1896-1899,
>"The Catechism of Health - Rules for Athletes" and "The Development of
>Physical Strength with Kettlebells and without Kettlebells" (1900).
>
>Krayevsky displayed an excellent knowledge of the history of physical
culture
>and all forms of gymnastics. He paid special attention to therapeutic
>gymnastics in his "Diagram of Medico Gymnastic Uses" and its accompanying
>detailed commentary, a book that was widely read by many people in the
>training world of the time. Krayevsky was very familiar with Swedish
>gymnastics and noted its therapeutic applications, but his concern with the
>lack of scientific substantiation of the Swedish system led him to recruit
>Russian experimentalists to research it.
>
>Many of Krayevsky's methodological recommendations are still valid. These
>recommendations include medical control of the athlete's health, regularity
>of workouts and planned sequencing of increasing loads, multi-faceted
>physical development, psychological management, observation of wellness
rules
>(especially sleep) and refraining from the use of alcohol and smoking.
>Krayevsky was especially concerned with forming correct breathing habits and
>methods of combating fatigue, and felt that many of the limitations imposed
>by heredity could be overcome by appropriate training.
>
>Many of these early strength pioneers devised interesting and unique
training
>weights and machines, including cable machines, variable resistance machines
>using cams and levers, elastic springs and cables, friction resistance
>devices, kettlebells, thick-grip bars, hollow-ended barbells and dumbbells
>whose weight could be increased by adding lead shot, odd-shaped bars,
>isolation machines, weighted boots and various throwing devices. Yet there
>are those today who lay claims of originality to designing these machines
>more than 50 years after their original manufacture. In addition, a large
>number of weight training, bodybuilding exercises and techniques which are
>believed to be original today had been tried and tested in that burgeoning
>exploration era of finding the best methods of strength training.
>
>BACK TO PILATES
>
>In his system, Pilates stressed the importance of using fewer sets of few
>repetitions of compound movements that require significant motor skill and
>coordination (like well-organised strength training!), as opposed to the
>prolonged repetition of fairly automatic movements (like modern aerobics and
>jogging!). His reason for this was that endless repetition of unchallenging
>reflexive routines tends to decrease the degree of mental involvement,
>whereas carefully executed sets of very few repetitions of skilled movements
>tend to offer a better balance of mind and body training.
>
>As we have noted above, all of these principles were abundantly evident in
>the work of Sandow, Krayevsky and other early masters. The major
difference
>is that Pilates entered the world of dance to astutely promote his
commercial
>career there and stressed the sale of his gymnastics-derived devices, while
>the other fitness leaders of that era allowed clients to use anything and
>everything that might be appropriate for any given individual, thereby
laying
>the foundations for all modern fitness centres anf gyms.
>
>In one respect, we should be grateful that the Pilates adaptations of the
>conditioning methods of his time has now offered a way out of the frequently
>repetitive and mindless militaristic group fitness classes. Not that the
>latter cannot play a valid role in the attainment of some aspects of general
>fitness, but they generally tend to be rather impoverished in terms of
>broader mind-body enhancement of strength, power, flexibility and motor
>control (unless the instructor happens to be far more creative and
>unconventional than the average).
>
>Moreover, the likelihood of injury in Pilates type exercises tends to be far
>less than in most forms of aerobics class. However, the Pilates neglect of
>strong ballistic movement, high impact, heavier loading and high power
output
>movements with loaded implements in free space also create deficits in
>all-round human development.
>
>Even if Pilates does not actively add weight training methods to its
>repertoire of activities, it would go part of the way towards reducing these
>deficiencies by involving some of the Specific Activation and Specific
>Relaxation methods from PNF, as well as some of the pattern variations from
>that discipline.
>
>In fact, if you are fairly well versed in the principles and procedures of
>PNF, and you are able to modify the traditional Knott-Voss activities to
>include pulley machines, some gymnastics apparatus, dumbbells, elastic
bands,
>physio balls and a variable bench, you will be able to offer a very
extensive
>form of challenging and productive training that Pilates will struggle to
>rival. If you are willing to include a few methods from the world of
>resistance training (Weightlifting, Powerlifting and Bodybuilding) and
>martial arts, then your system will go far beyond what Pilates can ever
offer.
>
>Before anyone extolls the originality and uniqueness of all that Pilates
used
>in his training system, we have to recall that a very sincere Pilates
>inadvertently came upon or adapted patterns and procedures that mirror some
>of the methods used in PNF and weight training, as pioneered by other hugely
>influential fitness gurus who grew up in the European arena of late 19th and
>early 20th century training. This does not diminish its value, but it
simply
>serves to place his training methods in a far more balanced light.
>
>After all, there are still those who state categorically that
>(http://bodymind.net/q&a.htm):
>
><<The very idea of coordinating or balancing body and mind was itself
>little-appreciated in the early 20th Century by most physical fitness gurus.
>At the end of the 20th Century, the concept of introducing 'spirit' into the
>exercise equation still stretches the limits of appreciation of many
fitness
>trainers and students.>>
>
>This could not be further from the truth, as we have noticed in examining
the
>fitness world into which Pilates was born. If anything, the fitness leaders
>of that time were more holistically inclined than the average fitness
>instructor of today (e.g., see Webster "The Iron Game", 1976).
>
>In his 1945 book of exercises, entitled "Return to Life Through Contrology",
>Pilates wrote that "Contrology is complete coordination of body, mind, and
>spirit. Through Contrology you first purposefully acquire complete control
of
>your own body and then through proper repetition of its exercises you
>gradually and progressively acquire that natural rhythm and coordination
>associated with all your subconscious activities." Again, absolutely
nothing
>new at the time. These words simply repeat what Sandow and several of his
>colleagues had said way before Pilates methods were being taught.
>
>An oft-repeated claim is this: "You will feel better in 10 sessions, look
>better in 20 sessions, and have a completely new body in 30 sessions." (
>Joseph H. Pilates). If we examine this, it is equivalent to 10 weeks of
>three times a week of periodised modern strength training, which, in the
same
>space of time easily can produce the same results as Pilates. If it
doesn't,
>then there is something seriously wrong with your training!
>
>SOME PILATES RESEARCH
>
>While searching for some published research on Pilates methods, I found this
>website and thought "at last, something!", but my initial hopes waned the
>moment that I read these articles.
>
>http://www.pilates.uk.com/research/
>
>These articles are fixated on comparing 'normal springs' with the 'special'
>Pilates springs used on his 'Reformer' machine and offer no information
>whatsoever on the allegedly special physiology behind Pilates. In addition,
>here some extracts that reveal significant defects in the calibre of the
>research:
>
><<Gravity versus Springs. Gravity provides a constant external resistance
>throughout the range of
>motion of the exercise. Springs (and other elastic media) provide an
>increasing external resistance as they lengthen. Unfortunately this
coincides
>with shortening of the muscle and a reduction in generated force.>>
>
>***While the acceleration due to gravity is fairly constant over the surface
>of the earth, any movement against gravity involves acceleration, which
means
>that resistance changes throughout the range of motion. Although springs
>offer resistance which increases directly with extension, training against
>gravity with or without weights can also increase resistance anywhere in the
>range of movement where you try to accelerate the limb or load. Movement at
>every stage of joint motion involves muscle shortening, so what this remark
>has to do with "coinciding with shortening of the muscle" is anyone's guess.
>
><<Since spring tension increases steadily with length: the area under the
>force-distance curve is almost
>triangular. With gravity, the resistance is constant, making the area a
>complete rectangle.>>
>
>***This last sentence reveals that the author has never undertaken any
>biomechanical research, nor does he appear to know that, if the Force-Time
>curve is a complete rectangle, the acceleration and deceleration phases to
>and from some apparently constant peak force are vertical lines and the
>acceleration in each case must be infinitely large. Even if the curve is
>obtained on an isokinetic dynamometer, the acceleration and deceleration
>phases cannot be vertical lines.
>
><<The difference between the two (the upper triangle) represents the extra
>work, which has been lost. Put another way, exercise against gravity can
>provide up to twice the benefit, in terms of ‘work done’, compared with
>exercise against springs.>
>
>***How does work become "lost" in the elastic resistance case? If we wish
>to be pedantic, and the movement starts and ends in the same place, then no
>external work is done, be it against gravity or springs. If we wish to
>consider internal metabolic work, then his analysis is inappropriate and
>incorrect. Even if we can calculate it accurately in both cases, the work
>done depends on the magnitude of the external resistance, not simply on what
>arrangement is used to produce the resistance. More significant is the fact
>that there are action-specific neuromuscular programmes that will
distinguish
>between the training effects of springs and inertial resistance.
>
><<For example, on a Reformer, the spring is slightly extended at the start
of
>the movement (possibly by 15 cm or so). The carriage can then travel up to
70
>cm, or more, depending on the exercise and the flexibility of the
individual,
>representing a possible 3-fold increase in resistance, from one end of the
>movement to the other. Imagine lifting a weight of 10 Kg from the floor,
>which gradually increases to 30 Kg as it comes to chest height, then back to
>10Kg again as you lower the weight back to the floor. Clearly, this does NOT
>reflect ‘real life’. >>
>
>***Without indulging in another scientific analysis of further inaccuracies
>in this extract, it is interesting that training on most Pilates machines,
>especially the gliding seat, spring-resisting 'Reformer', ironically also
>fail to reflect what happens in 'real life'! The author continues to
>proliferate the misbelief that the only necessary and sufficient condition
>for general and rehabilitative conditioning is sport specific movement.
Were
>this to be true, the use of all forms of resistance and supplementary
>training would be entirely redundant.
>
>SOME PILATES WEBSITES
>
>http://www.eye.net/eye/issue/issue_04.17.97/fitness/macri.html
>
>The following site proliferates the myth that Pilates training somehow
>produces a Pilates-specific type of longer, leaner muscle and that all
>strength training aims at increasing hypertrophy:
>
>http://www.fitnesslink.com/mind/pilates.shtml
>
><<By learning the proper stance and correct body alignment, the client soon
>feels and looks taller and leaner. The muscles are stretched and
>strengthened uniformly, resulting in long, sleek muscles rather than bulk.
>
>The idea of stretching and lengthening runs contrary to the methods used by
>most of today's fitness professionals who believe that the only way to
"tone"
>muscle is to increase the muscle diameter. But students of Pilates swear by
>his method and have even admitted to feeling taller, leaner and "better"
>after only a few sessions.>>
>
>The proof in the above article? - Anecdote, hearsay and belief, relying on
>the very misleading idea that all strength training must involve
bodybuilding
>bulking methods.
>
>"Pilates based" training at home:
>
>http://www.gocarolinas.com/living/health/fitness/1999/06/0628_pilates.html
>
>This site includes an old 'ab exercise', the supine leg flutter, at which
>Pilates himself would cringe. At least the author states that "This really
>isn't a Pilates exercise — it's borrowed from the military — but it's a
>fabulous ab-shaper." Actually, the abs are contracted isometrically in this
>exercise and serve to stabilise the pelvis, rather than to exercise the
>abdominal musculature in the full range and manner that Pilates would have
>recommended. This is but one example of many Pilates teachers simply
>bastardising what Pilates originally taught and sometimes misrepresenting
>what the grand old man preached, so don't think that if you attend a
>so-called Pilates class or "Pilates based" class that you are receiving the
>kosher article!
>
>http://www.shapeshift.com/Articles/time.htm (Some Time Magazine rave trivia
>on Pilates)
>
>Some final Pilates sites:
>
>http://www.the-method.com/
>http://www.pilates.uk.com/
>http://www.shapeshift.com/articles.htm (Popular Glossy Magzine articles on
>Pilates)
>http://www.shapeshift.com/Articles/mnf.htm (Pilates for Weightlifters and
>Athletes - filled with many errors about pelvic stabilisation and use during
>heavy lifting
>
>In every single case where Pilates is compared with other forms of
>conditioning, it is measured against typical bodybuilding training and never
>against scientific strength training that has been used for many years in
>Russia and Europe to produce the world's greatest athletes in many shapes
and
>sizes, all depending on the specific needs of their sports.
>
>Thus, there are some athletes who make Pilates adherents look thoroughly out
>of shape, just as there are others who make Pilates folk look like pictures
>of perfection. There are many slender, aesthetically built athletes who are
>considerably stronger, faster, more coordinated and more flexible that even
>the most seasoned Pilates practitioners, while there are bulky
bionic-looking
>athletes whose all-round shape and performance is easily overshadowed by
some
>Pilates fans.
>
>It is apparent that far too many Pilates disciples seem to think that all
>resistance training is some narrow type of bodybuilding training which many
>years ago gave birth to that myth that all weight trained athletes are
bulky,
>slow, inflexible and prone to injury. This sort of extrapolation from one
>small aspect of strength training to prove the merits of Pilates work
betrays
>a serious lack of understanding and a very biased view of modern strength
>training.
>
>In fact, if Pilates teachers were to learn more about what advanced strength
>training is about, they could raise Pilates methods to far greater heights.
>If any of them are genuinely curious to learn some of the methods of
>integrated West-East strength science, then let them examine references such
>as the following:
>
>Zatsiorsky V "Science and Practice of Strength Training" 1995
>Siff MC & Verkhoshansky YV "Supertraining" 1999
>Bompa T "Theory and Methodology of Training" 1983
>Yessis M "Secrets of Soviet Sports Fitness & Training" 1987
>------------------------------------------
>
>Dr Mel C Siff
>Denver, USA
>[log in to unmask]
>
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