Cheater Cheater

“I’ve been cheating this whole time!” She was shoulder bridging and finding how her hamstring could do the work when she realized is was unlike any shoulder bridge she’d done before. And immediately, she thought she had cheated with her former versions. This is not the first time a client has said this.

This is my first swan on my first day of teacher training at The Pilates Center in 2015. That was the most extension I could get, but it was the best I could do at the time.

I need to clarify that in movement, there really is no cheating. You’re doing the best you can with the ability and knowledge you have.

Your nervous system is only capable of working within the boundaries you’ve set—the strength you have, the movements you’ve explored, the motor programs you’ve rehearsed. Then the brain brilliantly decides to use what is strong, mobile, and familiar. Thank goodness for that! In this way, movement is automated, freeing up the conscious mind so that it can focus on higher order tasks. You don’t have to think about how to get from point A to point B, but rather can think about more complex problems like what you’ll do when you get to point B.

However, in our society, we’re increasingly disconnected from our bodies. The focus is so intensely on our minds (hello standardized curriculum, so long PE!) while the tools available enable the mind to work by sacrificing the body (as I’m doing sitting here to write this post). We work the body less and less so the boundaries on our movement are increasingly narrow, even causing our bodies to signal distress via pain. Clearly our systems need re-education, and Pilates is just the tool for that.

Our job as Pilates teachers is to help bring awareness to your existing patterns and then expand your movement boundaries, teach you new possibilities, and help you reinforce new patterns. Along the way, we should use the method to also teach you self love, acceptance, and then exploration of new ways of moving and using your body. Your nervous system is doing the best it can with the resources it has. Only once you know better and practice it can you do better. But not knowing is not cheating.

How Pilates Boosts Immunity

Joseph Pilates said “I must be right. Never an aspirin. Never injured a day in my life.”

And in the last two years that I’ve been doing exclusively Pilates for exercise, that’s been the case for me too. No colds, stomach bugs, flus.  A stark contrast from my usual experience, which was about one cold per month ever since having kids almost 15 years ago.

Legend also says that the men who were interned with Joseph Pilates on the Isle of Man who exercised with him never succumbed to the Influenza Epidemic of 1918 that killed three times more people, most of them young, than WWI.

Let’s talk lymph

The interesting thing about our lymphatic system, through which our immune system flows, is that it is not on a pump like our circulatory system.  Lymph relies on movement and muscle contraction to circulate. This means the full body movement found in Pilates is quite helpful to our lymphatic system.

You can imagine how challenging it is to move lymph that collects in the limbs, like our hands and feet.  But Pilates further assists this with the reclined position that many exercises have. Take footwork for example--you lay on the reformer and elevate your feet onto the footbar.  It’s the perfect position to get lymph traveling from your legs back to your trunk, and the muscle contraction in the feet and legs further facilitate that process.

Lymph collects in nodes where the extremities meet the trunk, such as the groin, armpits and neck.  Pilates doesn’t allow these nodes to go neglected. Many exercises create a pumping sensation of these nodes--short spine, stomach massage, rolling like a ball.  Squeeze the nodes, move the lymph.

The benefit of gentle movement

Many practitioners enjoy how gentle Pilates is on their body.  Of course there are times when you’re sore from the practice (I’ve had clients report that they’re too sore in their abdominals to laugh), but usually we’re working below that threshold.  Therefore recovery isn’t so intensive and your body can fight bacteria and viruses instead of always having to repair broken down muscle tissue. This doesn’t mean that your muscles can’t change and get stronger.  It just means that the process is more gradual and balanced with other bodily processes.

Whole Body Health

Pilates doesn’t just improve immunity via mechanical and physiological processes.  It also improves your health by calming your mind. The emphasis on breathing and mindful movement encourages the fight or flight sympathetic nervous system to quiet, reducing stress which research strongly shows impairs immunity.  Regular exercise also improves sleep quality, which is necessary for healthy immune systems.

Brush Away Merrily

Joseph Pilates also suggested regular body brushing, which he generally advised to be done in the shower after exercising.  He said “use only a good stiff brush (no handle) since this type of brush forces us to twist, squirm, and contort ourselves in every conceivable way in our attempts to reach every portion of our body… The use of a good stiff brush stimulates circulation, thoroughly cleans out the pores of the skin, and removes dead skin too… So brush away merrily, and heartily too!”

Current research now shows that body brushing, in addition to removing dead skin, increases circulation including that of the lymphatic system. So get yourself an inexpensive body brush and brush away merrily as Joe advised. I recommend doing it dry rather than in the shower, and use short, quick strokes going from the extremities towards the heart. You’ll be pleasantly surprised by how your Pilates practice means you can reach more areas of your body!

Do Pilates

There’s no guarantee that just because you’re doing Pilates regularly, you won’t get sick this cold and flu season. But plenty of anecdotal evidence and common sense suggests that a regular practice (at least 3-4x/week), along with other healthy choices around sleep and nutrition, can set your body up so that it can better fend off illnesses.