Exploring the power of Pilates

Gaining in popularity among those who work out is Pilates, an exercise form similar to yoga -- yet still different.

Pilates was invented by Joseph Hubertus Pilates who first called it Contrology, according to the Pilates Method Alliance Web site. That name really didn't catch on, and the method of exercise that would eventually bear his name didn't really become popular until after Pilates died.

The inventor himself was sickly as a child, said Kj Luker of Los Angeles, Calif., who operates a Pilates studio and is the force behind a popular PBS program. As an adult, Pilates didn't really look healthy.

"He looked like he never weighed over 115 pounds," Luker said.

Not the sort of beginning one would expect for a form of physical fitness that gained a following first among professional dancers before becoming nationally recognized.

Pilates as it is taught now is a system of more than 500 controlled exercises. Some of the more advanced Pilates exercises can be done on machines that Pilates designed, but most instructors teach on a floor mat.

"Pilates works with your core strength muscles," said Jane Greening of Jackson, a physical therapist and Pilates instructor. "It tones you, and improves your flexibility, your posterior and your core strength."

Luker said Pilates creates long, lean muscles without bulking up and reduces stress. While yoga concentrates on achieving a pose and holding it, Pilates works more with movement.

Luker said the first time she tried Pilates, she felt like she had worked every muscle in her body, and at the same time had had a massage. It also eased back pain, and helped her with an eating disorder and asthma. While learning the principles of Pilates, Luker said she learned to focus. Learning to concentrate helped her listen to her body and conquer her bulimia. The deep breathing exercises improved her asthma.

"In Pilates we breathe through the entire diaphragm," she said. "That's something most of us never learn. Most asthmatics tend to breathe in a shallow manner."

As a child, Pilates also had asthma in addition to a mild variety of rickets.

Pilates was born in Germany to a father who was an athlete and a mother who was a follower of naturopathic medicine. Even though he was a sickly child, "he had a good setting for somebody who needed to learn and grow," Luker said. "He did yoga and looked into Roman and Greek regimens."

He also took up wrestling, body building and even studied the physical regimens of circus performers which all led to developing the exercise routines now in use.

During World War I, Pilates and his parents were held in a prison camp for German nationals, Luker said. While there, he was assigned to work in a hospital during the influenza outbreak. He encouraged the patients where he worked to use his exercises, she said, their health improved and none of those patients died.

After World War I, he moved to New York where his method caught the attention of professional dancers who began coming to him because his exercises could heal their injuries quickly. They were able to get back on stage faster and at times stronger than before.

Pilates' background as a therapy for dancers is evident in that every move begins with the same basic stance that ballerinas employ -- feet splayed out with heels together, Greening said.

"I do yoga and Pilates," she said. "The combination has improved my flexibility tremendously."

Jane Greening taught a Pilates class at Main Street Fitness Center in Jackson.

Beginners may experience some soreness, Greening said, but it doesn't last long. Pilates is helpful for people with arthritis, and people of all ages can easily and comfortably do Pilates. Greening said she advises beginners to start slowly. Pilates can be done daily, unlike some other fitness programs, but even the most advanced Pilates student rarely does more than eight repetitions of a movement.

"Joseph Pilates' theory was that the muscles tire out by more repetitions," she said.

Greening and Luker agree that Pilates is best done in conjunction with aerobics. Pilates is good for conditioning and strengthening, but it will not have the same benefits to the heart and lungs as an aerobic workout.

lredeffer@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 160