My reasons for starting Pilates classes are to improve my posture by correcting my tendency to slump to one side, strengthen my stomach and back muscles to reduce stiffness and pain and along with cutting some calories and walking a mile to and from the classes two days a week, lose some weight and just generally feel better. But in my first class yesterday I found an unexpected additional benefit!
I've been to a couple of Pilates classes in the past in different centers and thought I knew more or less what to expect-- kind of like yoga postures with more rhythm and resistance. But I was pleasantly surprised by this instructor, she went over the basic postures with me in a completely new way. What really got me thinking was when she broke it down for me by explaining that I needed to stabilize my core by allowing it to support the movements of the rest of my body but not allowing the core itself to move. This sounded strangely familiar-- what's an independent seat if not that? Finding your center of gravity and staying there but without blocking the natural movement of your hips, knees, ankles, neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, etc...
If my hypothesis is correct, perhaps Pilates will allow me to improve not just my posture and muscle tone while riding, but improve my overall balance, the independence of my aids and finally give me the skills I need to keep my damn hands (or legs, or shoulders, or whatever) still even when I momentarily lose my balance when riding! I'll let you know how it goes, in the meanwhile here are some really interesting resources on the benefits of Pilates for riders:
- Inside a Pilates for the Equestrian workshop (includes free exercise descriptions)
- Centered Riding: The benefits of Pilates for riders
- How Pilates improves riding skills
- Riding longer and better with Pilates
- Equilates: a system to develop the equestrian athelete through the use of Pilates-based exercizes
3 comments:
I never knew Pilates could improve your riding skills. I just started Pilates today for the first time to begin my physical therapy after a car accident where I had to have surgery on a hip dislocation. Any tips for a person who knows nothing??
Since I'm by no means a Pilates expert I would just advise you to get as much input from your instructor as possible on finding and maintaining the correct posture and breathing pattern-- these two things are much more important than it would seem at first glance. If you can afford private classes, even if you just take only one or two before joining a group class, they're well worth the extra expense. Hope you get well soon, let me know how it goes!
I took a Centered Riding lesson last spring and naturally fitness, core strength, balance, and the like came up in the instruction conversation. Yes, Pilates can make a world of difference in improving spatial awareness and muscle control while riding (and while not riding, too). It's especially important to have a sense of your physical self while riding because as I understand it the horse is highly sensitive to even the subtlest of communications through movement, intentional or unintentional. Through the alignment and overall strengthening of a Pilates practice inadvertent, ambiguous commands due to postural or balance issues are reduced or eliminated, making both rider and horse happier.
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