Kitabı oku: «The Barrels»

Colection Contrology Pilates Physical Culture (7 Volumes)

Volume 5: The Barrels

©Text and images: Esperanza Aparicio Rmero and Javier Pérez Pont

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Exercises photos: José Coronilla Humbert

Colection Contrology Pilates Physical culture ISBN-13: 978-84-15409-89-2

The Barrels ISBN-13:978-84-15409-94-6

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Contrology Pilates Physical Culture

Volume 5

THE BARRELS

Esperanza Aparicio Romero – Javier Pérez Pont

Dedicated to Carlos Aparicio

Thank you for so much.

Javier

A foreword

Our purpose for this book is to provide you with a directory of exercises, a specific order, and detailed recommendations and tips that allow you to enjoy Contrology as a tool of body development at home, in case you cannot attend a studio or wish to complement your private sessions. It is always highly advisable to have a teacher following your individual program.

The key to Contrology lies in developing and strengthening the “powerhouse”. You should start on this adventure with a predisposition for improvement, a positive attitude and an unwavering will.

The importance of the instructions and details given for each exercise could be summarized in this sentence by Pilates himself: “the development of the small muscles has an effect on the development of the bigger ones. As small bricks are used to build great buildings, thus each muscle has a role in the development of the muscle system as a whole”.

Find time to be alone, exercise is more pleasant and beneficial when mind and body are connected. Concentrating for some moments on centre, control, precision, flow and breathing is much more effective to reach a feeling of well-being and an increase in our self-esteem through practice than trying to achieve a specific result.

Take each movement to the limit of your ability, but not beyond, use your common sense and remember you must be in control at all times.

Introduce new exercises gradually, without rushing, don’t forget that Contrology, as presented in these books, is the result of a lifetime of research and for it to have sense and to reach optimal results, the book’s guidelines must be followed. Perform each exercise slowly but diligently, learning each one thoroughly before proceeding to the next one, until you can do the whole Basic System series of exercises to the smallest detail, and without having to look at the book. Doing an exercise without understanding the required conditions is ineffectual. At the beginning, it is normal to forget some small details. Even when you believe you know how to perform an exercise, there is still room for improvement if you review the instructions.

It will then be the moment to settle on doing all the Basic System series three times a week, day in, day out. When you can do this with a certain ease and flow, it will be the time to start introducing new exercises, one by one and in the proper order, no more than two new exercises per day and never doing more repetitions than indicated.

If you are a beginner, you should start on the mat, at home, for no more than fifteen minutes a day; and then gradually introduce longer mat exercises, never exercising for more than 45 or, at the most, 60 minutes.

You can check on your progress in two ways: doing a longer session on the mat with added exercises, or improving your rhythm and pace without losing control and knowledge by doing a system in less time.

PRECAUTIONS BEFORE GETTING STARTED – WARNINGS TO THE READER

• Do the exercises on a mat to protect your spine.

• If you need it, because when you lie on your back your head hangs too much and it feels uncomfortable, you can use a small pillow or a rolled towel under your nape.

• It is advisable to wear comfortable clothes for training. Remember you also breathe through your skin. Go barefoot or use socks.

• Avoid rich meals for at least an hour before the session.

• Patience, perseverance and constancy will be the best companions for your progress.

• It must be born in mind that doing the exercises of the advanced system requires you to have a “strong powerhouse” and NOT to suffer from any acute pain or injure.

• Work in silence so you can listen to your needs, difficulties and progress.

NOSE BREATHING

The nose filters, hydrates and directs the air towards the lungs, it warms the air, gives us the sense of smell, brings oxygen, creates mucus, drains the sinuses and affects the nervous system. Breathing and mind are interrelated; if you hold your breath, your mind will be alerted, if breathing is irregular, your mind loses focus. Being in command of our breathing makes our minds stronger and enhances concentration.

Joe Pilates used to say that “to breathe correctly, one must inhale deeply and then exhale all the air from the lungs as if wringing a soaked towel”.

Training in special conditions

As a general rule, if there is any injury or physical problem, training must avoid direct pressure over the affected area. Having said this, and as long as the pain allows for a degree of mobility, our long years of experience in Contrology and the positive results we have obtained lead us to believe that it is necessary to go on moving the body. It is beneficial to work on the development of a correct muscle balance and alignment, both usually lost when there is an injury and often cause of new ones. Also, Contrology focuses on the joints, protecting and strengthening tensors and ligatures and favoring blood flow for an overall improvement.

People who need a special healing treatment must unavoidably follow a full system of supervised movements until their health improves significantly; only then will they be able to exercise on their own. Any alteration of a previously established system must be supervised according to the individual needs. It is essential to understand that practicing Contrology on one’s own, even if it is a highly desirable goal, can be achieved only to a certain extent.

If you already feel pain or are uncomfortable around some part of your body, you must be very careful. Sharp pain is always a sign of alarm and it is advisable to ask a doctor about doing the exercises included in this book with no supervision. Next we present some modifications and advice, but remember at all times that all exercises should be performed without pain.

Weak or sensitive neck

If your neck is sensitive, roll a small pillow under your nape. If it is painful for you to lift your head when lying down, do not do it. Gradually, and only if it is possible, lift it for a few seconds and rest it again when you feel the effort is too much. Always use your “powerhouse” and not your neck to lift your head. Avoid exercises that require lifting your head or that put pressure on your shoulders and neck.

Shoulders, elbows, wrists

In all the three cases, it is advisable not to lift weights, and not to press down. Injures and pain on the shoulders use to be related with the neck and the other way round; you will probably need to use a small pillow to rest your head. For the shoulders, you should be careful not to do ample movements and work carefully with narrower movements. It is very important to keep a good joint alignment at all times.

Back

Concentrate on pulling your navel towards your spine. The narrower the space between your belly and your spine, the more protected your back will be. If your back is already injured, do only those exercises where your spine is flat and stretched, either lying down or sitting. Do not do exercises involving spine twists. Exercises requiring you to lie on your stomach are considered the less safe and are not recommended. If you feel pain, it is often advisable to work with your legs apart and flexed, parallel to your hips and keeping a correct foot-knee-hip alignment, instead of keeping your legs together.

Hips

Hip problems may limit how far forwards a body can lean; if you do this movement, do it carefully and with no pain. Avoid putting pressure or forcing the joint and when you work with lifted legs, try softening or relaxing the knees. As in cases of sensitive back, you can exercise with parallel legs.

Knees

Avoid kneeling, pressing down, fully stretching or folding your legs and hyper-extending your knees. It is also advisable to work with your legs slightly flexed. Keep leg symmetry and alignment, knee ache is often produced by a bad posture. Working in parallel may be better at the beginning, though anatomy differs from person to person.

Ankles

Avoid kneeling or sitting on your feet and do not press down. Do not flex or stretch your feet excessively and maintain at all times an adequate leg alignment while you exercise.

Pregnancy

If you haven’t practiced Contrology before getting pregnant, you must NOT start with the method now; if, on the contrary, you are a regular practitioner, you can go on exercising, with some modifications. The central general rule would be to avoid any exercise that requires lying face down from the very beginning of pregnancy. During pregnancy, some exercises can be modified. Contrology makes ideal post-partum gymnastics, even if you have never practiced it before; you can start when your doctor judges it appropriate.

To Bear in Mind

HYPER-EXTENSION OF THE JOINTS

When trying to move simply, lengthening and stretching your body from a “strong centre”, you will often tend, when extending your arms and legs as much as possible, to tense and block the joints in your elbows and knees. This reaction can interfere with a free movement and lead to an exaggerated flexion or to hyper-extension, which may produce injuries. Make sure you stretch your limbs without blocking them, avoiding hyper-extension. Stretching your arms and legs while always keeping the joint in control will favor alignment, therefore you must try not to block your joints. Arms are elongated by taking them away from the shoulders and legs and feet, away from the hips. Remember that “not blocking doesn’t mean relaxing”.

POSITIONS OF THE FEET

Like the head, feet used to be forgotten in verbal and written instructions. Feet position is very important to obtain the expected benefit from each exercise.

When we talk about stretching your toes in the present exercises, we say “stretch your toes gently”. This means you must point your toes so that you don’t feel blocking or rigidity on your feet. Do not tense your toes, since this interferes with an adequate use of the legs. Feet must be stretched so that they follow and continue the line of the leg.

The other important foot position in Contrology is “flexed”, that is, the contrary to stretched. You must think that when your feet are stretched, your toes are the part of your body furthest away from your head, whereas when your feet are flexed, it I heels that are so.

When an exercise requires you to flex your feet, concentrate in pulling out your heels, as if you wanted to take your legs further away from your hips.

QUALITY/QUANTITY

Contrology’s main goal never will be doing a specific number of exercises, or a given exercise many times. We use to say that “less is more”. The important thing here is not what you do but how you do it. All exercises indicate a minimal and maximum number of repetitions, since working in such a precise and controlled way makes it unnecessary to do more repetitions, that would only extenuate the muscles.

If you are tired or in a hurry, do not try to perform a full program of exercises; rather do no more than two or three, but with total concentration.