The Joseph Pilates Method: "Contology"
Joseph Hubertus Pilates was born in 1880 near Düsseldorf, Germany. His father, a native of Greece, had been a prize-winning gymnast, while his German-born mother was a naturopath who believed in the principle of stimulating the body to heal itself without artificial drugs. No doubt his mother's healing philosophy and father's physical achievements greatly influenced Pilates' later ideas on therapeutic exercise.
Joe was considered at the time to be an elite athlete who skied, boxed, swam and at one time performed in the circus. A self proclaimed visionary who knew he was 50 years ahead of his time, Joe created the Pilates Method for physical and mental conditioning, which is applied by athletes all over the world.
In 1945 Joe wrote Return to Life though Contology. By his definition, "Contrology develops the body uniformly, corrects wrong postures, restores physical vitality, invigorates the mind and elevates the spirit." The Pilates method is based on six principles that apply to athletics: breathing, centering, concentration, control, fluid motion and precision. These ideas led Joe to develop the apparatus widely used as rehabilitative exercise for soft tissue injury and to alleviate pain caused by faulty biomechanics and inadequate strength.
As a hockey athlete, you may stride, cut, push and rotate hundreds of times in a single game. Over time, these movements can create muscle imbalances and wear on the joints often posing potential for injury. The goal of the strength coach is to protect the athlete from prematurely wearing out by improving the quality of movements. Adding Pilates to a structured strength program can improve all movements from the simplest to the most complex.
We spend enormous amounts of time studying the techniques of hockey and researching the latest gear. Sometimes athletes end up knowing more about the materials their stick is made of than their own body. Any coach or athlete that is committed to improving the the quality of their movements will be served to have a better understanding of the basic biomechanics of movement and develop a foundation for knowing "your gear". As hockey athletes, how you use your feet creates a ripple effect through your ankles, knees, hips and spine. What impacts our spine affects the range of motion of your shoulders, neck and head. You propel yourself across the ice with your feet but you lead with your eyes and head, therefore the quality of your movement at either end effects your entire body.
The pilates method can be incorporated into the most advanced to the very basic of programs and not to worry, you don't have to have all of the apparatus you may have seen in the Physical Therapists office to experience the benefits of "Contrology". Here are my top 5 Non Apparatus Pilates Movements:
1) The Crossover: Begin by lying on your back with your knees tucked in to your chest. Lift your head, neck and shoulders and curl up into a C curl. Extend your arms and legs out in opposite directions at 45-degree angles. Scissor your legs lengthwise and rotate your torso so you can touch your elbow to your opposite knee. Come back to center and repeat on the other side.
2) The Inchworm: Begin in a traditional push up position. Push your hips towards the ceiling and end in a Piked position. Your arms and legs should be straight and you should be on your toes. From here, extend back into the push up position and complete a press up by lifting your sternum and drawing your shoulders down.
3) Side Kick Lower Leg Lift: Begin by lying on your side. Stack your ankles, knees hips and shoulders. Lift your top leg one to two feet off of the ground. Next lift your bottom leg up to meet your top leg. Avoid rolling back on your hips or shortening your waist as you lift. For an Extra Challenge for this, you can lower your top leg to meet your bottom leg and lift both legs together.
4) Side Kick Adductor: Begin by lying on your side. Stack your ankles, knees hips and shoulders. Bend your top leg and place the sole of your foot near your front hip and grab your leg from the inside. Flex your outstretched foot and lift your bottom leg up and lower that leg back down without touching the floor.
5) Hip Circles: Begin by sitting wiht your arms stretched out behind you holding you up while your legs are stretched out off of the floor at a 45 degree angle. While keeping the legs elevated begin circling the legs right, down, left and back up to center. Avoid arching your back and sinking into your shoulders. Imaging your legs are like a giant light beam circling around. complete the circle and then reverse directions.
