Kore Kast
Kore Kast is a Podcast dedicated to integrating health and wellness with an emphasis on Pilates and Functional Fitness. This weekly Podcast is hosted by Kris Harris, a Certified Pilates Instructor and Personal Trainer. Please subscribe and follow our journey...
Kore Kast
The Power of Proprioception and Pilates: A Holistic Approach to Body Awareness and Balance
Discover your body's hidden language of movement as Kris Harris and a panel of experts unravel the mysteries of proprioception, your internal GPS for movement and balance. We navigate through a series of Pilates exercises, shedding light on how they fine-tune your body's ability to sense its position, motion, and equilibrium. You'll learn how the Pilates method, with its emphasis on core strength, balance, and coordination, can amplify proprioceptive feedback, equipping you with the tools for improved stability and a heightened sense of physical awareness. Whether you're taking your first step into Pilates or looking to deepen your practice, our conversation promises insights to elevate your body's conversation with itself.
Embark on a journey with us as we explore the transformative synergy of Pilates equipment and your proprioceptive senses. Delve into the world of spine fitters, mini balls, and oeuvres, and discover how these tools not only support your body but also enhance your sensory experience, leading to a more precise and mindful workout. Through the teachings of Joseph Pilates, we underscore the power of quality over quantity in exercise, advocating for a holistic approach to fitness that encompasses mind, body, and spirit. Join us for an episode that not only strengthens your body but also enriches your mind and balance, unlocking the full potential of your Pilates journey.
Hello and welcome to the KoreCast, the podcast dedicated to integrating health and wellness, with an emphasis on Pilates and functional fitness. I'm your host, Kris Harris, a certified Pilates instructor and personal trainer with over 18 years of experience helping my clients to reach their fitness goals. In today's episode, we delve into the fascinating world of proprioception and how Pilates offers a holistic approach to body awareness and balance. Proprioception, often referred to as our sixth sense, is our ability to sense the position, movement and orientation of our body parts without relying on visual cues. It's what allows us to walk, dance and perform everyday tasks with precision. But how can we enhance this innate ability? That's where Pilates comes in. Through controlled and precise movements, pilates targets specific muscle groups, strengthening the core while improving flexibility throughout the entire body. Join me as we explore the science behind proprioception, uncover practical exercises, discuss the various props used in Pilates exercises to challenge our proprioception, and discover how mindful movement can transform your posture and overall well-being. Proprioception, as we talked about, is often referred to as our sixth sense. It plays a crucial role in our daily lives. It allows us to perceive our body's position in space, sense movement and maintain balance. When we talk about Pilates, we're diving into a mind-body exercise system that aligns beautifully with enhancing proprioceptive abilities. We're going to explore the components of proprioception and how Pilates can improve it.
Kris Harris:Components of proprioception include joint position sense. This aspect of proprioception involves perceiving joint and limb positioning. Clinically it's measured through active joint position sense, or AGPS, and passive joint position sense PJPS. Imagine being able to accurately sense the angle of your knee or elbow without looking. Kinesthesia or motion sense refers to our awareness of body movement. It includes appreciating movement duration, direction, amplitude, speed, acceleration and timing. Pilates movements enhance kinesthesic awareness. Sense of force this involves perceiving effort, heaviness or tension. It's the ability to reproduce a desired level of force. Feedback from muscle spindles, golgi, tendon organs and skin proprioceptors contributes to this sense. Sense of change in velocity this detects vibration, often transmitted through large afferent nerve fibers. It's closely related to proprioception.
Kris Harris:Pilates, with its mind-body connection and controlled functional movements, serves as an ideal system for proprioceptive rehabilitation. Here's some ways that Pilates can improve proprioception. Pilates focuses on the deep abdominal muscles, the back and pelvic floor. Strengthening these areas enhances overall body awareness and stability. Pilates exercises challenge balance and coordination, especially single leg movements or things on unstable surfaces, and controlled transitions help to improve proprioceptive abilities. Standing Pilates exercises force you to maintain balance and proprioception, and these movements activate many muscle groups simultaneously. Proprioception is critical for meaningful interactions with our environment. Pilates not only strengthens our body, but also heightens our awareness, making it a powerful tool for overall well-being.
Kris Harris:We're going to look at Pilates in a little bit more detail. It was developed by Joseph Pilates in the early 20th century. It's a mind-body exercise system that focuses on strengthening the core, improving flexibility and enhancing overall body awareness. It combines elements of strength training, stretching and controlled movements to promote physical and mental well-being. A 2017 study found that Pilates reformer exercises, practiced once a week for 10 weeks, resulted in reduced fall risk and significant improvements in static and dynamic balance. Older adults over the age of 65 experienced enhanced stability and better control over their body movements by practicing Pilates. A systematic review and meta-analysis synthesized evidence from 12 randomized controlled trials involving 702 healthy older adults. Pilates demonstrated a positive effect on medial lateral stability compared to control groups, and this improvement is crucial for preventing falls, especially when moving sideways.
Kris Harris:Appropriate reception, as we've talked about, refers to our ability to sense the position, movement and orientation of our body parts without relying on visual cues. It plays a vital role in maintaining balance and preventing falls. Pilates exercises emphasize precise movements, body alignment and awareness of muscle engagement, and by practicing Pilates, individuals enhance their proprioceptive feedback, leading to better coordination and balance. Pilates interventions have been shown to decrease the fear of falling in various populations, including postmenopausal women, older adults and those with low back pain. Feeling more confident in one's balance and movement reduces that likelihood of falls. Also, pilates positively affects functional mobility, which includes activities like getting up from a chair, walking and climbing stairs. A meta-analysis revealed that Pilates improved functional mobility when compared to control groups without meaning no exercise and other exercise forms. While Pilates didn't show significant improvement in anteroposture balance, it still contributes to overall stability. Combining Pilates with other exercises that target anterior-posterior balance may yield better results. Again, that focus on mind-body connection and controlled movements offer specific exercises to enhance proprioception.
Kris Harris:We're going to talk about a couple of beginner-friendly Pilates exercises to improve your body awareness, balance and coordination. The first one is a really good one the pelvic curl. You want to lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor, lifting your hips off the mat, creating a bridge shape and then lowering back down with control. This exercise engages your core and enhances awareness of spinal movement control. This exercise engages your core and enhances awareness of spinal movement. Another one is single leg balance standing on one leg while maintaining proper alignment, focusing on stability and proprioceptive feedback from your foot and ankle. Things you can do to gradually make this harder is increase the duration of balancing on each leg. Toe taps laying on your back with your knees bent and feet lifted off the floor. You'd alternate tapping your toes down to the mat while keeping your core engaged, and this exercise challenges balance and proprioception, as well as pelvic stability.
Kris Harris:Standing leg circles Stand on one leg and lift the other leg slightly off the ground. Trace small circles with your lifted leg and pay attention to maintaining stability and controlled movement. Rolling like a ball a popular Pilates exercise you want to sit on the mat, hug your knees into your chest and balance on your tailbone, roll backward and forward, maintaining balance and control. This exercise improves spinal awareness and coordination. Side leg lifts Laying on your side with your legs extended, lifting your top leg while keeping the hips stable. Focus on the sensation of the leg movement and balance, and it's really important on this one to again keep that stability and balance while moving the leg. It's a more dynamic type of situation where you have to really stabilize your trunk while moving the leg.
Kris Harris:As you're doing Pilates, remember these principles Mindfulness, be aware of your body and movement Control. Move with precision and intention. Breath, coordinate breath with each exercise. By incorporating just some of these Pilates exercises into your routine, you can enhance your proprioceptive abilities and really enjoy the benefits of improved balance and body awareness.
Kris Harris:Pilates also offers various props that can enhance proprioception, making your practice more engaging and effective. We're going to kind of discuss some of these props and see how we can use them. First one is the ultra fit circle, or the magic circle, we call it. This flexible plastic ring with a soft rubberized shell is excellent for upper and lower body work. It provides resistance and challenges your proprioceptive awareness during exercises. It's crucial for body awareness and movement control. With that Pilates ring, you can enhance it while targeting various muscle groups.
Kris Harris:You can try an exercise like a resistance plie with a Pilates ring. With this exercise, you would place the ring above your knees and squeeze it to keep your heels together in a position Keeping your back straight. Slowly bend your knees to lower. Lift your knees back up while you're engaging your core. So this will strengthen the inner thighs and improve proprioception. So it's basically just that standing plie and adding that extra component of a little bit of resistance the single leg stretch with the Pilates ring, holding the ring between your hands and your head, neck and shoulders off the ground. You're going to take one leg out and reach the other, the arms forward, switching legs and reaching your arms back, repeating the motion. So basically, again you're having to stabilize your pelvis as you're moving your legs and keeping that nice control position throughout. Double leg stretch with the Pilates ring Similar we're on our back, we're keeping that ring between our hands, curling both legs while reaching the arms forward with the shoulders lifted off the ground. Think of extending both legs and reaching your arms behind your head. So think about lengthening away from your center and repeat. So these exercises again cause you to really have to stabilize your core. Keep that trunk from moving as you're moving the arms and legs away from the body.
Kris Harris:Scissors with the Pilates ring Try reaching your arms up, holding the ring between your hands and keeping your shoulders off the ground. Lift both legs straight so that they touch the Pilates ring and then lower one leg to about a 45 degree angle and then alternate sides A half roll down with a Pilates ring. With this one, you're sitting on your yoga mat with the ring between your thighs, right above your knees. Squeeze the ring with your legs and slowly curl your tailbone under to lean back. And then you're going to sit back up, press your nose to your knees and straighten your spine back up. So remember on these exercises to focus on breathing, maintaining proper alignment, and you can modify these exercises as needed. The Pilates ring provides extra resistance and helps improve stability and control. Incorporate these exercises into your routine to enhance proprioception and overall body awareness.
Kris Harris:Another type of prop is a Pilates arc. The arc is a versatile prop that serves as three tools in one. It can be a spine corrector of a former wedge and a fitness training tool, from stretching to core strengthening. It engages multiple muscle groups and improves body awareness. The arc is really. Some of the effective Pilates exercises that you can do with. The arc are roll downs, sitting on the arc with your feet flat on the floor, rounding your spine, starting down from the top of your head and rolling towards the arc, and then articulating your spine back up, segment by segment. So this type of thing is just enhancing that body awareness as you're moving through space. The arc swan dive you're lying face down on your arc with your hands on the floor, lifting your upper body into a swan dive position while maintaining stability on the arc, extending your legs behind you. For an added challenge, the arc side leg lifts Lie on your side with the arc supporting your waist, lift your top leg while you're keeping your core engaged, and lower the leg back down with control. The arc chest lift with rotation as you sit on the arc with your feet grounded, cross your arms over your chest and lift your upper body into a chest lift, rotate your torso to one side and then return to the center and rotate to the other side. You can also do arc plank variations, where you're assuming a plank position with your forearms on the arc, engage your core and hold that position and, for added challenge, lift one leg or alternate lifting legs. As always, remember to focus on that breathing, maintaining proper alignment and use the arc to enhance your stability. They'll help you develop that better proprioception and body control.
Kris Harris:A couple other things that you can use are there's a spine fitter, which is an interconnected type of thing that has 28 balls designed to relieve tension and improve joint mobility, so it's kind of a length of your spine. Imagine and what it does is it enhances movement using deep pressure and target specific body regions and muscle groups. So it's a great thing to add some nice kind of spinal awareness to your exercises. It's effective for physical therapy, myofascial release and enhancing reformer, chair and barrel workouts. It's really a couple of the things that you can do with it. It's a lower back relaxation. So if you were to sit on the spine fitter with your feet flat on the floor, you'd position the spine fitter under your sacrum, that triangular bone at the base of your spine, and allow your spine to gently curve over the rounded shape of the spine fitter. So imagine again those kind of those 28 balls are just kind of hugging right around the spine and giving you a nice massage. Breathe deeply and relax, feeling the release of tension in your lower back.
Kris Harris:You can also try pelvic clocks. Sitting on the spine fitter, with your feet grounded, imagine your pelvis as the center of a clock. You're going to tilt your pelvis forward to 12 o'clock, backward to 6 o'clock, side to side, from 3 to 9 o'clock and in circular motions, clockwise and counterclockwise. Focus on the feeling of those subtle shifts in your pelvis and maintaining balance. The spine twist Sit tall on the spine fitter with legs extended. Rotate your upper body to one side and then the other. Engage your obliques and feel a gentle twist along your spine.
Kris Harris:Proprioception is crucial for maintaining proper alignment during the twist is crucial for maintaining proper alignment during the twist. Back extensions, lying prone or on your stomach with the spine fitter supporting your pelvis. Lift your upper body off the spine fitter, extending your spine and focus on spinal awareness and controlled movement. Strengthen your back muscles while improving proprioception. And, last but not least, side bends Sitting on the spine fitter with one hand on the floor and the other reaching overhead, side bend toward the hand on the floor, feeling the stretch along your ribcage. Return to the center and switch sides. This exercise enhances lateral stability and proprioceptive feedback. As always, remember to move mindfully. Pay attention to the feedback from your body. The spine fitter can be a really valuable tool for promoting spinal health and body awareness. One of my favorite props is the inflatable ball. The multifunctional ball supports positioning and proprioceptive work, so you can inflate it to varying levels depending on the exercise or use. What it does is it provides a slightly grippy tactile feel for better proprioceptive feedback.
Kris Harris:Some things that you can do with a mini ball are bridges Lie on your back with your feet flat on the floor and the mini ball placed between your knees, lifting your hips off the ground, engaging the glutes and core. Squeeze the ball as you lift and lower your hips. Another one, of course, is the inner thigh squeeze. Sit on the ball with your feet flat on the floor, press your knees together, engaging your inner thighs, and hold the squeeze for a few seconds and release. You can do a ball push-up, assuming push-up position, with your hands on the floor and the mini ball placed under your chest. Perform push-ups while maintaining stability on the ball. You can do glute lifts and leg circles placing the ball behind your knee while laying on your side. Lift your top leg, engaging your glutes. Perform small leg circles with control or the swan variation Lie on your stomach with the ball in front of your chest. Lift your upper body into a swan dive position while squeezing the ball, and extend your legs behind you. For an added challenge, as always, breathing is very important. Proper alignment and, again, if you need to modify these exercises, you can do that as needed.
Kris Harris:Incorporating a Pilates mini ball into your routine can enhance stability, strength and body awareness. Definitely some things that you can think about doing for props include. My favorite is the oeuvre. The oeuvre is really a piece of equipment that is designed to complement the spine's natural curves. It offers benefit from stretching to core strengthening and it's effective in physical therapy, athletic performance and functional movement enhancement. It's really designed to improve proprioception and overall body awareness. It's a versatile tool that you can use again for standing balance exercises or things that you're doing laying on the ground or on the floor. You can move in different, various ways with the oeuvre to target different areas. So if you're a beginner using the oeuvre, here are some modifications and tips to make your experience more comfortable and effective.
Kris Harris:You want to start with basic positions. Begin with simple positions on the oeuvre to get accustomed to its shape and feel. It almost looks kind of like a saddle and it's made out of very kind, of a very hard but durable type of plastic material. So you want to lie on your back, stomach or side and focus on maintaining balance and stability. Use a towel or head support if needed. Place a folded towel or cushion under your head to provide support during the exercises, which helps to ease neck tension and allows you to focus on proprioception without discomfort.
Kris Harris:When you're on the ove, you need to really engage those core muscles. Imagine drawing your navel towards your spine to create stability. Really important as well is paying attention to your breath as you perform ove exercises. That deep control breathing will enhance body awareness and relaxation as well as provide support for different exercises. Start with short sessions on the OOVE. Begin with shorter sessions and gradually build up. As you gain confidence you can extend the duration of your practice Alignment Really aligning your spine along the length of the OOVE is important for, again, just keeping that proprioceptive awareness and stability.
Kris Harris:Keep your shoulders relaxed and maintain a neutral pelvis. Remember that everyone's experience with the oeuvre is unique. Listen to your body and don't hesitate to modify or adapt exercises based on your comfort level. Another exercise that you can do that's a little bit more advanced is an oeuvre rollback. As a setup, you're laying on your stomach with your oeuvre flipped over ribs on the large end and the pubic bone on the saddle, lifting your chest off the oeuvre. Engage your back muscles and hold the position for probably six to ten sets. The oeuvre side kicks setup is lying on your side with the oOVE supporting your torso. Align your body along the length of the OOVE. Lift the top leg while maintaining stability and control. Focus on the sensation of leg movement and balance, performing on both sides. 8 to 10 reps.
Kris Harris:Oove Circles Lay on your back with the OOVE on your pelvis. Create a circular movement with your legs while maintaining stability on the ove. This exercise specifically targets the abdominals, obliques, glutes and hip adductors. You can vary the direction and size of the circle Ove back extensions Lying prone or on your stomach on the ove, supporting your pelvis. Lift your upper body off the oeuvre, extending your spine and focus on spinal awareness and controlled movements. An oeuvre standing balance Standing on the oeuvre with one foot or both feet. Engage your core and focus on that stability and balance. You can explore different movements, such as shifting weight side to side or front to back, and remember the oeuvre. Size is really adjustable based on factors like weight, height and specific exercises. So they do come in small, medium and large. Proper sizing ensures optimal proprioceptive feedback and comfort.
Kris Harris:During your oof workouts, remember some of the principles that we've talked about as you practice Centering, focusing on your core, concentration, being mindful of each movement, control, move with precision and control Precision. Pay attention to alignment, breath, coordinate breath with movement and flow. Maintain smooth flow throughout. So those are the Pilates principles that you want to really focus on as you're doing your exercises. You can always modify exercises as needed and progress at your own pace. Consistency is key, so consider scheduling Pilates sessions three to four times a week, and don't forget to listen to your body and have fun.
Kris Harris:Joseph Pilates, the creator of Pilates Method, emphasized the importance of quality over quantity with his statement that highlights the power of body awareness and proprioception. He said a few well-designed movements, properly performed in a balanced sequence, are worth hours of doing sloppy calisthenics or forced contortion. This quote beautifully captures the essence of Pilates, highlighting the significance of precision, mindful movement and the integration of mind and body in achieving optimal health and well-being. Thank you for tuning in to this episode of the KoreKast. Remember the power of knowledge and vigilance can lead to a healthier you. Whether you're a seasoned Pilates enthusiast or just starting your fitness journey, embrace the holistic approach, strengthen your body, mind and balance and unlock the potential within you. If you've enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and follow our journey. Until next time, stay mindful, stay active and keep moving forward to a stronger, more resilient you.
