Pilates for the Older Adult

Pilates is a perfect form of exercise for older adults
because it is low impact compared to other forms of
exercise, which means it is not as severe on the joints as
most workouts. It focuses on breathing and
quality-controlled movements, not repetitions.

Conventional workouts focus on how many repetitions you can
do and how much weight you can lift, which tends to build
short, bulky muscles, which are more prone to injury ?
especially in older adults.

Pilates works the "Core", elongates and strengthens the
muscles at the same time, which, in turn, improves joint
mobility and elasticity. In effect it is a kinder and
gentler way to exercise for the older adult who doesn't
need to be beaten down.

How Pilates Works?

"Pilates develops the body uniformly, corrects wrong
postures, restores physical vitality, invigorates the mind
and elevates the spirit." - Joseph Pilates.

Pilates is unique in that it systematically exercises all
the muscle groups in the body, the weak as well as the
strong. The exercises make you stronger, more flexible,
and less likely to fall because they re-educate your body
to use all of your muscles, not just the superficial ones.

By strengthening both your large muscles and the deep,
smaller endurance muscles that are responsible for your
strength, they take the strain off the larger muscles and
give them added support.

Concentration and correct breathing are added to the
exercises to teach you to recruit the smaller, supportive
muscles. Bottom line: less pain, greater range of motion,
and fewer falls.

How Pilates Helps to Improve Walking Posture, Balance, and
Gait Speed?

What does Pilates have to do with walking? Well, let's
first look at how we walk. We stand upright with;
hopefully, good posture and then we balance ourselves as we
reach out with one leg to take a step shifting our weight
onto the forward leg.

Unfortunately, as we age and the core gets weaker we
overwork our hip flexors to lift the leg as we walk, these
are the muscles that shorten and tighten and, in effect,
start to pull us forward until we fall over. Strong
abdominal muscles are the key to your body working as a
unit.

With Pilates the "Core" or the center of your body is your
focus. This is the place from which all motion originates
and then proceeds to the extremities, all working in unison
not as separate parts. Ultimately every movement,
especially walking, should be initiated by first
stabilizing the core of the body which involves contracting
the deep abdominal muscles.

The Form and Principles involved with Walking directly
corresponds to Pilates Principles:

Form is your body's plumb line: head over shoulders, over
hips, over knees, over ankles. It is an aligned body. The
goal is to organize the body so that the spine is stable
and the abdominal muscles are engaged, the limbs are active
and supported, the feet are mobile and the breath is
conscious, even and regular. This form will help
contribute to an improved, relaxed, and more fluid gait
speed while walking.

The bridges to this form include our proprioception, or
sense of body in space such as width, length, space, and
depth. Without space between the ribs and pubic bone, the
belly muscles pooch out rather than remain hollow,
activating the superficial rectus abdominis muscles rather
than the deeper transversus abdominis and pelvic floor
muscles.

Without width in the sacral area, our movement is narrow
and becomes constricted; it compresses the sacrum by over
engaging the gluteal muscles. This is why most people walk
with very narrow constricted steps instead of stretching
and reaching forward as they walk.

If your form is currently not in this perfect plumb line it
will affect your posture, which, in turn, affects your
balance and walking. Pilates exercises helps to correct
this unnatural length/tension relationship in the body. In
essence, it stretches muscles that are tight and
strengthens those that are weak to help realign your body
to its natural form.

Pilates Exercises Can and Should be Modified for the Older
Adult.

The classwork and apparatus training is very individualized
in that all the students can adopt variations and
modifications of the exercises to their own abilities. It
combines the suppleness and flexibility you find in yoga as
well as the strength building you find in weight training
in the gym.

Modifications such as using pillows for the head when lying
on the back, or using pillows under the pelvis when lying
on the stomach can alleviate neck and back pain and
tension. If the student has a hard time sitting on the
floor they can do the exercises on a raised table or
platform.

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Jennifer Adolfs is a certified Pilates Mat and Equipment
Specialist who works with musculoskeletal injuries. Her
new Pilates Ebook outlines special considerations for those
affected by back and joint conditions. Find more great
articles and free tips by going to her web site at
http://www.Pilates-Back-Joint-Exercise.com