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Pilates for the Personal Trainer - Breathe
By Christina | August 6, 2008
This is the final segment of the “Pilates for the Trainer” blogs. As you have seen, if you have been reading the past few days, Pilates and personal training do go together and any tips you can use as a trainer to motivate your client and keep their experience fresh and innovative makes you a better and more in demand trainer.
Traditionally in a personal training program we use the exhalation on the exertion of the exercise. For example, in a chest press we may tell our client to exhale as they push the weights away. We also want to be sure to cue our clients to not hold their breath when exercising. In Pilates, the breath is a crucial component of the exercise and can also be difficult to master. Pilates focuses on lateral ribcage breathing. The inhale in the Pilates breath draws air in through the nose expanding the ribcage out to the sides while pressing the air into the back. On the exhalation, the ribs are drawn together and the navel draws toward the spine without losing spinal neutral. This type of breathing strengthens the muscles around the ribcage resulting in improved posture and core stability. Once a client understands the exercise movement adding this method of breath can make the exercise more challenging to perform. Teaching breath as an essential component to any exercise program can help clients learn how to incorporate the breath into their daily activities. Since the exhalation in this style of breath is a bracing breath it serves to support the spine and can be used to do so when lifting heavy objects.
Topics: General, Personal Training, Pilates |
