Pilates Myths Debunked

By Sarah Christensen

Hole in One Pilates has brought great success to golfers but there are many people out there who have not tried it due to misconceptions about Pilates that are not based on fact.  Here are some common Pilates myths debunked.

Pilates is a recent fad
Joseph Pilates first developed his philosophy and technique for movement in the 1920’s and 30’s, refining his method until his death in 1967.  It was not until the 1990’s when Hollywood stars and celebrities discovered this great way to have a long, lean shape, that Pilates became popular. 

Pilates was developed for dancers.
Joseph Pilates was a boxer and gymnast whose theories about how the body moves were first developed in World War One at a prisoner of war camp where he served as a medic and nurse.  To rehabilitate wounded soldiers he attached springs to the hospital beds and today, Pilates equipment still uses springs for resistance.  When he moved to New York City, dancers were naturally drawn to his rehabilitative and preventative techniques due to the high number of injuries they sustain.

Pilates is some kind of stretching
Pilates is so much more than just stretching.
The Pilates technique builds strong core, especially the deepest abdominal muscles under the “6-pack abs”, while developing overall body strength with flexibility, and improving stability, balance, posture, alignment and coordination.
All the biomechanics needed for a great golf swing.

Joseph Pilates did believe that we should build strength and flexibility simultaneously.  Flexibility was a pretty radical idea in the early 20^th century!
But Pilates saw that long, lean muscles were less prone to injury and tears.  Tight muscles also pull on the spinal structure causing neck and back pain.

For each strengthening movement, there is a corresponding stretch.  In my pre-Pilates life, I would lift weights for about an hour.  On a good day I would stretch for maybe 5 minutes at the beginning and 5 minutes at the end.  In my 1-hour Pilates workout, I’m stretching for about 30 minutes!  That’s a lot for me!

The movements that Pilates developed are flowing, dynamic stretches.  For someone who is tight, like me, stretching is usually not fun.  But when I stretch with movement, there is NO pain and people new to Pilates don’t even realize how much they are stretching.  You feel great after a Pilates workout.

Pilates has a lot of core exercises.
Joseph Pilates believed that every movement we do is generated first from the core or abdominal muscles.  So when new students ask, “How many core exercises are there?” the answer is, “All of them”.

While crunches and sit ups develop the large outer muscles such as the Rectus abdominis that gives you the “six pack abs” look, Pilates works these plus the deeper abdominal muscles.  These deep muscles such as the Transverse Abdominus, are muscles that do not move the body, but rather allow us to stand upright.  They give stability to the spine and pelvic girdle, an essential element in hitting a golf ball straighter.

So many guys and gals come to our studio and tell me they do ab work, but more often than not, they are using their quads to get up, NOT their abs!  I can isolate the abs from the quads on the Pilates equipment and they are shocked to find they cannot get up!

Pilates is a group of special exercises.
Pilates is a technique for moving in a way that is the most efficient, natural and pain-free.
Pilates is not a bunch of exercises.  Even specific exercises that Joseph invented such as The Hundreds, is not Pilates, if his techniques are not used.  By the same token, I have been able to add golf-specific exercises that are Pilates because they are done in the Pilates method.  I can also train hard-core gym rats to lift weights (if they must!) in the Pilates technique to achieve better, safer results.

Pilates, then, is how I move in life and on the golf course.  It is how I walk the course, swing, putt, sit to watch the Golf Channel and work at my computer searching for the latest golf gadget.

With practice, the body will eventually naturally move in the Pilates technique without the practitioner even thinking about it.  My husband and I often hike in the Rockies and he will ask how I can keep my abs engaged for miles with elevation gain.  The answer is that I don’t even think about it.  It is how I always walk!

Pilates needs special equipment.
The Pilates equipment is great since it has resistance but you can derive the same benefits using a ball, foam roller, Theraband and Magic Circle.  There is a new Hole in One Pilates exercise chair that takes up just the space of any easy chair.

Pilates is not really “working out”.

FROM USA Today August 18, 2003

Curt Schilling, the Arizona Diamondbacks star pitcher, agrees. "The first three weeks, I was really disappointed," says Schilling, who incorporated Pilates into his offseason training program last winter. "I wasn't sweating. I wasn't winded, which is what I associate with true exercise.

"Then in the fourth week I started to understand the Pilates terminology, the idea of working from your center. By the third month I was more powerful and flexible than ever before. And I'd lost 15 pounds."

Curt’s experience is due to several facts.  First of in Pilates we must relearn how to move, so that the beginner exercises are easy while we are developing the building blocks for the more difficult work.

Also we do not work the muscles to exhaustion.   Then we can practice Pilates every day.  In Pilates, we do fewer precise, controlled perfect movement rather than endless exhausting, mindless exercises.  Lastly, in Pilates we work the very deep muscles and work outward from there so you may not feel something at first.  If you don’t feel at least like you used your abs you were most likely cheating with your legs.

Pilates is “something like yoga”.
Joseph Pilates was influenced by yoga, as well as other things such as martial arts, Tai Chi, boxing, and calisthenics. Like yoga, Pilates develops strength and flexibility.

Pilates is different from yoga in that in many types of yoga one “holds a pose”.  In Pilates we do not usually hold a position, but rather move through it.  Yoga has not traditionally emphasized core in the same way as Pilates, although I do hear more emphasis on core in contemporary Yoga classes.

Some yoga has a meditative component.  Pilates does not come from a spiritual tradition.  I do find it is great stress relief, because we do not do Pilates mindlessly.  We have to think about all the Pilates techniques while performing each exercise and one of Joseph’s concepts was that we do every exercise with focus and intent, something I often hear about hitting a golf ball!

Pilates is hard for men.
Anything new may be difficult for a body when we start working in a different way.  Guys say to me, “I can’t do Pilates because I’m not flexible!”  But we do beginner Pilates work to become more flexible.

I get a lot of good comments about our DVD because next to the Gumby-like Pilates instructor is a real golfer.  As one client put it, “Your DVD has guys that look like me!”  

Any Pilates will help my golf game

This one is TRUE!

Pilates in general will help your golf game but our Hole in One Pilates program was developed with Butch Harmon to target the biomechanics of the golf swing.  We have also developed new exercises in the Pilates technique to increase rotation and target tightness caused by the swing.

As Joseph Pilates used to say, “in 10 sessions you will feel the difference, in 20 sessions you will see the difference, and in 30 sessions you will have a whole new body!”

Pilates for Golf founder Sarah Christensen, worked for 3 years with golf conditioning specialists, Pilates master teachers, physical therapists and golf teaching professionals to develop a solid program that will help you consistently hit the ball farther and straighter with reduced risk of injury and back pain! Sarah began working with Butch Harmon, renouned golf teaching professional (Tiger Woods, Adam Scott, etc.) in 2004 and Butch has contributed greatly to the program. Check out The Hole in One Pilates website for information on clinics, products, golf trips and instructor training.