The Deep Core & Stability
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Stability underpins all of our Pilates exercises so it is helpful to understand why we need to, and how we know whether we can stabilise in order to get the most out of our Pilates practice. In our Core blog, we explained that the core is made up of 2 parts – the larger, surface level muscles and the smaller, deeper set muscles. Both of these groups are important and ideally they will work together in harmony. In terms of stability – this is the job of the deeper core muscles.
What is stability?
Stability around all of the joints in our body is vital for efficient, healthy and pain free movement and it is a fundamental principle of Pilates. Stability is the ability to stop undesired movement from occurring while allowing the desired movement to be performed effectively with maximum efficiency. In a nutshell, it is about controlling what we are trying to move versus what we are trying to keep still.
Core stability
Core stability is the ability to keep our trunk and pelvis still as we move our arms and legs. When you break it down, the ability to stabilise our mid section comes from the intrinsic muscles around the vertebrae in our spine working to hold these structures in position. It sounds simple (and it should be as these muscles should work subconsciously) but like anything, if we get into bad habits we can lose the ability to stabilise our spine and pelvis. Our sedentary lifestyles (sitting for long periods of time) are part of the problem. The deep core muscles can lay dormant so when we then need them to work subconsciously they are so out of practice they are unable to support us sufficiently which can lead to back ache, pain or injury.
We want to achieve stability around all of our joints, not just our spine. Our ankles, knees, hips, elbows and shoulders all have deep set stabiliser muscles which can become weakened, resulting in our joints not being supported as they should. Pilates aims to work these deep set muscles to keep our bodies moving efficiently.
Why do we need our bodies to be able to stabilise?
We need our bodies to stabilise to ensure there is harmony between our larger, surface level muscles working and our smaller, deeper set muscles so that ultimately we can perform all of our functional (day to day) movements efficiently and free from pain.
How do we know if we have the ability to stabilise?
Because our stabilising muscles are required to work all day to provide us with continuous support, they are designed to work at a lower and more gentle rate to avoid fatigue. Along with their deep location, this makes your centre and deep stabilising muscles difficult to feel in action. Instead we can tap into specific cues from our body to assess whether we can achieve stability. Test out how effectively you can perform some basic stability exercises with our 30 minute session tomorrow.
Pilates emphasises the importance of beginning movement from a central core of stability. Practising and focussing on what we are trying to stabilise as much as what we are trying to move in our sessions helps to strengthen our deep set muscles which then work more readily when we are going about our normal day performing functional movements or doing sports.
To get the most from the Pilates sessions, we want to focus on precision. Slow, controlled movements are key to activating and strengthening our stabilising muscles!