Pilates equipment doesn’t have to be expensive and space-consuming to be effective.Functional fitness was identified as one of the top 10 fitness trends for 2008 in a worldwide survey conducted by the American College of Sports Medicine’s Health and Fitness Journal.
Unfortunately many people still think that functional fitness is defined as an exercise using an unstable surface such as a BOSU ball to create a complicated movement resembling a circus performance. In its true form, functional fitness activities involve full body movements that train the participant for a specific activity such as a sport or a daily life activity. They should be simple, but specific and not complicated or over challenging. The activities can be creative so that they mimic the activity, but should have specific goals to provide for safety and progression. A good example of functional fitness would be the activities performed in the movie Karate Kid, such as wax on and wax off or painting the fence. These simple whole body movements prepared the karate kid for the activities in his sport.
As our baby boomers age, we see their desire to train for life. This is one of the main reasons for the growth of functional fitness. Many of these clients exercise to prepare for daily activities. Their goals include being able to keep up with their kids, being able to lift their groceries or being able to maintain a healthy body weight. For this, a personal trainer needs to be able to provide simple, whole body exercises that improve core strength and balance muscle length and strength for proper posture during daily activities.
There are several options for providing functional exercises to clients. One of them is Pilates. Pilates exercises involve whole body movements, and when performed in good alignment, they can assist with muscle balance for proper posture. Many of the exercises simulate daily activities and challenge the specific areas that show a decline with age. Many of the exercises require nothing but a mat, but equipment is helpful for clients who are deconditioned or who are recovering from an injury. Just getting up and down from a mat on the floor can be a challenge for older adults.
So now you are thinking, “Equipment? That’s going to be expensive and take up space.” Well all Pilates apparatus are not expensive or large. One of the more simple pieces is the small barrel, sometimes called the spine corrector. This piece is a simple padded barrel with a seat that has no moving parts. It is light and small and easily stored under a table or in a closet. Here are two examples of how this small barrel is used to train clients for life, simulating daily activities through whole body movements that enhance core strength and promote muscle balance.
The first exercise example is the roll-up on the small barrel. This exercise simulates sitting up or lying down in bed and the barrel provides the positioning to make this activity safe for practice as well as the stimulus to recruit the optimum muscle patterns for the activity. For this exercise, the client sits up tall in the seat of the barrel while placing the legs and feet in a bowl sit position. Placing the legs in this position limits the use of the hip flexors that can place stress on the spine when the abdomen is weak or the low back is tight. From this position the client rolls back to the barrel one vertebrae at a time beginning with the low back. For general fitness clients the neck is not allowed to fall into extension, but maintained in a neutral position. The client is then asked to raise the arms before sitting up to create some resistance. To sit up, the client lengthens the neck and then “imagines bringing their head through the window of their arms.” Breath is an important part of this exercise because it assists with engaging the abdominal muscles. An exhale is used as the client rolls back and rolls up on the barrel. This exercise is important in creating the strength and flexibility to permit a healthy movement pattern for getting in and out of bed without back pain.
The second exercise example is mermaid on the small barrel. This exercise promotes full hip rotation, both internal and external. Imagine the movement of your hips as you turn a corner, sweep a floor, swing a golf club, or get in a car. These activities require full internal rotation of one hip combined with full external rotation of the other hip. If motion is limited in either hip, stress for rotation is placed on the low back. For this exercise the client sits on the seat of the barrel which assists those with limited range of motion in the hips. The pelvis and spine are aligned in the frontal plane and then side bending is performed while incorporating the breath. For those with limited strength or motion, there are several modifications that provide assistance with the side bending activity.
Christine Romani-Ruby is a licensed physical therapist and the owner of Phi Pilates. To purchase a small barrel or learn exercises using the barrel, please visit phipilates.com and look for the arc and barrel course.
