In this day and age, the more we can do per minute, the better. It's how we survive. No matter what you do it's essential to be able to run at top speed- to do many things at once without batting an eye. Now I bet you think I'm going to say this is a bad thing, but I'm not. I embrace all the tools available to me now to be able to do a million things at once. I can have five tabs open on the computer doing research, speak to a potential client on the phone and have my dinner cooking in the oven all at the same time. I don't feel that my work is compromised or that the quality of what I do has deteriorated in the slightest. However, with every yin there is a yang, with every ebb, a flow. No one can go non-stop like this at all hours of the day everyday and not suffer. It's about finding balance. I see this as similar to how I teach my clients to use their muscles.
It came to my attention that I don't explain this enough in my teaching when one of my clients confided in me the other day that she has been scared (scared? of me??!) to tell me that she's been running because she thought I would tell her she needed to stop. In her mind, running contradicts everything I tell her in our sessions (move slower and more mindfully, isolate only certain muscles at a time, don't 'take it to the max', etc) but in actuality, I'm preparing her for running- I just didn't explain the whole picture.
Most muscles have slow twitch and fast twitch fibers. The fast twitch are usually found in our global, or bigger muscles (think bum and thighs) and the slow twitch muscles are more subtle (think pelvic floor and deep abdominal muscles....ones you can't feel as easily). The fast twitch engage quicker than the slow yet have less endurance: the sprinters. The slow twitch are for endurance: the marathon runners. Both play an equal role in our overall fitness and it's important to exercise both.
Lots of Pilates is about slow twitch fibers because they stabilize the body, and that's what Pilates is all about- stability and coordination. It doesn't mean that running or dancing or anything else is bad for you, it just brings balance and more awareness to what you already have!
Just like experts will tell you to mediate, to focus the mind and to 'single task' to bring balance and less stress in your daily life, doing the same thing in your exercise regime can bring more balance to your muscles. To start, let's focus on isolating your inner thighs, which are comprised of both fibers. Here's how to do it...
- Lay or sit in a comfortable position with your feet planted to the floor (knees will be pointing towards the ceiling if you're laying down) and find a small pillow to put in between your knees. Nothing too heavy- it can be anything handy, really. Teddy bears and fuzzy sweaters would do the trick too. If you're sitting in a chair, just make sure your back is fairly straight- it doesn't matter if it touches the back of the chair or not.
- On an exhale, give the pillow a little squeeze. Hold that squeeze for an inhale and release on the exhale. The breath offers a bit of focus and coordination so please try and stick with it if you can.
- Repeat as many times as you have time for. Doing about 20 or so a day will bring more awareness to your 'mid-line' pretty quickly. This is also a good way to find your pelvic floor if you had problems with the exercise in the last post.
- Lastly, try not to squeeze so hard that you feel your outer things and bum engage. See if you can just isolate your inner thighs....nothing else. It might seem slow and easy in the beginning, but I promise if you stick with it the benefits will be endless.
After doing this for a few days see if you can find them while walking, getting out of bed and just simply standing. Also fantastic for those of you with lower back pain or troubled leg alignment. Happy single tasking!
