Don’t Runaway to the Circus … Try Pilates instead

So Saturday 13th February is the start of the Showzam festival to celebrate the circus and magic in the UK … what has this got to do with Pilates you might ask! Well when Joseph Pilates spent time in the UK he earned a living as, amongst other things, a circus performer. And when we start to analyse some of the original Pilates exercises as Joseph performed them and taught them, it is possible to see how he honed those skills from the circus and put them into his movement. We can see from the tightrope walkers, high flying acrobats, trapeze artists, how they use their balance and core strength to help them perform. Indeed many Pilates instructors that work with equipment in their studios will in fact use a Pilates Trapeze system.

It is particularly clear when using the reformer system where there may be cross-overs. As Joseph believed that the power house of our body is the centre, we can see the development of balance and strength throughout the whole body when the core is switched on and active. When performing the leg pull on the Pilates Reformer the upper body strength is tested, but the activation of the core makes this exercise appear effortless for the shoulders, arms and upper back. And if we switch this to trapeze artists, they cannot rely just on upper body strength as they fly through the air, they have to engage a strong core to support the whole body system.

As soon as we work with our feet in the loops on a Pilates Reformer, we are moving into the realms of circus performance with our short and long spine series. Maintaining our core throughout this work is crucial to balance and alignment as well as strength and mobility. Again look at our trapeze artists hanging on by their legs, flying through the air and using their core to help them with not only their strength but the mobility in their bodies to twist and manouvre as they fly all comes from the control of their core muscles.

Finally, I will just draw your attention to Joseph’s physique, a classic upside down diamond shape, perfect for the Circus trapeze artists, showing off a wonderfully strong upper body, with an even proportion of muscle through the lower body.

So next time you are thinking of running away to the circus …. look no further than your local Specialist Pilates Studio instead ….