00:00:06.007 --> 00:00:10.847

So what is the right amount of setup to give a client in Pilates before you

00:00:10.847 --> 00:00:12.187

get them moving in an exercise?

00:00:13.887 --> 00:00:17.647

Heath Lander. Well, that's definitely a piece of string question.

00:00:19.147 --> 00:00:22.827

Okay. So we've, you know, we've kind of been at both ends of the piece of string,

00:00:22.967 --> 00:00:26.127

I think, even though maybe I'm not sure, maybe in this metaphor,

00:00:26.227 --> 00:00:27.587

the piece of string is infinite and it's a loop.

00:00:28.147 --> 00:00:31.227

But I think we've been at both ends of the piece of, of the infinitely,

00:00:31.507 --> 00:00:33.607

a variably length piece of string.

00:00:34.087 --> 00:00:37.027

And when we first started out we were the like give 99 cues

00:00:37.027 --> 00:00:39.827

before they're allowed to even you know take a breath uh end

00:00:39.827 --> 00:00:43.107

of things and so like we're going to teach footwork about the first five minutes

00:00:43.107 --> 00:00:47.947

of explanation about your transversus abdominis uh and then we've also been

00:00:47.947 --> 00:00:51.607

at the other end which is like ah who cares about the freaking you know stuff

00:00:51.607 --> 00:00:55.827

just get moving you'll be fine we'll fix it as we go and so where where have

00:00:55.827 --> 00:00:58.267

you currently landed on that spectrum.

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Yeah okay bear with me while i think i throw a little bit

00:01:02.505 --> 00:01:05.305

so what we when we when we

00:01:05.305 --> 00:01:08.705

were at pilates school we learned a model that said whatever start

00:01:08.705 --> 00:01:11.405

position you're doing and whatever movement you're going to do you're going

00:01:11.405 --> 00:01:14.245

to refine the start position and the movement before you

00:01:14.245 --> 00:01:17.185

even move yeah and that we don't

00:01:17.185 --> 00:01:20.105

do anymore because there's no point refining

00:01:20.105 --> 00:01:22.745

a movement that you're not doing yet because you don't know what you're refining if you're a

00:01:22.745 --> 00:01:25.705

client because so give me a gross version of

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the thing and then add the eyebrows to the sculpture and only

00:01:29.045 --> 00:01:35.025

then add the eyebrows to the sculpture but the the catch with that is if you

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want to get people moving quickly then you you have to start with something

00:01:38.405 --> 00:01:42.525

both via equipment settings and start position that means people can get there

00:01:42.525 --> 00:01:46.385

quickly and understand it quickly and you can express it simply which then means

00:01:46.385 --> 00:01:48.945

you need to think about the movements you're going to do,

00:01:49.625 --> 00:01:54.405

as this is especially at a group level and bring them down to an a layer or

00:01:54.405 --> 00:01:57.805

a start position or we'll call it a layer, start with a layer that you can get

00:01:57.805 --> 00:02:02.125

everyone in the start position quickly and efficiently in two or three or four

00:02:02.125 --> 00:02:03.625

simple outcome focused cues.

00:02:04.105 --> 00:02:08.445

And then the start position is something that is easy to say out and in, up and down.

00:02:09.425 --> 00:02:12.725

And then you can refine and you can build layers and you can build complexity to it.

00:02:13.025 --> 00:02:17.745

Right. And I think the mistake that we, you and I originally made,

00:02:17.925 --> 00:02:23.345

and the mistake that I think a lot of Pilates instructors still make in setting

00:02:23.345 --> 00:02:27.745

up an exercise is confusing telling people information with teaching.

00:02:30.250 --> 00:02:34.570

When you go to a government website, you know, the DMV or, you know,

00:02:34.650 --> 00:02:37.830

you need to renew your passport or get some kind of government ID or something.

00:02:37.970 --> 00:02:41.630

And you have to wade through, you know, pages and pages and pages of fine print,

00:02:41.770 --> 00:02:43.830

you know, about processes and forms you have to fill out.

00:02:44.830 --> 00:02:48.210

You know, like our spirits all sink, you know, when that happens.

00:02:49.410 --> 00:02:53.510

And, you know, 90% of that information just bounces off.

00:02:54.050 --> 00:02:59.190

And I think that's a good analogy for at the beginning of a Pilates exercise.

00:03:00.270 --> 00:03:04.890

And if we want to give somebody all the information about where they should

00:03:04.890 --> 00:03:07.530

be feeling it, which muscles they should be activating and relaxing and where

00:03:07.530 --> 00:03:10.010

their alignment of their little toes should be and all of that, it's like, okay,

00:03:10.150 --> 00:03:12.890

all of those things that you said might be true and correct,

00:03:12.890 --> 00:03:16.910

but that doesn't mean that the person can take it in or it's actually useful

00:03:16.910 --> 00:03:21.410

to explain it all in exhaustive detail before they've even had any experience of moving yet.

00:03:24.290 --> 00:03:29.330

So what is, you know, you said, you know, we need to get.

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We need to develop the ability to articulate the start position,

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you know, clearly and simply.

00:03:35.650 --> 00:03:38.830

Give us an example of what that sounds like.

00:03:40.310 --> 00:03:47.730

So there's two things to try and capture here. One is that a well-organized

00:03:47.730 --> 00:03:50.350

start position, and this is true everywhere, but particularly,

00:03:50.570 --> 00:03:53.970

let's say, in some cases on the mat, because there's nothing that contains positions

00:03:53.970 --> 00:03:55.850

in the way that a reformer bear, et cetera, does.

00:03:56.510 --> 00:04:01.310

That getting the organization of the start position right quickly and efficiently

00:04:01.310 --> 00:04:04.450

will predict greater success for your clients when they go into a shape.

00:04:04.610 --> 00:04:07.270

And the other one, the overlap is.

00:04:09.167 --> 00:04:12.067

You want to start position, and this is particularly important on the reformer,

00:04:12.407 --> 00:04:17.987

that everyone can get to quickly and get a basic movement from quickly that

00:04:17.987 --> 00:04:20.387

will build to the thing that you're ultimately heading for.

00:04:20.547 --> 00:04:23.687

And that has to be organized so that everyone can do it. And this dovetails

00:04:23.687 --> 00:04:25.247

with this idea of layering that we teach.

00:04:25.827 --> 00:04:29.367

And the idea is that the first thing, this is the solemn promise we ask our

00:04:29.367 --> 00:04:30.667

students to make at the end of every course.

00:04:30.667 --> 00:04:33.587

The solemn promise is that the first layer you will call in any

00:04:33.587 --> 00:04:37.527

progression so in any sequence of layered exercising exercises that you're going

00:04:37.527 --> 00:04:41.047

to call the early layer the first one you do you would give you you bet the

00:04:41.047 --> 00:04:44.707

farm you bet your left leg that everyone can do more than 20 reps so you're

00:04:44.707 --> 00:04:48.527

choosing an equipment setting both by load and football height etc and body

00:04:48.527 --> 00:04:53.227

position and basic movement that you i would bet my mom in the back corner can do at least 20,

00:04:53.987 --> 00:05:00.527

and then you can build from there and that when you organize what you're going to teach like that.

00:05:01.727 --> 00:05:04.327

Then there's only a few start positions and that's the good part about it.

00:05:04.407 --> 00:05:06.027

Like it might think like, you might think, oh, that's hard to do.

00:05:06.127 --> 00:05:09.007

Cause if I want to do down stretch or if I want to do elephant or if I want

00:05:09.007 --> 00:05:11.587

to do scooters, or if I want to do knee stretches on or knee stretches off,

00:05:11.927 --> 00:05:13.987

they're all different start positions. And I would argue, no, they're not.

00:05:14.187 --> 00:05:17.367

In the context of group teaching, they're all long stretch with knees down on

00:05:17.367 --> 00:05:18.627

a high foot bar with one spring.

00:05:19.167 --> 00:05:23.507

So hold on, let me just pull you back from your, your torrential flow there.

00:05:23.507 --> 00:05:26.627

Um what you're

00:05:26.627 --> 00:05:30.067

saying is that all of those exercises that

00:05:30.067 --> 00:05:33.427

you listed are essentially progressions of

00:05:33.427 --> 00:05:38.487

long stretch with knees down on a moderate spring right and so regardless of

00:05:38.487 --> 00:05:43.087

whether we're going to do you know down stretch or up stretch or elephant or

00:05:43.087 --> 00:05:47.787

knee stretches knees off or you know any of those things the first move that

00:05:47.787 --> 00:05:51.487

we teach in a group class or even in a one-on-one really would be,

00:05:51.827 --> 00:05:55.607

okay, let's put on like a moderate spring, one, one and a half spring somewhere in that vicinity,

00:05:56.467 --> 00:05:59.287

foot bar all the way up, kneel on the carriage, hands on the bar,

00:05:59.467 --> 00:06:01.667

feet behind you on the shoulder blocks, push the carriage out.

00:06:02.767 --> 00:06:05.647

Like and then carry out bring the carriage back keep your body straight right

00:06:05.647 --> 00:06:08.527

and from there we were to transition to say knee

00:06:08.527 --> 00:06:11.267

stretches we would just say okay push the carriage out okay hold now keep

00:06:11.267 --> 00:06:14.027

your arms still bring that bring your knees in and now we're doing knee stretches

00:06:14.027 --> 00:06:18.027

so we never have to actually cue the start position for knee stretches as such

00:06:18.027 --> 00:06:23.207

in that model because you always do long stretch kneeling before it and the

00:06:23.207 --> 00:06:25.227

same with the knee stretch knees off you'll do the knee stretches and you'll

00:06:25.227 --> 00:06:28.767

just say okay bring the carriage in hold now float your knees up four inches

00:06:28.767 --> 00:06:30.707

off the carriage. Push the carriage out again.

00:06:31.527 --> 00:06:34.047

Yeah, but if, dear listener, if you try that and you do it on one spring,

00:06:34.167 --> 00:06:36.847

you'll discover that lifting your knees from the in position is really hard.

00:06:37.327 --> 00:06:42.407

So, and then, so at a high level, exactly what Raf said, but then if you start

00:06:42.407 --> 00:06:45.227

to think, okay, how am I going to turn my knee stretches into knee stretches, knees off?

00:06:45.607 --> 00:06:48.607

And okay, you teach knee stretches, knees off most effectively from a long stretch,

00:06:48.747 --> 00:06:51.187

knees off, if you teach most effectively from a heavier spring,

00:06:51.387 --> 00:06:54.027

but you've already taught me long stretch knees down moderate springs.

00:06:54.207 --> 00:06:57.087

So we say, okay, park the carriage, shake your wrists. We're going to call that

00:06:57.087 --> 00:06:59.827

thing you just did long stretch with the knees down we're going to do the same thing

00:06:59.827 --> 00:07:03.047

with the knees up so two springs on high foot

00:07:03.047 --> 00:07:05.807

bar but by now the foot bar is probably a bit lower because tall people bang into

00:07:05.807 --> 00:07:09.787

the pulleys so we're going to lift up to a plank hold that now just take the

00:07:09.787 --> 00:07:13.627

bed out and in great so now we've got our start position and basic movement

00:07:13.627 --> 00:07:17.007

for knee stretches even though it's not quite and then exactly as raf said take

00:07:17.007 --> 00:07:20.507

the bed out hold under some tension knees in knees out but we would have done

00:07:20.507 --> 00:07:23.227

that with knees down and named it then as well. Okay.

00:07:23.607 --> 00:07:29.727

So, so, so, you know, I can hear people almost thinking, listening to this,

00:07:29.827 --> 00:07:32.827

yeah, but like, what if I just want to teach knee stretches, right?

00:07:32.907 --> 00:07:35.227

Like what if I don't want to start with long stretch or, you know,

00:07:35.247 --> 00:07:38.447

what if I just want to teach up stretch or down stretch or whatever it might be?

00:07:39.775 --> 00:07:42.875

Yep. And my question to that would be, are you a group teacher or not?

00:07:44.175 --> 00:07:50.375

Pleasure. Well, because, okay, so my guiding principle as a group reformer teacher

00:07:50.375 --> 00:07:53.435

is everyone rides together. So if someone has to stop and look around and look

00:07:53.435 --> 00:07:55.635

at me and they don't know what to do, I've just failed that person.

00:07:55.755 --> 00:07:59.055

I want them to know what to do at all times, even if they need to stop because it's tough.

00:08:00.095 --> 00:08:02.975

So everything is simple when we understand it. I've got to make sure you understand

00:08:02.975 --> 00:08:05.555

everything we're going to do as we do it. I don't want you confused.

00:08:05.695 --> 00:08:08.895

That breaks your flow state. so I'm going to pitch my class

00:08:09.335 --> 00:08:13.055

at my mum in the back corner even if she has to do multiple sets of long stretch

00:08:13.055 --> 00:08:16.195

knees down on a high foot bar on a moderate spring while I build up to bigger

00:08:16.195 --> 00:08:19.395

things with everyone else and if the group can come with you quickly because

00:08:19.395 --> 00:08:21.615

they understand the more complicated movements great,

00:08:21.855 --> 00:08:24.815

they move through those progressions more quickly, it's just a warm up,

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but starting at knee stretches knees off.

00:08:28.865 --> 00:08:32.185

Has a lot of possibilities for failure. There's a lot of different reasons why

00:08:32.185 --> 00:08:35.045

people can't do it, which makes your life and their life less than one. Yeah.

00:08:35.125 --> 00:08:38.625

I mean, even knee stretches, knees on, which is a more common example of something

00:08:38.625 --> 00:08:40.905

that probably people do start with a lot of the time.

00:08:41.225 --> 00:08:45.685

And we've all taught knee stretches and had the people keeping their lower body

00:08:45.685 --> 00:08:47.525

still and pushing in and out with their upper bodies.

00:08:47.565 --> 00:08:50.645

I don't know if anyone's ever taught knee stretches to someone for the first

00:08:50.645 --> 00:08:52.525

time and not had someone in the class do that.

00:08:53.645 --> 00:08:59.125

So I guess we come to the fundamental point that- So just, but just, that's a great one.

00:08:59.225 --> 00:09:02.205

I'm sorry to interrupt, but so we've all done that.

00:09:02.345 --> 00:09:06.125

We all know that teaching knee stretches as knee stretches is hard because your

00:09:06.125 --> 00:09:08.425

clients don't understand because the dissociation element is really hard.

00:09:08.685 --> 00:09:14.045

Okay. So what I'm suggesting is how would you teach knee stretches if you weren't

00:09:14.045 --> 00:09:16.185

allowed to have anyone not understand? Yeah.

00:09:16.545 --> 00:09:20.005

Well, I think it's sort of like, you know, in, in, in mathematics,

00:09:20.385 --> 00:09:23.165

you first you learn, you know, addition and subtraction and multiplication,

00:09:23.165 --> 00:09:24.725

and then later you learn calculus.

00:09:24.725 --> 00:09:27.485

And if you tried to learn calculus before you knew how

00:09:27.485 --> 00:09:30.665

to add and subtract it would make it virtually impossible to learn

00:09:30.665 --> 00:09:33.625

how to do that and so you know i don't think knee stretches is necessarily

00:09:33.625 --> 00:09:38.245

as hard as calculus but for my mum maybe it would be um and me yeah love your

00:09:38.245 --> 00:09:44.325

mum the calculus that gets me yeah yeah uh but the the the principle remains

00:09:44.325 --> 00:09:49.465

that there are kind of foundational you know movement patterns within pilates

00:09:49.465 --> 00:09:51.365

and within just human movement in general.

00:09:53.185 --> 00:09:57.305

That understanding long stretch knees down, I want to say understanding,

00:09:57.445 --> 00:09:59.825

I just mean like being able to execute it reasonably well.

00:10:01.246 --> 00:10:06.306

Is going to make it way easier for you to execute knee stretches reasonably well.

00:10:07.026 --> 00:10:10.986

Yep. And to execute long stretch knees up, where you've got to keep multiple

00:10:10.986 --> 00:10:14.546

joints organized in a straight line, is going to be much easier to do if you've

00:10:14.546 --> 00:10:18.846

understood long stretch knees down, where there's less joints to organize, less load to manage.

00:10:18.986 --> 00:10:21.366

And I can name it at the easier level and say, okay, now we're going to make

00:10:21.366 --> 00:10:22.246

a slightly hydler version.

00:10:22.386 --> 00:10:24.846

We're going to lift your knees and make a straight line through your whole body.

00:10:25.066 --> 00:10:27.166

And people go, oh yeah, cool. I think I get that. And then they go,

00:10:27.206 --> 00:10:30.846

oh, that's harder. So now we get, we're sort of going down through the layers

00:10:30.846 --> 00:10:34.966

of various layers of turtles here to maybe the turtle at the base of the pile,

00:10:35.186 --> 00:10:40.426

which is that the fundamental divide here is that when we teach,

00:10:40.646 --> 00:10:45.826

we teach essentially in clusters, which is a layered sequence of moves in the

00:10:45.826 --> 00:10:50.406

same body position slash equipment settings that works alternate muscle groups,

00:10:50.506 --> 00:10:53.926

but essentially goes from easy to very hard. And we sort of step it up,

00:10:54.046 --> 00:10:54.966

you know, stepwise there.

00:10:55.666 --> 00:10:58.486

And so when we put together a class we essentially you know

00:10:58.486 --> 00:11:01.306

string together a whole series of these

00:11:01.306 --> 00:11:03.986

clusters so we might do one supine then we might do one kneeling facing the

00:11:03.986 --> 00:11:06.666

pulleys and we might do one standing etc and put a few of those

00:11:06.666 --> 00:11:09.946

together and that's your class whereas i think the way that you and i program

00:11:09.946 --> 00:11:13.146

for years and i think a lot of people still program is in terms of individual

00:11:13.146 --> 00:11:15.906

exercises and i'll go okay i'll teach knee stretches and then where would i

00:11:15.906 --> 00:11:19.046

go from there okay am i going to i could go to a long stretch i could go to

00:11:19.046 --> 00:11:22.326

this i could go to that and i kind of thinking in it's like they're trying to

00:11:22.326 --> 00:11:24.506

draw right words you know one letter at a time,

00:11:24.686 --> 00:11:29.566

whereas we're thinking more in terms of phrases or paragraphs and to build those classes together.

00:11:30.046 --> 00:11:34.506

I think that's the fundamental divide and I think it gets down to.

00:11:36.733 --> 00:11:40.913

I don't know why we used to do it that way. I guess we just didn't really know

00:11:40.913 --> 00:11:42.053

that there was a different way to do it.

00:11:42.933 --> 00:11:46.073

We didn't think there was a different way to do it.

00:11:46.513 --> 00:11:49.433

But I'm not sure why people still do it. Maybe they don't know there's a different

00:11:49.433 --> 00:11:52.333

way to do it. Maybe they think it's more creative to come up with it.

00:11:52.853 --> 00:11:57.293

But I see a lot of times on social media, a lot of my feed is Pilates.

00:11:58.153 --> 00:12:02.933

And apart from Pilates, it's comedy and modeling.

00:12:04.093 --> 00:12:06.873

The last time I made a model airplane, I was like 12 years old,

00:12:07.333 --> 00:12:11.033

right? So I've got zero interest in actually doing any modeling.

00:12:11.433 --> 00:12:15.893

I don't mean like fashion modeling, building model airplanes and things like that, right?

00:12:16.373 --> 00:12:22.233

But for some reason, I just really enjoy watching 75-year-old guys building

00:12:22.233 --> 00:12:26.753

incredibly detailed model railroads and whatever.

00:12:26.993 --> 00:12:31.233

Anyway, I digress. but most of my feed is pilates if it's apart from like model

00:12:31.233 --> 00:12:34.273

railroads and um comedy and,

00:12:34.773 --> 00:12:38.653

a lot of what i see in that pilates feed are people going hey here's a great

00:12:38.653 --> 00:12:41.913

flow idea for you know your next reformer class or here's a great here's how

00:12:41.913 --> 00:12:45.593

i program you know this exercise or whatever it's like it's like that is not

00:12:45.593 --> 00:12:49.253

a thing that you and i would ever do because we already have our program we

00:12:49.253 --> 00:12:53.073

wrote it five years ago there's nothing wrong with it you know.

00:12:56.293 --> 00:13:01.653

Yeah um i one of the things i say when i'm working with people especially in

00:13:01.653 --> 00:13:07.233

workshops we get a good chunk of time together is that the shift for me and that we advocate is that,

00:13:07.753 --> 00:13:11.093

forevermore you will never think of an individual movement as a discrete exercise

00:13:11.093 --> 00:13:14.713

it's not discrete from the next one like it's some there is some way to make

00:13:14.713 --> 00:13:16.333

it harder and some way to make it easier,

00:13:16.853 --> 00:13:19.773

and that's always true right like you could use equipment settings or you could

00:13:19.773 --> 00:13:23.153

use movement but You can always make it easier, smaller, lighter, simpler.

00:13:23.353 --> 00:13:26.233

You can always make it harder, bigger, heavier, more complicated.

00:13:27.413 --> 00:13:30.493

And so Raph, you're saying, we've only got, you know, we don't have a program.

00:13:30.633 --> 00:13:33.093

It's like, in a sense, that's true. But once you understand that.

00:13:34.141 --> 00:13:38.081

So any movement you see can easily be absorbed into the way you think about

00:13:38.081 --> 00:13:39.421

the movements because it's not discrete.

00:13:39.701 --> 00:13:47.521

It's a collection of different things that you recognize. And I've been living in the UK now for a year.

00:13:47.621 --> 00:13:49.961

And whenever I go to London, this strikes me every time I look at the map of

00:13:49.961 --> 00:13:54.841

the underground where all the tracks seem like total chaos. And then when you

00:13:54.841 --> 00:13:59.601

start to understand the colors, you realize that they meet at points and they split off.

00:14:00.041 --> 00:14:01.501

I think that's a really handy way

00:14:01.501 --> 00:14:05.401

to think about movement, is that each movement is a stop along the line.

00:14:05.561 --> 00:14:08.301

And at certain points, you get nodes that can go in different directions.

00:14:08.581 --> 00:14:12.101

Some nodes have much higher variability. They can go lots of directions and

00:14:12.101 --> 00:14:16.801

some, not as many, but all of them can progress at least along a continuum at the very least.

00:14:17.001 --> 00:14:20.041

Right. And so another way of thinking about that, and I think it's worth thinking

00:14:20.041 --> 00:14:25.441

about this from different angles, because I think once you get this, you can't unget it.

00:14:25.581 --> 00:14:31.201

And it just makes, it's one of those ideas that is so bleedingly obvious once

00:14:31.201 --> 00:14:34.201

you see it, but so difficult to understand before that.

00:14:34.661 --> 00:14:39.741

And so another way of thinking about it is that if you can draw a line from

00:14:39.741 --> 00:14:45.361

one exercise to another exercise, and that might be like a scale in music.

00:14:45.501 --> 00:14:48.061

You have your C major scale or your F minor scale or whatever it might be.

00:14:48.141 --> 00:14:50.641

And there are certain notes that work together in that scale.

00:14:50.741 --> 00:14:52.621

Like if you're playing in C major, there are certain notes that are going to

00:14:52.621 --> 00:14:54.241

work and certain other notes that don't belong.

00:14:54.721 --> 00:15:00.421

And it's the same if he wanted to go from long stretch knees down to down stretch.

00:15:01.643 --> 00:15:06.143

There are X number of, a certain number of exercises that you could put along

00:15:06.143 --> 00:15:11.283

that continuum that would be like a progression from long stretch knees down to downstretch, right?

00:15:11.383 --> 00:15:15.983

And they would all be slightly harder in some way than the one before.

00:15:16.123 --> 00:15:17.923

It might be a slightly bigger range of motion at a certain joint.

00:15:18.043 --> 00:15:19.883

It might be more requirement for control.

00:15:20.003 --> 00:15:22.823

It might be more load, you know, might be less space of support.

00:15:22.903 --> 00:15:24.363

It might be longer levers, et cetera.

00:15:24.783 --> 00:15:31.523

And there is a continuum from that easier exercise to the harder exercise.

00:15:31.643 --> 00:15:36.263

Now, you could, continuing the music analogy, you could, instead of going from

00:15:36.263 --> 00:15:41.663

long stretch knees down, going to down stretch, you could take it to a different place.

00:15:42.023 --> 00:15:45.363

You know, you could take it to arabesque or you could take it to,

00:15:45.503 --> 00:15:46.923

you know, there's lots of different

00:15:46.923 --> 00:15:49.723

places that you could take it to knee stretches, knees off, right?

00:15:49.803 --> 00:15:54.743

And so that would be analogous to changing from a C major scale to maybe the F minor scale, right?

00:15:54.883 --> 00:15:57.703

But then in that F minor scale, there are

00:15:57.703 --> 00:16:00.523

now still a sequence of notes that work and fit together

00:16:00.523 --> 00:16:03.403

and there are notes that don't fit and it's just once you know

00:16:03.403 --> 00:16:06.203

okay we're the end point of this progression whether

00:16:06.203 --> 00:16:09.463

anyone in the room today gets there or not doesn't matter but the end point is down

00:16:09.463 --> 00:16:12.483

stretch let's say we're starting at me at long

00:16:12.483 --> 00:16:14.883

stretch kneeling and you know we're going to start playing the notes of the

00:16:14.883 --> 00:16:17.463

scale and the notes of the scale from long stretch kneeling are long stretch

00:16:17.463 --> 00:16:20.623

kneeling and long stretch kneeling it might be then long stretch kneeling with

00:16:20.623 --> 00:16:30.543

the foot bar down one rung it might then be long stretch kneeling with the foot bar up a spring.

00:16:31.602 --> 00:16:35.142

Go to knee stretches, right? And then, okay, knee stretches,

00:16:35.762 --> 00:16:38.282

then long stretch with the knees up.

00:16:38.762 --> 00:16:42.742

And then long stretch, knees up, to knee stretches, knees up.

00:16:43.062 --> 00:16:45.782

You know, like that might be one progression and there's probably moves,

00:16:45.942 --> 00:16:47.022

intermediate moves in between there.

00:16:47.142 --> 00:16:49.082

We'll probably adjust the foot bar up and down and the springs up and down,

00:16:49.362 --> 00:16:54.002

you know, and the range of motion to facilitate the steps between moves being

00:16:54.002 --> 00:16:56.542

the right distance so somebody can bridge the gap.

00:16:56.742 --> 00:16:59.662

But thinking about, you know, when you start teaching long stretch then,

00:16:59.782 --> 00:17:01.242

you're not thinking like, oh crap, what do I teach next?

00:17:01.902 --> 00:17:06.062

It's like it's blindingly obvious it's like keep going with the scale you play

00:17:06.062 --> 00:17:07.362

the next note in the scale that's what you play next.

00:17:10.294 --> 00:17:13.094

Yeah, I think that's a really handy one. Not that I actually understand music,

00:17:13.194 --> 00:17:14.234

but to the extent that I do,

00:17:14.474 --> 00:17:18.374

you can, I think the music one or the keys on the piano one is a good one in

00:17:18.374 --> 00:17:21.274

the sense that as you start to explore this, and I certainly did this,

00:17:21.454 --> 00:17:26.574

one of the risks is that you start to stratify or variegate or,

00:17:26.594 --> 00:17:28.894

you know, chop things just a little bit too much.

00:17:28.894 --> 00:17:33.854

And then it's like okay so there is actually an appropriate level of jump and you know so,

00:17:34.674 --> 00:17:37.494

in terms of the flow of the class the jump is the thing

00:17:37.494 --> 00:17:40.314

where the people's flow state is maintained you're not over

00:17:40.314 --> 00:17:44.354

focusing on little details people understand what you mean and as they do the

00:17:44.354 --> 00:17:47.534

next layer the strong people get extra challenge and the not so strong people

00:17:47.534 --> 00:17:50.634

have something to drop back to people aren't getting bogged down in lots of

00:17:50.634 --> 00:17:55.054

tiny little variations but there is an exploratory and learning aspect to that

00:17:55.054 --> 00:17:58.054

because this this is you know this is an emergent thing You know,

00:17:58.134 --> 00:17:59.474

the group is always different.

00:18:00.394 --> 00:18:03.254

Reformers are different if you teach in different studios. It's not a black and white thing.

00:18:03.434 --> 00:18:10.114

So this is a principle that, you know, comes down to the specifics of your teaching

00:18:10.114 --> 00:18:11.874

and your clients and your reformer. Yeah.

00:18:12.094 --> 00:18:14.654

The other thing is this is what when Raph and I joke about, there's only two

00:18:14.654 --> 00:18:16.574

movements, cat stretch and squat. Yeah. Right?

00:18:16.814 --> 00:18:20.714

That's why we're making the joke because flexion and extension is Pilates. Yeah.

00:18:21.834 --> 00:18:25.994

So that's the exact joke that we're making. Yeah. Although I often find jokes

00:18:25.994 --> 00:18:27.134

are less funny after you've explained them.

00:18:28.694 --> 00:18:34.634

Do you ever find that that's my wife hates it when I explain jokes to her um.

00:18:35.978 --> 00:18:40.718

Okay. And so, you know, really, no, no, you go.

00:18:41.358 --> 00:18:43.998

Well, I just, so what we've talked and we've talked on this before,

00:18:43.998 --> 00:18:48.038

I think this idea of what our conversation started out on start positions and

00:18:48.038 --> 00:18:49.618

it's ended up essentially at layering.

00:18:49.778 --> 00:18:51.758

And that's not, that's, that there's, that there's, that's no,

00:18:51.818 --> 00:18:54.718

there's no mistake there because you have to understand, you have to understand

00:18:54.718 --> 00:18:57.098

layering in order to understand the start position, because,

00:18:57.278 --> 00:19:02.398

you know, in order to, to the start position is the setup so that you can actually

00:19:02.398 --> 00:19:03.838

succeed in the move, right?

00:19:04.098 --> 00:19:07.538

And what is it? You have to know what it means to succeed in the move in order

00:19:07.538 --> 00:19:08.478

to get the start position right.

00:19:08.538 --> 00:19:12.638

So if you know what the exercise is for, then you know what is important to

00:19:12.638 --> 00:19:14.738

focus on in relation to that start position.

00:19:15.078 --> 00:19:18.558

You know, what does it matter if you get, you know, which bits are important

00:19:18.558 --> 00:19:21.398

that you get it right in the start position in order to actually have the opportunity

00:19:21.398 --> 00:19:22.598

to do the exercise right, and

00:19:22.598 --> 00:19:25.478

which bits doesn't matter, which bits don't matter or matter less. Yeah.

00:19:25.898 --> 00:19:29.578

So there's two things. One, I want to illustrate to what you just said really

00:19:29.578 --> 00:19:33.958

clearly is to talk about snake in terms of a general class, open level general class.

00:19:34.058 --> 00:19:36.058

And then the other is to try and catch where I was headed before,

00:19:36.218 --> 00:19:39.018

which is that we've been talking about layering in the start position.

00:19:39.238 --> 00:19:45.218

And then there is a section of the topic, which is that some start positions

00:19:45.218 --> 00:19:48.178

can be really important because they predict success for the movement you're

00:19:48.178 --> 00:19:51.378

going to call, as opposed to it just being the beginning of the layer.

00:19:51.478 --> 00:19:57.678

So an example is if you're going to lift into a pike, right um.

00:19:58.898 --> 00:20:01.898

And then you've got to think about what kind of pike am I teaching is it a pike

00:20:01.898 --> 00:20:04.578

where I want the knees straight or do I not really care do I want the hands

00:20:04.578 --> 00:20:07.518

over the shoulders because of whatever I'm doing or is it do I want the hands

00:20:07.518 --> 00:20:09.438

behind the shoulders more like a down faced dog.

00:20:10.501 --> 00:20:13.181

And if you're going to teach a pike and you want people to have straight legs,

00:20:13.281 --> 00:20:16.121

then you want to make sure that you call it from hands under shoulders,

00:20:16.221 --> 00:20:19.061

knees under hips, tuck your toes under lift up to straight legs.

00:20:19.421 --> 00:20:22.961

Because 90% of, if not more, humans are going to be able to find straight legs

00:20:22.961 --> 00:20:24.561

where it doesn't really matter where their shoulders go.

00:20:24.821 --> 00:20:27.521

And once you've found the straight legs, then you can pull the shoulders back,

00:20:27.801 --> 00:20:28.941

challenging the straight legs.

00:20:29.721 --> 00:20:33.301

You know, so in that case, it's like the start position is quadruped,

00:20:33.501 --> 00:20:35.961

but actually where you have your hands and knees is important.

00:20:36.141 --> 00:20:37.761

And people might be thinking, well, that's always quadruped.

00:20:37.761 --> 00:20:40.221

And it's like, no, not always, because sometimes you're working a really compressed

00:20:40.221 --> 00:20:44.041

pike, which we use a lot in our courses, where the hands come back closer to

00:20:44.041 --> 00:20:45.501

the knees and you lift up and lean forward.

00:20:45.741 --> 00:20:48.481

That's going to challenge the hamstrings. You might not get straight legs,

00:20:48.581 --> 00:20:52.541

but you're doing something different with the shape and the start position sets that up.

00:20:52.681 --> 00:20:56.361

Right. And so just to capture the difference between those, the different intention between those.

00:20:56.521 --> 00:20:59.341

So you're describing two different pikes. One's more like a down dog where you're

00:20:59.341 --> 00:21:02.981

kind of more, you're making a triangle shape really with your legs and your upper body.

00:21:02.981 --> 00:21:06.721

And the other one is more like a compressed you

00:21:06.721 --> 00:21:09.641

know it's more like if you sort of stood and then did a roll down and touch your

00:21:09.641 --> 00:21:12.901

your hands on the floor in front of your feet it's more of a much more compressed shape

00:21:12.901 --> 00:21:16.941

and the intention behind those two and you know when i say the intention i mean

00:21:16.941 --> 00:21:20.541

like where they build up to and what they're for is quite different so talk

00:21:20.541 --> 00:21:23.401

us through really briefly what's what's the difference in intention or goal

00:21:23.401 --> 00:21:26.861

with those two different versions of a pike for you well the example that would

00:21:26.861 --> 00:21:32.001

be easiest is if the if the if where you're wanting to go would be a, um,

00:21:32.221 --> 00:21:33.681

a leg pull front kind of variation.

00:21:33.681 --> 00:21:36.961

So you've got one leg in the air, um, and the other leg down,

00:21:37.001 --> 00:21:38.901

but when you lift that leg, you're going to bring.

00:21:40.272 --> 00:21:43.512

Uh a lot so so if you do it in the compressed position because

00:21:43.512 --> 00:21:46.252

you've already got that deep hip flexion lifting that up leg

00:21:46.252 --> 00:21:49.552

high is really really hard really hard and and anything

00:21:49.552 --> 00:21:52.192

that you do pushes weight into the hands people don't want that so they keep their

00:21:52.192 --> 00:21:55.492

weight back in the feet and you start to sort of lose the the essence

00:21:55.492 --> 00:21:58.372

of what you're trying to get to which if it's a handstand kick up you want

00:21:58.372 --> 00:22:01.052

enough space that you can lift the leg but enough compression that you

00:22:01.052 --> 00:22:03.852

can get the weight into the hands but we're not generally in pilates

00:22:03.852 --> 00:22:06.892

we're not talking about a handstand lift so it's a so the compressed pike

00:22:06.892 --> 00:22:09.812

would be a progression more towards a handstand whereas the more

00:22:09.812 --> 00:22:12.912

elongated pike might be more of a progression towards an arabesque

00:22:12.912 --> 00:22:15.592

or you know long stretch front or some

00:22:15.592 --> 00:22:18.492

whatever it's called um leg pull front leg pull front

00:22:18.492 --> 00:22:21.492

yeah uh yeah leg pull front and so the the

00:22:21.492 --> 00:22:24.532

hip having the having the hips behind the hands brings weight into the feet

00:22:24.532 --> 00:22:28.352

so as a group instructor more weight in the feet buys you more time so if you

00:22:28.352 --> 00:22:31.172

want to teach me something like lifting one leg you do it with weight in the

00:22:31.172 --> 00:22:34.672

feet and they go lift one leg could keep the leg as straight as you can or grasshopper

00:22:34.672 --> 00:22:36.972

the leg bend the knee whatever you're going to you teach the skill where there's

00:22:36.972 --> 00:22:39.092

time and then you come down, shake it out.

00:22:39.152 --> 00:22:42.012

Now we're going back there and we're going to come forward with the shoulders, load the shoulders.

00:22:42.132 --> 00:22:44.052

Now we're going to lift the leg again. It's a bit harder now because there's

00:22:44.052 --> 00:22:44.832

more weight in the shoulders.

00:22:45.112 --> 00:22:47.412

And then if you're going to do it even harder, you compress even more.

00:22:47.552 --> 00:22:51.592

So we've used start position to set up a position where we've got more time

00:22:51.592 --> 00:22:53.692

and we can test understanding and teach skills.

00:22:53.852 --> 00:22:56.792

Right. And so if we were teaching the start position of that pike,

00:22:56.972 --> 00:22:58.032

of those two different pikes.

00:22:58.312 --> 00:23:02.052

You know, depending on whether we're progressing to an arabesque or whether

00:23:02.052 --> 00:23:04.412

we're progressing to, you know, we wouldn't necessarily be teaching a handstand,

00:23:04.512 --> 00:23:07.732

but whether this, you know, progression eventually leads to handstand,

00:23:07.972 --> 00:23:12.092

you know, for the arabesque, we would cue the hands further in front or,

00:23:12.172 --> 00:23:13.312

you know, further away from the feet.

00:23:13.572 --> 00:23:16.572

Whereas for the handstand progression, we would cue the hands much closer to

00:23:16.572 --> 00:23:19.132

like almost in line with the feet as close as possible, basically.

00:23:19.892 --> 00:23:21.912

Especially if it's a handstand press where you're not kicking,

00:23:22.012 --> 00:23:25.612

where you're just going to try and lift, which we're off into beyond most Pilates

00:23:25.612 --> 00:23:28.212

sessions now. But yeah, so exactly.

00:23:29.372 --> 00:23:31.992

And in fact, that sort of dovetails with that snake idea. But when you're talking

00:23:31.992 --> 00:23:33.252

about before, you know, the...

00:23:34.862 --> 00:23:37.822

When, when I went through Pilates school, I learned snake as a thing,

00:23:38.062 --> 00:23:40.862

you know, there's snake is this great big hairy monster that sits at the far

00:23:40.862 --> 00:23:42.282

end of the advanced repertoire. Yeah.

00:23:42.602 --> 00:23:46.362

And, and I thought one day I'll teach that. And the only time in my life that

00:23:46.362 --> 00:23:49.182

I've been responsible for more chaos than the first time I taught snake in a

00:23:49.182 --> 00:23:52.202

group class was when I was responsible for teaching two year olds and I wasn't trained for it.

00:23:52.362 --> 00:23:55.422

It's like, it's just a fucking disaster, right? Because I was trying to call

00:23:55.422 --> 00:23:57.382

the start position and put your foot on the football and then hook the other

00:23:57.382 --> 00:23:59.642

foot in front and oh no, but then hold on one, no, no step out.

00:23:59.702 --> 00:24:01.442

Then someone's done it and someone, it was just a chaos.

00:24:02.022 --> 00:24:05.922

Fast forward six or eight or 10 years. And now when we do chest expansion with

00:24:05.922 --> 00:24:10.102

the toes over the back edge of the bed, we're teaching snake because you're

00:24:10.102 --> 00:24:13.122

bringing people's attention to what are you doing with the top of your foot?

00:24:13.662 --> 00:24:16.242

You know, when does your client generally think about the top of their foot?

00:24:16.582 --> 00:24:18.062

Never unless they bang it on something.

00:24:18.562 --> 00:24:22.702

So you're bringing attention to that chest expansion. Then you're going to do

00:24:22.702 --> 00:24:24.502

cat stretch, surprise, surprise.

00:24:24.762 --> 00:24:27.842

And you're going to do pike to plank, like could you, which you could call almost

00:24:27.842 --> 00:24:30.902

a midline snake, right? So you take, you're not bothering with the scary entry.

00:24:31.202 --> 00:24:33.962

You're going to do pike to plank off the platform. and then once you've done that you're

00:24:33.962 --> 00:24:36.862

going to have a low foot bar and you're going to put your feet on there and maybe on your forearms

00:24:36.862 --> 00:24:40.002

because you've got a better base of support pike to plank on the forearms and

00:24:40.002 --> 00:24:42.962

then teaching one foot ball of the foot on other foot

00:24:42.962 --> 00:24:46.462

top of the foot on so you say and all of a sudden you're already 30 minutes

00:24:46.462 --> 00:24:49.542

into a class if you're mixing up your muscle groups and then you're going to

00:24:49.542 --> 00:24:52.982

step off and do snake off the floor push the bed out bring the bed back remember

00:24:52.982 --> 00:24:55.942

how we dropped our hips in the pike okay we did we all master that we've all

00:24:55.942 --> 00:24:59.022

done that we can do less spring tension and so you know depending on your metaphor

00:24:59.022 --> 00:25:01.982

you can see these are the train lines or this is Raf's piano chord.

00:25:02.282 --> 00:25:06.282

If you don't get to snake, you can still work the muscles and the movement that

00:25:06.282 --> 00:25:11.302

snake is really effectively without having to do the funky foot bar foot on, hooking foot on.

00:25:11.542 --> 00:25:15.242

And, you know, I think a lot of, I think this is a fundamental flaw with the

00:25:15.242 --> 00:25:19.342

way most Pilates courses operate, which is they split exercises into beginner,

00:25:19.482 --> 00:25:21.702

intermediate, advanced or level one, two, three, you know.

00:25:22.022 --> 00:25:26.222

And when we did our advanced reformer course with Stott Pilates,

00:25:26.442 --> 00:25:28.702

it was like, bam, here's snake.

00:25:29.560 --> 00:25:31.920

You've never, this is a completely different exercise than anything you've done

00:25:31.920 --> 00:25:33.640

before. It's not related to any other exercises.

00:25:34.440 --> 00:25:36.320

This is where the feet go. This is where the hand go. This is the movement.

00:25:36.520 --> 00:25:39.800

And it's like, oh, okay, great. So, you know, straight, you know,

00:25:39.860 --> 00:25:41.880

forget the arithmetic, here's calculus, you know.

00:25:42.780 --> 00:25:49.000

Whereas I think a much more powerful way to think about the system of Pilates,

00:25:49.120 --> 00:25:53.520

the system of contrology is to understand, you know, which exercises build to,

00:25:54.140 --> 00:25:57.540

snake, you know, and it's not just one sequence because there are multiple elements

00:25:57.540 --> 00:25:59.620

to snake. There's the shoulder strength and mobility.

00:26:00.020 --> 00:26:04.960

There's the balance and control of the carriage. There's the rotational strength.

00:26:05.180 --> 00:26:08.660

There's the spinal flexion and extension, strength and mobility.

00:26:09.000 --> 00:26:13.520

There are so many elements to it. And you can build each of those elements separately

00:26:13.520 --> 00:26:16.780

in various different moves and then gradually integrate those elements together

00:26:16.780 --> 00:26:21.360

into moves that look more and more similar to snake.

00:26:21.600 --> 00:26:23.760

And eventually it's so similar to snake that it is snake.

00:26:28.228 --> 00:26:32.248

And, you know, when you think like that, you can take,

00:26:32.448 --> 00:26:35.128

like, you know, you can go along the train line, you can go along the piano

00:26:35.128 --> 00:26:41.828

keys and cat stretch or footwork or lunges or long stretch knees down become

00:26:41.828 --> 00:26:43.288

lots of different things.

00:26:43.328 --> 00:26:47.848

And you can go from, you know, low to high or left to right or however you want

00:26:47.848 --> 00:26:50.428

to think about it. Or you can go and look at the big complicated thing and work backwards.

00:26:50.928 --> 00:26:54.148

And once you've, like, like I've said, when, when, once you've understood it,

00:26:54.208 --> 00:26:57.028

you can't unsee it. And once you see it, then you don't need,

00:26:57.168 --> 00:26:59.608

you never need to think about beginner, intermediate and advanced ever again.

00:26:59.808 --> 00:27:01.928

All you're ever doing is what are the people in front of me doing?

00:27:02.108 --> 00:27:03.648

How far along this continuum do I go?

00:27:03.808 --> 00:27:06.008

You can say where you are. You come with me for the next thing.

00:27:06.108 --> 00:27:09.408

You say, oh, now when I've left every, you know, two thirds of the room is staying back.

00:27:09.528 --> 00:27:12.188

We won't go any further. We'll just do extra reps till everyone's cooked. Right.

00:27:13.188 --> 00:27:18.568

And, and the, the, then when, when, once you've seen it and,

00:27:18.688 --> 00:27:22.688

and thought like that and spent some time with it, then all of a sudden that,

00:27:22.688 --> 00:27:26.188

that sequence that you might do in a class. is also a month's worth of programming.

00:27:26.388 --> 00:27:29.868

It's also six months or a year's worth of programming because you can repeat

00:27:29.868 --> 00:27:32.948

it, you can tweak it, you can add other stuff in the middle and all of a sudden

00:27:32.948 --> 00:27:35.788

you're working on Snake for six months and your clients are never bored and

00:27:35.788 --> 00:27:36.728

they may never get to Snake.

00:27:36.928 --> 00:27:41.328

I think it's just like it unlocks a lot.

00:27:41.548 --> 00:27:44.628

Although if you work on Snake for six months, you have a much greater probability

00:27:44.628 --> 00:27:49.048

of getting to Snake than if you just do it randomly once every six months in an advanced class.

00:27:49.548 --> 00:27:53.848

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Or if you're sitting down on a Sunday night thinking,

00:27:53.848 --> 00:27:54.968

this week I might try Snake.

00:27:56.018 --> 00:27:58.818

Like you need to kind of spend some time with

00:27:58.818 --> 00:28:01.598

what we've been talking about so that you think okay this time of week i might try

00:28:01.598 --> 00:28:04.518

snake and it's going to look like these nine different things and maybe

00:28:04.518 --> 00:28:07.358

i get there maybe i don't maybe it takes me a month and all of a sudden you

00:28:07.358 --> 00:28:10.518

don't need to program next sunday because you've got your plans yeah it's

00:28:10.518 --> 00:28:14.878

it's there's a really interesting parallel between this kind of talk about pilates

00:28:14.878 --> 00:28:19.678

progressions and just the basic elements of rehabilitation which we you know

00:28:19.678 --> 00:28:26.018

we talked about a lot over over the years but essentially every movement can

00:28:26.018 --> 00:28:28.238

be broken into strength, range of motion,

00:28:28.518 --> 00:28:30.578

and skill or control of the joints.

00:28:30.818 --> 00:28:35.698

And when you are injured, you lose some amount of strength, some amount of range

00:28:35.698 --> 00:28:36.898

of motion, some amount of control.

00:28:37.198 --> 00:28:41.498

And rehab is the process of progressive exercises to restore strength,

00:28:41.638 --> 00:28:43.838

range of motion, and control to the affected parts.

00:28:44.038 --> 00:28:49.018

And so typically when you start out rehab, you start by trying to,

00:28:49.178 --> 00:28:51.338

as much as possible, isolate each of those elements.

00:28:51.418 --> 00:28:54.378

So you work on range of motion with no load you work on strength with

00:28:54.378 --> 00:28:57.558

no range of motion etc and then gradually as rehab progresses

00:28:57.558 --> 00:29:00.378

you integrate those elements so you work on strength through range with

00:29:00.378 --> 00:29:03.738

control and that is the exact same process that you can use to get somebody

00:29:03.738 --> 00:29:09.598

from you know cat stretch to snake you know by gradually progressing the strength

00:29:09.598 --> 00:29:15.318

the range of motion and the control elements of that movement by you know jumping

00:29:15.318 --> 00:29:18.358

from one piano key to the next and in this example,

00:29:18.498 --> 00:29:23.818

the piano keys are the different exercise versions or different exercises on

00:29:23.818 --> 00:29:27.278

the scale from cat stretch to snake.

00:29:28.507 --> 00:29:34.547

And we want to progress strength or range or control, but preferably not all

00:29:34.547 --> 00:29:37.847

of them all at once, you know, in a big jump, because that just makes,

00:29:38.047 --> 00:29:39.067

that sets people up for failure.

00:29:39.467 --> 00:29:44.087

And so when you understand that you're teaching somebody to do snake and whether

00:29:44.087 --> 00:29:46.047

or not they ever get there doesn't matter, but that's, you know,

00:29:46.107 --> 00:29:48.347

that's the, that's the North star that we're heading towards.

00:29:48.467 --> 00:29:52.167

You know, that's, that's the star of Bethlehem over the, you know, over baby Jesus.

00:29:53.087 --> 00:29:55.987

That we're, that's, that's where we're heading towards. It's like,

00:29:56.047 --> 00:29:59.627

okay, well, where do we start? Well, we start at the lowest possible position

00:29:59.627 --> 00:30:02.187

where I look around this room and I'm a hundred percent sure everybody in the

00:30:02.187 --> 00:30:03.707

room is going to be able to start there with me.

00:30:04.347 --> 00:30:06.587

You know, it's like, okay. And that is going to look, you know,

00:30:06.667 --> 00:30:11.027

most times like cat stretch or, you know, long stretch kneeling,

00:30:11.207 --> 00:30:13.247

or, you know, depending on which exercise you're working towards,

00:30:13.367 --> 00:30:15.547

you know, footwork or whatever, right?

00:30:15.567 --> 00:30:18.267

It's going to look like some pretty simple start.

00:30:18.567 --> 00:30:22.987

And from there, there is no like quote start position that you have to cue people

00:30:22.987 --> 00:30:26.707

into as such for the next move, because it's about the transition from one move

00:30:26.707 --> 00:30:28.887

to next, not so much as like start position.

00:30:29.027 --> 00:30:34.707

And I think just to finish up, that's a problem that I think actually classical

00:30:34.707 --> 00:30:36.167

Pilates doesn't really have.

00:30:36.587 --> 00:30:40.527

Whereas the contemporary Pilates that you and I learned has that problem because

00:30:40.527 --> 00:30:45.367

each exercise is presented as a standalone, you know, starting from scratch.

00:30:45.867 --> 00:30:48.887

And so when you're learning to teach each move, you

00:30:48.887 --> 00:30:51.627

assume that the person just like teleported in from outer space and

00:30:51.627 --> 00:30:54.527

they haven't done they haven't just done some other move so we

00:30:54.527 --> 00:30:57.187

go okay we're going to do xyz exercise so lie down on the mat you know

00:30:57.187 --> 00:30:59.827

hips here legs there whatever and it's like okay but where did

00:30:59.827 --> 00:31:04.227

we just come from you know but we we were taught to teach each exercise as a

00:31:04.227 --> 00:31:10.367

complete self-contained you know one move workout with no relationship to any

00:31:10.367 --> 00:31:17.627

other move you know that comes immediately before or after it yeah um and it's.

00:31:19.946 --> 00:31:23.766

We don't have a book on the reformer. We've got photos and a lot of conjecture

00:31:23.766 --> 00:31:28.046

about what the true sequence was, but we do have a book from that work.

00:31:28.506 --> 00:31:32.946

And if you spend time with that book and actually do the practice repeatedly,

00:31:33.146 --> 00:31:36.026

what I, what I, what I notice, and I know others notice is it's essentially

00:31:36.026 --> 00:31:38.206

like chapters or layers,

00:31:38.446 --> 00:31:41.866

you know, and as you get to the bigger movements, they're all easily understood

00:31:41.866 --> 00:31:43.526

as combinations of the earlier movements.

00:31:44.086 --> 00:31:46.886

And my, my thesis is that way he

00:31:46.886 --> 00:31:49.946

says it clearly in the book that this is for the average person to get themselves

00:31:49.946 --> 00:31:52.766

uh fit healthful and blah blah blah blah my thesis

00:31:52.766 --> 00:31:56.886

is that he just didn't get around to doing the next book like and whether he

00:31:56.886 --> 00:31:59.906

meant to or not you know this goes to some of the other stuff we've talked about

00:31:59.906 --> 00:32:04.846

is where people get bogged down in trying to refine the roll-up when actually

00:32:04.846 --> 00:32:07.766

you should just move on from the roll-up and do the rollover and once you've

00:32:07.766 --> 00:32:09.646

done the rollover you should do the jackknife and once you've done the jackknife

00:32:09.646 --> 00:32:12.346

you should do can uh control balance and we're doing control balance,

00:32:12.866 --> 00:32:14.506

where do you go? Well, we haven't got that book yet.

00:32:15.506 --> 00:32:19.386

But you don't get bogged down in trying to understand too much of that.

00:32:19.446 --> 00:32:22.166

You don't have to feel your transversus firing when you do roll-up.

00:32:22.246 --> 00:32:25.786

You've just got to make the shape for enough reps to know that you can move on to the roll-over.

00:32:26.286 --> 00:32:30.906

And I just think that what people miss is that that book was to get people moving.

00:32:31.726 --> 00:32:35.266

And it gets you properly moving, but there are harder things you can do.

00:32:35.366 --> 00:32:37.786

But the harder things you can do that some people say, well, that's not Pilates.

00:32:38.866 --> 00:32:41.346

It's like saying Mick Jagger wouldn't have used digital recording material if

00:32:41.346 --> 00:32:44.666

he could have in the 70s. It's like, if Joseph could have had enough tech to

00:32:44.666 --> 00:32:46.186

make the books, he would have made more books.

00:32:47.046 --> 00:32:49.826

Yeah, I wish he'd made a reformer book. That'd be cool. Yes.

00:32:50.926 --> 00:32:52.886

Good talk. Thanks, Raph.