Help clients work symmetrically in their Pilates workout
“For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple and wrong.” -HL Mencken
In this article I thought I would address a topic that is close to my heart, one that I have been researching for some time both in myself and in my clients. And that guy is working symmetrically. In my experience, most of us have dominant areas that invariably take over less dominant areas of the body as we exercise. With the dominant use of a part of the body, it inevitably misaligns us, causing the exercise to be performed, more or less, asymmetrically.
In the past, I would have instructed myself or my clients to ‘straighten’ or ‘match’ in an attempt to fix the imbalance by directly correcting asymmetric performance. In this situation, the client is usually able to respond to my verbal or manual correction and, from an outside point of view, things seem to be going better. By taking this direct route I have come to the conclusion that it may not be the most worthwhile approach in the long run. Personally, my right side is generally dominant and has more strength and coordination than my left side. Throughout my life I have received and continue to receive corrections to ‘straighten up’ or to try to engage my less dominant side more. Like the younger Brett, he would do this, but over time the dominance persisted and even increased. So I found that this supposedly simple solution has had little positive effect for me.
Therefore, applying the HL Mencken quote, the simple answer to the complex problem of working symmetrically may be wrong. And yet despite this I want my clients to work to their fullest potential and that certainly happens with good alignment.
I would like to take the opportunity here to reaffirm the purpose of this article and all my articles, the exchange of ideas and the challenge of knowledge and understanding of our education and experience. I don’t mean to suggest that I have THE answer; I want this to be a discussion that I hope you feel free to respond to.
Having reiterated that, what is to be done about this issue of working symmetrically? I think the first step is to bring this disparate use into the client’s consciousness so that he can actively participate in changing it. More recently, I’ve started to take a more indirect approach to help my clients become more sensitive to what they’re doing in and out of the studio and, over time, work more symmetrically.
For example, I have a client Greta, who has a dominant side where the right does all the work and the left is weak and lacks control. During ‘Feet In Straps-One Leg Pull’ on the Reformer, Greta worked like a champ with her right knee on the box, supporting the action on the left side. But on the other hand, Greta had a hard time even staying. Her left side couldn’t take the work of her right.
After seeing this, the first thing I did was point out the domain on his right side, an easy task since the domain was very sharp. We then went back to a more basic exercise, Footwork on the Reformer. Here dominance was not so easy to spot with most of the body supported by the carriage and yet it was still present. As in ‘Feet With Straps: One Leg Pull’, I helped Greta bring awareness to her stronger right side of her, encouraging her not to correct it but to do the exercise in a way that she felt true to herself. her body. It may seem counter-intuitive to allow a problem to persist, but by doing this I believe you can create awareness and understanding of the patterns that are causing the dominant side to exist in the first place.
Together, Greta and I watched her right side shorten and curve slightly as she did her footwork. This led me to ask her if she noticed favoring her right side in her everyday life, but Greta wasn’t sure she did. But then I got lucky. Adjusting the Reformer for the next exercise, Greta stood to the side waiting patiently, and how was she standing? With all of her weight on her right foot, with both hands on her right hip and bending her torso and head to the right side, the same position (or almost) that she adopted in Footwork. BINGO! She had caught the culprit in action!
But all emotion aside, I asked Greta not to change her position. In fact, this request was easier said than done, as I believe we have all been taught to be on high alert to correct ourselves at the slightest suggestion. But, she was able to do it. Holding her position, we looked at the usual patterns that she used, which until then had gone unnoticed in her daily life. I asked her to just ‘be’ in this position, even getting her to exaggerate it so she could make a mental note of how she felt. To get out of this stance and into a more neutral alignment, I asked Greta to begin engaging deep abs for support as she released her neck and shoulders, transferring more weight to her left foot and letting her arms come out to her sides. This entire movement sequence was repeated on purpose approximately 5 times, continually noting changes that occurred, however subtle.
I encouraged Greta to look for times in her daily life when she used this holding pattern. I advised him to apply the same approach that we practice when considering the body as a whole. By exploring issues specific to the individual, she enables both the client and myself, as the instructor, to find a deeper understanding of the body, working together towards a more balanced and sustainable alignment. I found that Greta was engaged and interested in learning more about her body and receiving the tools to help herself.
But we all know that Rome was not built in a day, and it goes without saying that this exercise in conscience did not solve the problem at the time. However, it was the promising beginning of a path that I consider more valuable and correct. This is also the first of many articles dealing with the topic of dominance in the alignment, although this one is getting pretty long now, don’t you think?
