Issue #332 – Wednesday April 21, 2021
Coordination on the Reformer – by Brett Miller
by Brett Miller
Whereas at first I found ‘Coordination on the Reformer’ to be a rather quirky exercise – even a little stupid, I have come to value it more and more as I have grown to know the art of Pilates.
Why?
Because to do it well, it requires a constant study of that holy (to me) trinity of two-way stretch (lets call it TWS for short), opposition, and (obviously) coordination.
I am pleased to present my son as a teenager as demonstrator.
Are you ready?
Good, then let’s get started!
Set up your Reformer good and heavy, 2 ‘full springs’ is good for most people.
Start with a long neutral spine supported by a gentle lift up and under the navel together with the legs gently moving in towards each other. Neck released, arms close to the body – your body is relaxed but engaged….ready to move.
Begin the exercise going into a two-way stretch by lifting STRONGLY up and under the navel together with head coming up and your arms and legs reaching FAR FORWARD.
Here is a big taste of TWS (two-way stretch)!
Did I mention here is your TWS?
Why, yes I did!!
Take time to study it….and increase it.
And let me also mention here that the ‘classical’ way of doing this exercise is to take your outstretched arms down flat on the carriage. I, however, do not recommend this because doing so contracts the back….and I think you should do this exercise with as much length and width possible.
Moving on…..
Maintain a STRONG lift up and under the navel and your TWS while you open the legs a bit more than hip width apart. Remember those long arms and wide back!!
Now its time to draw the legs together….don’t make this a trivial moment, make this a moment worthy of a lifetime study, which by the way it is – how do I draw my legs together in a manner that brings me greater stability AND increases my TWS?
Bring the the legs together with while expanding the two-way stretch. There is a slight SQUEEZE of the legs while constantly renewing the STRONG ‘up and under the navel’ lift.
How are you doing with the arms and back here, long and wide? Yes, good…..so pleased you did not forget them.
Now its time to go into some deep opposition.
Pull the legs strongly into the body, even so far that your backside rises off the carriage – and the arms stretch MORE forward and stay close to the body, creating dynamic opposition.
Pause here for a moment, don’t be in a hurry.
Compare the position my son is in above, with this one I am in below doing the exercise I shared with you earlier ‘Active Opposition’. They are different….but the idea the same – not only is there beauty in this ‘active opposition’ – it is key to a deep Pilates practice.
Next, continue to actively pull the into the body body, bum up off the carriage, while the bending the arms in to the start position to a slow count of three.
And voila, there you have one rep…..now all you do is rinse, wash, repeat!! Perhaps 5 or 6 times.
I will close with by saying that I am a big fan of the ‘classical’ Pilates, for it was here that I learned about ‘two-way’ stretch AND opposition, it opened my eyes to the depth that Pilates can be.
At the same time, I have seen the ‘classical’ folk, REPEATEDLY, advocate doing exercises (both mat and Reformer) quickly in a rapid fire manner. In fact, I have seen as an advertisement ‘watch as we do 75 exercises in 40 minutes’ This is not something I advocate, learning and depth take time and patience – use them. And thus, I am not a ‘classical’ teacher.
Ok, enough about me, get back to Coordination on the Reformer, it can be a time of beautiful contemplation.
PS – ‘Coordination’ is great to do on the Mat as well!
Brett Miller is the founder of Pilates Intel, he started his professional life in the world of ballet, working with various companies in the US. Later on he moved to New York and branched out into modern along with the ballet. Since then, he has lived in Finland and now in Stockholm Sweden.
Brett became a Pilates instructor in 2005 and has been teaching ever since. The intelligent technique that Pilates is, and the chance to continue to be physical, attracted him to this field after being so long in the dance world. Along with teaching Pilates and publishing Pilates Intel, Brett is a software developer for Ericsson.