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Here is Mel Siff's article on Pilates and the Animal Kingdom

FitFossil

New member
Here are some excerpts I particularly enjoyed from Mel Siff's Weights.Net posting:
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Subject: Pilates and the Animal Kingdom
From: [email protected]
Date: Wed, 11 Sep 2002 00:26:03 -0700

Regrettably, as is the case with all other Pilates sites so far, a search reveals no scientific validation, theoretical analysis or anything more than lists of testimonials in support of the Pilates claims. What is interesting about it is that it points out that Pilates relied heavily on his observations of animals in action in developing his method of training....

According to The History of Joseph Hubertus Pilates...
http://www.thepilatescenter.com/jhpilates.htm:

"Joe felt his work was "50 years ahead of (his) time". Joe's definition of physical fitness was: "the attainment and maintenance of a uniformly developed body with a sound mind fully capable of naturally, easily and satisfactorily performing our many and varied daily tasks with spontaneously zest and pleasure"...He has stated, "Everything should be smooth, like a cat. The exercises are done lying, sitting, kneeling, etc., to avoid excess strain on the heart and lungs."

*** Even to the most hardened weight training opponents to the overmarketing of "aerobics" exercise, his beliefs about exercising in lying, sitting, kneeling and other semi-sedentary positions to "avoid excess strain on the heart and lungs" were 50 years behind the time at any stage during recent times. His reference to cats even shows a very meagre and biased understanding of cats - had he really studied the cat family, he would have noticed that cats also move with extremely jerky, explosive, ballistic actions after the initial slower or isometric stalking stage. While snails may move in the fashion that he describes, it is entirely inaccurate to state that cats and indeed any predatory animals always move in slow, controlled fashion.

That same Pilates site stated this:

"As a child, I would lie in the woods for hours, hiding and watching the animals move, how the mother taught the young."

*** Unfortunately, he could not have witnessed the full spectrum of movements that animals use in their daily lives. How he could have missed noticing that kittens and other young animals frolic and play using some of the jerkiest, least organised, most asymmetric, unpredictable and ballistic jumping motions is amazing. Had he really based his system on the movements of animals, he would definitely have include explosive, jerky, sudden, ballistic, plyometric and very intense, straining movements.

This would have shown that he appreciated that the animal makes use of the muscle shortening and tissue elastic qualities for very good and natural reasons, even if he didn't have much modern knowledge about the physics and physiology of biological systems.

Maybe he had a valid excuse for offering such an impoverished model of human functioning way back then, but his latter day followers have absolutely no excuse at all for not jettisoning his incorrect ideas about the allegedly smooth, rhythmic, flowing and unstressed movements of animals. The same applies to his beliefs about long, flat, unbulging muscles that humans and animals should have if they are in real balance. If he had ever observed many wild animals up close, such as the gorilla, the lion, the tiger, buffalo and many others, he might have noticed some prominent, "bulging" muscles with low body fat that any bodybuilder would die for. More than that, he would have also noticed that those impressive muscles are not simply for show, but are extremely functional.

In other words, the entire "natural kingdom" foundation for his beliefs about muscle development and human functioning is flawed. It is perfectly natural, healthy, functional and efficient for some humans and animals to be very muscular and to operate in ballistic, jerky and apparently imbalanced explosive manner.


Go to http://www.weightsnet.com/cgi-bin/weightsissues.pl?2812#Anchor1 to read the whole article.
 
Fitfossil --

Wait a minute. Are you trying to say that my Pilates class won't give me that long and lean dancer's look? But the women in the videos are so slender and they don't have any of those yucky bulgy muscles. I...I...thought.... :bawling:

Good stuff!
 
Very funny stuff. Thanks FitFossil.

I would venture to say that the majority of adult humans do not spend enough time in frolicking and other spontaneous, uncontrolled explosive movements. Too much controlled exertion (such as traditional wieght training, yoga, aerobics, treadmills) and not enough 'real' exertion (sprinting, hiking on rough terrain, wrestling, rock climbing, sex in strange places, etc...).
 
The reason I got such a kick out of the article is because I've encountered my share of exercise snobs who've actually quoted that warm fuzzy bit about how Mr Pilates watched animals, etc. Because of this, they think any exercise that's not "gentle", "low impact" or "lite" or beyond "the fat-burning zone" is dangerous, wrong, or at least not as sophisticated as whatever they're doing. As if those of us who actually EXERT ourselves when exercising are a lower form of life :FRlol: - guess that gives me license to grunt louder in the weight room...

In a similar vein, an overweight (and non-exercising) friend frequently tells me "all that exercise will ruin your joints" and "all that muscle's gonna turn to fat" - she's already had 4 knee surgeries, and she keeps getting heavier even though the doctor said her bad knees are because of weight. :( I feel bad that she has problems, but why does she feel the need to tell me this stuff?! I don't tell her how to eat or exercise. The only place I ever "talk" about training is on boards like this.
 
FitFossil said:
[and "all that muscle's gonna turn to fat" - [/B]


LOL

Hmmm....guess the laws of "muscle is muscle and fat is fat" don't apply to you Chica
 
The whole belief that every beautifully thin and shapely woman in Hollywood has Pilates to thank for the body she has, and then the public blindly taking heed and then rushing to Pilates classes, is inherently irresponsible.

I have yet to see one REAL person who follows Pilates ONLY well proportioned and athletically fit. I know some that take Pilates and yoga as supplemental to their strength training...but I am speaking of the Pilates only crowd.

I did like the comment that your muscle will turn to fat. LOL
 
At my gym you have to fork over an extra $75 for a "pilates" or yoga class for an instructor who has only been teaching for a short time. I say fine. I'll stick to the weight room and let someone else subsidize the gym...
 
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