Peak Pilates: The Language of Pilates Exam Questions and Top Rated Answers

Advancements - ANSWER-Challenges to an exercise that make it more difficult. This happens by performing the exercise on another apparatus, taking one foot or hand away, working with fewer springs, or raising the center of gravity. Alignment - ANSWER-The placement of body parts in relationship to one another, as well as their relationship to gravity or resistance. Alignment is the foundation for proper execution. Joseph Pilates believed that all parts of the body interconnect and influence one another. Anchoring - ANSWER-A concept that describes how each exercise is stabilized by the Powerhouse and supported by the critical connections. The entire body holistically provides an additional sense of stability, a feeling of heaviness or anchoring, to support the parts that are moving. For example, during One Leg Circle the entire back of the body stabilizes to provide a solid base from which the movement of the leg can emanate from. "Lying in wet cement" is an image often used to reinforce this sensation. Arms Move From the Back - ANSWER-This phrase underscores the awareness that arm movements initiate the back of the Powerhouse. Ideally, the serratus anterior and trapezius depress and stabilize the scapula for correct arm movement, thereby eliminating over-recruitment of the shoulder and chest muscles. Articulate - ANSWER-The act of stacking one vertebra at a time, lifting bone by bone, or rolling down and releasing the vertebrae onto the mat one vertebrae at a time. Spinal articulation prevents jerky, out-of-control movements and increases flexibility of the spine.