Recipe of the Week

Fun, Facts & Fitness from Mary Morris MSc.

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When I did my Pilates training almost 20 years ago, I learnt how important it is to do our exercises at a slow pace. Performing the moves with good control is far more effective. Having run my own gym and health club for 30 years, and having taught in the gym, I had been surrounded by many exercisers training at a cracking pace because they either wanted to get the session over quickly or they thought it was the most effective way to train. They could also boast about the high number of repetitions they had done!

When we do strength exercises the move usually involves a ‘lift’ and a ‘lowering’ action. For example, think of the ‘Sit to Stand’ exercise. Standing up from our chair is called the ‘concentric’ action as we are lifting our body. Then, lowering our weight back down to the chair again is called the ‘eccentric’ action (pronounced ee-centric). If doing floor exercises, imagine a press-up. Lowering our body towards the floor in the first part of a press-up is an eccentric action and lifting up again is concentric. Another example is walking up and downstairs. Walking upstairs is concentric and coming downstairs is eccentric. 

What is very interesting is that there is plenty of evidence confirming that the slow method of strength exercises is more effective, particularly in the eccentric phase of the exercise. 

In one study volunteers were allocated to two groups, one of which walked up the stairs in a 10-storey building twice a week but came down in the lift, with the other group taking the lift up and walking down. Both groups saw health improvements but the group who walked downstairs (the eccentric action) saw the greatest improvements to their fitness on several fronts. Their resting heart rate (a good indicator of fitness) and their muscle strength particularly improved and, interestingly, considerably more so than the group walking up the stairs!  This is the opposite of what we might have thought, as we always perceive walking upstairs to be the real challenge. In fact, the group walking downstairs saw their strength improve by a massive 34% – twice as much as the group walking upstairs!  Remarkable!

Other studies have shown similar results in the over-65s. It is a fact that as we age our muscle mass reduces, however, studies have shown dramatic increases in strength of up to 50% and a 10% increase in muscle mass! This is fantastic news when we are in this age group.

Why is it SO effective?

The way it works is that when we are going down (doing the lowering phase of the exercise), the muscles in our legs or arms lengthen to slow the pace of descent. This triggers the release of hormones which stimulate our cells to rebuild that muscle stronger than before.  Very clever. What we don't want is to lower so quickly and without control that we risk injury.  With Pilates and Yoga we are taught to slowly lower the body therefore causing a controlled eccentric contraction of the muscles. This results in that valuable increase in strength, muscle mass and even bone density.  Many, many reasons to slow down our moves!

Done regularly, and with the right technique, these eccentric exercises will help keep us in good shape and stronger than ever!

Pilates is a type of mind-body exercise developed in the early 20th century by German physical trainer Joseph Pilates.

Pilates was a sickly child. He suffered from asthma, rickets and rheumatic fever, and he dedicated his entire life to improving his physical strength. He was introduced by his father to gymnastics and bodybuilding and took up several martial arts. By the age of 14, he was fit enough to pose for anatomical charts. Pilates came to believe that the "modern" lifestyle, bad posture, and inefficient breathing lay at the roots of poor health.

Pilates said that the inspiration for his exercise technique came to him during World War One, while he was being held at an internment camp on the Isle of Man. He developed it during his four years there working with his fellow internees. He believed that mental and physical health were interrelated and he developed a system of exercises that were intended to strengthen the human mind and body.

In his book Return to Life through Contrology, Joseph Pilates presents his method as the art of controlled movements, which should look and feel like a workout. If practiced with consistency, Pilates improves flexibility, builds strength and develops control and endurance in the entire body. It puts emphasis on alignment, breathing, developing a strong core, and improving coordination and balance. The core, consisting of the muscles of the abdomen, low back, and hips, is thought to be the key to a person's stability. Pilates' system allows for different exercises to be modified in range of difficulty from the beginner onwards according to the instructor and practitioner's specific goals and/or limitations. Intensity can be increased over time as the body adapts itself to the exercises.